The second round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship served up another “Super Saturday” at Atlantic Motorsport Park, with a number of impressive performances headlining the support class action.
Four of the five races were won by pole-sitters on Saturday, but that didn’t mean the day was without any action as each class featured numerous thrilling battles at the front, most notably in the two amateur divisions where Cole Alexander and Zaim Laflamme continued their brewing rivalry.
Alexander’s Friday was bittersweet, provisionally taking pole in both classes before a fuel infraction disqualified his effort in the EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport class, promoting Laflamme onto the front of the grid.
It would be a similar story for Alexander on Saturday, as his strong comeback performance was once again undone by a post-race penalty.
After charging his way to the front of the pack and stretching out a slight lead over Laflamme, Alexander went off track in turn one and rejoined in turn three, retaining his lead and cruising the rest of the way to cross the line in first.
However, the 18-year-old Suzuki star didn’t lose sufficient time before rejoining in a different corner, resulting in a three-second shortcut penalty that would place him just behind Laflamme and hand his title foe a much-needed victory, with Alexis Beaudoin completing the podium in third.
The win cuts Laflamme’s deficit in half to just five points behind Alexander in the Supersport category, though it was the opposite story in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike ranks.
Starting from pole in that class, Alexander led virtually from start to finish over Laflamme for a commanding victory, stretching out a 25-point lead nearing the halfway point of the season on Sunday.
Laflamme retained a solid second-place despite relentless pressure from Nicolas Audet, though he will need to find an answer for Alexander on Sunday if he looks to keep his deficit in the Superbike championship to within a full race haul.
Home favourite Gary McKinnon dominated the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike race, converting his pole position into a comfortable victory over top amateur Dante Bucek.
McKinnon’s win will move him to second in the championship as he tries to claw back the 19-point deficit to Bucek atop the combined standings, though Bucek managed a strong result of his own with a 13-second gap to Norbert Joo in third, which was the race within the race as Joo fended off local rider Mark Willson for the last podium spot.
J.P. Tache’s grasp on the Importations Thibault Twins Cup championship got even tighter on Saturday, winning by a sensational 23 seconds from Bucek to continue his perfect start to the year.
The unbeaten Tache was never in jeopardy from the group behind, but Bucek turned in a strong performance to put himself between a pair of capable pro riders in Tache and Louie Raffa, the latter bringing home third and locking out an all-Aprilia podium ahead of Justin Marshall in fourth for Suzuki.
Jacob Black scored his first win of the year in the Kawasaki ZX-4RR Cup class, taking over the championship lead in the process from the absent Jared Walker.
Black started from pole and staked his claim as the new title favourite over Jean-Pascal Schroeder, who finished a distant second but also moves clear of Walker to keep himself within striking distance of Black entering Sunday.
The support classes will return for race two action on Sunday at Atlantic Motorsport Park, kicking off at roughly 11:30 am AT.
Full results can be found here.
