Shannonville, ON – The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship returned to Shannonville Motorsport Park on Friday for the opening round of the 2026 CSBK season.
With the debut of the Bridgestone V03 tires in the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class and a return to a familiar track, defending champion Ben Young aims to cement himself as the main frontrunner for the weekend’s two races on the Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda after a poor outing at Shannonville last season.
The Thornbury, ON rider was the first to break the 1:06 barrier on Shannonville’s 2.47km Pro Track on Friday, and the only one to finish in the 1:05’s (1:05:883) for P1. Jordan Szoke had a less-than-stellar time on his Kawasaki ZX-10R; both his A and B bikes suffered engine failures during the opening practice session, meaning the Lynden, ON rider would need to take part in Q1.
Two Supersport riders would capitalize and get into the top five, with Suzuki riders Sebastian Tremblay and Tomas Casas able to put their Supersport machines directly into Superbike Q2.
Young would get right up to speed in Q2, grabbing the BS Battery Pole Award to headline the front of the grid for Saturday and Sunday’s races with a time of 1:05:521, even with a less-than-ideal schedule leading up to the Shannonville opener.
“Due to testing at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, I was feeling jetlagged after arriving home last night, and I needed an adjustment as Suzuka is very different from Shannonville,” said the defending CSBK champion.
Szoke was able to get his bike back up and running, thanks in part to Connor Campbell - who lent Szoke the engine from his B bike - and the Canadian Kawasaki Motors mechanics, who were able to get his bike up and running.
“I would not have been running in this for as long as I did without these guys; they are the best,” Szoke said of his Kawasaki crew. Szoke was able to claw back into Q2, setting the second fastest time, lining up alongside Ben Young on the front row with a 1:06:178.
Tomas Casas, who was originally only doing the feature Superbike class to obtain more track time, was able to snatch third with a 1:06:236. “I will need a really good launch, as it will be a challenging race for me. The superbikes can so easily pass me, and it’s not so easy to pass them back,” commented the two-time Pro Supersport champion.
Fourth fastest was Andrew Van Winkle on the Mountainview Motorsports Honda with a lap time of 1:06:332. The Chilliwack, BC rider was also fastest in Q1, setting a time of 1:06:293 ahead of Szoke, but was not fast enough to contest with him in Q2.
2023 Pro Supersport champion David MacKay finished the session with a best time of 1:06:543 on the ODH/Snow City Cycle Honda, rounding out the top five.
The OPP Racing Pro Supersport class was also tightly contested, with Sebastien Tremblay going on to grab pole for the Supersport opener with a 1:06:332. The other sole rider in the 1:06’s was Tomas Casas with a 1:06:511, while Matt Simpson rounded out the front row with a 1:07.611.
Casas mentioned having a clutch issue during qualifying, which prevented him from setting down a true flyer. Considering the Suzuki rider was less than 0.1 seconds off pole position, Pro Supersport is shaping up to be an exciting battle for both of the races in this class.
In the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class, Hamilton, ON rider Jeff Barnard snatched pole position, setting a time of 1:11:433. Daniel Johnson from Ajax was right behind him at 1:12:637, with Julia Krans finishing third with a 1:13:107.
Unfortunately, the provisional pole sitter Alexis Beaudoin was disqualified from the session for a post-qualifying technical infringement. The field spread from second onwards was only around two seconds at the Shannonville Pro circuit, which will make for a very unpredictable and exciting podium fight on both Saturday and Sunday.
The EBC Amateur Supersport class was also filled with action, as Quebecois rider Beaudoin from St. Maurice was disqualified again from this session after originally setting another provisional pole time of 1:08:790.
That opened the door for Sherbrooke, QC’s Yannick Rouleau, who grabbed pole position in front of Johnson and Barnard, the top three with times of 1:10:981, 1:11:169, and 1:11:565, respectively.
It was an Aprilia front row lockout in the Importations Thibault Twins Cup, with JP Tache fastest of the day, finishing the session with a 1:10:578. Louie Raffa and Sebastian Silva rounded out the top three with a 1:11:561 and a 1:13:189, respectively.
In the Scorpion EXO Ninja ZX-4R Cup, Jared Walker (1:14:345) was able to beat reigning champion Jacob Black (1:14:645) for pole position, with Rob Cousineau (1:14:755) not far behind in third, the top three separated by only 4 tenths in what could turn out to be a straight shootout for this round’s class victory.
Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike also put up a good showing with an all-Ontario, all-Kawasaki top three. Amaranth rider Lachlan Alexander grabbed pole with a 1:14:515, followed by Scott Szollos from Pickering with a 1:16:040, and youngster Mason Archer from Toronto, rounding out the top three with a 1:16:614.
