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CSBK Untold: Extra Storylines from Round Five at SMP
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It seems like not much more excitement can be packed into Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship weekends, but every round more and more stories are left on the cutting room floor by the time Sunday comes and goes.
From the major stories that require a bit more detail, to the countless hidden gems that never crack the spotlight, here are some added storylines from the final round of the 2023 season at Shannonville Motorsport Park.
Daley’s superhuman comeback
Around this time roughly eight weeks ago, Trevor Daley was sitting in a hospital bed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after undergoing surgery to repair a broken femur – an injury that requires four-to-six months to heal, according to most medical sources.
But not even halfway through the lower end of that timeframe, Daley returned to SMP cleared to ride, and it was like he never left. The OneSpeed Suzuki rider finished fifth, sixth, and sixth in the three feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike races, battling numerous times with a fully healthy and red-hot Sam Guerin.
His gritty performances moved him back into eighth in the final standings despite missing all three races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and he finished as the top Suzuki rider in race one and the second rider in races two and three, helping them score valuable points in the Constructors Championship even if they did come up just short to BMW.
There have been rumblings that Sunday at SMP was the last CSBK would see of Daley, but if that’s unfortunately the case it will be a heroic end to what’s been one of the best careers of the 2000’s, racking up 16 podiums (14th-most all-time) and finishing as the championship runner-up in 2014.
Campbell’s impressive Superbike debut
You won’t have to look far into the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class to know Connor Campbell is a talented rider, winning race one this season and nearly snatching another victory at CTMP. However, for a rider who had never sat on a Superbike prior to Friday, it would be fair to wonder how he might adjust at SMP.
It’s safe to say the adjustment period is already over.
Campbell was instantly in the midfield group in his debut with the Canadian Kawasaki program, finishing eighth and seventh in races one and two and challenging for another top-seven finish on Sunday before running wide off the backstraight, ending in eleventh.
The 24-year-old had nothing but good things to say about his experience with new teammate Jordan Szoke, and the feeling seemed to be mutual as Szoke praised his efforts from the podium, with the two crucially moving Kawasaki up to third in the final standings of the Constructors Championship.
Dion’s last-minute switch leads to glory
The days leading up to the final round of the 2023 season were hardly straightforward for Trevor Dion and the LDS Consultants crew. After mutually going their separate ways with Szoke, Dion initially planned to ride a privateer Kawasaki, before contemplating a return to his privateer BMW from 2022.
Then came the Economy Lube and Tire Ducati program, led by Stephen Moxey, and the rest is (so far) history.
Dion stepped on the podium in all three races, winning Rookie of the Year and securing Ducati’s best results since 1995, but he made sure the work behind the scenes didn’t go unnoticed in the days leading up to the event.
“There were a lot of long mornings to get this bike together – I honestly don’t know if Scott Miller has slept all week,” Dion joked about the renowned engine builder who now happens to be his crew chief. “I’m so fortunate to have this team behind me. They have been working so hard at the last-minute, so it’s nice to pick up a podium for them.”
The future of CSBK is in better hands than ever
Much has been said about the youth movement in the paddock this season, but the kids completely took over in the final round of the season.
Mavrick Cyr (18) cruised home with both amateur championships in 2023 while Vincent Lalande (15) scored the Amateur Lightweight title in his debut CSBK season, but the champions were just the tip of the iceberg.
Western phenom Philip Degama-Blanchet (15) scored his first national victory in the amateur ranks as did reigning Lightweight champion Bryce DeBoer (17), while Mack Weil (19) scored a pair of second-place finishes.
Jack Beaudry (16) then capped off his debut Lightweight year with a second-place finish ahead of Ryan Beattie (15) while both were beaten by Vincent Wilson, who is the de facto “veteran” of the group despite being just 20 years old.
Each of Cyr, Degama-Blanchet, DeBoer, and Weil will have to turn pro for 2024 (Cyr and Weil already elected to do so for the Pro Sport Bike race on Sunday), but it might not take long before they start to steal the spotlight once again.
CSBK By the Numbers: Round 5 at SMP
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A thrilling and at times record-breaking 2023 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship season has come to a close, with the finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park delivering even more history before the summer was done.
Below are just a few of the key numbers that stood out from an exciting conclusion to the 2023 campaign.
Young, Dumas continue to climb leaderboards
Everyone knows Ben Young put a stamp on the record books at SMP, clinching his third Pro Superbike championship and becoming just the fourth rider in history with that many titles (joining Jordan Szoke with 14, Steve Crevier with seven, and Michel Mercier with three).
But he and rival Alex Dumas also continued their unprecedented run atop the feature class by trading victories in the tripleheader, as Young scored his 15th and 16th Superbike wins to enter a tie with Pascal Picotte for third on the all-time list, while Dumas’ race three triumph ties him with Mercier and Don Munroe for fifth all-time with 12.
Many will be quick to point out that today’s schedules traditionally have more races, and while that’s true, Young and Dumas have also moved well clear of everyone not named Szoke to now sit second and third in victories of the “doubleheader era” beginning in 1998.
Suzuki’s streak of podiums ends
While Dumas did make history on Saturday and Sunday, his unfortunate crash ended another run on Friday. The 2021 champion failed to make the podium for just the second time in his 26-race career (both DNF’s), only this time there wasn’t another Suzuki there to pick up the pieces.
That means that the GSX-R brand saw their run of 26-consecutive rostrums come to an end, the second-longest streak of all-time, dating back to Calabogie 2020 (before Dumas had even arrived north of the border).
