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August 15 2021
Bowmanville, Ontario – Jordan Szoke continued his winning ways in the final leg of Sunday’s historic Canadian Superbike Championship tripleheader, capturing a second consecutive victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park following another thrilling Pro Superbike feature race.
Continuing the trend from races one and two earlier in the day, the battle for the lead featured as many as seven riders early on and frequent pass attempts throughout, as championship leader Alex Dumas grabbed the holeshot from Tomas Casas while pole sitter Ben Young got a brutal launch off the grid.
As Casas tried to find a way through on Dumas out front, Young and Szoke quickly picked their way through the field, with the lead quartet coming together by lap three and continuing to trade places throughout the contest.
While Dumas eventually relinquished the race lead to Young, the rookie teenager remained in the lead group as Young and Szoke again renewed their long rivalry at the front of the pack, with the trio running three-wide into the final lap.
With Dumas close behind and a championship lead on the line, Young attempted a risky last-corner pass on Szoke, though he fortunately checked up at the last moment as the two riders briefly touched exiting the final turn.
Ultimately, Szoke would hold on ahead of Young and Dumas, with the 14-time national champion taking another crucial victory after a disappointing finish in race one for the Canada General Warranty Kawasaki team.
“The day certainly didn’t start that well, but everything felt great, so we knew to hang in there and stay positive,” Szoke said. “The depth of the field is so strong, there’s like ten guys fighting for the win every race, so we’re just happy to shake the bad luck off and grab a couple of wins for the fans.”
Szoke will still have work to do in the third and final round at Calabogie Motorsports Park, slated for September 17-18, as he trails Dumas by an even 30 points. However, his effort on Sunday did earn him the final FAST Riding School Hard Charger award, as he powered his way from ninth on the grid to secure his 78th career Superbike victory.
Dumas’ biggest challenger will also exit round two with a smile, as Young capped off a terrific day with another exciting second-place finish for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW team – and a crucial points haul ahead of his title rival.
“I got in beside Jordan on the last corner there and thought I could pass him for the win, but I knew it would have been bad for both of us and that’s not the kind of rider I am, so I’m happy to finish ahead of Alex for the championship,” Young said. “It really is a great day for us, and we have a great track record of success here, so now we just have to carry that into ‘Bogie.”
Young’s sensational weekend also earned him the title of “King of Mosport” and the crown to go with it, as his win and three podiums meant he scored the most total points over the course of the weekend and in the process captured the unofficial award.
Despite failing to find the top step of the podium in any of the three races on Sunday, Dumas will still consider his trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park a success, as the Liqui Moly MPG FAST Riding School Suzuki rider ended his day with a fifth-consecutive podium overall and a ten-point advantage over Young in the Superbike standings.
“I was able to get a really good start in all three races, and we were able to lead for a few laps in all three as well, but we just didn’t want to take many chances,” Dumas explained. “The results are really good for the championship, so we just have to try and continue that into the final round.”
Dumas also made history by clinching the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year award, doing so still with a doubleheader left to go in Calabogie as he becomes the third-youngest winner in the history of the award, behind only Casas and former World Superbike rider Brett McCormick.
Just missing out on the podium for the third time today was Sebastian Tremblay, who finished fourth in every single race but was unable to break into the lead trio aboard his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki.
Tremblay also missed out on the opportunity to clinch a Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike championship, as the middleweight race was unfortunately cancelled due to the compressed weekend schedule.
Completing the top-five in Sunday’s final race was OneSpeed Suzuki rider Trevor Daley, who got a strong start in race three but was unable to replicate his podium from race one, though he still secured a solid finish for Suzuki in the inaugural Constructors Championship, where they lead Kawasaki by 31 points heading to the final round.
Rounding out the top-six was Casas, who briefly looked like a threat for his first career Superbike victory before he was swallowed up by Szoke and Young, forcing the Parts Canada Yamaha rider down the order in the late stages.
