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- Category: Motorcycle
August 20, 2023
Bowmanville, Ontario – The battle for the 2023 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship continued to heat up on Sunday, as Ben Young won race two in the GP Bikes Pro Superbike feature class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Similar to race one on Saturday, Young saw championship leader Alex Dumas grab the holeshot off the line, but again needed just a handful of corners to seize the lead from his main rival.
Unlike race one, however, Young failed to break away from the chasing pack, as Sam Guerin moved past Dumas and quickly latched onto the reigning champion with the lead trio separating from an eight-rider group.
Young would eventually squeeze out a slightly more comfortable gap, which would force Dumas to ramp up the pressure on Guerin in second, running nose-to-tail right to the final lap of the race.
While Young crossed the line for his second consecutive win, Dumas attempted a daring pass into the final corner, only for Guerin to respond with a beautiful switchback and win the drag to the line for second.
That proved to be another blessing for Young, who scored the 13th Superbike victory of his career – moving him into sole possession of fourth all-time – and cut his title deficit to just 14 points after trailing by 36 prior to CTMP.
“These guys pushed me right to the end, but our Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW continued to work great again today, and these Bridgestone tires held up really well for all 18 laps,” Young said. “It’s been a trying year, but the highs are always really good and the lows are a bit tough, so we’re trying to put a smile on through it all.”
Young will continue to thank Guerin for his efforts, as the EFC Group BMW rider has been a thorn in the side of Dumas for two of three Superbike races this weekend, playing a massive role in the championship fight while helping lift BMW to the top spot in the Constructors standings.
“Another BMW one-two, it feels like a win,” Guerin said. “I was trying to latch on to Ben before Alex got me a couple times in the first few laps, but thankfully I managed to get him back at the end.”
As for Dumas, the Purple Skull Brewing/Liqui Moly rider confirmed he was still feeling under the weather on Sunday, but looked much stronger on-track despite his last-corner pass coming up just short.
“The pace was good – faster than yesterday – but Sam was also,” Alex said. “I was trying to save some energy for the last lap, but it didn’t stick. We still have the points lead, so hopefully we can keep it positive and get some better results in Shannonville.”
Not far behind the battle for third was another 18-lap duel between Jordan Szoke and Tomas Casas, where Casas led for majority of the first half of the race before Szoke took over in the second half.
Sebastien Tremblay became the sixth different winner in seven races of the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class, fending off Elliot Vieira for his first victory of the season.
The 2021 champion crashed out of the round three make-up race on Friday and failed to make the start in race one on Saturday, but made up for all of it with a resilient effort to score his first win since switching to Turcotte Performance Suzuki machinery.
“I knew Elliot had a bit more top speed, so I tried really hard to push into turn five every time and build a gap,” Tremblay said. “Our weekend started really badly – we actually had to rebuild the bike on Friday – but this is a much better result.”
Vieira pushed Tremblay from start-to-finish but was unable to launch a proper move, even with an advantage down the Andretti Straightaway aboard his GP Bikes Ducati.
“Tremblay rode the ass of that Suzuki! I had the draft on him, but he was so consistent in the first half of the track,” the race one winner said. “It sucks to not win again, but it’s the best we could do today.”
While Vieira and Tremblay ran their own race up front, the battle for the championship heated up behind them, as David MacKay ran a quietly solid race to complete the podium.
The ODH Snow City Cycle Kawasaki rider stuck with the lead duo for the first few laps before fading back into a lonely third, a smart move for the championship frontrunner as rival Matt Simpson could only manage fifth on the day.
“That was the point of the race today, to just keep the points intact,” MacKay said. “I latched onto them at the front until there was a gap behind, and then I just tried to avoid any mistakes.”
The unfortunate showing for Simpson stretches MacKay’s lead to 16 points with two races to go in round five, a still-manageable gap but one that went in the opposite direction for the Blackstock Motorsports Yamaha rider.
His effort was partially unraveled by a career day for rookie Nathan Playford, who denied a last-lap pass attempt to take fourth aboard his Playford Company Inc. Ducati, marking a pair of V2 Panigale’s inside the top-four.
