Hamilton, Ontario – Three-time CSBK champion Ben Young will enter a star-studded field at this year’s prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours event, joining Team Taro Plus One BMW for the historic Endurance World Championship round.

 

Young, who currently leads the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship standings, will ride alongside former Grand Prix rider Taro Sekiguchi and Kyosuke Okuda (both of Japan) in the Team Taro Plus One garage for his World Endurance debut next month, July 19-21.

 

The renowned event – launched in 1978 – has grown into the premier race on the EWC calendar, attracting various stars from MotoGP and World Superbike, amongst other series.

 

Young most recently proved himself against reigning EWC champions YART Yamaha at the Daytona 200, where he finished ninth and just behind the duo of Karel Hanika (fifth) and Marvin Fritz (sixth).

 

The Collingwood, Ontario native recently completed a private test with Team Taro Plus One BMW at Suzuka, roughly five hours from Tokyo, and felt very comfortable aboard the M1000RR (a similar version to the Van Dolder’s Home Team machine he rides in Canada).

 

“The bike felt really good, and the team and everyone there is great to deal with,” Young said. “Already we’re about half a second from our target time, so hopefully we can put on a good show and get a strong result.”

 

The Team Taro Plus One BMW squad finished an impressive 16th out of 50 teams at last year’s Suzuka 8 Hours, achieving a best result of 14th in 2022.

 

Young’s trip to Suzuka will take place just days after the fourth round of the CSBK season in Nova Scotia, as he chases his fourth Canada Cup and third in a row in 2024.

 

The 31-year-old has been no stranger to racing in various series and paddocks, having competed in MotoAmerica, British Superbike, and as a wildcard in the 125cc World Championship during his illustrious career.

 

Only a handful of Canadians have ever competed in the Suzuka 8 Hours through its history, an exclusive list that includes Ruben McMurter, Steve Crevier, and most recently Jordan Szoke, amongst others.

 

In the meantime, Young will try to extend his lead atop the Canadian Superbike Championship in round two action this weekend, June 7-9, at the Grand Bend Motorplex.

 

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

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

Hamilton, Ontario – The long wait for the 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship season is finally over, as the national series will return to historic Shannonville Motorsport Park for the opening round this weekend, presented by the Fallen Riders Support Team sponsored by Pace Law.

 

Included amongst the action will be the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class, which has endured plenty of changes from its 2023 grid. Reigning champion David MacKay and former SMP winner Connor Campbell have both graduated to the Superbike ranks, last year’s title runner-up Matt Simpson has entered a semi-retirement, and injuries have sidelined frontrunners Brad Macrae, Alex Coelho, and Louie Raffa. 

 

While a new influx of talent will surely help offset those absences – including a loaded rookie class – it would have been fair for title favourite and 2021 champion Sebastian Tremblay to be licking his chops entering round one at Shannonville.

 

Instead, he’ll now need to deal with an unexpected rival – three-time Canada Cup champion Ben Young. 

 

The face of the Superbike class will do double-duty for the first time in his career this season, joining the middleweight grid aboard a Van Dolder’s Home Team Suzuki and committing to all six national rounds in both classes. 

 

Young hasn’t raced in the Sport Bike division since 2015, earning a second-place finish in his final appearance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but his recent Daytona 200 finish proved there should be minimal adjustment as he pivots back to the smaller machine. 

 

His path to a championship will be anything but a formality, however, as he’ll be going up against one of the best Sport Bike riders of the modern era in Tremblay. 

 

The Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider won the final three races of the 2023 campaign and finished third in the championship despite sitting out round one – the same pro track layout that will host round one this season – reminding everyone why he swept the 2021 campaign behind eight consecutive victories. 

 

That Sport Bike experience will play massively in Tremblay’s favour, setting the table for what should be a fantastic duel between the two former champions both at the opening round in Shannonville and throughout the 2024 campaign. 

 

Focusing on only each other would be a mistake, however, as both will have their hands full just fending off the rest of the field in what has been the most unpredictable class in recent CSBK history. 

Leading that charge is the duo of Elliot Vieira and John Laing, the fourth and fifth-place finishers in last year’s championship. Vieira missed three races with mechanical issues and very well could have been in title contention without them, while Laing was one of the most consistent frontrunners following his crash in the opening race of the season.

 

Vieira will be back aboard his GP Bikes Ducati and hoping to build upon his strong finale at Shannonville last year, where he finished second and third (albeit on the long track layout). As for Laing, the Cochrane, AB native now has a year of experience under his belt around the Ontario circuits, and will aim to build some early momentum ahead of his home races in round three. 

 

Perhaps the biggest leap in potential from 2023 to 2024 is sophomore Alex Michel, who quietly put together a strong rookie pro season last year and recently won the Sport Bike race at the SuperSeries regional at SMP. The young Kawasaki rider finished seventh in each of the two races around the pro track last season before claiming his first career podium at CTMP, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him return to the front at Shannonville like he did this past weekend. 

 

Amongst the other returnees is a group of dark horse contenders that includes Marco Sousa, Nathan Playford, and Zoltan Frast, amongst others. Sousa in particular has shown some of his best pace at Shannonville, scoring a pair of fifth place finishes to begin last year’s campaign, and a podium spot is hardly out of the question for the Suzuki veteran.

 

Each of the returnees will need to keep an eye out for some of the new names around them, though, with at least five high-profile rookies expected to make the jump from the amateur ranks this season.

 

Headlining them is none other than 19-year-old sensation Mavrick Cyr, the champion in both amateur classes last season and one of the brightest talents in the Bridgestone CSBK paddock. Any doubt of Cyr’s potential was quickly silenced in September, when he got an early start to his pro career and finished ninth in the final race of the season aboard his Rizzin Racing Triumph.

 

Joining Cyr will be a quartet of young rivals from his amateur days, including the likes of Mack Weil, Phil Degama-Blanchet (the youngest pro rider at just 16 years old), Bryce DeBoer, and Andrew Cooney. Weil joined Cyr in the pro finale last year, finishing 13th, and is hoping to build on that experience aboard his MotorcycleCourse.com Kawasaki.

 

New to the class in 2024 will be the Constructors Championship, which has added an extra layer of intrigue in the Superbike class since its introduction in 2021 and will now expand to the middleweight division.

 

Suzuki will enter as the overwhelming favourites with the two main title protagonists in their stable, while Sousa will provide support as the third rider in their program. 

 

Kawasaki will lose a major piece of their 2023 puzzle with MacKay gone, but will only need two of Laing, Michel, Weil, or Degama-Blanchet to perform well at SMP to open the year on a high note. 

 

Ducati will rely heavily on Vieira and Playford in the early going, adding Raffa to the mix once healthy, while former frontrunners Yamaha will be in tough following Simpson’s departure and Macrae’s injury. 

 

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

 

Hamilton, Ontario – The long wait for the 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship season is finally over, as the national series will return to historic Shannonville Motorsport Park for the opening round this weekend, presented by the Fallen Riders Support Team sponsored by Pace Law.

 

It was just over five months ago that Shannonville hosted the 2023 season finale, a chaotic weekend in the feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike class as Ben Young clinched his third Canada Cup and second in a row. 

 

A lot has happened in those months since, however, and the dynamic of the Superbike grid has shifted dramatically from the one fans would remember in September. Absent will be 2021 champion Alex Dumas, the main rival to Young and a three-time winner at SMP, along with frontrunners Trevor Daley and Tomas Casas. 

 

Losing Dumas – the usual thorn in Young’s side – will be music to the ears of the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad, as the two rivals had combined to win every race in the last two seasons and 24 of the last 26 races overall (12 victories each). 

 

Betting on Young to potentially sweep the 2024 season would be a popular choice, having won at five of the six venues on the calendar and riding at the highest level of his career with five consecutive victories to snatch the 2023 crown. 

 

But one rider’s absence is another rider’s opportunity, and you don’t have to look any farther than round one a year ago to see that Young is completely bulletproof. The Collingwood, ON native finished a distant second in race one before a bodywork issue relegated him to sixth in race two, undoubtedly his worst weekend of the season.

 

Young also won’t forget who was leading that opening race, as the eventual victory was handed to Dumas after a crash out of the lead by Sam Guerin – perhaps Young’s biggest rival entering the 2024 campaign. 

 

Guerin has yet to taste victory in the pro ranks but proved he is more than capable a year ago, finishing third in the championship and at times looking like the only rider who could match the duo at the front.  

 

The EFC Group BMW star would like nothing better than to finish what he started a year ago, winning the opening race at Shannonville and ending Young’s quest for a “perfect season” before it even begins, but he is hardly the only one with those ambitions.

Trevor Dion will also be chasing his first career Superbike victory in 2024, and he may not have to wait long for it after his breakthrough performances to end 2023. After starting the year with Kawasaki and only cracking the top-five on one occasion, Dion joined Economy Lube Ducati for the final round and promptly rattled off three podium finishes in a row to finish as the Pro Rookie of the Year.

 

The 22-year-old never got the chance to race around Shannonville’s round one “pro track” layout last season, missing the opener with an injury, but his performances at the “long track” finale were enough to put the entire field on notice.

 

The final name of the “big four” to watch will be one much more familiar to Young, however, as he is sure to renew his rivalry with 14-time champion Jordan Szoke at some point this season.

 

Now the healthiest he’s been since the 2021 season, Szoke has seemed revitalized in his quest for another title and is never one to doubt on at any track, including Shannonville where he has totalled an impressive seven career victories. The Canadian Kawasaki rider scored two podiums at the venue last season and will be hoping to add to that total this weekend from the top step of the box.

 

While the names above seem the most likely to pressure Young at the season opener, they are hardly the only riders capable of turning heads at Shannonville. 

 

David MacKay will be an especially intriguing rider to watch as the reigning Pro Sport Bike champion adjusts to a bigger Snow City Cycle Honda machine, piloting a Superbike for the first time in his national career.

 

Joining him in the midfield will be teenage sensation John Fraser, who narrowly missed out on top rookie honours a year ago with six top-eight finishes on the season, including a career best fifth at the Shannonville pro track aboard his RLS Contracting Suzuki. 

 

Fighting alongside him will be the favourite for this year’s Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year award in Connor Campbell, who made the jump to Superbike in the final round last season and will continue with B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki for the full campaign in 2024.

 

Other dark horses to keep an eye out for at Shannonville will be Paul Macdonell and Guillaume Fortin, both of whom will be racing new machines this season. Macdonell has switched to Vass Performance BMW and will look to build upon his best finish of seventh at SMP last year, while Fortin returns to the series aboard a Turcotte Performance Ducati after just one appearance last season.

 

The fourth year of the Constructors Championship will also get underway at Shannonville, where two-time reigning champions BMW hope to kickstart their title defence with Young and Guerin at the front.

 

Inaugural champs and 2023 runners-up Suzuki will need to rely mostly on Fraser in round one at SMP, opening the door for the likes of Kawasaki and Ducati to join the title fight for the first time after the award was introduced in 2021.

 

The full weekend schedule for the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class – and the rest of the seven Bridgestone CSBK categories – can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.

 

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