By John Hopkins
SHUBENACADIE, N.S. – Michael Taylor ended Steve Crevier’s run of dominance in the Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada XR1200 Cup at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Saturday by grabbing the Tactical Products Canada LUMINOX Pole Award for the third round of the series in qualifying.
As time expired in the session the Toronto rider uncorked a 1:12.963 on his Mackie Harley-Davidson-backed entry to edge Crevier to the pole by just 0.031 secs. Maple Ridge, B.C.’s Crevier has qualified fastest and won both events in the season so far on the MotoSport Plus entry.
Taylor said being able to follow Crevier late in the session helped him find the speed he needed to grab the pole.
“This is good for tomorrow, because I learned a lot about where he can go fast around here,” Taylor explained. “I saw how much faster he was over the Roller Coaster and that worked for me. I figured he might pull in so I wouldn’t be able to take advantage but he didn’t.”
Taylor also made substantial rear suspension changes between practice on Friday and Saturday’s qualifying.
“It’s not perfect,” he acknowledged. “We still have a few more changes to do for tomorrow.”
Local ace Blaise Fougere of Dartmouth, N.S. qualified third with a time of 1:13.534 on his Atlantic Harley-Davidson Dealers machine and Calgary’s John Ross MacRae completes the front row for Sunday’s race after lapping at 1:13.681 on the Ruthless Racing XR1200.
Darren James of Deep Cove, B.C. leads off the second row of the grid ahead of Elie Daccache and Don Taylor. James managed a time of 1:13.790 on the other Ruthless Racing entry while Daccache did well to turn a 1:14.465 after suffering a pair of crashes so far this weekend with the Harley-Davidson de L’Outouais XR1200. Flat track champion Don Taylor recorded a lap at 1:18.671 on the Harley-Davidson of Niagara machine.
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