Home favourite David MacKay will start both of this weekend’s Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike races from pole position in Grand Bend, after a last-lap flyer displaced rival and championship leader Matt Simpson to kick off round two of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.
MacKay led the middleweight field through the first half of the qualifying session before Simpson barged to the front, putting his Blackstock Motorsports Yamaha on provisional pole behind a time of 1:04.601.
That lead started to come under fire in the dying moments, however, as MacKay gradually weeded the gap down to just 0.037 seconds, a margin that would have ranked as the fourth-closest qualifying finish in Pro Sport Bike history. Instead, MacKay had one more trick up his sleeve.
Crossing the line with just six seconds to go, the ODH Snow City Cycle Kawasaki rider managed to squeeze out nearly a quarter-second on the final lap of the session, besting Simpson by 0.192 seconds to take the top spot heading into the weekend.
That grid position proved to be mostly good fortune for MacKay a year ago, where he started from pole and led most of race one before crashing, only to then win his first pro national race the next day.
As for Simpson, the unfortunate loss of what looked like a first career pole position will be softened by the fact that his championship lead remains in good health entering the second round, sporting a 13-point lead over MacKay and Brad Macrae, the latter of whom initially qualified fourth but was disqualified after his Colron Excavating Yamaha ran out of fuel under post-race tech inspection.
Displacing Macrae and completing the front row was instead Sebastian Tremblay, who was making his return to the middleweight class and debut aboard a new Turcotte Performance Suzuki. The 2021 champion made gradual progress as the session went on, but ultimately wound up 0.739 seconds off the pace in his return.
The heartbreak for most recent race winner Macrae was welcome news to Elliot Vieira, who will be promoted to fourth on the grid and score his first point of the season for the GP Bikes Ducati team.
Moving up to complete the second row will be local rookie Zoltan Frast, who fell just behind Vieira by 0.072 seconds on his Eurorace Kawasaki but will have a shot at redemption as they now start alongside each other this weekend.
Notably struggling in qualifying was season opening winner Connor Campbell, who had a hard crash at the Thursday test but managed to remount on Friday, settling for 10th on the grid aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki.
Taking the top spot on the Bickle Racing Pro Twins portion of the grid will be veteran Jeff Williams, who topped his half of the split session aboard his Williams Paving Aprilia.
The former Pro Superbike race winner swept the opening round behind pole and two dominant victories, and looks set to do so again in the second round as he chases the inaugural Twins championship.
Full results from the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class, as well as other action, can be found on the series’ official website.