Shannonville, Ontario – A near-perfect weekend continued for Alex Dumas on Saturday, leading start to finish despite plenty of pressure along the way to take his second victory of the Bridgestone CSBK season in the final round at Shannonville Motorsport Park.

 

Dumas grabbed the holeshot from pole position despite an equally good launch from Sam Guerin, and the pair quickly stretched away from the field and ran nose-to-tail for well over half the race as Guerin desperately looked for a way through.

 

An obvious passing point never materialized, however, as Dumas completed one of the best defensive efforts of his career to escape with a dramatic win in the penultimate race of the GP Bikes Pro Superbike season.

 

The victory – his second since joining Economy Lube Ducati – is just the latest part of what has been a dominant weekend from Dumas so far, having led FP1, FP2, and taken the BS Battery Pole award to now go along with a 14th career Superbike win.

 

“We won our first one at CTMP and led start to finish in that one too, but it was a lot harder today,” Dumas admitted. “I made a few mistakes, didn’t really make it easy on myself. But it was an awesome battle and a lot of fun, so hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.”

 

The victory also gives Dumas his sixth podium since joining the Economy Lube program, tying Pascal Picotte for the most by a Ducati rider in feature class history as he continues to look like a 2025 title contender on the V4 Panigale.

 

Guerin’s early assault wouldn’t be enough to displace Dumas and wasn’t quite enough to hold onto second, either, as newly-crowned champion Ben Young began to find a rhythm in the second half of the race and put himself back into second with four laps remaining.

 

Young would actually drop the gap to Dumas significantly in the final moments, setting the fastest lap of the race on the last lap but ultimately running out of time. Still, the four-time Canada Cup winner was happy to salvage a strong result after a bittersweet Friday, where he clinched his third championship in a row despite mechanical issues on his primary M1000RR machine.

 

“I didn’t get the best start, so I just tried to settle in on this ‘B-bike’ after we had some troubles yesterday, but I couldn’t quite get it there,” Young said. “But the team worked really hard overnight while I was celebrating, so I owe a huge thanks to them. The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW is such an amazing package to be a part of and a hell of a bike, so I know we’ll get there tomorrow.”

 

Guerin would have to settle for third, a disappointing result after it looked like he might challenge for his third victory of the campaign but still a strong indicator of just how far Guerin and the EFC Group BMW team have come since the season began, clinching the runner-up spot in the 2024 standings.

 

“I had a few moments out there, almost lost the front a couple times, so I tried to bring it home in second but once I backed off a little Ben was able to get by me,” Guerin said. “I was able to put a ton of pressure on Alex, and even though I really wanted the win I was happy to see the progress we’ve made since the last time here in round one.”

 

Completing the top four once again was Jordan Szoke, who continued his own bittersweet run of finishing top-four in every race this season. The 14-time champion is the only rider besides Young to do so and continues to look strong aboard his CKM Kawasaki, though by a comfortable margin to the podium finishers ahead of him.

 

Rounding out the top five after a late push was David MacKay, who found himself locked in a thrilling battle with Trevor Daley for much of race one. MacKay was able to make an excellent move into the penultimate corner and had the pace to chase after Szoke, though with only a handful of laps left as he settled for a strong fifth.

 

Daley’s run of “Daley Double’s” would come to an end after winning the Sport Bike race earlier in the afternoon, though he still managed an impressive sixth for OneSpeed Suzuki as he battles through a wrist injury and made some last-minute repairs to his GSX-R1000 following a Friday crash.

 

Making up for an early error was Tomas Casas in seventh, who had the pace to fight inside the top-five but ran off the back straight on lap one. The Yamaha Motors Canada rider admitted it was his mistake as he got sucked into the slipstream of the group ahead, but his comeback effort to finish seventh was enough to secure him the FAST Hard Charger Award for the third time in his career.

 

Casas’ late push came at the expense of Connor Campbell, who had an excellent charge in his own right as he climbed from 15th on the grid to finish eighth and at one point ran as high as sixth for B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki.

 

The strong finish will move Campbell a solid 16 points ahead in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year fight entering the last day of the season, as he looks poised to become the first Kawasaki winner of the award since Nico Meunier in 2019.

 

Eli Daccache would salvage ninth after running off the back straight on a pair of occasions, flashing the pace to fight inside the top-six but suffering from his costly mistakes aboard the Milwaukee Yamaha.

 

Rounding out the top ten in his pro debut was Goran Radisic, who clinched the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike crown last time out at CTMP and decided to end the year by advancing to the pro ranks early for PMR BMW.

 

The feature class will now prepare for their final race of the 2024 campaign when the series returns to Shannonville on Sunday, with the trio of Dumas, Young, and Guerin each looking to make a statement heading into the offseason.