While it pales in comparison to the ludicrous 88-race streak BMW enjoyed from Calgary 2010 to round one earlier this year, the stretch will still wind up an impressive eight-races clear of the third-best run of all-time (also Suzuki from 1981 to 1988).
Record-breaking parity amongst Superbike manufacturers
Entering the final round of the year, five different brands had sat on the podium this season (BMW, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda), a record-tying amount.
Well, Suzuki’s previously mentioned absence on Friday changed that.
Trevor Dion capitalized on the vacancy at the front and put his Economy Lube and Tire Ducati on the third step of the box, making the Italian brand the sixth different manufacturer to taste champagne in 2023.
Dion would add two more podiums for good measure, cementing the Ducati as a frontrunning bike once again, and further proving that the days of BMW podium lockouts in the feature class are largely over.
Van Winkle becomes youngest pro champ in CSBK history
Only a select few teenagers have ever taken home a pro #1 plate in CSBK’s 43-year history, but none of them have done so as young as Andrew Van Winkle.
The recently-turned 16-year-old smashed the previous record by securing the inaugural Bickle Racing Pro Twins championship on Sunday, overtaking an injured Jeff Williams to clinch the historic title.
While Van Winkle himself would admit it came against a small crop of competitors in the first year of the class, there’s no questioning how impressive the feat is. Only four teenagers have ever won a pro title before; Jordan Szoke (Superbike), Alex Dumas (Superbike), and Jodi Christie (Sport Bike) all did it at 19 years old, while Tomas Casas held the record by winning the Sport Bike crown at 18 in 2017.
Van Winkle has now cleared that mark by almost two full years, becoming a pro champion before even being able to legally drive in Ontario.
Szoke celebrates an emotional milestone
If you find a CSBK record, there’s a good chance Jordan Szoke owns it by a large margin. That’s especially true of race starts, as the veteran celebrated his 150th career Superbike race on Sunday at SMP.
For perspective, the next highest rider is Steve Crevier at 97, not even cracking the century mark in his storied career. The next active rider? Sebastien Tremblay at 67, who would only just clear 100 if you combined his Sport Bike results as well.
Szoke’s durability for 20-plus years was a remarkable feat, but his ability to fight through potentially life-threatening injuries in recent seasons has been even more impressive, making his 150th race an even more emotional milestone.
The 14-time champion didn’t sound like he was done yet in his final speech of the year, but if he does decide to hang up his race boots this winter, he will do so with yet another spectacular bullet point next to his name when he enters the Hall of Fame.
Shannonville Two Tech Review
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Weights and Measures from the final 2023 Bridgestone CSBK National event at 15 turn S.M.P.
The final event of the 2023 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship series featured a busy schedule at SMP and was blessed with the best weather of the entire 2023 tour. As usual, the CSBK event staff were busy with pre and post-race technical checks, including post-race weights and measurement on the official series Dynojet Dyno operated by Brooklin Cycle Racing.
In the GP Bikes backed Pro Superbike Feature class, the strongest horsepower output came from the newly crowned number one plate holder, Ben Young, and his Van Dolder’s Home Team/Motul BMW M1000RR Superbike. After winning Friday’s opening race, Young’s BeeMm “spun the drum” to register 199.81 horsepower, the highest ever officially measured in the history of the series.
CSBK announce 2024 schedule, includes return to Edmonton
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The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will be expanding to six rounds next season, announcing their provisional 2024 calendar for all national classes.
The schedule follows mostly the same rotation as 2023, but with one important distinction: a return to RAD Torque Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. The national tour hasn’t raced west of Ontario since the last trip to what was then called Castrol Raceway in 2015, but a renewed focus on racing in Western Canada will begin with the trip to Edmonton next summer.
The 14-turn, 2.7 km circuit will be the host of round three on the 2024 slate, set for June 21-23. Immediately afterwards, the Bridgestone CSBK series will host a mid-season test at nearby Rocky Mountain Motorsports, with the goal of adding the Calgary venue to the 2025 calendar.
Jordan Szoke won both races in CSBK’s first and only appearance at RAD Torque, and will be one of the only names expected to return to the circuit for a second time next season. However, there will be no lack of familiarity amongst 2023’s breakout western stars, including Alberta natives Paul Macdonell and John Laing who will lead the charge in their home venue for the first time as national riders.
It's otherwise a similar calendar to this past season, as the year will begin and end at Shannonville Motorsport Park with the pro track layout in round one and long track configuration in round six.
Grand Bend Motorplex will again host round two, while the trip east to Atlantic Motorsport Park shifts to round four and after the unofficial mid-season break following RAD Torque.
The famed annual Canadian Tire Motorsport Park event will remain as the penultimate round, but will run slightly earlier than usual as the weekend now kicks off Bike Week at CTMP, with more exciting additions to the event planned for 2024.
Provisional 2024 Bridgestone CSBK Schedule
Round 1 – Shannonville Motorsport Park – May 17-19
Round 2 – Grand Bend Motorplex – June 7-9
Round 3 – RAD Torque Raceway – June 21-23
Round 4 – Atlantic Motorsport Park – July 12-14
Round 5 – Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – August 9-11
Round 6 – Shannonville Motorsport Park – August 30-September 1
The Canadian Superbike Championship has not run a six-round schedule since 2009, when Szoke held off Brett McCormick to win the Canada Cup. However, that season saw just one doubleheader at CTMP, meaning 2024 will likely feature a record number of races in the feature class.
The full breakdown of races for each national category is yet to be confirmed, with more details to be provided at a later date. Additional info regarding pre-season and mid-season tests will also be announced shortly.
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