Six-time Canada Cup winner Ben Young will start the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship finale from the front of the grid once again, securing an emphatic BS Battery Pole award on Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The GP Bikes Pro Superbike champion faced little resistance en route to a 23rd career pole position - tying Steve Crevier for the second-most in Superbike history - as Young turned in one of the most lopsided qualifying results in CSBK history, posting a blistering time of 1:20.405.
The Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda rider would fall just 0.036 seconds shy of bettering his own lap record from 2022, but had little to push for with a massive 1.452 second margin over the rest of the field, the second-largest margin of pole ever in the Pro Superbike class.
Young’s effort would give him a fourth pole position of the year and a record-extending sixth consecutive BS Battery Pole Position Championship, having won the award every year since its introduction in 2021.
The 33-year-old will be joined on the front row by Andrew Van Winkle and David MacKay in a historic Honda lockout, the first in the time qualifying era (since 2000) for the brand.
“David stole this award from us at Grand Bend so I had to put our stamp on this one,” Young said jokingly. “The Honda’s been working so well for us, so it’s really nice to see a 1-2-3 here for the brand. Hopefully Cole [Alexander] can get his teeth into somebody and claw his way up here to make it four Honda’s at front this weekend.”
Young wasted no time setting his benchmark in Q2, posting his eventual pole time on his very first flying lap while Van Winkle and MacKay scrapped for P2 behind.
It appeared as though Van Winkle had encountered mechanical problems halfway through the session, though the Mountainview Motorsports Honda rider revealed it was a simple miscalculation of fuel.
In the end it wouldn’t cost the 19-year-old, as he held off MacKay for a career-best second on the grid with a time of 1:21.857.
MacKay would wind up just 0.055 seconds behind the British Columbia native, keeping himself on the front row for the Snow City Cycle Honda team as they try to cut the deficit to Young this weekend.
Zoltan Frast would build on the momentum of his first career Superbike podium with another strong qualifying result in fourth, leading off the second row aboard his Frast Racing BMW.
Frast had ran closely with MacKay for much of Thursday’s test day but lost touch slightly with the Honda’s in qualifying, an omen he will hope to reverse on Saturday as he eyes a second podium in a row.
Alex Michel will round out the top-five for Canadian Kawasaki Motors, putting in a strong lap but unfortunately finding himself in a lonely cushion between Frast (0.756 seconds ahead) and Cole Alexander in sixth (0.726 seconds behind).
Alexander will complete the second row in his Superbike debut, joining Young in the Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda tent as the breakout star does double-duty in the pro ranks.
Tomas Casas did all he needed to on Friday to inch closer to a third career OPP Racing Pro Supersport crown, taking pole position for the weekend doubleheader with an impressive showing for the FAST Riding School Suzuki team.
The winner of five of six races this season, Casas will carry a 13-point lead into Saturday at the front of the grid, having comfortably paced the session with a time of 1:23.556 - the quickest Supersport qualifying lap since 2020.
Only Mavrick Cyr was able to close to within a second of Casas’ time, securing second on the grid for the S.T. Motosport Suzuki team despite a deficit of 0.780 seconds to the championship leader.
Sebastien Tremblay ensured that both members of the S.T. Motosport Suzuki team will line up on the front row, putting in a much-needed late effort to steal third on his last flying lap.
The two-time champion struggled to match Casas’ pace on Friday and at one point found himself as low as fifth in the session, but a last-lap flyer would promote him back to third and next to teammate Cyr as he looks for a bit of help this weekend to overcome his championship deficit.
Tremblay’s late improvement would steal the spotlight from Brad Macrae, who had previously snatched third with a last-lap flyer of his own to eye a provisional front-row spot.
Macrae will still occupy a season-best fourth on the grid aboard his Colron Excavating Yamaha YZF-R9, joining Nathan Playford and home favourite Matt Simpson on the second row.
Playford would inflict some late pain on Simpson as he followed the Blackstock Motorsports Suzuki rider on-track, gaining a crucial tow aboard his Playford Company Inc. Ducati to leapfrog the nearby Bowmanville native for fifth.
Rookie sensation Alexander saw his slim title hopes take a hit on Friday, as he settled for eighth on the grid between western star Philip DeGama-Blanchet (making his season debut) and another local favourite in Mackenzie Weil.
Carter Matson continued his late-season form with a sensational pole position in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike category, obliterating the field by 2.420 seconds.
The double-winner in Grand Bend posted a time of 1:26.274 that would have placed him in the top-15 of the Pro Superbike grid, besting championship rivals Baillie Ives in second and Alexis Beaudoin in third.
Ives will find himself 28 points behind leader Beaudoin entering race one and will need some luck to go his way, while Beaudoin will aim to stay out of trouble and clinch his national title as soon as Saturday.
Another championship contender pushed to the brink will be Julia Krans, who finds herself sixth on the grid and with plenty of ground to make up if she hopes to overcome her own 25-point deficit to Beaudoin.
Ives would also cruise to pole position in the EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport class, going a full second quicker than the field to give himself another championship boost heading into Saturday.
The Nova Scotian put in a strong time of 1:28.119 to control the front of the grid this weekend, crucially ahead of championship leader Beaudoin in third.
The two title rivals - separated by just five points in this category - will be split by Nolan Eadie on the front row, who could play spoiler this weekend in one of the closest title showdowns in recent CSBK history.
J.P. Tache will start from a familiar pole position in the Importations Thibault Twins Cup category, smashing the field by over a second with a best lap of 1:30.446.
The 2025 and now 2026 champion will be joined by Nicholas Krans and Gary McKinnon on an Aprilia-dominated front row, as Tache searches for a pair of victories to close out the perfect season this weekend.
Jared Walker will headline the grid in the Scorpion EXO ZX-4R Cup, fending off class newcomer Ryan McGowan by a half-second for pole position behind a time of 1:34.971.
McGowan’s first national appearance on the smaller Kawasaki will see him sandwiched between championship leader Walker and reigning champion Jacob Black, while Mackenzie Weil looks to join the action from fourth with the entire group covered by less than a second.
Walker also made the most of his first appearance this season in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sport Bike class, snatching pole position from champion Lachlan Alexander and Norbert Joo.
The 2022 class champion turned in a strong lap of 1:36.192 to lead a Kawasaki front-row lockout, initially holding off 15-year-old MiniGP graduate Stefan Tanasic by 0.374 seconds with Alexander third.
However, Tanasic was later disqualified for missing mandated post-race DynoJet inspection, sending him to the back of the grid and promoting Alexander to second in his first weekend donning the #1 plate and Joo onto the front row in third.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
