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June 11, 2022
Grand Bend, Ontario – The opening race of the 2022 Canadian Superbike Championship season brought plenty of fireworks on Saturday, as Ben Young held off an early attack to win the Pro Superbike feature opener at the Grand Bend Motorplex.
Young started from the middle of the front row aboard his Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW after ceding pole position to local rookie Trevor Dion on Friday, but made up for that right away as he grabbed the holeshot into turn one for the 20-lap feature event.
His early lead was anything but safe, as Young outlasted an immediate pass attempt from Dion in second and was followed closely by a four-rider pack well into the halfway point of the race. However, Young’s experience around the Grand Bend circuit began to come into play in the second half, as he sliced his way through lapped traffic to clear the chasing pack behind and cruise towards a sixth career Superbike victory.
“I got the start of my life out there, but I knew Trevor would try and get me back right away, so I just tried to bank in consistent times and ride a smooth race start to finish,” Young said. “The BMW worked great, and fortunately we were able to bring home big points, but now we all got to work on some things and try do it again tomorrow.”
Dion was the biggest challenger to Young in the early going, but ultimately couldn’t maintain the pace at the front as he struggled with lapped traffic towards the end. The rookie would eventually give way to defending champion Alex Dumas, who came home second after choosing a soft front Dunlop tire compared to the supersofts of his rivals.
“It wasn’t the start we wanted, so I got stuck behind these guys a little bit at the start and I wasn’t able to get them back soon enough,” the Liqui Moly Fast School Suzuki rider said. “The tires started to come alive in the last few laps and I had a lot of pace at the end, but we’re going to have to get a better start in race two tomorrow.”
As for Dion, his eventual third-place finish would add to an already sensational weekend for the local rookie, as he overcame gearing troubles to earn a hard-fought podium for his wave of supporters aboard his LDS Consulting BMW.
“It’s really hard to run a Superbike here, but I’m happy to gain some experience and pick up a podium in the process,” Dion said. “I thought I had Ben for a moment there in the carousel, but he came right back at me and I just didn’t have the pace to stay up there. We have some work to do for tomorrow, but it’s still a really awesome feeling.”
Climbing his way to fourth was OneSpeed Suzuki rider Trevor Daley, who struggled through a difficult opening few laps but eventually carved through the grid and into the top-five, salvaging a strong result and showing podium pace in the process as he celebrated his 50th career start in the Superbike category.
Completing the top five was another local standout in Steven Nickerson, who ran with the lead pack early on and challenged Dumas for much of the race before fading to fifth as he recovers from lingering knee injuries aboard his Dewildt Powerhouse Honda.
Finishing just shy of Nickerson was the Quebecois duo of Sebastian Tremblay and Samuel Guerin, as both riders reeled in a top-five spot in the late going but were unable to capitalize as Tremblay secured sixth aboard his ST Motorsport Kawasaki and Guerin sealed seventh for the EFC Group BMW team.
While Dion was unable to climb to the top step in the feature Pro Superbike race, he did manage a victory on the day as he won an incident-filled affair in the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike category.
Dion ran in second for the entirety of the early portion behind pole-sitter David MacKay, but a red-flag and subsequent restart saw both MacKay and fellow title contender Will Hornblower crash out early, leaving Dion alone out front aboard his LDS Kawasaki.
“The first start was pretty good, but I knew David had the pace, so I just tried to stick with him and manage our Dunlop tires a bit,” Dion said. “Then on the restart I just tried to put my head down and pull a gap on them, but unfortunately they both went down behind me, so we were able to bring home the win.”
Benefitting from the crashes was the typical hard-luck Elliott Vieira, who tied his best career National result with a second-place finish aboard his Snow City Yamaha, while rookie Matt Simpson completed the podium in just his second career Pro race aboard his Evans Racing Yamaha machine.
Completing the top five in the middleweight division were Connor Campbell and Louie Raffa, the former scoring his best career Pro result aboard his Campbell Roofing Kawasaki, while Raffa managed a hard-earned fifth for the Fast Company Honda team.
The opening race of the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight championship was dominated by newcomer Evan Moriarity, who was no match for any of his rivals as he cruised to a debut National victory by over 12 seconds aboard his Yamaha machine.
The gap was much thinner after that, as local youngster Bryce Deboer held on to second ahead of veterans Pat Barnes in third and Jacob Black in fourth, with the three Kawasaki riders separated by just 0.306 seconds across the line.
