Radisic takes crucial win, McKinnon clinches title in support action at CTMP

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Saturday, August 10, 2024 19:17 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

A super Saturday delivered once again in the support classes at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as a number of riders inched closer to national titles at the fifth round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.

Amongst them was AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike championship leader Goran Radisic, who scored his fifth win of the season and ninth consecutive top-two finish in a close duel with title rival Tyler Brewer.

It was Brewer who found the edge in qualifying on Friday, but the two points protagonists swapped places in race one as Radisic was able to squeeze out a narrow 0.535 second advantage for PMR BMW.

That extends Radisic’s championship lead to 37 points entering race two, though Brewer would limit the damage as best he could with a strong second-place finish. Jason Thoms would complete the podium in third for BMW.

Post-race controversy brought a historic result for Ryan Beattie in the EBC Brakes Amateur Sport Bike class, as he was promoted to victory in his “big bike” debut after a batch of disqualifications for the use of improper fuel.

The race featured an incredible on-track battle between the trio of Serge Boyer, Nolan Eadie, and Vincent Wilson for the win, though all three ultimately failed post-race tech inspection after it was found they weren’t using spec Gulf Race Fuels.

That promoted Amateur Lightweight championship leader Beattie to first in the final order, while Laurent Laliberté-Girard inherited a crucial second and Corey James Campbell rounded out the podium.

That was just the result Laliberté-Girard would need to end his mid-season slide, clawing back 20 points on title leader Boyer to cut the deficit almost in half to 25 with three races remaining. 

The second champion of the season was crowned in the pro split of the Super Sonic Road Race School Pro-Am Lightweight class, as Gary McKinnon clinched the title in his category with an overall finish of seventh.

The veteran needed to only lose 20 points or less to challenger Jacob Black in order to mathematically wrap up the number one plate, but gave himself plenty of wiggle room as he wound up as the fourth best pro while Black took third in the split.

The action was for the overall on-track result, though, as Cameron Walker came out on top of a thrilling four-rider battle that featured fellow pro Stacey Nesbitt as well as amateur title challenger Baillie Ives and teenager Treston Morrison.

Morrison had all the late pace, charging his way to second by the final lap and taking a shot at Walker for the overall win, but it would fall 0.660 seconds short as the pro rider escaped with the chequered flag.

The amateur win would still go to Morrison in second, while reigning pro champion Nesbitt took third on-track and the runner-up spot in her split.

Ives would settle for fourth but completed the task at hand by taking another chunk of points out of amateur points leader Beattie, who was fifth overall and third in their division. That will reduce the gap even further to just four points, the closest fight in any championship with three races to go in 2024.

The day would unfortunately get even worse for Wilson following his Sport Bike disqualification, as he crashed out of the lead battle in the Importations Thibault Pro-AM Twins class on a day he could have clinched the championship.

While Wilson is thankfully believed to have avoided more serious injuries, he may be sidelined for Sunday’s race and potentially the season finale in Shannonville, opening the door for a late-season comeback for Sebastian Silva.

Silva would finish sixth on-track but tops amongst the amateurs, cutting his title deficit to 37 points while Julia Krans took second in the split.

The overall victory, though, would go to rookie pro Bryce Deboer, who’s making his season debut for Yamaha after a stint in the United States.

The former Lightweight champion found himself in an intense battle with Craig Atkinson but would win by the finest of margins after the red flag came out for Wilson, defeating Atkinson by only 0.025 seconds across the line.

That would prove to be a crucial result in the pro championship, as Atkinson closes to within 22 points of leader Dallas Reynolds, who limited the damage in third for Aprilia.

Mack Weil celebrated his national championship with another victory, having already secured the pro title in the Niagara Race Crafter Ninja ZX-4RR Cup last time out at AMP. 

The Snow City Cycle Kawasaki star has now captured eight wins in nine races of the pro division, extending his massive advantage over Dave Walker who exited with another strong second-place finish.

Jean-Pascal Schroeder would take a third consecutive victory in the amateur split, seizing the championship lead in the process ahead of season debutant Herve Remetter in second.

Full results can be found here.