While none of the Pro riders were able to make considerable movement in the championship standings, the Amateur ranks delivered plenty of excitement, with Brad Macrae becoming the first rider to capture a national title in 2021 by clinching the Amateur Sport Bike championship.
The Yamaha rider swept both halves of his Sunday doubleheader in dominant fashion, moving him 62 points clear of the next closest challenger with only 56 points on offer in the final round.
Local teenager Matthew Simpson – the closest challenger to Macrae all season – finished second in race two, but an earlier crash derailed his championship hopes as he will now turn his focus to wrapping up second overall in round three.
Championship leader Mackenzie Weil extended his unbeaten streak in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight class, sweeping both races despite thrilling battles in each one, including a photo-finish in race two.
Weil won by just 0.016 seconds ahead of title rival Jacob Black while Paul Etienne Courtois finished within a tenth of a second in third, as Weil will now take a decisive 77-point advantage into the doubleheader finale next month.
The only championship to change hands on Sunday was the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike category, as former points leader Anthony Bergeron crashed out in race one to gift eventual winner Pascal Bastien a championship lead for Yamaha.
Bergeron was able to erase most of the damage in race two by securing a comfortable victory for BMW, but Bastien will retain a ten-point lead entering the final round in Calabogie, where Bergeron won in convincing fashion at round one.
Four of the five championships will still be determined in the final weekend, which is set to be formally announced in the coming days, with all eyes turning towards the title battle between Dumas, Young, and Szoke.
Full results from Sunday’s packed slate of racing can be found online at the series’ official website at csbk.ca.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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August 15 2021
Bowmanville, Ontario – The Pro Superbike tripleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park delivered another new winner in race two, as reigning champion Jordan Szoke claimed a crucial victory after another thrilling battle on Sunday.
Szoke’s weekend had previously been off to a rocky start, as unusual circumstances left him ninth in qualifying before he struggled to sixth in race one. However, the Canada General Warranty Kawasaki rider demonstrated why he is a 14-time national champion in race two, methodically picking his way through the lead four-rider battle before sealing the win with a penultimate lap pass on championship leader Alex Dumas.
The much-needed win slightly trims Szoke’s deficit to the top of the standings, as his title defence now sits 41 points away with three races to go, though Dumas again executed his ability to limit the damage with a strong second-place finish.
The rookie teenager was briefly shunted to third with three laps to go as Young and Szoke renewed their storied rivalry out front, but he only needed one more lap to place his Liqui Moly MPG FAST Riding School Suzuki back into the top two spots.
Race one winner Young desperately tried to catch Dumas at the line, but he ultimately settled for third as his deficit increases again to 13 points. The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW rider will be looking to settle the score in race three this afternoon, knowing Dumas will have one hand on the trophy if he enters the final round with a points lead.
Sebastian Tremblay continued his stellar dual-threat season with another stellar fourth-place finish, as the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike championship leader ran behind the lead trio for the entire race and seemed poised for a podium spot before ultimately settling for crucial points inside the top-five.
Rounding out the five best finishers was race one podium finisher Trevor Daley, who got scrappy with the frontrunner on lap one but ultimately couldn’t replicate his pace from earlier in the day, settling for fifth after a thrilling battle with Dewildt Honda’s Steven Nickerson and a charging Tomas Casas.
Casas’ efforts were enough to secure him the second FAST Riding School Hard Charger award of the day, as the Parts Canada Yamaha rider slipped as far back as 16th on the opening lap before storming his way to sixth across the line.
Szoke’s win and Tremblay’s top-four result will see Kawasaki make a massive jump in the Constructors Championship, as they leapfrog BMW for second in the overall table, though Suzuki retains a 47-point gap atop the standings thanks to Dumas and Daley.
