Graves Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo earned his eighth consecutive AMA Superstock pole position during qualifying Saturday afternoon at Road Atlanta. Using a rear Dunlop qualifying tire, DiSalvo rode his YZF-R1 to a 1:22.923, which not only was good enough for the Superstock pole position but would have put him second on the Superbike grid at Road Atlanta. With the pole position comes a bonus Championship point, which closes DiSalvo’s deficit to current point leader Aaron Yates from 21 to 20 points. Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden qualified second with a time of 1:23.620 on his factory ZX-10R. Yates was third-fastest with a time of 1:23.748 on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. If DiSalvo wins Sunday’s Superstock race and leads the most laps, Yates needs to finish 14th or better to win the Championship. DiSalvo’s teammate Damon Buckmaster earned the final spot on the front row Saturday with a lap of 1:24.284. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes was third-fastest with a 1:24.500 when he lowsided his Pirelli-equipped GSX-R1000 in turn 10, ending his session. Barnes, the fastest non-Dunlop qualifier, will start from the fifth grid spot Sunday. Lion Racing Suzuki’s John Haner also crashed during the session, in turn one. He was reported to be OK by his team. Graves Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert did not attempt to qualify in Superstock and will not ride the rest of the weekend. Gobert crashed during Friday morning Supersport practice when he took evasive action to avoid a slower rider in turn seven. Gobert suffered a severely dislocated left big toe, which required a trip to the hospital and a major procedure to repair. Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results: 1. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:22.923 2. Roger Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:23.620 3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:23.748 4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:24.284 5. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 1:24.500 6. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:24.568 7. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:24.684 8. Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:25.327 9. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:25.533 10. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:25.579 11. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:25.591 12. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:25.704 13. Blake Young, Suzuki, 1:26.130 14. Matt Lynn, Suzuki, 1:26.193 15. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:26.333 16. Brent George, Suzuki, 1:26.728 17. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:26.772 18. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki, 1:27.054 19. Mark Miller, Suzuki, 1:27.118 20. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:28.126 21. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:28.248 22. Heath Small, Suzuki, 1:28.547 23. James Kerker, Honda, 1:29.976 24. Montez Stewart, Suzuki, 1:30.001 25. Rodolfo Ramirez, Suzuki, 1:31.174 26. Brian Boyd, Suzuki, 1:31.305 27. Johnny Rock Page, Yamaha, 1:31.595 28. David Loikits, Suzuki, 1:32.157 112% of fast time: 1:32.874 29. Ivan Garza, Suzuki, 1:32.891 30. Garth Cloyd, Suzuki, 1:33.514 Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, no time Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, no time Jeremy Toye, Honda, no time Myron Bell, Kawasaki, no time