Casas added to his day with a second consecutive victory in the Bickle Racing Pro Twins class, completing a weekend sweep in his one-off appearance aboard the Acme Motorsports Yamaha machine.
Casas moved comfortably into third in the championship after just two races, winning comfortably again in the split-class race.
Full results from Sunday’s races can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
August 19, 2023
Bowmanville, Ontario – The gap atop the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship shrunk considerably on Saturday, as Ben Young blitzed the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class in race one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The pole-sitter was briefly displaced by rival and championship leader Alex Dumas off the line but needed just one turn to get him back, passing Dumas into turn two and leading the rest of the way in the 20-lap feature.
As Young continued to stretch his early lead, the battle behind him began to take shape as Dumas was quickly hunted down by Sam Guerin and Tomas Casas, igniting a three-rider clash that would continue right to the finish.
Both Guerin and Dumas would take turns in second while Casas – crucially down in horsepower – stayed in tow in fourth, though Dumas seemingly had the final edge with five laps to go.
Instead, Guerin launched a spectacular pass off the long Andretti Straight into turn eight with just three laps remaining, before Casas immediately began to pressure Dumas for third. Dumas would retaliate and attempt a last-corner pass on Guerin, but it proved to be unsuccessful as he was relegated to the final podium spot.
That turned a great day into an even better one for Young and the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad, as he trimmed his 36-point championship deficit to 25 with five races to go.
“It wasn’t easy at all out there, but I’ve never seen that kind of gap in a Superbike race at this track,” Young said about the circuit which is notoriously tough to breakaway at. “The team’s working so hard and this BMW is phenomenal, so I feel like we could have done this all year without some of our bad luck.”
The win also moves Young into the top-five for career Superbike class victories, entering a tie with Don Munroe and Michel Mercier for third in history with 12 all-time.
"It feels great. There's a lot of legends around in our sport, so I'm really happy to be a part of that," Young added.
Despite his early-season misfortune, Young has clawed himself back into the title mix in part thanks to Guerin’s efforts to disrupt Dumas on Saturday, keeping his EFC Group BMW ahead of both the title leader and Casas at the line.
“That was a crazy one, battling with Alex and Tomas right from the start was so much fun,” Guerin said. “I was trying to fight my way through both of them, but they made it hard on me right to the end!”
The result added insult to injury for Dumas, who admitted on the podium he has been under the weather this week and felt the effects more than he thought he would as he tried to keep his Purple Skull Brewing/Liqui Moly Suzuki as close to Young as possible.
“I’m fighting a really bad cold, and it was affecting me pretty bad out there,” a frustrated Dumas said. “I still have a good lead in the championship, but hopefully we can be a couple steps higher on the podium tomorrow.”
The BMW one-two finish also came at an inconvenient time for Constructors Championship leaders Suzuki, who watched their title advantage fall from 28 points to just five entering races two and three on Sunday.
As for Casas, the Parts Canada Yamaha rider endured a bittersweet performance, as he looked noticeably faster than Dumas and Guerin in sectors one and three before losing all progress to a lack of straight-line speed down the Andretti straight.
The hometown favourite ultimately turned in a much-needed performance for Yamaha, who negated the LDS Consultants Kawasaki duo of Jordan Szoke and Trevor Dion in fifth and sixth, as Kawasaki tries to hunt down Yamaha for third overall.
That finishing result for Szoke hardly tells the story of his effort, though, as the 14-time champion was knocked off the grid by a mechanical fire on the warmup lap, forcing him to hop onto his secondary ‘B’ bike and start from the pit lane.
The 20-time CTMP winner needed just a trio of laps to work his way back into the top-ten, before gradually working his way into fifth by lap eight – passing his teammate in the process – as Szoke salvaged a spectacular finish amidst the circumstances.
Wildcard entry Eli Daccache impressed aboard his Milwaukee Yamaha machine, briefly running in the fight for second early on before settling into a comfortable sixth behind Dion, ultimately getting shunted back one place by the charging Szoke as he played a crucial role for Yamaha in the Constructors standings.