Jared Walker won the inaugural race in the brand new Pro/Am series, taking the outright victory on track and in the Pro category ahead of Istvan Hidvegi and reigning National Lightweight champion Harvey Renaud, while DeBoer cruised to the top spot in the Amateur division.
Marc Labossiere will start from pole for Sunday’s lone AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike race, after the BMW rider topped qualifying with a time of 1:06.360 – just 0.162 seconds clear of fellow Quebec native Julien Lafortune (Kawasaki) in second.
The gap was even smaller at the top of the Amateur Sport Bike timesheets, as a pair of Kitchener, ON natives were separated by just 0.058 seconds with Sebastian Hothaza taking pole position for Yamaha while Nathan Playford claimed second for Honda.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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June 10, 2022
Grand Bend, Ontario – The 2022 Canadian Superbike Championship will kick off with a surprising name at the front, as rookie star Trevor Dion smashed his way to pole position for the Pro Superbike feature doubleheader at Grand Bend Motorplex this weekend.
Dion already gained plenty of attention on Thursday by topping the official test day at his home circuit, but the LDS Consulting BMW rider created even more buzz early in Friday’s qualifying session as he continued to lead the timesheets.
His time of 1:03.040 appeared to put him right in contention for a historic pole position, but a rear brake issue left him vulnerable as the session flipped to the top-ten Superpole. After fixing the issue just prior to the final shootout, the Strathroy, ON native quickly erased any concerns as he obliterated the lap record with a time of 1:02.371 in the final top-ten Superpole session to capture the BS Battery Pole Position Award.
His dominant performance lands him in exclusive company in CSBK history, as Dion will head into the weekend as the only rider ever to secure pole position in his Superbike debut and only the third-youngest pole-sitter ever at 20 years old.
“It’s a dream come true, even just to be up here battling against these guys and racing with them, it’s a really awesome feeling,” Dion said. “Now with the doubleheader we have two chances to pick up some big points this weekend, but also a couple more opportunities to gain some confidence here on the Superbike.”
Lining up alongside Dion in a BMW one-two will be weekend favourite Ben Young, who consistently found more pace throughout the 40-minute period but was never able to mount a proper challenge for his younger counterpart at the front.
The Van Dolder’s Home Team rider ultimately managed a time of 1:03.021, a lap that would have stood as the new outright record if not for Dion, but Young will instead be left searching for 0.650 seconds to close the gap entering the weekend.
“These local guys are keeping me honest here! They were really hustlin’ at the end, and the pace was super strong” Young said. “The BMW is working really well though, so hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow and put on a show for these fans.”
Joining the two BMW’s on the front row will be another local star in Steven Nickerson, who earned his first career front-row start aboard his Dewildt Powersports Honda with a time of 1:03.116, only 0.095 seconds off Young in second.
Nickerson has plenty of experience around Grand Bend as the reigning SOAR regional champion and should continue to have the pace all weekend, despite still recovering from a brutal knee injury suffered late in the 2021 campaign.
“We didn’t really know what the plan was up until a couple weeks ago, but everything obviously came together really well and I’m happy to be up here,” he said. “I didn’t know how many laps I could handle so we tried to pace ourselves a bit, but the Dewildt Honda felt great today and I was able to put in a few really good laps.”
The second row will feature a pair of Suzuki stars in defending champion Alex Dumas and Trevor Daley, with the pair winding up fourth and fifth on the grid despite a strong front row challenge.
Dumas got up to speed quickly in his first appearance at Grand Bend, but the Liqui Moly/Fast School Suzuki rider ultimately paid for his inexperience as he wound up 0.390 seconds adrift of the front row.
Daley, meanwhile, briefly placed his OneSpeed Suzuki machine at the front before his pace faded in the Superpole session, only marginally improving his time as he remains a comfortable 0.924 seconds off Young in second.
The local stars continued to be the theme of the day in the support classes as well, as David MacKay snatched his first career pole position in the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike category with a time of 1:03.654.
The Mack Attack Racing Kawasaki rider set a new lap record of his own in the process, crushing Dion in second who was doing double-duty in the Pro ranks aboard an LDS Consulting Kawasaki, while former champion Will Hornblower settled for third aboard his Yamaha Financial Services machine.
Leading off the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight grid will be another local challenger in the form of Evan Moriarty, who stormed to pole position with a time of 1:13.316 aboard his Yamaha YZF-R3 machine.
The Milton, ON native will be joined by perennial frontrunner Jacob Black and local teenager Bryce DeBoer on the front row this weekend, both Kawasaki-mounted as they look to overcome the early pace of Moriarty.
The inaugural pole position in the new Pro-Am Lightweight division went to Moriarty as well, who bettered his time with an outright fastest lap of 1:13.043. Moriarty will lead the Amateur ranks ahead of Black and DeBoer, while legendary East Coast veteran Gary McKinnon will grab pole in the Pro division after a penalty was issued to eventual second-place qualifier Jared Walker.
The only two classes not to qualify on Friday – the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike category and the Amateur Sport Bike division – will instead prepare for qualifying on Saturday afternoon, as they are set to contest just one race each on Sunday.
The full list of results, as well as the weekend schedule, can be found on the series’ official website.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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June 6, 2022
Toronto, Ontario – The wait for the 2022 Canadian Superbike Championship season is finally over, as the feature Pro Superbike field prepares for another dramatic campaign entering their round one doubleheader at the Grand Bend Motorplex this weekend, June 9-12.
The 42nd running of the Canadian national championship will kick off in unfamiliar circumstances, as 19-year-old phenom Alex Dumas heads to Grand Bend for the first time in his career to defend his 2021 Canada Cup and number one plate.
The Liqui Moly/FAST School Suzuki rider out of Desmaures, QC, has only appeared at two venues in his CSBK career, but showed zero signs of inexperience at either, winning all four races at Calabogie last season and finding the podium on all three occasions at CTMP. Dumas could continue that trend at Grand Bend this weekend but will surely have to go through his rival Ben Young in order to do so – a difficult proposition at perhaps Young’s best track on the calendar.
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The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW Motorrad rider will be thrilled to return to ‘The Bend’ in 2022, having pushed Jordan Szoke to the limit there in 2018 before beating Szoke one year later en route to his 2019 championship. Having fully shaken the rust off from his 2020 absence, Young will now look to kick off his quest for a second career title in the opening round, a place he should enter as the marginal favourite.
The Collingwood, ON native will surely be looking over his shoulder for Dumas all weekend in what is expected to be a clear frontrunning duo for the 2022 campaign, but there are plenty of challengers to pick up the pieces if the two rivals get in each others way – though that list has shrunk in a big way entering round one.
Fans won’t be able to spot the iconic green Canadian Kawasaki of Jordan Szoke out on track, as the 14-time champion suffered a barrage of injuries in a pre-season motocross accident and is expected to miss the full season. The 2020 champion won’t be alone on the sidelines, either, as fellow fan favourite Tomas Casas will be forced to sit out round one after the Yamaha Canada rider injured his hand in an offseason crash of his own, though Casas expects to be back up at the front by round two in Calabogie.
Leading the charge in their absence will be a wide-open crop of riders, but one with some familiar names at the top. The most likely of the group will be OneSpeed Suzuki star Trevor Daley, who scored a trio of podiums in 2021 and played a pivotal role in helping Suzuki to the inaugural Constructors Championship last season.
Another fan favourite of the bunch will be 2021 Pro Sport Bike champion Sebastian Tremblay, who is turning his focus solely to the feature Superbike category aboard his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki and could play a big role for the brand in Szoke’s absence, though his best hopes will likely come at his home track in round two.
Also in the podium mix all season will be another pair of Quebecois talents, albeit ones at different points in their careers, as veteran Michael Leon returns to the grid aboard his Royal Distributing BMW as does second-year Pro Samuel Guerin for the EFC Group BMW squad. Leon has already scored a pair of top-five finishes in his career at Grand Bend, while Guerin will be heading to the circuit for the first time in his Pro career after a hard-luck rookie campaign for him in 2021.
Grand Bend is also known for its local expertise, and this season will be no different as a group of potential wildcards headline the Superbike grid, most notably SOAR regional champ Steven Nickerson. The Dewildt Powersports Honda rider managed a career-best fourth in his last national appearance at Grand Bend, and could be one of the top podium threats again at his home track to begin the 2022 campaign.
Jordan Royds will also be pleased to return to Grand Bend, as the sixth-overall finisher in last year’s championship has gained plenty of track knowledge aboard his IBEW BMW and could challenge the front-five as well. As for perhaps the biggest wildcard on the grid, former Lightweight star Trevor Dion is rumoured to be sporting a new BMW Superbike for 2022 alongside his Sport Bike program, and could be a top-five threat himself if he decides to run the dual-threat weekend for the LDS Consulting team.
Joining the Pro ranks for the first time in 2022 will be rookies Anthony Bergeron and Pascal Bastien, both of whom could play surprise roles in deciding the midfield as two of the faster Amateur graduates in recent years. Neither have attended Grand Bend before in their national careers, but Bergeron in particular flashed sensational pace in his title-winning 2021 campaign, winning three out of four races on his privateer BMW.
The second running of the Constructors Championship will also have some new names to sport this season, with Ducati and Aprilia expected to join the grid after homologating their race programs for 2022.
It’s unclear who will represent the two Italian factories on the national grid this season, but their inclusion will surely put more pressure on the five returning brands from 2021, while Suzuki will hope to defend their inaugural crown from the growing field.
The opening weekend at Grand Bend will kick off with an official CSBK test day on Thursday and practice day on Friday, before racing properly gets underway for the first of four rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
The full schedule, weekend information, and ticket information can be found on 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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June 7, 2022
Toronto, Ontario – While several familiar names are expected to headline the feature Pro Superbike category in 2022, the support classes in the Canadian Superbike Championship are instead gearing up for the first round of what is expected to be a wide-open campaign this weekend at the Grand Bend Motorplex, June 9-12.
The most intriguing battle of the group will be in the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike category, which will have no returning champion for the first time since 2017 as Sebastian Tremblay chooses to focus solely on his Superbike program. The perennial frontrunner captured his first Pro title in dominant fashion last season, winning every race from pole position, but will now relinquish his crown heading into Grand Bend.
The grid won’t be without a former champion entirely, however, as the season is expected to bring the return of 2019 title winner Will Hornblower. A regular frontrunner in his own right, Hornblower managed two victories and a podium in all seven races to capture a dream championship two seasons ago, but his return has been put on hold for a number of factors.
The privateer Yamaha rider suffered rib and shoulder injuries in a brutal preseason crash while prepping for the 2020 campaign, with his recovery keeping him on the sidelines throughout 2021. Now mostly healthy, Hornblower will return as the presumptive favourite for a second career title, but recent regional racing has proved that won’t come easy.
Leading the charge in the SOAR series, notably hosted at Grand Bend, is former lightweight star Trevor Dion, who has adjusted quickly to the bigger bikes and put that expertise on full display by finishing second in his only appearance at CTMP last season. The LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider will have another local challenger to deal with, and another aboard Kawasaki machinery, as 2021 national runner-up David Mackay has also looked strong aboard his Mack Attack Racing machine.
The Quebec contingent will also have plenty to say in 2022, as the Pro 6 GP regional series welcomed the frontrunning trio of Phillippe Masse, Vincent Levillian, and Louie Raffa back to Calabogie Motorsports Park last weekend.
Masse – the third overall finisher from last season – was the eventual winner in that race, but the Turcotte Performance Kawasaki rider had to deal heavily with the SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki of Levillian, who finished just one spot behind Masse in the 2021 standings and one spot clear of Raffa, who wound up fifth overall aboard his Raffa Racing Honda.
The category will also feature a pair of young Yamaha wildcards that could play heavily into the championship equation, as former Guyanese champion Elliott Vieira and teenage star Jake Leclair are both expected to return full-time in 2022.
Vieira pushed Tremblay perhaps more than anyone else last season but continues to be plagued by mechanical issues within his Snow City Racing program, while Leclair flashed strong pace to begin the 2021 campaign and again showed that pace last weekend by battling with Masse and Levillian for the win in Calabogie aboard his Yamaha Canada machine.
Outside of the Pro ranks, the series is expected to feature just as much unpredictability and excitement in the Amateur Superbike, Sport Bike, and Lightweight classes, which are all likely to see unknown challengers emerge over the course of the season.
Leading the return in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike category will be an East-coast sensation and a pair of Quebecois talents, as John Fraser leads the way for Yamaha ahead of last year’s fifth-overall finisher Marc Labossiere (BMW) and sixth-place rider Guillaume Lavallee (Yamaha), the latter of which earned a pair of podiums but did not enter round two at CTMP.
Another pair of frontrunners expected to return are Suzuki-mounted William Degrasse and Aprilia-backed Erick Gosselin, both of whom entered the final round with a chance at a top-three finishing spot before Degrasse crashed out and Gosselin did not enter.
As for the Amateur Sport Bike category, a pair of young talents are expected to front the title battle in 2022, as Fraser does double-duty for Yamaha against former Lightweight star Mackenzie Weil, who is moving up to the Amateur ranks.
Fraser turned plenty of heads in his one-off appearance at CTMP last season, challenging eventual champion Brad Macrea en route to a second-place finish, and is expected to return for the full campaign this year – including a long-awaited return to his home race in Shubenacadie this July.
Weil, meanwhile, conquered the first four races of the Lightweight championship last season before a crash in Calabogie dashed his title hopes, though his focus has now shifted to a larger Yamaha machine as he aims to become the latest teenage star to graduate to the Pro ranks for 2023.
Fraser and Weil won’t be alone at the top, however, as they will have to worry about a pair of returning frontrunners in the form of Honda’s Nathan Playford and Yamaha’s Nolan Eadie, both of whom enjoyed exceptional 2021 campaigns and could have turned Pro if not for a DNF in the final round by both riders.
With Weil departing the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight category, the junior class will be open for plenty of intrigue in 2022, with reigning champion Harvey Renaud’s title defence uncertain for Kawasaki.
Perennial frontrunner Jacob Black is expected to return, also Kawasaki-mounted, but will likely have to deal with Honda challenger Paul Etienne Courtois, who finished third overall in last years championship but only 26 points off the front.
Another presumptive favourite will be the returning Istvan Hidvegi, who dominated the Pro 6 GP aboard his Yamaha machine and impressed in his only appearance at CTMP last season.
The 2022 campaign will also bring the introduction of the Pro/Am Lightweight class, a more “relaxed” version of the Lightweight category which will likely feature a group of former Pro riders sporting their new smaller machines, including the talented brother pairing of Cameron and Jared Walker.
The full schedule of events and additional information for round one at the Grand Bend Motorplex can be found on 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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June 2, 2022
Toronto, Ontario – The Canadian Superbike Championship is pleased to welcome BS Battery as the official sponsor of the Pro Superbike Pole Position award in 2022, with compensation now available to the fastest qualifiers in the feature class courtesy of the French company.
Established in 2008 in Paris, France, BS Battery has quickly emerged as one of the largest distributors of automotive batteries in the world, servicing 70 countries with over 400 different battery types.
The brand is just as successful on the track, sponsoring numerous French talents including reigning MotoGP champion and current world championship points leader Fabio Quartararo. The Monster Yamaha rider has been supported by BS Battery since his premier class debut in 2019, helping him develop into one of the sport’s greatest young talents.
BS Battery is also a former partner of fellow MotoGP star Johann Zarco and currently sponsors World Supersport frontrunner Jules Cluzel, while their offroad sponsorships include the successful Sherco Factory enduro team and the upstart BUD Racing Kawasaki motocross team, amongst others.
The high-quality batteries are distributed across Canada exclusively by Importations Thibault, one of the nation’s premier distributors of motorcycle, scooter, ATV, and snowmobile products. Established in 1981, Importations Thibault Ltd. is centred in Sherbrooke, QC, and has helped introduce a number of motorsports brands across Canada in their 45+ years of operation.
The BS Battery Pole Position format will be the same as in 2021, with the award going to the top qualifier from each round in the Pro Superbike feature class as well as an accompanying $2000 reward, courtesy of BS Battery.
Additionally, each weekend’s qualifying results will contribute to the overall season-long award winner, which comes with it an additional $2000 award. The points system will be the same as in 2021, with ten points for pole position, eight for qualifying second, six for qualifying third, four for qualifying fourth, and two for the final spot in fifth.
Former national champion Ben Young was the winner of the inaugural Pole Position award last season, taking the top qualifying spot in the first two rounds before qualifying second in the final weekend as he finished six points clear of eventual Canada Cup winner Alex Dumas.
Young and Dumas – two of the last three Superbike champions – are expected to be the frontrunners once again for the Pole Position award in addition to the overall crown, as both are notoriously strong qualifiers and have racked up a number of front-row starts in their Pro careers.
For more information on the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca
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