Mathew Mladin on Pole at the Mazda Raceway-Laguna Seca- CA. 

Ben with a laptime 1:23.129

A day after reigning MotoGP champ Casey Stoner scored a fifth straight GP pole, the defending AMA Superbike king, Ben Spies, did the same in the American national series, snatching the top spot on the grid away from his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki teammate, Mat Mladin, on his last flying lap around Laguna Seca. Taking advantage of the improving morning conditions, Spies ripped off a 1:23.129, better than he posted an hour earlier in the MotoGP warm-up and quick enough to have ranked sixth in the GP session.

The Texan just managed to keep his streak alive as Mladin was positioned on top with a similarly quick time of 1:23.145. The Aussie will start alongside his rival this afternoon and look to end Spies' three-race Superbike win streak at Laguna Seca and get a small measure of revenge for last year's season finale showdown.

Laguna Seca master Eric Bostrom flashed some of his old form around the Californian circuit by qualifying third fastest at 1:23.847, breaking up a potential Yoshimura qualifying 1-2-3 as Tommy Hayden made an impressive return to action by claiming the final spot on the front row with a quick time of 1:24.244.

Jamie Hacking jumped off the ZX-RR Grand Prix racer to qualify fifth on his Monster Energy Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike. He'll be joined on the second row by returning teammate Roger Hayden, Bostrom's Yamaha USA teammate, Jason DiSalvo, and American Honda's Neil Hodgson.

A talented third row will feature Jordan Suzuki teammates Aaron Yates and Geoff May, along with Hodgson's teammate, Miguel DuHamel, and Corona Honda's Superstock star, Jake Holden.