Jordan Royds would outlast a late-race duel with Phillip Leckie for eighth, putting his IBEW BMW just a quarter-second clear of the SCM/Tanians BMW rider at the line, while rookie John Fraser managed a solid tenth on his RLS Contracting Suzuki machine to take over the lead of the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year battle.
The feature class will now continue on with two more decisive races on Sunday, beginning at roughly 1 pm ET at the circuit just north of Bowmanville, ON.
Full results from Saturday’s races can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
August 7, 2023
Toronto, Ontario – Former pro motorcycle racer and industry insider, Ross Millson, has officially confirmed the transfer of ownership for Professional Motor Sports Productions, Inc. (PMP), the operator of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.
“Negotiations to acquire rights to PMP began in 2022 and finalized prior to the Bridgestone tire test at Jennings in March 2023. With support from my wife, Sabrina, we agreed to continue facilitating and developing racing in Canada. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to develop the national championships, taking advantage of recent growth, particularly on the broadcast television side,” explains Millson.
“I have known Colin Fraser since I started road racing at Shannonville Motorsport Park more than twenty years ago and appreciate the efforts he and his team have made to keep the series alive, especially during recent COVID events. We aim to take things to the next level, with the help of our competitors, stake holders, and dedicated staff.”
Millson’s first duties with the CSBK National series came in 2015, when he organized a program that helped Amateur racers from the east attend the national event in Edmonton, AB, through a transportation service conducted with Brooklin Cycle Racing of Pickering, ON.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced an abbreviated CSBK season in 2020, Millson joined the working event staff as an official member of the national series effort.
“I am happy that we have reached a deal to have Ross continue the development of our CSBK,” Fraser said. “It is a real challenge to run a national championship, and he understands all the elements involved. We have made some big steps recently that I believe we have put CSBK on a solid footing moving forward.”
Professional Motor Sports Productions began in 1994, with the purpose of producing television coverage of the Canadian National Superbike Series, primarily on TSN in Canada (The Sports Network), as well as additional broadcasters such as Speedvision in the United States.
The Canadian motorcycle manufacturer group requested that PMP take over all operations of the national superbike tour in 1996, meaning that PMP has produced the events at-track and for broadcast distribution for the past 27 years.
Until recently, PMP has been run by co-founder Colin Fraser, who has worked with superbikes in Canada since the first race of that class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September 1978, then called Mosport International Raceway.
The first official Canadian National Superbike race was in Edmonton in June of 1980 at the long-gone Edmonton International Speedway, and the category has continued at a national level since.
“It is important to me that the history and legacy of the 43 years of the CSBK tour is recognized, supported and ongoing, and Ross is the right person for that challenge,” explains Fraser.
Fraser will continue with the CSBK team as an Executive Producer with the Bridgestone CSBK national championship tour.
CSBK will work to expand Canadian racing nationally, and continue to develop and promote young Canadian talent. With the addition of new series sponsors and the continued support of existing partners, racers and fans can look forward to many more successful seasons on track.
For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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- Category: Motorcycle
August 9, 2023
- Details
- Category: Motorcycle
August 4, 2023
Lombardy, Ontario – The first season of the FIM MiniGP Canada Series came to a nail-biting conclusion on Sunday, with three different winners in each of the three feature races helping crown Michael Galvis as the inaugural champion at Lombardy Karting Club.
Galvis entered the last championship weekend of the season with just a one-point title lead over Treston Morrison, with only another 22 points separating the duo from a red-hot Ben Hardwick, the winner of both races one weekend ago at Lombardy.
While the series returned again to Lombardy for the season finale only seven days later, this time it was on the reverse counter-clockwise layout, though the change didn’t seem to faze Hardwick as he squeezed out pole position from Galvis in second and Morrison on the end of the front row in third.
Race one quickly negated that grid position advantage, as Morrison snatched the holeshot with Hardwick and eleven-year-old Galvis close behind, the lead trio running only marginally ahead of Ashton Parker in fourth.
With Galvis unable to launch an attack on Hardwick for second, Morrison seemed to be on the verge of snatching the top championship spot, but that quickly turned to disaster as the 13-year-old crashed out of the lead early on lap five.
