DiSalvo, Roger Lee Hayden Win Poles In Record Fashion DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 8, 2006) — Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo captured the pole for Thursday’s Superstock in record fashion turning a lap of 1:39.185 seconds, 107.073 mph around Daytona International Speedway’s 2.95-mile road course. DiSalvo, a native of Stafford, N.Y., is the first non-Suzuki rider to win the pole since 1995 for the Superstock event. The Superstock event is scheduled go green on Thursday afternoon at 3:50 p.m. “That was one statistic I haven’t kept up with,” DiSalvo said. “It’s cool. I’m really proud to be able to do this for Yamaha. I just went out there and rode my own deal. I didn’t have any drafting help. I tried to keep everything together, stay smooth and hit my marks. The times came to me. “The Yamaha’s working really good. We’re just going to work on our race setup now so we’ll be good to go in the 13 laps we’ve got to do for the race.” Rounding out the front row for the Superstock event will be Geoff May aboard a Suzuki (106.507) and Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom (106.134) and Jamie Hacking (106.222). “We ran last weekend (in the CCS/ASRA) and based on the test times, we saw we’d be in the hunt,” said May, who rides for M4 EMGO Suzuki. “The Suzuki 1000 is really fast around here. That helps. You’ve got to have a fast bike around here. We’ve been training for this, and the mechanics have worked hard all winter for today’s performance. We’ve been hoping for this.” In Supersport qualifying, Roger Lee Hayden also set a qualifying track record aboard his No. 95 Kawasaki as the Owensboro, Ky., native captured the pole for Thursday’s Supersport event, which is scheduled to start at 4:50 p.m. Hayden posted a fast lap of 1:41.716 seconds, 104.577 mph aboard his green racing machine. Rounding out the front row were Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking (104.458), Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden (104.198) and May (103.888). “I’m pretty happy,” Roger Lee Hayden said. “The bike was really working good. We made some changes. We got it better toward the end. I’m pretty happy. I think it’s going to race pretty good. We’ve got a good setup.” NOTES: · M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes will miss the reminder of Daytona 200 Week By Honda, according to a team official. Barnes, who was scheduled to compete in Saturday’s Daytona 200 By Honda Formula Xtreme event and Thursday’s Supersport race, was injured in a track incident during Supersport qualifying. May, who was already slated to compete in the Supersport, Superstock and the opening round of the AMA Superbike championship, will add a fourth event to his schedule representing M4 EMGO Suzuki in the Daytona 200 By Honda Formula Xtreme event. · Tickets for the 65th Daytona 200 By Honda are available at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: “IRON MAN” MAY QUICK IN FOUR CLASSES AT DAYTONA WHILE BARNES OUT AFTER INJURY Just days removed from his spectacular showing at the CCS/ASRA event at Daytona International Raceway last weekend, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May came out swinging in the opening day of AMA roadracing competition for the 2006 season. Showing both impressive consistency and speed, the Georgian was near the top of the charts in all four classes on Wednesday. With final events in Superstock and Supersport scheduled for Thursday, May qualified his Pirelli-shod GSX-Rs in the afternoon following top-five practice performances in the morning. He backed up his early-day form in the timed sessions by claiming a pair of front-row qualifying positions in the afternoon. May guided his powerful GSX-R1000 Superstock machine around the famed circuit in a blistering 1:39.712 to earn the second spot on the grid for tomorrow’s 13-lap contest. May wasn’t surprised by his strong performance, commenting, “We ran last weekend, and based on the test times set here back in December, we knew we would be in the hunt. The GSX-R1000 is really fast around here and that helps. I’ve been training and my mechanics have been working hard all winter for today and tomorrow.” Immediately following Superstock qualifying, May returned to the track for Supersport qualifying. Once again he contested for the top spot, ultimately taking the fourth slot on the first row with a best time of 1:42.225 aboard his GSX-R600. He also proved he’d be a force to be reckoned with in the premier Superbike class, posting the eighth fastest lap in the morning practice (1:39.840) and the tenth fastest lap in the afternoon practice (1:40.774) aboard his Superstock-spec 1000. Qualifying for Superbike Saturday’s race will take place on Thursday. When teammate Michael Barnes was forced to withdraw from the weekend’s racing activities due to a knee injury suffered in a Wednesday fall, May volunteered to fill in aboard the squad’s Formula Xtreme GSX-R600 and take on a rare ‘iron man’ schedule, competing in all four classes. Despite climbing on the FX machine for the first time in the afternoon practice, May still managed a respectable eighth-ranked showing with a fast lap of 1:43.893. While Barnes won’t be able to add to the team’s success for the remainder of the weekend, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will look to young Shea Fouchek to do the team proud. The developmental rider and former motocross standout opened his career with the team in AMA competition by qualifying on the inside of the sixth row for Thursday’s Superstock final. The Texan posted a best time of 1:46.932 during the session to qualifying 21st and expects to improve with added familiarity and experience in the team. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: HODGSON AND BOSTROM TEST THE LIMITS AT DAYTONA Daytona (Florida) 8 March 2006: Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson kicked off the 2006 AMA season today with two practice sessions at the famed Daytona International Speedway on their Ducati 999 Superbikes. Hodgson set his personal best time on the day of 1:38.834 during the morning practice, good for the second quickest overall time in that session. Ben Bostrom’s best on the day was 1:39.728 in the morning, around one tenth quicker than he did in the afternoon session. Hodgson was quick early at Daytona, but was caught out by the shortened practice session in the afternoon. “This morning was really good,” said Hodgson. “In the afternoon, we were trying some new things and had a had a little problem with the bike that cost us some time. Our best lap time wasn’t as impressive in the afternoon as we lost some track time due to a few factors. It’s not that big a deal, though. I know where I’m going around here now and I think I could lap this place with my eyes closed. We’ve made progress.” Bostrom declared himself content with his day’s effort. Daytona is his first ever race on the 999, although Bostrom rode the previous generation Ducati Superbike earlier in his career. “I’m happy with today. I got a little bit of a slow start but the bike settings are like they were before at the test,” he said. “It was the first day racing of the year, a day to get your head back into it before qualifying tomorrow. We were getting some laps in today. I really don’t want to change anything right now with the 999 because the Ducati works best in a small setup window with just minor changes. Today I learned something about braking on the Ducati that’s pretty cool and I think it will help. I have a great team behind me and I can’t believe how good the situation is for me here.” The Parts Unlimited Ducati Team will qualify for Saturday’s race on Thursday afternoon. Best practice times: 1. Ben Spies, Suzuki 1:38.129 2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 1:38.308 3. Neil Hodgson, Parts Unlimited Ducati Team 1:38.834 4. Jake Zemke, Honda 1:38.972 5. Roger Hayden, Kawasaki 1:39.097 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 1:39.153 7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki 1:39.369 8. Ben Bostrom, Parts Unlimited Ducati Team 1:39.728
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