The Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class will line up with an unpredictable grid this weekend, as an abbreviated qualifying session produced an unusual running order on Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The 15-minute session was stopped just prior to the halfway point after a red flag stoppage, meaning a number of top riders had yet to fully push in the wet conditions.
Trevor Daley was not one of those names, however, putting in an early time attack to hit the front with a lap of 1:40.000 and jump to the top of the timesheets. The OneSpeed Suzuki rider would hold the top spot throughout the first set of flying laps, which proved to be the only full opportunity the field would get.
A crash from Tomas Casas in turn three would cause the stoppage, with the session ultimately not resuming. Thankfully, Casas is believed to have avoided a serious injury.
That would award Daley pole position for the first time in his pro CSBK career, adding yet another milestone to his resumé after a debut Superbike victory earlier this year.
Former three-time class champion would wind up second, putting his Scot-Build Suzuki just 0.350 seconds behind Daley as he wasted no time getting up to speed in his first middleweight action since 2015.
Completing the front row will be rookie Mavrick Cyr, who put his Economy Lube Ducati only 0.066 seconds behind Christie and less than a half-second from pole.
Casas would end the session fourth-fastest for Colron Excavating Yamaha, though it remains to be seen if the former two-time champion will be fit to ride this weekend and make his season debut.
Alex Michel will centre the second row in fifth, giving the SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki rider an excellent shot at a second career podium after scoring his maiden trophy in the rain at CTMP last season.
Ending the second row will be Elliot Vieira, a regular frontrunner at the venue as he looks to continue his strong form around the circuit for Economy Lube Ducati.
Notably absent from the front two rows are championship rivals Sebastien Tremblay and John Laing, who were amongst the biggest names to lose out in the early stoppage.
Laing will get a slight edge in ninth as he tries to erase a 51-point deficit for Vass Performance Kawasaki, while Tremblay’s hopes of clinching a second career title will take a hit as he starts eleventh and on the middle of the fourth row for Turcotte Performance Suzuki.
The Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class is scheduled to kick off their doubleheader with race one on Saturday, currently set for roughly 1 pm ET at CTMP.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.