By: Hindle Exhaust  
June 27 2019 

Port Perry, Ontario – The third round of the 2019 Canadian Superbike Series (CSBK) took place this past weekend, June 21-23, at Autodrome St-Eustache in St-Eustache, Quebec. This was the final-ever race at St-Eustache for CSBK, as the famed track is set to close at the end of this year.

It was, again, a close one, as practice, qualifying and race times between the top pros were so close all weekend. Ben Young, on the Scot-Build/Hindle/BMW S1000RR, was at the top of the leaderboard for most practice sessions. When it came down to qualifying, Young just couldn't keep the top spot, as 2018 Champion, Jordan Szoke, on the Mopar Express/Hindle/Kawasaki ZX-10R, claimed the fastest lap, putting him in the first spot on the front row of the grid.

On Sunday for race day, the stakes were high knowing that this would be the final race at St-Eustache. Szoke had especially set his eye on the prize, as typically this track was one of his top performing tracks.

At the start, Szoke was able to get the holeshot going into turn 1, followed be Young close on his tail. The entire race saw the two riders switching back and forth for the lead. With heavy winds and a few backmarkers in the back straight portion of the track, Young and Szoke got held up a bit in the last lap. Szoke was able to maintain the lead with Young right on his tail. Crossing the finish line, Szoke was able to keep his top spot with Young only .150 seconds behind.

Trevor Daley, on the Parts Canada/Suzuki GSX-R1000 crossed the line in 3rd, followed by Samuel Trepanier, on the Blysk Racing/Hindle/BMW S1000RR in 4th and Tomas Casas, on the Peterborough Cycle/Hindle/Yamaha YZF-R1 in 5th place.

"It took longer than expected, if I am going to be honest, but that's racing and it makes it feel even better," explained Szoke. "Round one was tough for us, but round two felt a lot better and this weekend it all started to go right for us. I wanted to be up front in the last lap, so it all worked out in my favor and I got a good run to hold on for the win and we're going to keep fighting for this thing right to the very end."

Young said, "We are obviously a little disappointed, after such a close race, but second place is a fantastic finish that the team and I are proud of. It's about the championship at the end of the day, and we are still up front so it's all good."

Young heads into Round 4 taking place at Atlantic Motorsports Park (Shubenacadie, N.S.) on July 18-21, with an 18 point lead in the championship.

In the Liqui Moly Pro Sportbike Class race, champion Tomas Casas, on the Peterborough Cycle/Hindle/Yamaha YZF-R6, took home a 4 second lead against race rival Will Hornblower (Yamaha YZF-R6). Coming in 3rd was Sebastien Tremblay, on the Turcotte Performance/Hindle/Kawasaki ZX-6R. Tremblay is battling an injury from Round 2 and just recently had surgery to repair his collarbone. Next up was David Mackay, on the MacK AttacK/Hindle/Kawasaki ZX-6R in 4th place, followed by Louie Raffa (Honda CBR6000RR) in 5th place.

"The plan was to get a good start, and I was able to get out front on the first lap, so I was able to pull ahead, but I couldn't shake these guys so I knew I had to put my head down and ride really hard," said Casas. "The Parts Canada Yamaha was just amazing and the Dunlop tires were working really well too, so it was important to pick up the win and keep fighting for the championship."

In the Express Lane Amateur Superbike race, Dave Natale, on the Hindle-powered Aprilia RSV4, was leading the race and unfortunately crashed which set him back from the lead in the championship points. Thankfully, Natale was alright and was able to finish the race, but in 16th place.

Local racer, Guillaume Fortin (Kawasaki ZX-10R), was able to secure the top spot on the podium after Natale's crash. Another local racer, Pascal Bastien (Yamaha YZF-R1), came in 2nd, followed by Andrew Haick, on the Hindle-powered BMW S1000RR in 3rd place.

In the Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike race, local racer Christian Allard, on the Hindle-powered Kawasaki ZX-6R, came in 1st place, followed by Jake Leclair (Yamaha YZF-R6) in 2nd and Donald Dufour (Suzuki GSX-R600) in 3rd.

In the TSN's Motorcycle Experience Amateur Lightweight class, local racer Alex Berthiaume (Yamaha YZF-R3) sweeped the podium with two back-to-back first place finishes in Race 1 and Race 2.

Keegan Gaudet, on the Hindle-powered Yamaha YZF-R3, came in 2nd, followed by Ben Leclair (Yamaha YZF-R3) in 3rd in Race 1. In Race 2, Leclair came in 2nd place, followed by Gaudet in 3rd.

The next round takes place at Atlantic Motorsports Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, July 19-21. For more information, including rider bios and current championship standings, check out the Canadian Superbike Championship website. See you at the races!