Sears Point: Gobert claims Supercuts provisional pole

Gobert claims top spot in qualifying for AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge.

SONOMA, Calif. - Yamaha's Anthony Gobert captured the top spot in provisional qualifying on Friday for the AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge, presented by Honda of Milpitas, at Sears Point Raceway.

Gobert claimed the top spot with a lap of 1 minute, 32.560 seconds on the 12-turn, 2.32 mile road course. Final qualifying for the AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge will take place on Saturday to determine the starting grid for the weekend doubleheader, featuring the U.S. Chevy Trucks Superbike Championship. There will be two 26 lap main events, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday.

Gobert has found success before at Sears Point Raceway and is the defending champion in both the U.S. Chevy Trucks Superbike and Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport classes.

"Everything felt pretty good to me," said Gobert. "We didn't really struggle at all, although we still have some things to work on. Hopefully we'll have a good weekend and stay safe."

Mat Mladin (Suzuki) qualified second with a lap of 1:32.930 and teammate Aaron Yates held on for third (1:32.984).

"We were struggling all session, but we stuck a new tire on the bike and picked up almost two seconds. It was unbelievable," said Mladin. "We've been concentrating on our race setup, and I hadn't been overly happy with the bike since this morning."

Other top qualifiers included Honda's Nicky Hayden (1:33.108), four-time Sears Point winner Miguel Duhamel (1:33.483) and Eric Bostrom, the only Kawasaki rider to place in the top 10 with a 1:33.898.

Action continues at the Supercuts Superbike Challenge on Saturday with Superbike qualifying beginning at 9:50 a.m. The green flag will drop for the first of two Superbike main events on Saturday at 2 p.m. Sunday's main event begins tentatively at 3 p.m. For ticket information, call 800-870-RACE or visit www.searspoint.com.

-spr-