Well, I have a dinosaur zx9r that is slammed and geared only, and it will go 10.4s at worst...and it's heavier and has less power than your friend's 9.
Strapping the front takes away all the travel. Everytime you hit the throttle on a normal bike, you lose the sag and the forks go to full travel...and then the wheel lifts off if it has enough power. When they're strapped, you get almost no weight transfer at all...and that's why you have to loosen up the shock or the tire will just spin. Do it right and the rear will squat and you just take off. Lower CG is a big part also.
It's a really strange feeling at first. The rear squats and the front doesn't go anywhere. At full height my bike will stand straight up anywhere in first, but when it's lowered and strapped I can nail it and it just dangles the front an inch off the ground at most.