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- Category: Motorcycle
By: Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship
June 23, 2024
June 23, 2024
Edmonton, Alberta – Ben Young escaped with a crucial and dramatic victory at RAD Torque Raceway on Saturday, fending off Torin Collins in a last-lap duel at the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.
Young led the race from start-to-finish, grabbing the holeshot and gradually extending a comfortable advantage as the rest of the field battled behind him, but a charging Collins rapidly erased that gap in the final five laps as he chased a historic victory in his CSBK debut.
Collins got a poor start from second on the grid and slid to fourth behind Alex Dumas and Jordan Szoke, allowing Young to build up as much as a five-second advantage by the midway point, but Collins would eventually claw his way through Szoke and Dumas to find clean air and begin his hunt towards Young.
The 18-year-old Collins was carving away nearly a second-per-lap on Young before the championship leader stabilized things with three laps to go, but lapped traffic held Young up just enough to allow Collins to close within striking distance on the final lap.
The two would go side-by-side in the final few corners before Young slammed the door, escaping with the race one victory by just 0.4 seconds at the line.
It was a massive result for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW rider, who almost doubled his championship lead from 15 points to 29 in his first race at RAD Torque Raceway.
“I knew it was going to be wicked pace, and I was kinda keeping an eye on Torin all weekend,” Young admitted. “But our Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW was working well enough that I knew I could put my head down and run a comfortable pace, so it’s nice to bring home the win in my first trip here.”
The win was also a monumental one for BMW as a manufacturer, as they score their 63rd career Superbike victory – equalling Suzuki’s mark for second all-time (and now just eleven behind Kawasaki for the feature class lead).
As for Collins, the Novalda Kawasaki rookie put on quite the impressive showing in his wildcard debut, reeling in Young and nearly stealing a victory in his first ever Superbike race, a feat that would have put him alongside Dumas as the only riders to ever do so.
“I knew I was going to have to work really hard out there, but I got a bad start and then the bike just felt a little slow,” Collins said. “After the first couple laps I knew I had better pace though, so once I got by Alex I was lapping really well. Another lap or two would have been nice, but I’ll take second.”
Settling for third in his CSBK return was Dumas, who didn’t have as much of a challenge for his rival Young as he would have hoped. However, the Economy Lube Ducati rider remains confident that with some mechanical fixes he can close the gap on Sunday.
“First off, I have to thank Steve Moxey from Economy Lube, crew chief Scott Miller, and the whole team for the opportunity. A week ago I didn’t even know if we’d be here,” Dumas said. “I had some front chatter which was weird and made things really difficult, but we’ll do our homework tonight and get back up to the front tomorrow.”
Dumas extended his streak of having every career finish be on the podium, but by the finest of margins after Szoke nearly spoiled his return on the final lap.
The CKM Kawasaki veteran managed to stay with Dumas once Collins had made his way through the pair and wound up just three second off the victory, one of his closest efforts yet as he continues to work his way back from 2022 injuries.
Rounding out the top five was Sam Guérin, who ran a lonely race for the EFC Group BMW team as he ultimately couldn’t stick with the lead quartet. While still a solid result in his first trip to RAD Torque, it was a bitter one for the championship fight as Guérin slips to 29 points behind Young entering race two.
Local favourite Paul Macdonell earned a career-best sixth in his homecoming, charging through a late-race battle with former regional foes Brian Worsdall and Tosh Gable. The Grande Prairie, Alberta native made a great pass on Worsdall into turn one and held on the rest of the way aboard his PMR/Vass Performance BMW, moving him into fifth in the overall championship.
Worsdall would relinquish another position to 16-year-old Philip DeGama-Blanchet in the final laps, an excellent result for the rookie aboard his lesser-powered Vass Performance Kawasaki Sport Bike machine, though Worsdall held on for an impressive eighth for Mots Machining Honda.
Pro Rookie of the Year leader Connor Campbell made some late improvements to earn ninth, keeping him tied with Macdonell for fifth in the championship aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki.
Jon Bullee would complete the top ten at his home circuit for Riverside Honda, holding off Bronti Verbeek in a late battle. Verbeek, notably the first female pro since Stacey Nesbitt in 2017, would settle for a strong eleventh for Jack Carter Powersports BMW.
Missing from the final order was David MacKay, who crashed out of sixth early in the race. The ODH Snow City Cycle Honda rider was reeling in Guérin for fifth when he fell in turn ten, though he’ll retain fourth in the championship entering Sunday.
