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CSBK By the Numbers: Round 1 at Shannonville

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Category: CSBK News

Published: May 24, 2024

The 2024 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship opened with a Ben Young masterclass this past weekend, though he wasn’t the only one to make history at Shannonville Motorsport Park.

Below are just a few of the key numbers that stood out from the season opener at SMP.

Young continues to climb Superbike win list

Three-time Canada Cup champion Ben Young had a spectacular Saturday at SMP, beginning with his first career Pro Sport Bike victory, but it was career win number 17 that meant a little bit more in the Pro Superbike ranks.

That moved him out of a tie with Pascal Picotte and into sole possession of third on the all-time win list in the feature class, after equaling Picotte in SMP last season. Young has a great shot at second as well, sitting just eight wins behind Steve Crevier’s mark of 26 following his race two victory on Sunday, with ten races still to go in 2024.

The Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW star admitted he likely won’t touch Jordan Szoke’s record of 78 wins, but Young shows no signs of slowing down at age 30 (he’ll turn 31 just before Grand Bend) and is well on his way to cementing himself as one of the greatest riders in CSBK history.

Sunday dominance puts Young in record books

While his first Superbike win of the weekend was a bit more challenging than expected, Young’s second success was perhaps the most emphatic of his career.

He would finish with a 17.348 second margin of victory over Sam Guerin, the third largest in Superbike history, and the second-largest gap of his own career. That’s because Young set the record in 2022 with a 21.810 second victory over Trevor Daley in Atlantic Motorsport Park, but with an important distinction as rival Alex Dumas crashed out of the battle for the lead in that race.

Regardless, the win gives Young two of the three most dominant victories in the Superbike record books, separated only by Brett McCormick’s 20-second domination of Jordan Szoke at the same venue in 2011. 

No other rider cracks the top-six more than once, with Szoke, Jodi Christie, and Pascal Picotte each owning 15-second victories. 

Guerin puts himself atop bittersweet list

Most records are celebrated as incredible feats, but Sam Guerin likely won’t be partying too hard over his entry into the record books on Sunday.

His runner-up finish to Young in race two – his second of the weekend – gives him nine career Superbike podiums, the second-most of any rider without a victory (Trevor Daley owns the record with 16). 

However, Daley’s makeup included 14 third-place finishes, while Guerin has collected seven runner-up results to just two bronze medals. That will put him exclusively atop the list of non-winners, extending his lead over Matt McBride and his four runner-up finishes.

While no rider will enjoy being the bridesmaid, Guerin (like Daley and McBride before him) can take comfort in knowing he has accomplished more than majority of the Superbike grids in history, having moved inside the top-30 for career podiums – even though his debut victory still eludes him. 

Tremblay adds to Sport Bike resumé

While his Superbike career has been nothing to scoff at either, Sebastien Tremblay has long been considered one of the best Sport Bike riders of the modern era – and he is now getting the numbers to prove it.

The 2021 champion earned career podium number 20 in the middleweight class on Saturday, putting himself into the top-ten all-time with his runner-up finish to Ben Young, but he had more in store on Sunday.

His start-to-finish race two victory gives him 13 in his Sport Bike career, placing him in the top-five in the class leaderboard and just two behind Jodi Christie for fourth. What is especially notable for Tremblay, though, is that Jordan Szoke’s win record – unlike in Superbike – stands at a very attainable 23 victories, putting him within ten of the all-time mark.

While Tremblay’s eyes are surely on a second national championship in 2024, his climb up the leaderboards will be a story to watch at every weekend this season. 

Bridgestone CSBK confirms initial broadcasts on RDS

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Category: CSBK News

Published: May 31, 2024

The first ever French-language Bridgestone CSBK broadcasts on RDS have been confirmed, with airdates for the feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike class beginning June 8th.

Each of the 12 scheduled Superbike races will be aired on RDS in 2024, starting with race one from round one at Shannonville Motorsport Park.

Headlining the special French-language broadcasts will be the announcing duo of Justin Beaudin and Francis Martin, while regular TSN pit lane reporter Sarah Said will return alongside them for each race this season.

Beaudin is currently an announcer for the Canadian NASCAR Pinty’s Series on RDS, and was previously the on-site broadcast voice at Autodrome St-Eustache, one of the national campaign’s venues for nearly 30 years. 

