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Tooele County - Ben Spies, of Longview, Texas, made a big mark in the record books today by becoming the first man in the history of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship to take seven consecutive pole positions. Spies, rider of the No. 19 factory Yamaha, took the pole for Sunday's races with a lap of 1:48.334 around the 3.048-mile Outer Course at Miller Motorsports Park.
Second-fastest was Carlos Checa (No. 7 HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) of Spain, who won both World Superbike races here last year. Checa's teammate, Ryuichi Kyonari (No. 9 HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) of Japan was third, followed by Italy's Michel Fabrizio on the No. 84 factory Xerox Ducati and Jakub Smrz of the Czech Republic on the privateer No. 96 Guandalini Ducati.
Championship points leader Noriyuki Haga (No. 41 Xerox Ducati) failed to make the cut for the third and final round of the "knockout-style" Superpole session and will start Sunday's races in ninth.
The two other Americans in the field, Jamie Hacking (No. 2 factory Kawasaki) and Jake Zemke (No. 98 Stiggy Racing Honda), will start eighth and 23rd, respectively.
In qualifying for the World Supersport Championship, Joan Lazcorz of Spain took the pole position on the No. 26 Kawasaki with a lap at 1:51.749. Ireland's Eugene Lavery (No. 50 Parkalgar Honda) and championship points leader Cal Crutchlow (no. 35 factory Yamaha) were second and third. Local rider Oleg Piankykh of Salt Lake City recovered from a blown engine in practice on Friday to just squeak into the field, qualifying 29th out of 29 riders who made the cut for Sunday's race.
