DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Josh Herrin earned pole position for tomorrow’s 80th running of the Daytona 200, giving Ducati its first top-starting spot at Daytona International Speedway since Eric Bostrom did so on a Ducati 999 in 2004.
Herrin nabbed pole position for the culmination of Bike Week Presented By Monster Energy with his 1:50.088 lap during the 15-minute Time Attack session that featured the fastest 12 riders after the two qualifying sessions. Saturday’s Daytona 200 is set for a 1 p.m. ET start.
“I came here two years ago and obviously it wasn’t a MotoAmerica race then, but we got pole, then we got it taken away and then the race got cancelled so it was a big bummer,” a happy Herrin, the 2010 Daytona Champion, said. “For me I’ve always wanted to get pole because from a young age if you got pole here, you got the Rolex. I won the race and didn’t get the Rolex and didn’t get pole back then.
“It was super important for me to try and get it on pole… just for confidence and to get those guys thinking a bit about us having speed, especially without a draft. I was looking for the draft that whole lap and couldn’t get it, so I just put my head down and pushed extra hard in the infield and was able to get it. I’m happy to get it, happy for the HSBK Warhorse Ducati team and to put the V2 up on pole. I’m ready for the race tomorrow.”
Herrin’s best on his Ducati Panigale V2 was just .010 of a second faster than SYNTAINICS Racing team’s Sheridan Morais, the South African doing a one-off ride in the MotoAmerica series on his team’s Yamaha YZF-R6.
Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne will join Herrin and Morais on the front row, the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion clocking a 1:50.405.
Defending Daytona 200 Champion Brandon Paasch and his TOBC Racing Triumph will lead the second row where he will be joined by Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante and Attack Performance Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen.
TOBC Racing Triumph’s Danny Eslick (a 4-time Daytona Champion), Max Angles Racing Team’s Max Angles and BobbleHeadMoto/N2 Racing’s Kevin Olmedo rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for tomorrow’s Daytona 200.
Daytona 200 Qualifying Results
1. Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:50.088
2. Sheridan Morais (Yamaha) 1:50.098
3. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:50.405
4. Brandon Paasch (Triumph) 1:50.571
5. Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:50.957
6. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) 1:964
7. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:51.011
8. Danny Eslick (Triumph) 1:51.107
9. Max Angles (Kawasaki) 1:51.134
10. Kevin Olmedo (Yamaha) 1:51.452