By John Hopkins
ST-EUSTACHE, Que. – Canadian road racing legend Steve Crevier continued his mastery of the Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada XR1200 Cup at Autodrome St-Eustache on Saturday.
For the second race in a row, the Maple Ridge, B.C. racer broke the class record in qualifying as he grabbed pole position for Sunday’s race with a time of 49.827 secs. on the MotoSport Plus / Dominion Lending entry.
John Ross MacRae of Calgary will start second on Sunday after turning a lap at 50.351 secs. while his Ruthless Racing / Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada teammate Darren James of Deep Cove, B.C. qualified third at 50.715 secs.
Crevier’s time topped the lap record he established here for the class last year of 50.180 secs. He also beat the Shannonville Motorsport Park XR1200 lap record in the season opener two weeks ago.
“We had a lot of mechanical issues the first round but I’m in a groove here and I feel good,” said the six-time Canadian Superbike champion.
Crevier said he used a draft from Michael Taylor to set his fast lap, and then repaid the favour to his former Superbike sparring partner. Taylor will complete the front row for Sunday’s race after setting the fourth best time of 50.731 secs. on the Mackie Harley-Davidson entry.
Elie Daccache of Newcastle, Ont. will lead off the second row for Sunday’s 16-lap race after setting a time of 50.846 secs. on the Harley-Davidson de L’Outouais machine. Joining him on the second line will be flat track ace Donald Taylor of Port Colborne, Ont. on the Harley-Davidson of Niagara / Clare’s Cycle entry and the Atlantic Harley-Davidson Dealers XR1200 of Dartmouth, N.S.’s Blaise Fougere.
Qualifying Results
1.Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, B.C., 49.827
2. John Ross MacRae, Calgary, Alta., 50.351
3. Darren James, Deep Cove, B.C., 50.715
4. Michael Taylor, Toronto, Ont., 50.731
5. Elie Daccache, Newcastle, Ont., 50.846
6. Don Taylor, Port Colborne, Ont., 52.112
7. Blaise Fougere, Dartmouth, N.S., 52.201
8. Eric Trudel, Ste-Thecle, Que., 53.835
9. Costa Mouzouris, Montreal, Que., 54.783
10. Gump Harrison, Ailsa Craig, Ont., 56.765
*–all riders aboard Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles