Supersport pole goes to Roger Lee

If pole qualifying for Thursday's 22-lap Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei is any indication, we're in for a pretty tight race--and a much faster one than last year.

The top five riders skated under last year's pole time of 1:43.511, which was set by Tommy Hayden. And at the top of that fast group, less than a second separated the top four riders.

The fastest of the fast? Kawasaki's Roger Lee Hayden with a 1:41.552.

"It's going to be a long 22-lap race, but we're running good," said Hayden, who didn't take the pole until his 16th lap. "It's real competitive out there and you keep running hard. You never know you are on the pole until the checkered flag."

Just 0.116 seconds back was Jamie Hacking on the Yamaha R6 with a 1:41.668.

Third was Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden with a 1:41.921, and fourth fastest was Emgo Suzuki's Geoff May with a 1:42.226.

Rounding out the top five in Supersport was Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies with a 1:43.217.

© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association