The heartbreaking mistake promoted the battle between Hardwick and Galvis to the front, but it didn’t completely ruin Morrison’s race as he managed to quickly remount and begin a charge back up the field, ultimately salvaging much-needed points in fourth.
Galvis kept sustained pressure on Hardwick right to the finish, but was unable to find an opening as the 14-year-old out of Sudbury, ON won his third race in a row, moving himself even further into the title mix.
Parker would run a quietly solid race to a career-best third ahead of CSBK Scholarship rider Rhys McNutt in fifth, with Lincoln Scott closely behind in sixth from American newcomer Cooper Glover in seventh, with fellow debutant Cole Reimche and Mason Archer completing the field.
A short turnaround then led the MiniGP class into race two, where Hardwick again lost out on the start but this time to title leader Galvis. Hardwick would have more chaos into turn one, colliding not once but twice with Morrison as both riders got their elbows out in an aggressive early battle.
That opening showdown allowed Galvis to stretch out some breathing room, but it didn’t last long as Hardwick ultimately broke free of Morrison and began to reel in Galvis at the front, setting up another late battle for the race win.
Much like race one though, the buildup wouldn’t result in any last-lap heroics as Galvis would hold off Hardwick for his third win of the campaign, and a pivotal one that handed him a comfortable 17-point advantage after Morrison could only muster third.
Parker would continue his strong weekend in fourth with Scott moving up to fifth, while McNutt fended off Glover with Reimche and Archer again concluding the field.
The series then shifted it’s focus to the tenth and final points-paying race of the season, with Galvis hoping to avoid any drama and wrap up the title while Hardwick hunted down Morrison for the vice-champion spot and an invitation to the FIM MiniGP World Final in Valencia, Spain.
This time Hardwick would finally get a good launch, grabbing the holeshot as Galvis and Morrison bumped into turn one, the latter putting plenty of pressure on his former championship rival as he needed a spot in the top-two to preserve his standings advantage over Hardwick.
With the lead beginning to stretch, Morrison forced a daring move into the final corner that would unfortunately prove to be the final nail in the coffin of his weekend, crashing into the barriers and watching his Spanish hopes evaporate.
The drama didn’t end there, however, as a hard-charging Parker quickly caught the back of Hardwick and Galvis and promptly pulled off one of the most spectacular moves many in attendance had ever seen, taking both of the lead riders at once into turn one and moving from third to first.
Hardwick would put plenty of pressure back on Parker, but the weekend’s 14-year-old breakout star wouldn’t give an inch, snatching his first ever FIM MiniGP victory to close out the season, moving himself to fifth in the final standings in the process.
The celebration would quickly start further back, though, as Galvis did enough in third to clinch the inaugural Canadian championship and Hardwick narrowly moved his way into second overall, both earning a trip to Valencia in the process.
“I really wanted to go to Spain and race for Canada, so I was trying to protect my spot in the championship,” Galvis said. “Treston went down, and then Ashton passed Ben and I at once, so I didn’t know what would happen. But it was so much fun!”
After dueling all season, he and Hardwick will now plan to become teammates for their trip to Europe and the MotoGP paddock, where both are eager to be Canada’s first ever FIM MiniGP representatives.
“I was trying to take second and get a spot in Spain, so I had to make sure Treston didn’t get there, but I feel bad that he crashed after the season he had,” Hardwick said. “It means a lot to be able to represent Canada, and hopefully I can put us on top.”
A dejected Morrison would remount to finish ninth, holding onto third in the championship.
Fourth would go the way of Scott, who was part of a thrilling four-rider battle at the end to decide the victory, though a pair of late lunges weren’t enough to displace Galvis for the final podium spot. As a result, Scott will wind up sixth in the final standings, losing out to Parker as his last-race victory would prove to be the tiebreaker.
McNutt would hang onto fifth in race three and thus earn fourth in the overall standings aboard his CSBK Scholarship bike, while newcomers Reimche and Glover took sixth and seventh, respectively, with Archer eighth and taking seventh in the title fight.
Galvis and Hardwick will now prepare to represent the series internationally, as they head to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on November 24-26 for the FIM MiniGP World Final.