Dumas leads FP3 ahead of decisive doubleheader at CTMP

Details

Category: CSBK News

Published on Sunday, August 14, 2022 11:26 EDT

Alex Dumas put his final practice session of the year to good use on Sunday, topping FP3 ahead of the season finale Canadian Superbike Championship doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

The defending champion finds himself in a virtual must-win situation entering race one, after championship leader Ben Young won his fifth race of the campaign on Saturday to push his lead to 37 points with only 54 points left on the board on Sunday.

Dumas will need a bit of help behind him if he wants to stay in contention for race two, but the Liqui Moly/FAST School Suzuki rider has so far done all he needs to after pacing FP3 with a time of 1:21.086. 

That mark was just 0.165 seconds clear of Young, who will have one hand on the trophy already for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW program but will need to remain cautious of the group behind him if he aims to clinch his second career Superbike crown.

One of those challengers would be Sebastien Tremblay, who scored his second podium of the season on Saturday and will look to take the top step in races two and three, after going third-fastest again in FP3 aboard his Turcotte Performance Kawasaki.

Tomas Casas found a few extra places in the final practice session to set the fourth-best time, as the Parts Canada Yamaha rider has sat in sixth for most of the weekend’s activity thus far, though he did latch on to the front trio early in race one and could do the same again this afternoon.

Completing the top five in FP3 was Steven Nickerson, who will be dreaming of a first career Pro Superbike podium after falling just short in his battle with Tremblay on Saturday. The DeWildt Powersports Honda rider ultimately settled for a strong fourth, but remains as good of a threat as any to challenge the front of the pack on Sunday.

OneSpeed Suzuki star Trevor Daley was notably absent in the top-five, setting the seventh-fastest time as he got reacquainted with his old Suzuki GSX-R1000RR machine after a big crash ended his day early in race one. Daley will have some cobwebs to shake off on the old bike, but is never one to bet against as he chases his first career victory to end the 2022 campaign.

The full schedule for Sunday’s final day of racing can be found on the series’ official website, with the action kicking off early at roughly 11:35 am ET.