The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship delivered another thrilling day of racing on Saturday, with Torin Collins leading a trio of riders who took multiple victories at RAD Torque Raceway.
Collins had already made a bit of history with his critical race one win earlier in the day, benefitting from a few incidents behind him to record the largest margin of victory in Pro Supersport history, and it was a similar story in race two on Saturday afternoon.
Collins initially looked set for a tough challenge as Sebastien Tremblay stormed off the line to grab the holeshot with Andrew Van Winkle second, but a red flag stoppage on lap one meant a full restart.
That restart would go more in Collins’ favour, jumping out to an early lead and resisting Tremblay for only a handful of laps before stretching his legs out front, cruising the rest of the way for a seven second victory.
The “daily double” gives the Octagon Energy Services rider five wins in six races to begin 2025, stretching his lead to 29 points with three races remaining this season.
The story in the race – which was mostly a straightforward one after the first few laps – was the battle behind Collins, with Van Winkle exacting a bit of hard revenge on Tremblay late in the contest.
Van Winkle had reeled in Tremblay rapidly, something the reigning champion was unaware of due to a miscommunication on his pit board, allowing Van Winkle to catch the S.T. Motosport Suzuki rider by surprise in turn two with a forceful move.
The 18-year-old Van Winkle playfully referenced a similar pass Tremblay made on himself a year ago at Atlantic Motorsport Park, considering the score to be even after Tremblay got the better of him on that occasion.
“That was similar to Nova Scotia last year, only this time it was me who finished ahead,” Van Winkle said. “There was a bit of contact, but nothing serious. I think there was an issue with his pit board, so I don’t know if he even knew I was there.”
Tremblay confirmed that Van Winkle’s pass caught him by surprise in turn two, but showed no signs of anger towards the Mountainview Motorsports Suzuki star despite the contact.
“The pass was okay, I just didn’t know he was coming. I thought I had a bigger gap so I did not expect that at all,” Tremblay admitted, though he still showed his gratitude to his team for their efforts following a race one mechanical issue.
The difficult day leaves Tremblay a surprising 54 points behind Collins, meaning he can be mathematically eliminated from championship contention on Sunday if he can’t find an answer for the 19-year-old Calgary native.
Continuing his run of top-five finishes was Elliot Vieira in fourth, who held off a relentless late attack from Alex Michel to stay in contention for third in the overall standings aboard his GP Bikes Ducati.
Michel currently holds that spot over Vieira and Tremblay, a trio covered by just six points, though the SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki rider was in damage limitation mode in race two after getting tangled up in the lap one red flag with John Laing, who is thankfully believed to have avoided any significant injuries.
Collins wasn’t the only teenager to double up his day, however, as Cole Alexander continued to emerge as one of the rising stars of the paddock with another pair of victories in the amateur ranks.
Alexander would convert his pole position to a fifth victory in six races in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class, holding off a race long push from rival Zaim Laflamme to push his points lead to 35.
The 18-year-old Suzuki rider wasn’t afforded much breathing room from Laflamme, who again came painfully short of a crucial victory despite equally impressive pace, having put over 16 seconds between himself and the battle for third.
That final podium spot would go to Nicolas Audet but not without a similar challenge from Alexis Beaudoin, though Beaudoin will climb to third in the overall standings with the result – an important spot with the top three finishers graduating to the pro ranks in 2026.
Laflamme would have hoped to get his revenge in the EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport class where he started from his own pole position, but the day would again go the way of Alexander as he put a slightly bigger gap between himself and the Triumph rider.
Alexander will stretch his lead to 15 points in that category as he chases a rare double championship this season, though Laflamme remains firmly in the mix with yet another runner-up result.
Beaudoin initially appeared to reverse his own battle with Audet as he finished a narrow third, but Beaudoin was later disqualified from the order for the use of improper fuel, handing the last podium spot to Audet once again as he inches closer to securing third in the overall championship.
Photos by Kira McWilliams
J.P. Tache’s perfect season came to an end in the Importations Thibault Twins Cup class, after Dante Bucek won a thrilling duel thanks to a brave turn one pass on the final lap.
The 16-year-old Bucek had to claw his way back to Tache after an excellent start for the championship leader, but the two Aprilia riders ran almost nose-to-tail in the last six laps with Bucek lining up a move in a number of spots.
The young amateur would then launch the decisive pass into the tight turn one right hander, standing up Tache and fending off the veteran pro for the rest of the lap to snatch his first career victory in the category.
The win cuts Bucek’s championship deficit to 29 points ahead of race two, preventing Tache from being able to clinch the title on Sunday so long as Bucek finishes inside the top ten.
Joining them in the top three was fan favourite Bronti Verbeek for Yamaha, who added a second career CSBK podium at her home track after battling with Bucek in the early going, a popular result for the Calgary native.
Verbeek will try to keep closing the gap to the absent Louie Raffa and fourth-place finisher Justin Marshall, who leapfrogs Raffa to put his Suzuki Canada machine third in the championship.
Bucek completed his own double in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike class, cruising clear of Norbert Joo and Scott Szollos to extend a massive championship lead.
The Kawasaki rider opens up a 39-point advantage over the absent Gary McKinnon, giving him a shot to clinch the national title on Sunday with only 50 points available at the season finale in CTMP.
Szollos will maintain his slim title hopes with a podium, however, moving him just 13 points behind McKinnon for top pro honours behind runaway amateur Bucek.
Jacob Black took a third consecutive victory in the Kawasaki ZX-4RR Cup, extending his championship lead over third-place finisher Jean-Pascal Schroeder.
Black was in an early dice with Schroeder and Rob Cousineau, though the trio eventually separated with Cousineau taking a comfortable second and Schroeder rounding out the podium.
It was the first national podium of Cousineau’s career, who closes to within four points of the absent Jared Walker for third in the overall championship.
