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Young wins epic last-lap battle over Dumas to kick off tripleheader at RAD Torque
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The latest chapter in the rivalry between Ben Young and Alex Dumas was written on Saturday, as Young claimed a memorable race one victory after a tense last-lap battle in the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at RAD Torque Raceway.
The pair found themselves in a race long fight to begin a pivotal GP Bikes Pro Superbike tripleheader, though with pole-sitter Sam Guerin at the front for majority of the contest in what was a thrilling three-rider scrap virtually from start to finish.
Guerin would pace the first 17 laps of the 20-lap feature race, setting a new lap record early on and briefly threatening to run away with a third consecutive victory as Young defended masterfully from Dumas behind.
However, Guerin would begin to fade slightly back to the duo in the closing stages, with Young eventually taking the lead on the crossover between turns five and six while Dumas almost immediately followed him through into second.
Guerin would keep a watchful eye in third as the two former champions got their elbows out in front of him, with Dumas lining up a move out of the last corner as he carried a bit more speed down the finish straightaway.
Dumas would get the drive he needed on the final lap as he moved past Young into turn one, hitting the front for the first time in what was a crucial battle for the championship with just two points separating them.
However, their often friendly rivalry reached a more contentious point almost straight away, as Young instantly responded with a bold – but fair – pass into the tight turn two right hander, standing Dumas up and nearly allowing Guerin back into the lead.
Young would then produce a flawless final 2.7 kilometres, fending Dumas off in the last few corners to escape with his first win of the year by just 0.080 seconds.
The Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda rider would hand his new brand their first victory in nearly eleven years on Saturday, joining Jodi Christie in 2014 (who was in attendance on Saturday) as the most recent Superbike winners for Honda.
“That was such a great race with these guys. It’s tight racing these BMW’s, but I know a few things from having been in their shoes all those years,” Young said. “It’s been a challenging year. We were working on things even this morning, but the bike delivered today. I’m so happy for Honda, it feels like a long time coming.”
The race winning pass was perhaps the most memorable of Young’s career, extending his championship lead to seven points in the process.
“That was probably the most aggressive I’ve ever been, but when you’re that close on the last lap you have to go for it,” Young added.
While Dumas was frustrated by the nail-biting loss, the Economy Lube/Fast Company BMW rider is still well positioned in the championship entering a doubleheader on Sunday, having flashed more than enough race-winning pace on Saturday.
“I didn’t get the start we wanted, and at one point I thought Sam was gone, but we were able to close the gap and then I followed Ben through,” Dumas said. “I knew the goal was to beat him because of the championship. He raced hard, but hopefully we can be back on top tomorrow.”
While Guerin’s end result doesn’t tell the full story of his race, having led majority of the contest with incredible pace, the EFC Group BMW rider took most of the blame for his late-race slide into what was a still strong third place.
“I pushed too much early on. The tires were still okay, but I had less grip than them for sure,” Guerin said. “I made a few mistakes because of that, but it was good experience to lead so many laps.”
The double-podium for BMW also keeps their 18-point lead intact atop the Constructors Championship, though with Young and Honda mounting the pressure in the middle part of the season.
Settling for a distant fourth at the line was Jordan Szoke, who ran with the lead group early on but could never fully match the pace of the other trio, eventually putting his CKM Kawasaki into a safe but lonely result.
That will keep Szoke four points ahead of Guerin in the battle for third overall, and still only 23 points behind Young atop the standings.
Rounding out the top five was David MacKay, who fended off an early attack from local phenom and fellow Honda rider Phil DeGama-Blanchet.
MacKay had just started to put a bit of breathing room between himself and DeGama-Blanchet when the 17-year-old crashed in turn eight, handing a more comfortable finish to MacKay and the ODH Snow City Cycle Honda team.
A pair of Edmonton natives would earn career-best results at their home track, with Brian Worsdall claiming sixth ahead of Eric Russnak in seventh.
