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July 10 2021
Toronto, Ontario – The Canadian Superbike Championship kicked off day one of its 2021 season in stunning fashion on Saturday, as 2019 champion Ben Young crushed the Pro Superbike field in his return to racing at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW rider had some rust to shake off after nearly two full years away from the series, running nearly a full second off the pace in the morning practice sessions. Young quickly found his championship form in qualifying, however, as he posted a time of 2:02.436 to snatch his seventh career Yuasa Batteries Pole Position by a healthy 0.749 second margin.
Following Young and starting from the middle of the front row on Sunday will be Tomas Casas, who earned a career-best qualifying in second place as he also made his return after a year off from CSBK. The Parts Canada Yamaha rider narrowly edged reigning champion Jordan Szoke in third, with just 0.097 seconds separating the two.
Szoke’s championship defence will see him start from the end of the front row aboard his Canada General Warranty Kawasaki, as the 14-time National title-winner looks to claim his sixth consecutive victory at Calabogie in race one on Sunday.
Leading off the second row will be highly touted rookie Alex Dumas, who overcame a disastrous qualifying session to salvage fourth at the chequered flag. The Liqui Moly Suzuki teenager crashed on his out lap and later had laps removed for violating pitlane procedures, but he was still able to post a time of 2:03.717 in the final seconds to vault himself inside the top-five and mark four different manufacturers amongst the top four.
Dumas’ final lap displaced a terrific effort from Sebastian Tremblay, who will start fifth aboard his lesser-powered 600cc Turcotte Performance Kawasaki. The fan-favourite posted a time of 2:03.847, which would have crushed his own Sport Bike lap record that he posted earlier in the day.
Headlining the third row and starting from sixth on Sunday will be last year’s runner-up Samuel Guerin, who struggled aboard his EFC Group BMW but still managed to place himself inside the front two rows for Sunday’s doubleheader.
Young’s pole time will also make him the early frontrunner in the Yuasa Batteries Pole Position award standings, as he’ll take an early advantage over Casas and Szoke in that category regardless of Sunday’s results.
Tremblay’s stellar Saturday was followed by a historic outing in Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike, as he claimed pole position by over a second-and-a-half to smash the qualifying lap record, though his Superbike time was nearly a second better than his lap of 2:04.741 aboard the same machine.
Last year’s double race-winner is the consensus favourite to win the Sport Bike category and his first Pro championship in 2021, and he showed why on Saturday as he finished well clear of Turcotte Performance teammate Christian Allard in second.
Allard headlined what should be a close battle for second place, with the next five riders after Tremblay separated by just a second. David MacKay completed a Kawasaki front row lockout aboard his Mack Attack Racing machine, while Elliott Vieira placed his Snow City Yamaha in fourth to lead off the second row.
Julien Lafortune will start from pole position in the MotorcycleCourse Amateur Superbike category on Sunday, as the Nicolet, QC rider crushed the rest of the field by nearly an entire second, with Alexandre Cleary centering the front row in second place.
Brad Macrae became the first race winner of the 2021 National campaign, dominating the Brooklin Cycle Racing Amateur Sport Bike class with a clean sweep of pole position and the victory on Saturday.
The Perth Road, ON native held off a brief challenge from Bowmanville teenager Matthew Simpson, who settled for second in his Sport Bike debut after making the jump from the Lightweight class, while Nathan Playford completed the podium in the season opener at CMP.
The other event to run on Saturday was won by teenager Mackenzie Weil, who led start to finish in race one of the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sport Bike doubleheader to take an early championship lead aboard his MotorcycleCourse Kawasaki.
Weil was challenged closely by Jacob Black throughout the race, but Black’s last-lap pass attempt on the youngster nearly took both riders out as the enigmatic Australian was forced to settle for second.
“Things got a little squirrely at the end there, which was a bit disconcerting for both of us,” Black said, before dropping the quote of the weekend. “I just gotta’ have a beer, change my pants and go for the win tomorrow!”
Mike Maguire completed the podium in the first half of the doubleheader, benefitting from a late crash from Raphael Lacasse-Linteau who was in the lead group with Weil and Black until the penultimate lap.
Sunday’s action at Calabogie Motorsports Park will include a pair of races in the Pro Superbike feature class, as the full schedule – including Saturday’s results – can be found online at the series’ official website at www.csbk.ca.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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July 7 2021
Shannonville, Ontario – After a long off season, the Super Series is ecstatic to announce that the 2021 season will officially begin this weekend (July 9-11) at Shannonville Motorsport Park.
One of Shannonville’s longest standing series, the Super Series has been a place where any aspiring riders can come test and hone their skills against some of the Ontario’s best. Since the series’ beginning in the 1980s, thousands of riders have raced in the series and now currently in its 5th decade of competition this season is gearing up to be the best one yet.
With three rounds scheduled from July to September, the riders will have many opportunities to showcase their talents. With 11 different classifications taking to the track in 2020, from Sidecars to PRO Superbike the Super Series has something to offer for every rider and fan alike.
