Daley leads wet FP2 ahead of race one at Shannonville

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Saturday, May 20, 2023 12:50 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

A rainy morning at Shannonville Motorsport Park produced a noteworthy order on Saturday, as Trevor Daley topped FP2 ahead of the opening race of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike season. 

Daley was likely one of the few happy to see the skies open up on Saturday, being considered one of the best rain riders in the paddock, and that showed in morning practice as he put his OneSpeed Suzuki narrowly in the top spot.

Chasing his first career GP Bikes Pro Superbike victory, Daley’s lap of 1:15.777 was threatened only by Sam Guerin, who went second-fastest by just 0.034 seconds for the EFC Group BMW team.

The pair of second-row starters will line up next to each other on the grid this afternoon – Guerin in fourth and Daley fifth – but will hope their morning pace is a sign of things to come with more rain expected throughout the day. 

Believed to be the biggest fan of the wet conditions was Jordan Szoke, though the veteran stayed third and 0.678 seconds off the top of the timesheets.

The LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider will have more wet-track experience than anyone else, however, and will hope to put that to use in race one as the 14-time champion starts from third on the grid. 

Notably rounding out the top-five was Alex Dumas in fourth and pole-sitter Ben Young fifth, neither coming anywhere close to the fastest time as they prepare to start from the front this afternoon. 

Dumas has minimal wet-weather experience in Canada, but still managed to put his Purple Skull Brewing/Liqui Moly Suzuki a comfortable 1.430 seconds ahead of Young, who rode his 2022 ‘B’ bike version of the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW. 

Neither seemed overly fazed by the conditions – Young especially being an experienced rain rider from his time in BSB – though it will be difficult to tell anyone’s true pace in the conditions until the lights go out later today. 

The session was also critical for Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike pole-sitter Brad Macrae, who starts from the top spot this afternoon for the first time in his career. 

Macrae has never raced in the rain before, meaning Saturday morning’s wet practice was especially crucial for the second-year pro heading into race one this afternoon, though he didn’t look out of place as he went nearly a full-second faster than the next Sport Bike rider, Vass Performance Kawasaki’s John Laing.

Second-fastest qualifier Matt Simpson elected not to go out in the rain on Saturday morning, as the Blackstock Motorsports Yamaha rider feels comfortable with his wet-racing ability heading into his duel with Macrae in race one. 

Championship favourite David MacKay went third fastest amongst the Sport Bike riders, though the Snow City Cycle Kawasaki rider went nearly six seconds slower than Macrae as he looks for a massive comeback from 13th on the grid this afternoon.

Full results from the morning sessions can be found on the series’ official website.