 

Full results can be found on the series’ official website.

 

For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca

 

 

Hamilton, Ontario – Ben Young will enter the final round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship with one hand already on the Canada Cup, as the season concludes this weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park, August 30-September 1.

 

It’s a return to the same venue where Young kickstarted his title campaign nearly four months ago with a pair of victories on the perimeter “Pro Track” layout, but now he will take to the interior “Long Track” layout to try and close out the season the same way he started it and secure a fourth career GP Bikes Pro Superbike championship.

 

The math is simple for Young, as he needs to just score four points out of the 54 remaining this weekend to exit with a third consecutive Canada Cup and retain his #1 plate for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad.

 

Young has taken nothing for granted, remaining adamant that “anything can happen,” and that is true – after all, he is no stranger to bizarre mechanical issues at Shannonville – but it would still take a near perfect weekend from Sam Guerin to try and leapfrog Young as he trails by 50 points. 

 

What makes the odds even slimmer for Guerin is that Young showed zero signs of vulnerability on the Long Track layout last season, winning two of three races and overcoming a last-round deficit to Alex Dumas to win his third title.

 

Guerin was hardly as convincing in that 2023 finale, taking finishes of fourth, fifth, and fifth to close out the season. However, the EFC Group BMW star has been an entirely different rider in 2024, making it difficult to judge just how much those results will translate to his current form.

 

Already locked into a top-three spot, Guerin will have nothing to lose as he tries to erase his deficit to Young at the finale and complete one of the most improbable comebacks in history, but he won’t have a shortage of other contenders trying to get in his way.

 

The main favourite on race day may actually be Dumas, who is the most recent winner on the “Long Track” layout after ending the 2023 campaign on top. 

 

The 2021 champion looked very strong all weekend a year ago, earning pole position and leading early in race one before crashing out, then leading majority of race two and winning race three.

 

That was also Dumas’ final weekend for Suzuki, and it’s entirely possible his new Economy Lube Ducati will suit the layout even better after Trevor Dion took it to three consecutive podiums on the Long Track last season.

 

The most recent winner in the feature class is also expected to return to Shannonville, as Trevor Daley makes his third appearance of the season aboard the OneSpeed Suzuki.

 

The circuit hasn’t been one of Daley’s strongest throughout his career, taking just one podium all the way back in 2014, though the same could have been said for Grand Bend and CTMP prior to his stunning victories.

 

It’s also difficult to critique Daley’s Long Track results from a year ago, where he overcame brutal injuries to finish fifth, sixth, and sixth. Now healthy, it’s entirely possible he could add a third “Daley Double” to his resumé at Shannonville.

 

Experience is at a premium on the 15-turn version though, having returned in 2023 after being absent from the calendar since 2004, and that lack of familiarity will play right into the hands of Jordan Szoke.

 

Szoke admittedly hasn’t raced the Long Track layout as much as other tracks in his career, but he will have more laps to draw from than most of the grid combined, evidenced by his podium charge in race one last season despite being at a worse stage in his recovery than he is now.

 

The CKM Kawasaki rider has not finished outside the top-four at all this year and should be a strong bet to at least continue that streak to end the campaign, looking much more like his old self in the second half of this season.

 

Another rider chasing a dream victory is Tomas Casas, who returned to the podium for a third time in his Superbike career last time out at CTMP. The Yamaha Motors Canada rider made his season debut after missing the first four rounds and didn’t miss a beat, finishing fifth and third after leading the opening lap of race two.

 

Casas looked very strong in practice and qualifying a year ago at the finale before a Q2 crash and injury ended his season prematurely. Now having regained his health and a bit of confidence from his CTMP effort, the two-time Sport Bike champion will be eyeing another podium – or maiden victory – at SMP.

A pair of young Kawasaki riders will be vying for a bit of hardware to end the season, as Torin Collins will return for a third appearance and try to hunt down Connor Campbell in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year fight.

 

Campbell has led the award standings for majority of the season, finishing inside the top-ten in each of the first eight races for the B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki team and scoring points on every occasion.

 

It’s been a bit of an opposite story for Collins, who missed rounds one, two, and four but has benefitted from his victory and podium in Edmonton to find himself just eight points behind Campbell entering the final round.

 

The difference may come down to familiarity, as Collins will be making his first ever trip to Shannonville while Campbell made his Superbike debut on this layout last season, hopping aboard the ZX-10R Ninja on short notice to take two top-eight finishes.

 

Collins will also be under a new tent for the third time in three appearances, remaining aboard the same Kawasaki from his CTMP appearance but departing the CKM program to ride for Economy Lube alongside Dumas.