Worsdall put in a strong but lonely ride aboard his Hindle/DP Brakes BMW, while Russnak overcame an early battle behind him to settle into seventh for Motorheads Kawasaki, picking up valuable Constructors points in the absence of the injured Connor Campbell.
Laurent Laliberte-Girard extended his advantage in the fight for top Pro Rookie of the Year honours, earning an excellent eighth aboard his Supersport-spec Nadon Sport Yamaha.
Young will now try to build on his first win of the season with a challenging doubleheader on Sunday, with rain forecasted for race two of the weekend at roughly 11:30 am MT before conditions improve for race three at roughly 3:00 pm MT.
Collins takes massive Supersport victory as title fight blows open in race one at RAD Torque
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The landscape in the Pro Supersport championship changed dramatically on Saturday, as Torin Collins won the first part of a weekend tripleheader in record breaking fashion at RAD Torque Raceway.
Collins found himself in a tricky position early on at his home venue, getting a lackluster start from pole position and slipping behind championship rival Andrew Van Winkle and ahead of reigning champion Sebastien Tremblay in a close lead trio.
The three-pack would quickly shrink to two when Tremblay bowed out of the race on only lap four, suffering from a suspected pit limiter malfunction on his S.T. Motosport Suzuki – a massive blow to his hopes of a title defence.
There was still plenty of entertainment between Collins and Van Winkle, however, as the two teenagers ran together for the entire first half of the race, even trading blows in turns three and four as Van Winkle was reluctant to let the championship leader past.
Collins would eventually take the lead for good on lap eight, breaking the lap record on his very next go-around as he began to stretch a slight advantage over Van Winkle.
The gap would hover around one second for the next handful of laps, keeping a slight bit of pressure on Collins as Van Winkle eyed a potential comeback attempt late in the race.
Instead, the 18-year-old would crash out of second place moments later, handing a massive lead to Collins as he remounted his Mountainview Motorsports Suzuki in sixth.
Collins would cruise the rest of the way to an incredible 30-second win aboard his Octagon Energy Services Suzuki, the largest margin of victory in Pro Supersport history, surpassing Jordan Szoke’s record of 27 seconds over Jean-Francois Cyr at CTMP in 2010.
“What a race! I actually had a bad start, thankfully I was able to keep Seb behind me but Andrew was keeping me honest, as he has all season really,” Collins said. “He was stressing me out a bit, I wasn’t sure how much harder I could push, but then I saw the gap jump up on my pit board and knew something happened.”
Perhaps more crucially, the win sees Collins’ championship lead grow from just nine points to now 24 over Van Winkle, who was able to salvage sixth in the end.
The devastating blows for Van Winkle and Tremblay proved to be great fortune for Alex Michel and John Laing, who were promoted to the podium places amidst an epic race-long battle of their own with Elliot Vieira.
It was initially Laing who charged through the pack after a terrible start, carving his way past Vieira and Michel and briefly matching the pace of the leaders aboard his Vass Performance Suzuki.
The home favourite would struggle to maintain that pace in the late stages, however, with Michel moving into second with six laps remaining and extending a slight cushion to match his best career result for the SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki squad.
“This smile’s going to disappear right around lap ten later,” Michel joked, with the tripleheader meaning another race later on Saturday afternoon. “I tried to put my head down and stay with John, but eventually I was faster in some corners. Once I got through I felt good, so I’m happy I could hold him off and get back on the podium.”
Laing would then have to deal with all sorts of pressure from Vieira, but it was too little too late for the GP Bikes Ducati rider as Laing held on for a popular podium – his first of the season.
“Yesterday went okay until the crash in qualifying, but we were able to get the bike fixed. I had a bad start and was down in ninth or something on lap one, but was able to climb back up to fourth in a couple laps,” Laing said. “I knew I didn’t have the pace to match them up front so I just tried to manage my time, but I think I managed a bit too hard!”
Vieira would continue his consistent run in fourth, the only rider to take a top five finish in every race this season following Van Winkle’s crash.
