David MacKay paced a quiet Q1 session at RAD Torque Raceway on Friday, topping the first portion of qualifying to advance to the BS Battery Q2 shootout this afternoon.
The Q1 group benefitted from slightly better conditions than in this morning’s P1 session, where Ben Young set a new lap record despite cool temperatures at the circuit just south of Edmonton.
With the top-five automatic entries into Q2 already decided, the rest of the field returned to Q1 to determine the five names to join them, with DeGama-Blanchet and MacKay the headliners after finishing sixth and seventh this morning.
The time between sessions was especially beneficial to MacKay, who bettered his time by over 0.7 seconds on his very first flying lap, securing a relatively straightforward spot in Q2 aboard his ODH Snow City Cycle Honda.
MacKay would park his machine almost right away, understandably happy with his time of 1:18.107, a lap that would have put him fourth in this morning’s practice.
It was a less impressive first stint for DeGama-Blanchet, who could only manage a time of 1:19.576 for the Mots Maching Honda crew – roughly 0.7 seconds slower than his best time in P1 – though it was enough to secure him a spot in Q2 for the third consecutive weekend.
Leapfrogging him in the final moments, however, was reigning Pro Supersport champion Sebastien Tremblay, who managed to go second-quickest aboard his S.T. Motosport Suzuki GSX-R750 with a time of 1:19.350.
That late effort shunted local riders Brian Worsdall (BMW) and Eric Russnak (Kawasaki) to fourth and fifth, respectively, though the EMRA stars would hang on for Q2 entries at their home venue to put four Alberta natives into the BS Battery top ten.
Russnak’s first ever Q2 appearance would come at the expense of top rookie Laurent Laliberte-Girard, who put in his best time of the day at the chequered flag but couldn’t dislodge the Edmonton native, winding up roughly a second away from Q2.
The group of MacKay, Tremblay, DeGama-Blanchet, Worsdall, and Russnak will now join this morning’s top five of Young, Alex Dumas, Sam Guerin, Jordan Szoke, and Torin Collins to form the BS Battery Q2 session, which will get underway at roughly 3:10 pm MT.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.