This weekend, in front of a limited number of spectators, 14 classes will take to the track. The Super Series is happy to host members of the VRRA for their opening round and the vintage P1, P2 and P3L classes have been added for the first round.
“This season, we are so delighted to welcome all the riders back to Shannonville for another great year of Super Series racing and this time, we can finally welcome a number of fans as well,” said Super Series General Manager Dominique Bondar. “Since the beginning of Shannonville back in the 70s, the track has always been a thriving place for motorcycle racing and such a great spectator event. We excitedly await the opening green flag of the season, and a safe start to the 2021 campaign.”
The full 2021 season will be as follows:
July 9-11 – Long Track
August 20-22- Nelson Track
September 17-18- Pro Track
All the rounds will be held at Shannonville Motorsport Park and announced by the original track announcer Pat Gonsalves.
He shared: “It will be amazing to return to Shannonville where I announced the first motorcycle road race back in 1976 and for many years after that. I look forward to being the public address voice of the 2021 Super Series and providing racers, family, crews and eventually race fans quality public address announcing of all of the classes”
For more information on the Super Series, please visit super-series.ca for all the competitor information, schedule and regulations.
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July 6 2021
Toronto, Ontario – The upcoming opening event in the 2021 CSBK National tour and Pro 6 GP race Series at Calabogie Motorsports Park will feature a strong Vintage entry in the classic racer event scheduled for July 10 and 11. The Vintage Road Racing Association, founded in 1980, first competed at Calabogie in an invitational event with the opening CSBK National of 2015.
The Vintage final will feature machines from four categories in the V.R.R.A., including the recently adopted Period 5 class for race bikes utilized in the late 1990s. The period 5 entry includes Ducati pilot Jean-Marc Bilger, a recent Pro Podium performer in Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Nova Scotia. Bilger’s chief rival is likely to be former Pro 250 Grand Prix National front runner Darrell “Boom Boom” Cooney aboard his recently completed Suzuki boattail SRAD GSX-R600.
The strong Period 4 grid will offer a wide range of bikes that featured in the late 1980s, including 2015 Calabogie pole sitter Neil Graham, the writer and film maker aboard a racer red Ducati 888 Desmo. Former V.R.R.A. number one plate holder and Vintage star Daniel Rinfret is also very quick on his Honda GT650 middle-weight twin.
In Period 4, the rider to watch is Tim Ruhl, a star Amateur in the 1980s who had an impressive career in the WERA National Endurance Tour in the U.S.A. during the 1990s. Ruhl pilots a big Suzuki Katana, one of the definitive machines of the air-cooled, twin shock early era of Pro Superbike competition.
Purpose-built racer bikes feature in the Grand prix class, where the trick yellow meanie Yamaha TZ250 two-stroke twin of Rob Massicotte is expected to set the pace. All four classes of Vintage machinery will race together on Sunday afternoon at Calabogie and compete at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park east of Oshawa, ON, in the annual Vintage classic, August 6-8.
The full list of rider entries are now posted on the official CSBK website here: https://www.csbk.ca/index.php/news/news/3301-vintage-road-racing-association-pro-6-gp-race-series-and-csbk-confirm-calabogie-vintage-entry
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July 6 2021
Toronto, Ontario – After another long and chaotic offseason, the Canadian Superbike Championship can finally return to racing, as the series opens their 2021 campaign in front of limited spectators this weekend with round one at Calabogie Motorsports Park, July 10-11.
The Pro Superbike feature class will once again see 14-time National champion Jordan Szoke defending his title, after sweeping the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to reclaim the Canada Cup and his signature number-one plate.
The Lynden, ON veteran will be back aboard brand-new Canada General Warranty Kawasaki machines as he chases a historic 15th crown, and his dominant 2020 stretch makes him the odds-on favourite heading to Calabogie, a track where he has won every Pro Superbike race at since its inception in 2008.
However, Szoke will have his work cut out for him this season with perhaps his toughest group of challengers yet, made up of both new foes and familiar rivals.
Leading that charge will likely be the last man to beat Szoke, as 2019 champion Ben Young returns to the feature class aboard his Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW. The Collingwood, ON native won three races and scored five podiums during his last breakout campaign, though he hasn’t suited up since and will have to shake off the rust quickly after nearly two full years away from the sport.
Young won’t be the only front-running BMW on the grid, as EFC Group rider Samuel Guerin will look to build upon his sensational debut season where he finished as the runner-up to Szoke a year ago. Guerin will maintain his rookie status due to the pandemic, but the Quebec City-born rider will be returning with a year of Pro Superbike experience and a lot of offseason training under his belt.
Another rookie sure to crack the lead group is teenager Alex Dumas, who returns to Canada after a successful stint in MotoAmerica. The former Junior Cup and Twins champion will be joining CSBK for the first time, racing for Liqui Moly Suzuki in 2021, but has flashed early pace at Calabogie and figures to be right in the mix of things in his debut Pro Superbike campaign.
