Tavares, Cyr amongst pole sitters in support classes at SMP

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Friday, August 30, 2024 18:07 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

The final round of the 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will feature a host of new pole-sitters in the support classes, with qualifying action wrapping up on Friday at Shannonville Motorsport Park.

Amongst them is round one winner Tyrone Tavares, who carved his way to a second career CSBK pole in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class.

The story of the day in Amateur Superbike was the departure of champion Goran Radisic, who elected to graduate to the pro ranks early after clinching the title in CTMP, as well as the absence of Tyler Brewer who is locked into the runner-up spot.

That allowed Tavares to storm into the 1:50 lap times – the only rider to do so – as he posted a best mark of 1:50.800 aboard his privateer Yamaha, a comfortable 0.689 seconds clear of Denis Giguere in second for Turcotte Performance Suzuki.

Ending the third row will be S.T, Motorsports Kawasaki’s Serge Boyer, who will enter the weekend eight points clear of Tavares for third in the championship as he tries to deny the pole-sitter a pro graduation for 2025.

Boyer will have bigger things to worry about in the EBC Brakes Amateur Sport Bike ranks, however, as he will start from fourth in that category as he tries to defend his 12-point championship advantage over Laurent Laliberté-Girard.

Neither will get the benefit of pole position after Scott Szollos snatched the honour at his home track for Lean Angle Kawasaki, though Laliberté-Girard did manage to take a pair of points out of his title rival by putting his Tactical Products Canada Yamaha second on the grid and two places clear of Boyer.

Matthew Hooper will complete the front row for Yamaha, with just 0.345 seconds covering the top three on the grid in what should be an exciting Amateur Sport Bike weekend.

A former Pro Superbike winner returned to the series in spectacular fashion on Friday, as Jean-Francois Cyr claimed pole position in the Importations Thibault Pro-AM Twins class.

The father of current Sport Bike star Mavrick Cyr and an accomplished pro rider in his own right, J-F managed to put his privateer Aprilia on the top of the timesheets with a last-lap improvement to dislodge fellow pro Aprilia rider JP Tache from provisional pole.

Tache will have to settle for second on the grid but will still find himself ahead of pro points leader Dallas Reynolds, who qualified third overall in an all-Aprilia front row as he tries to clinch the title on Saturday.

As for the amateur Twins title, the betting odds swung dramatically in Sebastian Silva’s favour as championship leader Vincent Wilson was unfortunately declared medically unfit to ride after suffering a broken ankle at CTMP.

That will open the door for Silva to erase his 17-point deficit and snatch a first career national championship, though he will have to do so from tenth on the combined grid and second amongst amateur riders after debutant Cecil Montour claimed the split-class pole in their first weekend of the year for Suzuki, qualifying sixth overall.

Star teenager Ryan Beattie also moved one step closer to a national championship by de facto, qualifying fourth on the Super Sonic Road Race School Pro-Am Lightweight grid but benefitting from the surprise absence of title rival Baillie Ives.

It remains unclear why Ives – who entered the finale just 20 points behind Beattie – did not attend the final round at Shannonville, though it will make life easier on the EFC Group Kawasaki youngster as he effectively clinches the title in Ives’ absence.

He won’t be able to celebrate comfortably, however, as he finds himself behind a trio of riders including two other amateurs, with fellow teenager Treston Morrison taking outright pole in another stunning performance by the MiniGP graduate.

Morrison will lead off the amateur group from top pro Stacey Nesbitt, who centers the second row in second but four places clear of next-best pro Jacob Black in sixth. Dante Bucek will complete the combined front row, one spot ahead of fellow amateur Beattie.

Mack Weil will start from an unfamiliar second in the Niagara Race Crafters ZX-4RR class, sporting the #1 plate in the pro division but finding himself 0.145 seconds behind top amateur Jean-Pascal Schroeder on the day, who can try and secure the amateur class championship this weekend.

Full results from Friday’s qualifying action can be found here.