DAYTONA BEACH — The Daytona 200 will have a distinct, international flavor, at least when the race goes green at 1 p.m. Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
French rider Valentin Debise, riding the No. 53 M4 Suzuki, turned a blistering lap in the last moments of qualifying to grab the pole for the 77th running of this motorcycle classic.
“That was quite nice,” Debise said.
Debise bested the field with a lap of 116.313 mph over Daytona’s 3.51-mile long course, setting a record for this class of bike.
The funny thing about it, he wasn’t looking for speed, but “race ride-ability.”
“We had a full tank of fuel with my race tires (on),” he said. “My idea was to do a racing stint. I wasn’t focused on doing a fast lap. I was pushing for race pace.
“My second-to-last lap I saw we were (fast), so I saw (a rider) and took his slipstream (draft) and I looked at my lap board and saw 48 and thought, ‘Oh, that is good.' "
The 48 referred to his pole-winning lap time of 1 minute, 48.638 seconds. He was the only rider to post a sub 1:49 lap in three rounds of qualifying.
The Daytona 200 is unlike any race in this country. Competitors are challenged with 57 laps over the road course, which requires at least two pit stops to complete.
Michael Barnes, who won the 2016 Daytona 200, was second in qualifying and was followed by Geoff May.
Rounding out the front row for the 200 is Danny Eslick, who scored his third Daytona 200 victory last season. He won in 2014-15.
Barnes, 49, said he has only club raced since racing in the 2016 Daytona 200, but at one point, topped the qualifying board with his lap of 115.860 mph.
“I do a couple of races at Homestead a year and that’s about it,” said Barnes, who is riding the No. 34 Yamaha R6. “This is kind of my crash course in training for the 200. I’m just getting back up to speed, but my bike is incredible.”
May, who is also Yamaha mounted, posted a lap of 115.836 mph on his R6.
“This whole weekend, I haven’t cared about being the fastest,” said May, who said he found a four-leaf clover and stuck it on his bike for St. Patrick's Day. “Getting the pole in 2015 and ’16 didn’t do much for me in the race, so you got to be there on Lap 57, that’s what matters.”
The race will be streamed live on FansChoice.tv.