Other names to watch in a loaded feature grid include OneSpeed Suzuki rider and consistent frontrunner Trevor Daley, long-time podium contender Michael Leon aboard a Royal Distributing BMW, Parts Canada Yamaha contender Tomas Casas, and fan-favourite Sebastian Tremblay, though Tremblay will be focusing primarily on the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike category.
Tremblay won both races in the Sport Bike class last season and figures to be the overwhelming title favourite in 2021, as he headlines a stacked Turcotte Performance Kawasaki lineup. The Mirabel, QC rider will have a trio of talented teammates to deal with in Christian Allard, teenager Nicolas Meunier, and Vincent Levillian, all of which will play a huge role in the battle behind Tremblay.
Defending class champion Will Hornblower will be sidelined for most of – if not all of – the 2021 season after injuring himself in a pre-season crash at Grand Bend, but would be the biggest challenger to Tremblay should he make an appearance aboard his 402Bike Yamaha.
Yamaha Canada won’t be without a challenger in Hornblower’s absence, however, as rookie Jake LeClair will make his long-awaited Pro debut after sitting out the 2020 season. The former Lightweight champion needed only one year in the Amateur ranks before progressing to the feature grid and should be a threat for podiums in his first year with black numbers.
Another contender in the Sport Bike category will likely be former Guyanese racing champion Elliott Vieira, who has shown steady improvement over each of his four seasons in Canada and will be back aboard a Snow City Yamaha machine in 2021.
The Amateur ranks will again be the toughest to predict with a huge number of competitive riders expected this year, though Racine, QC’s Anthony Bergeron will likely enter as the pre-season favourite in the MotorcycleCourse.com Amateur Superbike category after a pair of podiums in 2020 aboard his BMW Motorrad machine.
Former Lightweight frontrunner Matthew Simpson also figures to be in the mix in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Amateur Sport Bike class after a strong regional racing debut, while fellow regional star Brad MacRea will also be gunning to move into the Pro ranks after a strong finish to the 2020 campaign.
The Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sport Bike class will be wide open this season as well, with youngster Mackenzie Weil aiming to capture his first Lightweight championship as the odds-on favourite aboard his Kawasaki machine.
The National tour will not be alone at Calabogie Motorsports Park, as CSBK welcomes the inaugural Pro6 GP regional racing series as well as the Vintage Roadracing Association this weekend. The weekend will feature a Pro 6 Cycle trackday on Friday, July 9 before racing in all three series’ kicks off on Saturday and Sunday.
The 2021 campaign will also see the introduction of two new side championships in the Pro Superbike feature class, the Constructors Championship and Pole Position Championship, which were announced earlier this week and will make their debut at round one in Calabogie.
More information and the full schedule for the season opener can be found on the series’ official website.
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June 2 2021
Toronto, Ontario – Battery giant, Yuasa Battery Inc, is partnering with the Canadian National Motorcycle Road Racing Championship series for 2021 and is now the official power source of CSBK. Yuasa Battery Inc will sponsor television and video coverage of the Championship Series, including episodes on The Sports Network, TSN. Yuasa Battery Inc will also support a year-end prize money award for the top qualifying riders in the Pro Superbike Feature class, the Yuasa Battery Pole Position bonus.
The top five qualifiers for each 2021 event’s set of Pro Superbike feature races will receive points, with standings updated at each series event. At year-end, the top racers in the Yuasa Battery Pole Position Bonus Award program will receive a points fund payout courtesy of Yuasa.
Yuasa Battery Inc. has manufactured powersports batteries to uncompromisingly high standards in the United States since 1979. As the largest American manufacturer and distributor of batteries for motorcycles, snowmobiles, scooters, all-terrain vehicles, side-by-sides, and personal watercraft, Yuasa Battery Inc supplies more powersports batteries to OEMs than all others combined, in the US and globally.
Yuasa sponsors a wide range of worldwide motorsports, including the factory Repsol Honda MotoGP program with lead rider Marc Marquez of Spain, the eight-time World Champion.
“The CSBK tour’s competitors, staff, and fans are excited by this opportunity to work with Yuasa,” explains CSBK boss Colin Fraser. “Yuasa Battery is a high-profile, premier brand, and we think Yuasa is a great fit with the Canadian National Superbike Championship. We are looking forward to staging a range of exciting programs in partnership with Yuasa, starting with the qualifying bonus for each National Event’s Yuasa Battery Pole Position qualifying session.”
In 2020, Canada General Warranty Kawasaki works racer Jordan Szoke won all four CSBK National Superbike races, the veteran Pro from Lynden, ON., earning an unparalleled 14th career Canadian overall Championship. Szoke also Qualified in pole position for both 2020 events.
Fastest in “Q” at both the Calabogie Motorsports Park and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last season, Szoke is the firm pre-season favourite to earn the Yuasa Battery Pole Position Bonus Award for the upcoming 2021 season.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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