The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will get back underway in just a few days time as round two heads to the east coast at Atlantic Motorsport Park, with the return to Nova Scotia offering another pair of exciting opportunities in the five support classes.
Flying the flag for the home fans will be reigning pro Lightweight champion Gary McKinnon, a master of Canada’s most physically demanding circuit after sweeping his home round a year ago.
A native of Debert, Nova Scotia (just north of nearby Truro), the veteran McKinnon sits fourth in the Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike championship after finishing sixth and third in the Shannonville opener, hampered by a brake issue in race one, but he will be a sure bet to improve upon that as he owns an impeccable record around his home track.
McKinnon won three of his last four races in the now-replaced Pro-AM Lightweight division at AMP, settling for second in race two in 2022, and was the overwhelming favourite to add to that total in 2023 if not for a historic rain-out.
It’s unclear if he will have to contend with his pro rivals from round one, as Scott Szollos (second overall) and Ryan Vanderputten (third) both missed AMP last season, but McKinnon will likely have at least one youngster looking to spoil the party in championship leader Dante Bucek.
The top amateur by a wide margin in the combined standings, the 17-year-old Bucek will be making his first trip to AMP and will need to adapt quickly to the challenging circuit, though it’s hard to discount the title favourite after his round one sweep.
The most entertaining duel of the first round was unquestionably the fight between Cole Alexander and Zaim Laflamme, who have already built up a spirited rivalry atop both the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class and EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport category.
While Alexander paces both championships with three wins in four races overall, it will actually be Laflamme who enters with the leg up on his competition, having finished in the top-two in all three of his Amateur appearances from 2024 – including a debut win in the Supersport class.
The 23-year-old made a mid-season jump from Lightweight to the intermediate classes last season and looked immediately comfortable at AMP, giving him valuable experience that he can build upon in 2025.
Alexander celebrated his own success at AMP last season, but did so in the junior category as he earned a pair of second-place finishes in the amateur portion of the Pro-AM Lightweight championship.
While that means the layout won’t be completely unfamiliar to the rising star, Alexander will be riding his Suzuki GSX-750 around the tight confines of Shubenacadie for the first time, giving a slight advantage to Laflamme at a track where every tiny margin is so crucial.
The Importations Thibault Twins Cup will also enter a pivotal second round at AMP, but for opposite reasons as championship leader J.P. Tache looks to add another points haul after his emphatic round one sweep.
Tache rarely looked even threatened at the season opener, winning by 23 and 10 second margins, and it’s difficult to envision his form getting much worse after a sweep one year ago at Atlantic Motorsport Park.
However, the Aprilia veteran will have a few different foes to deal with this time around, with Louie Raffa leading the charge as the field tries to halt Tache’s early momentum.
Few riders have put in as many laps around AMP as Raffa in the last decade, having spent that time as one of the top midfield riders in the Pro Supersport class, and he will hope to use that track knowledge to his advantage against Tache – an experienced rider in his own right, but one fresh off a lengthy hiatus from racing.
While Raffa never earned a Supersport podium in Shubenacadie, he did earn top-five finishes in 2022, 2017, and 2014, making him the strongest bet to end Tache’s golden run atop the Twins class.
Justin Marshall will also be there to try and capitalize on a closer fight at the front, having charged to second and fourth-place finishes in Shannonville despite starting from the back of the grid, with the Suzuki rider hoping to build upon his pair of fourth-place results from AMP last season.
Rounding out the support classes will be the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR Cup, where Jared Walker will carry a ten-point lead into the weekend over Jacob Black after a round one sweep of his own.
Should Walker make his first trip to the east coast since 2022, the former Pro-AM Lightweight champion will be the default favourite once again, having won and finished second in his last two races at the venue and looking like the clear title favourite in 2025.
However, Black will hope to change that narrative with a career-best weekend at AMP, looking to build upon his second and third-place finishes in the Lightweight ranks one year ago and close the championship gap to Walker.
Reigning amateur ZX-4RR champion Jean-Pascal Schroeder can’t be ignored either, however, after sweeping the weekend in his 2024 debut at AMP and going on to win six consecutive races to close out the season.
The entire slate of CSBK action will officially get underway on Friday morning in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, just 45 minutes north of Halifax.
The full schedule for the weekend can be found here.