While it was a difficult day for Guérin, his performance coupled with Young’s victory was enough to add a slight extension to BMW’s total in the Constructors Championship, though Kawasaki countered with an excellent day from Collins and Szoke.
BMW will hope for an even better day in race two as they try to build upon their dominant 82-point advantage, while Kawasaki tries to hold off Honda, Suzuki, and Ducati for second.
Race two of the feature class is scheduled to get underway at roughly 3 pm local time (5 pm ET) on Sunday, with the full slate kicking off at 1 pm local time.
Full results from Saturday’s action can be found here.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
By: FEL Motorsports
June 21, 2024
June 21, 2024
Edmonton, Alberta – A change in venues couldn’t prevent Ben Young from snatching pole position on Friday, as he captured his third consecutive BS Battery Pole award in a scorching qualifying session at RAD Torque Raceway.
Visiting the Edmonton circuit for the first time in his career, Young immediately moved to the top of Q1 behind a time of 1:17.947 and exited with a comfortable advantage, securing his entry to the top-ten Q2 session.
Torin Collins and Jordan Szoke would gradually chip away at the Q1 deficit, but it would be inconsequential as all three lapped safely inside the top-ten. However, the same was not true for Alex Dumas, who set a new lap record earlier in the day in FP1.
Having completed just one flying lap, Dumas went straight off at turn seven with a rear brake issue and sat parked for the remainder of Q1, tumbling down the order and clinging to a Q2 spot with a time of 1:20.642.
Ultimately, Dumas would narrowly squeeze through in eighth and allow the Economy Lube Ducati team to make the necessary repairs prior to Q2, setting up a showdown between himself, Young, Collins, and Szoke for pole.
There was little to separate the quartet early in the final session, as Young paced the field from Collins, Szoke, and Dumas with less than a half-second covering them all.
However, Young would blitz the timesheets around the midway point of Q2, lowering Dumas’ lap record time from the morning with a new best of 1:17.374, almost a half-second clear of the previous lap record from 2015.
That seemed like an insurmountable gap, but Collins would put in a late time attack to inch closer to what would have been a historic pole position, putting his Novalda Kawasaki within 0.137 seconds of Young but eventually settling for second.
That preserved a third consecutive pole for Young and the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad and the 16th of his Superbike career, putting him at the front for both feature class races this weekend.
Dumas would salvage a dramatic third and the final spot on the front row, climbing to within 0.132 seconds of Collins as only 0.269 seconds blanketed the lead trio.
Szoke would lose a bit of steam in the final stints of Q2 but managed to put himself a strong fourth on the grid and at the front of row two, less than a second from pole.
Centering the second row will be round two breakout winner Sam Guérin, who closed the gap to the front over his two qualifying sessions but would still wind up fifth, only marginally behind Szoke aboard his EFC Group BMW.
David MacKay found over a full second of improvement in Q2 to place his ODH Snow City Cycle Honda into sixth and the end of row two, while fellow Honda rider Brian Worsdall will kick off row three in seventh, headlining the local contingent for the Mots Machining team.
Fellow EMRA star Tosh Gable will sit alongside him in eighth, while Sebastien Tremblay put his Turcotte Performance Suzuki just ahead of Paul Macdonell and the PMR/Vass Performance BMW team in the final places of the top-ten.
Young’s qualifying effort will extend his advantage in the BS Battery Pole Position Award standings, where he opens up a 16-point lead over Szoke and Guerin with only three rounds and 30 points left up for grabs.
Full results from Friday’s qualifying can be found on the series’ official website.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
By: Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship
June 17, 2024
June 17, 2024
Hamilton, Ontario – The third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will present a rare home opportunity for its western stars this weekend, June 21-23, as the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class returns to RAD Torque Raceway for the first time since 2015.
Amongst the local talent will be one man trying desperately to keep them at bay, however, as championship leader Sebastien Tremblay aims to extend his title advantage as he also returns to the Edmonton circuit.
Tremblay is one of the few returnees from that 2015 round, having finished sixth in both Superbike races nine years ago. While he will be making his Sport Bike debut this time around, the 2021 champion will be thankful to have as much prior knowledge as he can get, something that will be hard to come by for his Ontario and Quebec counterparts.
The Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider has won twice and finished as the runner-up twice in four races this season, taking 95 of a possible 108 points through the first two rounds to stretch out a commanding 45-point lead, a gap he will look to manage over the next four rounds to bring home his second Sport Bike title.
Tremblay’s odds will also be boosted by the unfortunate absences of championship runner-up Zoltan Frast and round two winner Trevor Daley, the latter of whom also raced at Edmonton in 2015, leaving a massive difference in track knowledge compared to his usual eastern-Canada foes.