 

More information can be found on the series’ official website.

 

For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca

 

 

Bowmanville, Ontario – Sunday again proved to be Trevor Daley’s day in round five of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, as he doubled up for the second time this season in changing conditions at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

 

All eyes were on the championship battle between Ben Young and pole-sitter Sam Guerin in GP Bikes Pro Superbike race two, but Daley stole show with a spectacular start-to-finish win for his second career feature class victory just hours after winning in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike category.

 

Daley snatched the lead on lap one from the end of the first row, pacing Young and Tomas Casas on a wet but drying track in a surprising lead trio after Young started from ninth and Casas battered and bruised himself in a Friday crash.

 

The story then immediately shifted to the chaos behind, as race one winner Alex Dumas crashed out in turn eight of the opening lap just moments before Guerin fell in turn nine, seemingly handing a fourth career Canada Cup to Young.

 

Daley ironically helped deny his close friend that honour, though, fending off a persistent Young for most of the contest before stretching out a slight advantage in the final four laps, mastering the unpredictable conditions aboard his OneSpeed Suzuki.

 

“If you asked me yesterday if I was going to win, I probably wouldn’t have seen it coming, but I think Sport Bike gave me some clue about what the track was going to do” Daley admitted, after injuring his wrist in a Saturday crash. “People keep saying this Suzuki GSX-R1000 is outdated, but that’s two wins now in only two weekends this year.”

 

The win secured yet another “Daley double” for him after his Sunday sweep earlier this season in Grand Bend, a remarkable feat for Daley and the OneSpeed Suzuki team.

 

As for Young, his championship celebrations will be put on hold for a pair of reasons, as Daley’s victory coincided with a remarkable comeback effort from Guerin to finish sixth.

 

Still, it was yet another podium for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW star as he opens up an even 50-point lead with just 54 points left on offer, meaning he can secure a third Canada Cup in a row as early as qualifying at Shannonville.

 

“I obviously wanted the win, but Trevor was pretty gnarly out there, especially through turns two and four, so I just did the wise thing for the championship,” Young said. “The grip was starting to go as the track dried, but this BMW was bulletproof again today so it was nice to have that safety net.”

 

Completing the podium was Casas, who wasn’t able to fully stay with the lead duo but settled into a strong third for the entire race.

 

The Yamaha Motors Canada rider was banged up for his season debut but still managed an impressive third career Superbike podium, holding off a dramatic late charge from Jordan Szoke.

 

“It’s been a tough couple years, so it means a lot to be back up here and have everyone stick with me,” Casas said. “It sucked to not do the whole series this year, but hopefully we can end the year strong in Shannonville and put something together for next year.”

 

A few less clouds may have dramatically changed things for Szoke, who was one of a handful of riders to gamble on a rear slick tire and began to carve his way through the field in the last half of the race.

 

It was ultimately too little, too late for the CKM Kawasaki rider as he missed the podium by four seconds, though it was a small margin in the greater picture of his race after running outside the top-15 in the first two laps.

 

Completing the top five was David MacKay, who lost out to the rear slick gamble of Szoke in the last few laps but otherwise flashed great pace in yet another top-five finish for ODH Snow City Cycle Honda. 

 

Guerin would make a similar gamble to Szoke and flashed both the risk and reward of that decision in the same race, crashing on lap one before remounting his EFC Group BMW and lapping as much as eight seconds a lap faster than the rain-mounted riders ahead of him to salvage sixth.

 

It’s a difficult setback for the EFC Group BMW team as they now need a near-perfect weekend at SMP just to have a shot at the title, though Guerin did manage to keep his chances alive after it looked impossible earlier in the race.

 

His performance would also help BMW to a third consecutive Constructors Championship, clinching the title as they take a 125-point lead into the final round with a max of only 90 points remaining to rivals Kawasaki.

 

Paul Macdonell would take seventh for PMR/Vass Performance BMW in the next group of rain-tire runners, while slick-mounted Mavrick Cyr charged through the field to take eighth on the final lap for Economy Lube Ducati.

 

Brian Worsdall would earn ninth for Mot’s Machining Honda after running as high as fifth in the early full-wet conditions, while Sebastian Hothaza completed the top ten for the second day in a row in his Pro Superbike debut.

 

Connor Campbell would claim a crucial eleventh over Torin Collins, giving him the lead in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year award fight over his satellite Kawasaki teammate.

 

Campbell will have an eight-point cushion going into the last round aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki, with Collins’ status for the finale yet to be confirmed in the Economy Lube/CKM Kawasaki tent.

 

Full results can be found on the series’ official website.

 

For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca