The unpredictable season in the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class continued on Friday, as Sam Guerin claimed his second career BS Battery Pole Position in the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at RAD Torque Raceway.
Ben Young appeared to be the man with all the momentum after setting a new lap record in the P1 session on Friday morning, bettering that time again in qualifying as he paced Q2 for majority of the 20-minute period.
Young blitzed the timesheets with the first ever sub-1:17 lap time around RAD Torque, posting a benchmark of 1:16.926 to put himself over a second clear of the field aboard his Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda.
The chasing pack would gradually close that advantage, though Guerin was not amongst them as he was mired down in tenth after having his early time attack deleted for cutting the track in turn three.
That all changed drastically in the final moments, as Guerin stunned the field to jump straight to the top of the leaderboard behind a time of 1:16.889, just 0.037 seconds quicker than Young but almost a half-second faster than Young’s 2024 lap record aboard his EFC Group BMW.
That blistering time would be unmatched the rest of the way as Guerin – who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Friday – secured a pivotal BS Battery Pole Award, continuing his stellar mid-season comeback after sweeping round two in AMP.
“It was a difficult session. All our early laps got discarded because I guess I cut the chicane, so I had to change my line a bit – and when you don’t cut the track it’s faster,” Guerin joked. “It feels good to be back on pole. Hopefully we get good weather this weekend and we can keep it rolling in the races.”
Guerin’s effort makes the Quebec City native the third different pole-sitter through the first three rounds in 2025, the first time that’s happened in exactly 20 years (Jordan Szoke, Clint McBain, Steve Crevier to begin the 2005 campaign).
Young, meanwhile, was content with his qualifying performance despite falling just short of a second consecutive BS Battery Pole, securing a spot on the middle of the front row ahead of three pivotal races aboard his Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda.
The championship leader will line up alongside his longtime title rival Alex Dumas, who put in a last-lap improvement of his own to climb onto the front row in third.
Dumas had briefly jumped to second aboard his Economy Lube/Fast Company BMW before getting shunted back down the order by Guerin and Jordan Szoke, though Dumas would head back out in the final three minutes to leapfrog Szoke again in a top-four covered by just 0.449 seconds.
That late push would come at Szoke’s expense after he looked like Young’s closest challenger in the late stages, though the 14-time champion remains in a good spot for the weekend tripleheader as he starts from fourth for Canadian Kawasaki Motors.
Rounding out the top five was home star Torin Collins, a terrific effort aboard his Supersport-spec Octagon Energy Services Suzuki.
Collins’ participation in the Superbike tripleheader is to be determined as he focuses on his Supersport title charge, but the 19-year-old will have a spot on the middle of the second row should he decide to race in the feature class at any point this weekend.
His time would wind up only 0.004 seconds quicker than fellow Calgary teenager Phil DeGama-Blanchet, who at one point ran as high as second as the 17-year-old continues to impress for the Mots Machining Honda team.
David MacKay would wind up seventh on the grid after crushing the Q1 session, going marginally slower in Q2 but still firmly in contention for a top-five finish as he wound up 0.277 seconds off Collins aboard his ODH Snow City Cycle Honda.
Local star Brian Worsdall managed an excellent eighth for his season debut on Friday, earning a spot through Q1 and then finding a massive 0.6 second gain in Q2 to put his Hindle / DP Brakes BMW only marginally behind the group of Collins, DeGama-Blanchet, and MacKay.
Reigning Supersport champion Sebastien Tremblay would claim the last spot on row three after a late push into Q2, putting his S.T. Motosport Suzuki in ninth as he chases Collins into the middleweight class on Saturday.
Eric Russnak completed the Q2 times and will lead off row four in his pro CSBK debut, continuing an excellent day for the Alberta representatives as he looks to climb the midfield at his home track this weekend for Motorheads Kawasaki.
The feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike class will now turn their focus to race one on Saturday, currently scheduled for roughly 3 pm MT, before a pivotal doubleheader on Sunday to wrap up round three.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.