The full results from race two can be found here, while race three – the final leg of the historic tripleheader – is set to get underway at roughly 4 p.m. EST.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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August 14 2021
Bowmanville, Ontario – Day one of the Canadian Superbike Championship’s weekend racing schedule was brought to an early end on Saturday, with Sebastian Tremblay winning a red flag shortened Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The middleweight class was the only national race to run on Saturday, with the rest of the action – including race one of the Pro Superbike feature tripleheader – being moved to Sunday in what will be a condensed version of the planned event.
Tremblay started on pole position aboard his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki and wasted little time in placing that machine at the front of the pack, grabbing the holeshot on lap one and extending a sizeable advantage by the time the group rolled around on lap two.
Despite a closer than usual margin in qualifying, Tremblay was ultimately untouchable in race one, leading all eleven laps and cruising to a comfortable six-second victory as he now has a perfect 112 points through two races.
The battle behind Tremblay was a thrilling one, as a four-rider group – and at one point a pack of seven – continuously traded places in an effort to sort out the final two podium spots.
After a crash displaced the back three, the remaining quartet seemed poised for a sensational last-lap battle, with Elliott Vieira leading rookies Trevor Dion and Jake Leclair across the line with three laps to go.
However, another frightening incident on lap eleven of 14 brought out a red flag and an early end to the contest, with Tremblay sealing the win.
Vieira’s first career national podium would not be upheld, unfortunately, as the Snow City Yamaha rider and former Guyanese Superbike champion was more than four horsepower over the legal limit on the official series Dynojet Dynomometer, resulting in a disqualification.
A pair of other front-running riders were also issued horsepower-related penalties, with Leclair finishing fourth on track but getting docked four positions, while David MacKay finished fifth but was handed a two-position penalty.
Because of the nature of the infractions, Leclair effectively only drops three places (due to Vieira’s disqualification), while MacKay will stay in fifth after the two penalties before him negated his two-place penalty.
The official classification will see Trevor Dion improve to second, scoring his first Pro national podium in the process, as the LDS Consultants Kawasaki rookie moves up one spot after finishing third at the flag.
Joining Tremblay and Dion on the podium was Vincent Levillian, who jumps from sixth all the way to third aboard his Édonia Signature Kawasaki, and in the process climbs to second in the championship standings behind his former teammate.
Finishing fourth in the final classification is SOAR regional standout Chris Pletsch, who had charged to seventh at the flag after recovering from a poor start aboard his privateer Honda machine.
Leclair’s unfortunate relegation to seventh will still have a positive effect on his championship place, as he actually improves to third overall for bLU cRU Yamaha, while MacKay’s eventful fifth-place finish moves him to fourth in the title fight for Mack Attack Kawasaki.
Tremblay will carry a comfortable 46-point cushion into Sunday’s second half of the doubleheader, though the middleweight category will likely see their race shortened to accommodate the compressed schedule.
Full results from Saturday’s lone race can be found online at the series’ official website at csbk.ca, while a revised schedule will be uploaded later Saturday evening.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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August 15 2021
Bowmanville, Ontario – The first leg of Sunday’s action-packed Pro Superbike tripleheader did not disappoint, as Ben Young held off title rival Alex Dumas in a sensational battle in race one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Young’s pole position start was quickly negated by Dumas, as the championship leader stormed off the line to grab the holeshot and pace the eight-rider lead group through the opening laps.
After a few pass attempts were denied by Dumas early on, Young finally made the decisive move on lap six, putting his Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW at the front of the pack with numerous challengers close behind.
Dumas nearly spoiled Young’s charge as the duo renewed their battle on the final lap, but the 2019 champion ultimately closed the door and sealed a crucial victory as he trims his title deficit to just six points.
Despite the unsuccessful pass attempts, Dumas was able to hang on for an equally important second-place finish, as the Liqui Moly MPG FAST Riding School rookie escaped race one of three with a championship lead intact.
