GRAND BEND, ON – It took four rounds, but David MacKay finally had the qualifying breakthrough he has been chasing.
The Stoney Creek, ON rider earned his first career BS Battery Pole Position Award on Friday afternoon during opening day action at round four of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship. MacKay put together a near-perfect lap in the final GP Bikes Pro Superbike Q2 session to top a stacked field at Grand Bend Motorplex and earn the best starting position for Saturday's feature race.
MacKay had quietly worked his way into contention throughout the afternoon, comfortably advancing through Q1 before saving his fastest lap for the 15-minute pole shootout. His lap of 1:02.892 aboard the Snow City Cycle Honda was enough to edge reigning champion Ben Young by just 0.122 seconds, denying the Van Dolder's Home Team Honda rider after Young had led the opening qualifying session. The result marks MacKay's first career national Pro Superbike pole position and gives the Honda rider valuable momentum heading into the weekend.
The advantage of starting from pole is something that MacKay hopes to capitalize on during the two Superbike race Saturday and Sunday. "We always get good starts, it's one of the best parts of my race,” stated MacKay after the Pole Award podium. “I’m hoping to get a good start, try and get the holeshot, and then hang on and go for a ride."
Young will still line up alongside MacKay on the front row after another consistently fast day aboard his Honda, while BMW rider Zoltan Frast continued his impressive start to the 2026 campaign by qualifying third. Veteran Jordan Szoke ensured three manufacturers will occupy the first two rows after placing his Kawasaki fourth.
Another rider to impress on Friday was Kyle Newman. The SOAR front-runner made full use of his extensive Grand Bend experience to qualify an outstanding fifth aboard his Honda. After comfortably advancing through Q1 into the final pole shootout, Newman produced the strongest national Pro Superbike qualifying result of his career, edging fellow Honda rider Andrew Van Winkle to secure a coveted second-row starting position.
While MacKay celebrated a career milestone in Pro Superbike, Tomas Casas continued his strong start to the 2026 season in the OPP Racing Pro Supersport category.
The Peterborough, ON rider wasted little time establishing himself at the top of the timing screens, producing a best lap of 1:04.581 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R750 to secure pole position as he looks to close the gap in the championship standings this weekend.
Casas will lead an all-Suzuki front row after Sebastien Tremblay and Matthew Simpson qualified second and third, continuing Suzuki's dominance in Canada's premier middleweight class. Cole Alexander narrowly missed joining the trio on the front row in fourth, while Nathan Playford put Ducati into the top five with another composed qualifying effort. Yamaha rider Brad Macrae completed the second row in sixth, ahead of Spencer Cecckin, Mackenzie Weil, Chase Westmoreland, and Dante Bucek in another closely matched Supersport field.
Friday's qualifying program also saw the support classes establish their grids for the weekend's racing. Carter Matson continued his impressive form by earning pole position in AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike aboard his Suzuki, ahead of Julia Krans and Baillie Ives, while Braeden Stewart topped the EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport session over Ives and Krans after a tightly contested qualifying battle.
The Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike class promises another exciting battle after Lachlan Alexander claimed pole position aboard his Kawasaki Ninja 500. Alexander narrowly edged Marc Prete and Stefan Tanasic in a competitive qualifying session that saw the top four riders separated by less than eight-tenths of a second, setting the stage for another entertaining race in one of the championship's closest categories.
Friday's qualifying program concluded with the Importations Thibault Twins Cup and Scorpion EXO Ninja ZX-4R Cup taking to the Grand Bend circuit. Scott Rupert led a closely contested Twins Cup session aboard his Aprilia RS 660, edging fellow Aprilia rider JP Tache by just over half a second, while Cecil Montour completed an Aprilia sweep of the top three. Suzuki riders Yves Dion and Justin Marshall rounded out the top five in another competitive middleweight field.
The Ninja ZX-4R Cup saw Jared Walker earn pole position aboard his Kawasaki, with Rob Cousineau joining him on the front row. Jean-Pascal Schroeder qualified third to complete the leading trio as the growing spec-class championship prepares for another entertaining pair of races this weekend.
Saturday's schedule will feature racing across all seven national championship classes, with valuable championship points on the line as Round Four officially gets underway at Grand Bend Motorplex.
