Team Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin has set provisional pole position for this weekend's 'Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals' double-header AMA Superbike Championship round at Virginia International Raceway at Alton.

The reigning AMA Champion recorded a time of 1:24.933 on his GSX-R1000 around the 2.25-mile Virginia circuit to beat team mate Ben Spies (1:25.293) and Honda's Jake Zemke (1:26.038) as Aaron Yates grabbed sixth position on the grid with a time of 1:26.115.

Said Mladin: "The session went pretty good. We were consistently right there in the low 25s."

Two rounds and four races remain in the Championship and only nine points separate leader Mladin and team mate Spies. Mladin leads on 397 points with Spies on 388 and Yates in fourth place on 316.

Superbike Friday Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 1:24.933
2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 1:25.293
3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 1:26.038
4. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 1:26.076
5. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 1:26.093
6. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:26.115
7. Eric Bostrom (Ducati) 1:26.599
8. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki) 1:26.656
9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:26.758
10. Jacob Holden (Suzuki) 1:27.001

Supersport Friday Practice Results:

1. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 1m27.54
2. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 1m27.55
3. Aaron Gobert (Yamaha) 1m28.40
4. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 1m28.63
5. Ben Attard (Kawasaki) 1m28.74
6. Robert Jensen (Yamaha) 1m28.74
7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 1m29.16
8. Chris Peris (Yamaha) 1m29.20
9. Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha) 1m29.21
10. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1m29.24