Rounding out the top five was rookie Laurent Laliberte-Girard, who endured a massive early battle aboard his Nadon Sport Yamaha before stretching away from the pack behind him, which included Van Winkle fending off Nathan Playford, Justin Knapik, and Mackenzie Weil across the final four laps.
The Pro Supersport class won’t have long to rest before returning to the circuit later this afternoon at RAD Torque Raceway, with race two of the weekend currently scheduled for roughly 4:30 pm MT.
Dumas narrowly paces FP2 at RAD Torque Raceway
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Another different name topped the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class on Saturday morning, as Alex Dumas took his turn atop the timesheets in FP2 in the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at RAD Torque Raceway.
Dumas watched his rivals Ben Young lead the opening practice and Sam Guerin claim pole position on Friday, but day two kicked off in favour of the Economy Lube/Fast Company BMW star as he closed in on lap record pace in a nail-biting morning practice.
The 2021 champion sat atop the leaderboards for majority of the 30-minute period, leading in the first stint and for much of the middle portion despite a pair of strong time attacks from Young.
Dumas would set his best time of the weekend with ten minutes to go, posting an impressive 1:16.959 lap to wind up only 0.070 seconds shy of Guerin’s lap record from a day ago.
The rest of the field would have no answer in the final moments as the top five ran virtually unchanged in the last stint, with Young still firmly on the pace for the Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda squad as he exited FP2 only 0.131 seconds behind Dumas.
Pole-sitter Guerin found himself much further behind the duo for majority of the practice session but made a number of late improvements to trim the deficit, putting his EFC Group BMW only 0.048 seconds behind Young with just 0.179 seconds blanketing the top three.
Jordan Szoke would manage a solid fourth on Saturday morning but not with the same pace he showed on Friday, completing only five laps and settling for a one-second deficit to Dumas aboard his Canadian Kawasaki Motors machine.
The battle for fifth in this afternoon’s race continued to shape up as a good one, with Phil DeGama-Blanchet leading a razor-thin group with a time of 1:18.543.
The 17-year-old Mots Machining Honda rider wound up just 0.004 seconds ahead of fellow Honda man David MacKay, who will try to spoil the Calgary rider’s homecoming this afternoon for the ODH Snow City Cycle team.
Fellow Calgary teenager Torin Collins was a close seventh for Octagon Energy Services Suzuki, though intriguingly just 0.072 seconds clear of Pro Supersport rival Sebastien Tremblay.
Both riders were aboard their middleweight-spec Suzuki GSX-R750’s, with Tremblay the closest he’s been all weekend to Collins for the S.T. Motosport team.
Local rider Eric Russnak was a strong ninth in FP2 for Motorheads Kawasaki, still within a half-second of fifth as he aims to play a pivotal role for his manufacturer this weekend following the injuries to Connor Campbell.
Supersport frontrunner Alex Michel completed the top ten, leading off a group of middleweight contenders aboard his SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki.
Dumas will try to carry the momentum into this afternoon’s race one, scheduled for roughly 3 pm MT, where he starts third behind Young and Guerin on the front row.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.
CSBK issues update on pro competitor Connor Campbell
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The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship is pleased to confirm that GP Bikes Pro Superbike competitor #814 Connor Campbell has been discharged from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries suffered in a Friday morning crash.
Campbell crashed in a single-bike incident during the P1 practice session on Friday at RAD Torque Raceway, causing a red flag stoppage. Following trackside assistance from official series doctor Ryan Burrill and on-site medical staff, Campbell was immediately transferred to the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.
At the authorization of Campbell, his family, and the B&T MacFarlane Kawasaki team, the series can confirm four non-displaced fractured vertebrae in his back and a broken tailbone were suffered in the incident. Campbell remained conscious while trackside.
The Edwards, Ontario native is thankfully expected to make a full recovery and was released from hospital overnight.
The reigning Pro Rookie of the Year, Campbell had recently taken a career-best sixth-place finish in Atlantic Motorsport Park and currently sits ninth in the overall GP Bikes Pro Superbike standings.
Series staff would like to wish Connor a full and speedy recovery from his injuries.
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