BMW chases Constructors while Rookie of the Year remains wide open

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Published on Friday, September 8, 2023 09:00 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

Seven national titles will be on the line when the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship wraps up at Shannonville Motorsport Park next weekend, September 15-17, but there’s plenty more hardware to be won in the various award battles.

Top amongst them is the third edition of the Constructors Championship, where BMW’s sensational round four comeback has them on the verge of their second consecutive crown after it was introduced in 2021.

Inaugural champions Suzuki seemed poised to snatch the title back as they entered CTMP with a 28-point lead over the Motorrad brand, but three consecutive one-two finishes from Ben Young and Sam Guerin gave BMW a perfect 135 points on the weekend, leapfrogging them 37 points clear of Alex Dumas and company. 

That may seem like too steep a hill for Suzuki to climb, especially with Trevor Daley’s status unclear as he recovers from a broken femur, but another tripleheader means there are three more opportunities for Dumas and rookie John Fraser to try and make life difficult on their BMW rivals. 

While it’s down to those two to decide the Constructors trophy, the battle for third overall is just as exciting, as Yamaha leads Kawasaki by 32 points. Yamaha is expected to have a trio of strong producers in Tomas Casas, Eli Daccache, and Paul Macdonell at the last round (though only the top-two finishers from each brand count for points), while Kawasaki will have to counter with Szoke and his now former teammate, Trevor Dion. 

That means three rookies will each play pivotal roles in the Constructors battle in Fraser, Macdonell, and Dion, but all three will have another award on their minds as they chase down the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year trophy.

Fraser currently leads Macdonell by just four points entering the final round, and the 18-year-old will feel good knowing round one at Shannonville brought his best result of the season in fifth, albeit on the different “pro track” layout. 

That weekend was no disappointment for Macdonell either, though, as he scored finishes of seventh and ninth in what was his CSBK debut. Now having become more acquainted with the national series, the Alberta native will have three more chances to continue his ultra-consistent form and try to snatch the top rookie honours. 

The real wildcard will be Dion, however, who has enjoyed higher peaks than his two competitors in 2023 but with far more inconsistency. A podium in Grand Bend and a pair of sixth-place finishes in CTMP have accounted for all his points, balancing out two DNF’s and an absence in round one, but a bit more stability may be all Dion needs to overcome his 14-point deficit in a hurry. 

The first of the awards to get handed out will be decided on Friday, as Young tries to defend his BS Battery Pole Position Award in Superbike qualifying. 

Three poles in four tries have given the reigning champ a six-point lead over Dumas, who will need to put himself four places on the grid higher than Young to steal the trophy – a tough task considering Young hasn’t missed the front row since round four of 2017. 

Also returning to Shannonville will be the FAST Hard Charger Award, which was handed out at both of the season opening races five months ago and will return for races two and three of the season-ending tripleheader. 

Chosen by a team of CSBK media members, the Hard Charger bonus is given to the rider “deemed to have produced the best effort in the context of the race.” Daley took home the first honour of the season after crashing, repairing his machine during the red flag, and restarting to finish fifth, while Young claimed the second award after salvaging sixth despite the loss of the tail-section on his BMW. 

The final piece of hardware to be handed out will be physically the largest, as a whole crowd of amateur riders fight for the inaugural Surron Electric Rider Award and the prize of a Surron Light Bee machine that comes with it.

Andrew Cooney currently leads the fight with three fastest laps across the six-race Amateur Sport Bike season, good for 50%, and will need just one more in his two races this weekend to clinch the award.

However, he will have to fend off the red-hot Vincent Wilson who sits tied for second – with himself. Wilson has earned a trio of fastest laps in both the Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike and Lightweight Pro/Am classes, but because each will run an eight-race schedule he trails Cooney slightly at 38%. 

The full award standings can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.