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Ben Young hit the podium twice on his return to Canada at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. (Photo-Nik Karagianis/RaceCanada.ca)
 
 
By: Fogi Development Team      
August 17 2015
 

Bowmanville, Ontario – In only his second visit to the legendary Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Thornbury Ont.’s Ben Young battled hard to bring home a third and A second place finish aboard his #86 Hindle Exhaust Yamaha YZF-R6 in spectacular fashion.

Young, who’s been competing in United States with the RoadRace Factory team in the new MotoAmerica Supersport series, was presented with an opportunity to ride as a wild card entry in the final round of the Canadian Superbike Hindle Exhaust Pro Sportbike class on behalf of Hindle Exhaust.

Looking forward to much needed track time on Friday Young made impressive progress before the skies opened up. He was running second fastest prior to the red flag being waved to clear the track due to the severity of the storm that had rolled in. Due to the very wet weather, race control changed Friday afternoon's qualifying sessions to practice sessions for safety reasons.

High temperatures with partially overcast skies greeted the riders and fans on Saturday for the season-ending series doubleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Young would qualify 6th fastest in the morning’s Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike qualify session.

Young got a solid start off the line in the first of the two Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike feature races of the weekend. Will Hornblower quickly took the lead however he was assessed a jump start penalty.

Kenny Riedmann would quickly take over the lead with Hornblower running a close second. Young had moved up to third from his sixth place on the grid with his sights now on the two front-runners.

Hornblower and Riedmann began an intense battle with Young ready to join the fray. Jodi Christie would get by Young to take third and would eventually pass Hornblower for second.

Riedmann took the victory with Christie in second, Hornblower third and Young would cross the line in fourth. Hornblower’s jump start penalty would drop him back placing Young third on the podium earning him his first ever Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike podium.

Young would learn he too would be penalized for incorrect fuel and would lose 25 series points and winnings were to be donated to the Canadian Rider Safety Fund.

“That was a great race and so much fun!” said Young “We had a miscommunication about the fuel as the rules had changed since we were last here in 2013. We simply used “pump” fuel and it was determined that we gained no competitive advantage. I think this was handled very fairly and I’m more that happy that it resulted in supporting the Canadian Rider Safety Fund which benefits all the riders, I can’t wait for tomorrow!”

Race number 2 was the first race of the afternoon on Sunday under the blazing sun. Young not satisfied with just repeating the previous day’s performance was ready to turn up the heat.

Young got another good start using the series’ race spec Sunoco fuel and quickly moved into third spot behind Christie and Riedmann who was in the lead.

Young would pass Christie for second as Riedmann would put his head down in an attempt to create a gap back to the riders battling for second. Christie would eventually force his way by Riedmann into the lead with Young and Hornblower in the mix.

With six laps in Riedmann would retake the lead with Christie right on his back tire and Young ready to pounce. Young ramped-up his pace and took over the lead with Riedmann very close behind.

Riedmann, Young and Christie battled back and forth throughout each and every exciting lap. Using the draft to his advantage on the back straight Young was back into the lead yet Riedmann was equally as hungry for the top spot on the podium and for his second straight Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike Championship and took the lead back from Young once again.

It would come down to an all-out drag race down the front straight with Young trying to make the most of the draft before the finish line. Riedmann would get the win by a margin of victory of only .066 over Young who would earn the second step of the podium and the fastest lap of the race.

As a proud "Laps for Muscular Dystrophy" (Laps4MD) rider, Young will be making his first donation to this important initiative as he has pledged to donate $1 for every lap he leads to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

“That was an incredible race!” said Young “Kenny and I haven’t raced each other that hard since we both raced in the AMA. I was honored to share the podium with him while he accepted the number one plate in Hindle Exhaust Pro Sportbike for the second straight year. I hope the fans enjoyed the incredibly close and entertaining racing as much as I did!”

Young would like to thank Hindle Exhaust, Tim Hortons – Sudbury, Scotbuild Developments, Bell Helmets and AXO.

To keep up-to-date on Ben Young throughout the year visit; www.fogi.us, www.facebook.com/BenYoungRacing and on Twitter @benyoung_86.