A treacherous start to Saturday’s action will set the table for an unpredictable afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as tricky conditions largely spoiled the morning practice sessions at the Bridgestone CSBK finale.
A brief rain shower virtually negated the FP2 session in the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class, with only eleven riders taking to the circuit at all and not a single one braving a proper flying lap.
While race one this afternoon will get underway rain or shine, the forecast suggests a dry race for both halves of the doubleheader this weekend, lessening the need for wet practice time in the feature class.
Prior to the rain, Sebastien Tremblay was one of a handful of riders to take advantage of the morning practice session in the OPP Racing Pro Supersport class, approaching his best time of the weekend despite the lackluster conditions at roughly 9:30 am local time.
Tremblay would post a benchmark of 1:24.890 around the foggy and at times damp circuit, only 0.321 seconds slower than his qualifying time set in much better conditions on Friday and over three seconds quicker than P2 in the session.
That would seem to suggest Tremblay has found much-needed improvement aboard his S.T. Motosport Suzuki entering race one, as he attempts to cut down a one-second gap to pole-sitter and championship leader Tomas Casas.
Casas was one of many riders to skip the session due to the poor weather, with the forecast expected to improve prior to race one at 1 pm local time this afternoon - though Tremblay could have a crucial edge if the track remains damp later on.
Cole Alexander would jump to second in the shortened timesheets, though roughly 1.5 seconds off his qualifying time with a best lap of 1:28.043. The French Glass Co. Suzuki rider is still trying to sort out some setup issues on the GSX-R750 as he balances double-duty in the Superbike class, lining up a season-worst ninth on the grid this afternoon.
Nathan Playford rounded out the top-three on Saturday morning, going a quarter-second slower than Alexander aboard his Playford Company Inc. Ducati.
Racing remains scheduled to get underway at roughly 1 pm ET, with a full schedule available here.