Completing the podium was fellow Suzuki rider Trevor Daley, who benefited from a late red-flag incident that pushed the results back to the previous lap. Daley had been running third for much of the race, but ultimately lost the position to Sebastian Tremblay on the final lap – though Tremblay was pushed back to fourth due to the unfortunate last-lap red flag.
Completing the top five was Tomas Casas, who was forced to start from seventh after Friday’s qualifying crash but managed to work his way back into the lead group. After running briefly inside the top three, Casas ran into late trouble and faded back aboard his Parts Canada Yamaha, settling for a solid fifth at his home circuit.
One of the biggest movers – both up and down the leaderboard – was reigning champion Jordan Szoke, who quickly made up for his unfortunate ninth-place qualifying position by joining the lead group early on.
However, after running as high as third and briefly putting pressure on the leaders, Szoke ran into problems of his own in the closing stages, fading well off the pace and mustering only a distant sixth – his worst finish on track since 2008.
Steven Nickerson battled through injury to claim a solid seventh in race one, scoring the first points for Honda this season aboard his Dewildt Powersports machine, as the SOAR Regional champion recovered from a crash earlier this week to briefly run with the lead group early on.
Launching his way up the grid to eighth was rookie Samuel Guerin, who struggled with mechanical difficulties on Friday to only qualify in 12th for the EFC Group BMW team but fixed the issue on Sunday, as he was lapping similarly to the podium finishers en route to his first points finish of the season.
In the process, Guerin secured the first FAST Riding School Hard Charger award of the weekend, which is given to the rider in each Superbike race deemed to have produced the best effort in the context of that race, specifically one who overcame certain challenges across the weekend.
Despite Young’s victory, the double-podium for Suzuki boosts their hopes of securing the inaugural Constructors Championship, with Dumas and Daley providing them a 36-point cushion over BMW entering race two and three this afternoon.
Championship leader Mackenzie Weil extended his advantage in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight class, fending off a thrilling battle throughout the race to continue his perfect season.
A four-rider group broke away quickly and maintained that gap throughout the contest, before a crash promoted Weil to the front in the late stages, handing him the lead for good with three laps to go as he held off fellow Kawasaki challenger Jacob Black across the line.
Weil’s biggest challenger, Jean-Francois Croteau, overcame a grid penalty that forced him to start from the back, powering his way to fifth as he salvaged enough points to maintain second in the championship.
The points lead changed hands early in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike category, however, as former championship leader Anthony Bergeron crashed out on lap one as a lead group broke away.
The incident allowed title rivals Pascal Bastien and Alex Cleary to gain an advantage over the rest of the field, with Bastien leading the rest of the way for the victory despite relentless pressure from Cleary in second.
As a result, Bastien will take over the championship lead entering race two on Sunday, while Cleary jumps to fourth overall and just a handful of points behind Bergeron, who will aim to fix his bike in time for the second leg of their doubleheader this afternoon.
Brad Macrae moved one step closer to clinching the Amateur Sport Bike title, winning race one in dominant fashion after rival Matthew Simpson crashed out.
Macrae will take a 42-point lead over fourth-place finisher Nathan Playford in the title fight, with his first chance to secure the trophy coming in race two this afternoon.
Race two and three of the Pro Superbike tripleheader are slated to run this afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, while the results from the other national classes can be found online at the series’ official website at csbk.ca.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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August 13 2021
Bowmanville, Ontartio – Ben Young will start from pole position for each of this weekend’s three Pro Superbike races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, after mixed weather conditions and a formal petition forced revised grids on Friday.
Rain stopped the second of two afternoon sessions for the feature Pro Superbike category, where the top ten qualifiers from the first Q1 offering were provided with the opportunity to go out on special Dunlop Qualifying slick rubber.
CSBK Officials initially opted to use the results of the first session to determine the grids, since the unpredictable weather made continuing with the interrupted final “Q2” opportunity problematic. This decision was not well received by several Pro Superbike competitors.
