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Erion Honda's Jake Zemke (Photo: Brian J Nelson) ยป More Photos
Jake Zemke, Erion Honda, Pole 1:36.853 (New Lap Record)
It went good. This morning we were struggling a bit to get the bike doing what I wanted. The crew made some changes and the bike was a 100 times better. We went straight out on a race tire and ran six laps all in the '37s. We threw a 'Q' on there were able to drop it down into the '36s and called her good.
This track is one of the better tracks we go to on the circuit as far as for the riders. It's the most technical, there's no time to rest, and the temperatures are up. It's going to be a lot of laps to get around here for the entire race. It's important to be up on the front row and obviously a good start is a nice way to start it off. It's going take a lot of fast, fast laps because Steve, Josh, and Chaz are right there. A lot of fast, consistent laps, that's what wins the race.
(Asked about being faster than all but four Superbike riders on the day, including American Honda's Neil Hodgson and Miguel DuHamel): It doesn't really matter. This is the Formula Xtreme race and it doesn't really have anything to do with what they're doing. Those guys have another qualifying session tomorrow and I'm sure they'll go quicker. It does say a lot about the 600s and when we come to small tracks, the 600s aren't that far off the Superbikes. But I've ridden Superbikes and I know how hard they are to ride, especially when you get to a tight track like this. They are a handful. The 600s are a lot easier to ride and it's a little bit of a nicer ride on a racetrack like this. But in the end it doesn't really matter because it's comparing apples to oranges.
Steve Rapp, Attack Kawasaki, 2nd 1:37.185
Every year I come here I want to win, but obviously it's not easy. Everyone is running really good as always. The bike was great. Like Josh said, you've just got to put it all together. It didn't take much to miss two tenths and then you weren't going to get on pole. The bike was working really good and we made a change after practice, right before qualifying, and it was definitely better. The Pirelli tires are working really good; they're definitely developing them every race and they're getting better. Qualifying went pretty well. Finishing second to these guys is pretty good.
Josh Hayes, Erion Honda, 3rd 1:37.678
The bike's not working too bad, unfortunately, on an awesome Dunlop 'Q' I went just as fast as I did on an awesome Dunlop race tire this morning. It think it all basically comes down to me. I did a much better job this morning than I did this afternoon and I ended up third. We'll do our homework and see if we can make a race of it tomorrow.
Chaz Davies, Attack Kawasaki, 4th 1:37.949
It was not that great. I went out early with a race tire and I think that was our quickest lap. I mushed it more or less with a 'Q'. I didn't make a really good run with a 'Q' with traffic and then cramped up in the final Q. It wasn't that good really, but the front row is really important here. It's difficult to overtake so, yeah, I'm happy about that.
It's a good. It's a challenge. The heat's not making it any easier. It's obviously very hot and it's a physical track. It's a challenge for everybody. But I think it could make for an interesting race tomorrow. It's a lot of laps and it'll be quite exciting.
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