However, his prior resumé at RAD Torque will pale in comparison to the numerous local riders that are expected to be in attendance, some of whom have been contesting the full series and will now look to level the playing field at their own home track.
Leading that charge is expected to be John Laing, who has quickly become a regular frontrunner in the Sport Bike ranks despite making his CSBK debut just last season.
The Vass Performance Kawasaki rider has already amassed one win, two podiums, and five top-five finishes in his 13 career races, and will surely be back at the front in a more familiar setting at Edmonton, only three hours north of his hometown of Cochrane, Alberta.
Joining him in the bracket of local riders is teenage sensation Philip Degama-Blanchet, the youngest pro rider in the national series at just 16 years old.
The Calgary native burst onto the scene in round one with a fourth-place finish and could become the youngest winner in Pro Sport Bike history this weekend if he can maximize his home race, surpassing Chris Peris’ mark that has stood since 2004.
While the rest of Tremblay’s rivals will be making their debut trips west, the 2021 champion won’t want to discredit them either, especially pre-season contender Elliot Vieira.
A disastrous round two saw Vieira tumble down the championship order, but the GP Bikes Ducati rider has race-winning potential at virtually every track on the calendar, and it wouldn’t be surprising if RAD Torque is added to that list this weekend as he tries to claw back crucial points.
Vieira will also get a bit of reinforcements in the Ducati stable, as rookie Mavrick Cyr joins the Economy Lube program aboard a V2 Panigale in round three.
The 19-year-old reigning amateur double-champion was rumoured to be making the switch prior to round two before sticking with Rizzin Racing Triumph, but Cyr will now make the move official as he looks to step on a pro podium for the first time in Edmonton.
Another confirmed entry will be Alex Michel, who has battled through a season plagued by mechanical issues (including a pair of engine failures at Grand Bend) but will hope to get things back on track in round three.
The SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki rider showed what he’s capable of at unfamiliar venues with a strong finish at the Daytona 200, and will hope to have better luck underneath him as he tries to climb the leaderboard out west.
The class may see a familiar face return to the grid as well, with reigning Pro Twins champion AJ Van Winkle potentially slated for a national return.
The 17-year-old became the youngest pro champion in CSBK history last season but has yet to return to the national paddock, though he has enjoyed plenty of regional success in British Columbia with the MotoMeccanica Ducati squad.
Also expected to join the weekend are a number of regional stars from the EMRA (Edmonton Motorcycle Roadracing Association) series, headlined by former national entry Justin Knapik.
Knapik last raced with CSBK during that 2015 season, taking a pair of strong Superbike finishes at his home track including a fourth-place result in race two. While the Edmonton native may focus on Superbike again, Knapik has been piloting an Argyll Motorsports Yamaha to great success in the Sport Bike ranks at EMRA rounds and could be a podium threat during the national weekend.
More information for round three of the 2024 CSBK season can be found on the series’ official website.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
By: Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship
June 18, 2024
June 18, 2024
Hamilton, Ontario – The third round of the 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship is shaping up to be the most-anticipated yet, as a number of notable entries will set the tone for a thrilling return to RAD Torque Raceway, June 21-23.
The GP Bikes Pro Superbike class is already fresh off its most unpredictable weekend in years at Grand Bend, as Sam Guerin and Trevor Daley each took maiden victories to limit Ben Young’s gap atop the standings, and now Young will have to deal with another old rival as Alex Dumas returns to the series in Edmonton.
None of Young, Guerin, or Dumas were present at RAD Torque when the series last visited the circuit in 2015, and Daley will unfortunately not be competing in round three, leaving the lead group all on equal terms when it comes to prior knowledge of the 2.7 km, 14-turn layout.
Young and Guerin will enter in seemingly similar positions, as both will be navigating their familiar BMW machinery around the unfamiliar venue, though Young will be the one expected to set the benchmark as he carries an eleven-point championship lead into Alberta.
The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW rider is a near-automatic bet to fight for the win, having missed the podium just three times in his last 44 races – an absurd stretch dating back to 2018 – and amassing seven victories in eight races prior to Grand Bend.
The three-time champion will not have much of a cushion in the standings, however, following a fantastic debut victory for Guerin in round two. The EFC Group BMW rider has coupled his strong pace with much more consistency in 2024, putting legitimate pressure on Young despite a season that would have seemed more straight-forward in the absence of Dumas.
Making matters worse for Young is that the aforementioned absence is now over, with Dumas set to make his CSBK return for a revamped Economy Lube Ducati squad.
