Provisional pole position for MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Championship triple-header

ASBK-6-Cameron Petersen-1

Team Suzuki Press Office – September 18.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Peterson is on provisional pole position for this weekend’s MotoAmerica/ AMA Superbike Championship triple-header round at Birmingham, Alabama.

The South African turned in a 1:23.613 to lead fellow South African Mathew Scholtz by .567 of a second. Despite crashing early in the session, series leader Jake Gagne was still able to secure the third-fastest time – .682 of a second slower than Petersen.

Said Petersen: “I’m super stoked for day one. I know Jake (Gagne) had an issue there in the second session and only got four or something laps in. So, it’s hard to think what he might have done towards the end of the session. I had this one circled from the beginning of the season and I knew that this was going to be my best opportunity to take a win away from Jake.

“The bike is the best, easiest bike I’ve ridden all year so that has something to say about the lap time. Now I just pray for a dry race. Honestly, I knew the bike was going to be good here. The funny thing is, we haven’t changed anything here from Jersey other than gearing. The bike is pretty much exactly the same, but you know confidence is everything about this. When I drove through the gates yesterday, there’s something about this place that gives me a sense of confidence. Every single lap I do around here I have a big smile on my face. Honestly, I don’t think I have more fun riding a motorcycle anywhere else in the world than here.”

Newly crowned Supersport Champion Sean Dylan Kelly earned provisional pole position in the class with the Floridian lapping at a best of 1:27.271 in Q1 on Friday. That lap put the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider .607 of a second faster than his rival Richie Escalante and the HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki. Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers ended the day third, just .057 of a second slower than Escalante.

With 45 entries in the Stock 1000 class, the sessions were split with the majority of the faster riders taking part in Superbike Q1. The best of those ended up being Altus Motorsports’ Suzuki’s Jake Lewis on top.

Superbike Q1:

1. Cameron Petersen (Suzuki) 1:23.613
2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1: 24.180
3. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1: 24.295
4. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:24.336
5. Hector Barbera (BMW) 1:25.140
6. Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 1:25.142
7. Kyle Wyman (Ducati) 1:25.490
8. David Anthony (Suzuki) 1:26.221
9. Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:26.264
10. Ashton Yates (Honda) 1:26.64

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