A short while later, a formal petition was submitted by eight of the ten racers who participated in the second “Q2” session to determine Pole and the starting grid. BMW’s Ben Young, Michael Leon, Ivan Babic and Jordan Royds, Suzuki racers Alex Dumas and Trevor Daley, Kawasaki pilot Sebastien Tremblay, and Honda mounted Steven Nickerson all requested that the times posted in the first half of the 20-minute rain-interrupted session be used to establish a grid.
Reigning Canadian national champion Jordan Szoke, riding for Kawasaki, and Tomas Casas, who crashed his Yamaha in the second session, did not sign the document.
“Based on the fact that the majority of the Pro racers asked for this adjustment, we have decided to respect their wishes and honor their request,” explained CSBK boss Colin Fraser. “We understand that the situation this afternoon was complicated, and tempers ran high. It is unfortunate that our goal to go for ultimate lap times with the special tires provided by Dunlop this weekend just didn’t work out.”
With the decision now final, the grid will look much different for the weekend’s three feature races, though Ben Young will retain pole position and Alex Dumas will still start second after both riders claimed the same positions in both sessions.
Now starting third will be Sebastian Tremblay, who moves up one spot from his Q1 time, while Trevor Daley will take the biggest jump to complete the front row in fourth after only managing eighth in Q1.
The second row will now be kicked off by Michael Leon in fifth, an improvement of two positions from his first session, while Steven Nickerson retains sixth place and the middle of the second row.
Tomas Casas will move from third to seventh following the revision, after the early crash in Q2 cost him a second front-row start of the season. Ivan Babic will move up two spots to lead off the third row in eighth, while the biggest faller is reigning champion Jordan Szoke, who drops from fifth to ninth in what is his worst qualifying finish since 2010.
In addition to his Superbike duties, Tremblay will start from pole position in both of the weekend’s Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike races, pacing the grid aboard his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki with a time of 1:24.579.
Rookie pro Trevor Dion was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, securing second on the grid with a time just 0.162 seconds behind Tremblay, as the former Lightweight race winner will look to spoil the pole sitter’s weekend aboard his LDS Consultants Kawasaki.
Third on the grid for the middleweight doubleheader will be former Guyanese Superbike champion Elliott Vieira, who excelled at CTMP a year ago and will look to replicate that success this weekend for the Snow City Cycle Yamaha team.
Completing the front row in the Sport Bike category will be another Kawasaki in the form of David MacKay, as the Mack Attack Racing rider continued his strong form at the circuit where he found the podium once before in 2018.
Jacob Black stormed to his first career pole position in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight class, shattering the qualifying lap record and breaking his own outright record with a time of 1:39.813 aboard his Kawasaki Ninja 400.
Black was already comfortably on pole when he posted the record-breaking time on his final lap, cruising past second-place qualifier Paul Etienne Courtois by over a second.
Championship leader Mackenzie Weil struggled to fifth in the qualifying session, but the Kawasaki teenager can still make a strong push at the front as the Lightweight category will again rely heavily on the slipstream down the Andretti back straightaway.
Fellow title hopeful Anthony Bergeron was the man to beat on track in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class, though Bergeron will be docked one position after failing to meet the fuel requirements in post-race tech inspection on his BMW.
Alex Cleary will instead start from pole this weekend, benefitting from the penalty after only losing out on the fastest time by 0.126 seconds to his BMW counterpart out front.
Brad Macrae continued his sensational Amateur Sport Bike season with another pole position in middleweight category, blitzing the field to a time of 1:26.476 aboard his privateer Honda.
Only hometown teenager Matthew Simpson was able to get close to Macrae, qualifying second on the grid and just 0.360 seconds behind, while no other rider was able to get within a second of the top two championship rivals.
Full results from Friday’s exciting day of qualifying can be found on the series’ official website at csbk.ca, while the schedule for this weekend’s racing can also be found online ahead of Superbike race one on Saturday.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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