The 2021 champion may need more time to adjust to his V4 Panigale after just two days of testing, but he will be a definitive race-winning threat should he come to grips with the new machine right away, complicating the championship picture.
Lost in all the drama is the lone rider without any unfamiliarity, as Jordan Szoke will enter round three with perhaps his best shot at a victory since his 2022 injuries.
Szoke swept both races at Edmonton in 2015 and is the only former national Superbike winner at the venue, giving the CKM Kawasaki team an important advantage when the field arrives on Thursday.
As if the trip west and return of Dumas weren’t enough to throw at the leaders, the round will also feature the wildcard appearance of Torin Collins, who makes his CSBK and overall Superbike debut.
Collins is currently riding in the MotoAmerica Supersport class after departing the FIM JuniorGP series last season, and the 18-year-old out of nearby Calgary will now try his hand aboard a Superbike as he pilots a privateer Kawasaki in front of his home fans.
Those home spectators will have plenty of others to cheer for, though, as a number of local riders are expected to be in attendance, headlined by CSBK regular Paul Macdonell.
The Grande Prairie native currently sits seventh in the overall standings for the Vass Performance/PMR BMW team and has plenty of experience at RAD Torque, having won the regional Open Superbike championship in 2021.
A number of Macdonell’s former regional foes are now expected to join him at their home round, including EMRA round one winner Brian Worsdall. The Mots Racing Honda rider has been regularly lapping in the same range as the top-five did nine years ago, putting Worsdall potentially in the podium mix given his track expertise.
All the new arrivals will be bad news for first-year Superbike riders David MacKay and Connor Campbell, who will have another challenge ahead of them as they hunt for their own debut national podiums in Edmonton.
MacKay remains fourth in the championship despite a race two crash with Macdonell at Grand Bend, and the ODH Snow City Cycle Honda rider has looked comfortable right out of the gates aboard his new machine, but he will now put that to the test at a brand-new circuit.
As for Campbell, the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year leader has been riding at less than full health following a rib injury in round one, but is finally hoping to be back at 100% as he heads west for the first time aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki.
Like Szoke, another returning rider from 2015 will hope to put his knowledge to good use, as Sebastien Tremblay will also continue his double-duty at Edmonton.
The Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider is shorthanded aboard his lesser-displacement GSX-R750, the same machine he leads the Pro Sport Bike championship with, but will hope his previous experience can limit the difference at RAD Torque.
As for the Constructors Standings, the new venue will need to throw a lot at Young and Guerin to displace BMW from the top spot, who will also have a valuable third option in home favourite Macdonell.
However, the battle for second will get far more complicated with Dumas joining fifth-placed Ducati, who look to chase down Suzuki (fourth), Honda (third), and Kawasaki – the latter of whom will get their own boost with the wildcard appearance of Collins.
More information on the third round at RAD Torque Raceway can be found on CSBK’s official website.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
By: Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship
June 15, 2024
June 15, 2024
Hamilton, Ontario – The 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will feature an exciting new addition when it returns to action in Edmonton, as former champion Alex Dumas is slated to make his return to the series at RAD Torque Raceway, June 21-23.
Dumas will be joining forces with Economy Lube Ducati to headline a brand-new project beginning in round three, having completed a private test at Shannonville on Friday.
The 22-year-old became the youngest GP Bikes Pro Superbike champion ever when he captured the title in his rookie season in 2021, finishing as the national runner-up in each of the last two seasons to rival Ben Young.
Dumas elected not to participate in the full campaign as he prepared for the 101st Loudon Classic in New Hampshire, where he recently finished 13th, but his absence will not last more than two rounds as he now heads west to Edmonton.
The Quebec City native will now make his return official aboard a Ducati V4 Panigale, joining an Economy Lube stable that was previously headlined by Trevor Dion and has offered title support to riders such as Elliot Vieira, Mavrick Cyr, and Dylan Bauer.
A two-time MotoAmerica champion in the junior categories, Dumas has been historically successful since returning north of the border, winning 12 times and scoring 24 podiums in just 26 career Superbike races, crashing out of the lead in his only two podium absences.
His win rate (46.2%) trails only Jordan Szoke (50.6% with 78 wins in 154 races) for the best all-time in CSBK history, and his most recent victory in the 2023 finale moved him into a tie with Don Munroe for the fifth-most in the Superbike class.
Dumas’ return will play a pivotal role in the championship battle, where three-time champion and rival Young currently leads BMW-mate Sam Guerin by eleven points entering Edmonton, the third of six scheduled rounds.
More information can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca