U.S. Rookies Cup qualifying

A member of the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup team won the pole for Saturday's Red Bull Riders Cup race in Valencia, Spain. But the top two riders in the U.S. Rookies Cup and the MotoGP Rookies Cup from Europe did not qualify well on a wet track on Friday.
Benny Solis Jr., a 14-year-old freshman at North Hollywood High School and the U.S. Rookies Cup champion, qualified 16th after crashing in qualifying. JD Beach, the MotoGP Rookies Cup champion, qualified eighth.
"It was a tough day for our guys and the MotoGP Rookies, too," said U.S. Rookies Cup riders coach Kevin Schwantz. "We had too many bikes on the ground today and the conditions were really tough. There's not a lot of grip at Valencia in the wet. I thought the rain might equalize things for our guys but that really wasn't the case today. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but the weather might throw us a curve ball again."
Hayden Gillim of Owensboro, Ky., won the pole for the Red Bull Riders Cup race.
"It was very slick out there but I was pretty happy with my best lap," Gillim said. "The weather was tough but I was in the top three for most of the first session. I was able to get some good laps in towards the end and that's when I had my fastest time. I'm disappointed that I crashed on the next lap, though. In the second session, it was raining too hard to go faster. I'll be looking to get a good start and do well tomorrow."
Three riders from the MotoGP team followed Gillim in qualifying. Mathew Scholtz of South Africa was second, Matthew Holye of Great Britian was third and Jakub Kornfeil was fourth.