Martin will be a very recognizable name to Bridgestone CSBK fans, as the former factory Kawasaki and Blackfoot Suzuki rider won two feature Pro Superbike championships in 1999 and 2005, amassing seven career victories and 38 podiums.

Each broadcast will be produced separately with dedicated French-language graphics and commentary in 2024, the first time ever that the national series has debuted on RDS. 

The full schedule for race one airdates can be found below.

Bridgestone CSBK confirme les diffusions initiales sur RDS

Les toute premières émissions CSBK Bridgestone de langue française sur RDS ont été confirmées, avec des dates de diffusion pour la classe GP Bikes Pro Superbike à partir du 8 juin. 

Chacune des 12 courses de Superbike prévues sera diffusée sur RDS en 2024, en commençant par la première course de la première manche au Shannonville Motorsport Park. 

En tête d'affiche des émissions spéciales de langue française, il y aura le duo de commentateurs composé de Justin Beaudin et Francis Martin, tandis que la journaliste régulière de TSN Sarah Said sera à leurs côtés pour chaque course cette saison.

Beaudin est également le descripteur francophone pour la série canadienne NASCAR Canada sur les ondes de RDS, et a été l'annonceur de l'Autodrome St-Eustache, l'un des sites hôte de la série nationale pendant près de 30 ans.

Martin sera un nom certainement reconnu pour les amateurs de la série Bridgestone CSBK, alors que l'ancien pilote d'usine Kawasaki et Blackfoot Suzuki a remporté deux championnats Pro Superbike en 1999 et 2005, amassant sept victoires en carrière et 38 podiums.

En 2024, chaque émission sera produite séparément avec des graphiques et des commentaires dédiés en français, une première pour la série nationale sur RDS.

L'horaire complet des dates de diffusion de la première course se trouve ci-dessous.

Sport Bike Preview: Tremblay the major favourite at Grand Bend as Young bows out

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Category: CSBK News

Published: June 3, 2024

The second round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will represent a major opportunity for Sebastien Tremblay, as he will head to the Grand Bend Motorplex without having to face his major rival in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class when it kicks off June 7-9, presented by Southwest Marine & Powersport.

Tremblay enters round two as the Sport Bike championship leader following a crucial win in race two at Shannonville, having come out on top of a thrilling battle with Ben Young after the latter was victorious in race one.

However, Tremblay’s win was aided by a costly mechanical issue behind him, as Young encountered rad hose troubles on the penultimate lap which caused his crash out of second place, opening up an early advantage for Tremblay in the title fight.

Now, that slight gap has the potential to be completely blown open, as Young has confirmed he will not have his Scot-Build Suzuki ready for round two, choosing to focus on his Superbike campaign and title defence.

While Tremblay would have had a strong case to be the weekend favourite anyways – having proved in race two that he is more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the three-time Canada Cup champion – his odds will surely be increased by not having to fight Young on Saturday and Sunday.

That will be a slight bit of relief for Tremblay, who hasn’t always had the best luck at Grand Bend despite strong pace. The Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider was infamously taken out of the lead in 2019 and left with a broken collarbone, while his return last year brought another crash in a wet Superbike race.

However, the 2021 champion will also remind everyone that he escaped with a pair of second place finishes at Grand Bend in his return to the Sport Bike class last season, losing out only to home favourite and eventual champion David MacKay.

Tremblay won’t have MacKay to contend with this time, either, but that won’t mean he has a shortage of other contenders to go up against this time around.

Tops amongst them are the second and fourth-placed riders in the championship, Elliot Vieira and John Laing, who each turned in very respectable weekends at the Shannonville opener and will look to build upon it in Grand Bend.

Vieira was especially strong at the Motorplex last season, finishing fifth in race one (his season debut after missing the opener) before charging to third in race two aboard his GP Bikes Ducati.

In fact, that third-place finish for Vieira came just 0.969 seconds behind Tremblay as part of a spirited last-lap battle, one that will remind both riders what Vieira is capable of in round two and at virtually every track moving forward.

As for Laing, the Cochrane, AB native had a far less enjoyable time in his first trip to the circuit, though he still escaped with strong finishes of seventh and ninth. While a repeat of that won’t be good enough to keep his title hopes alive in 2024, Laing did prove at SMP that he is now a better rider than the already stellar version seen in 2023.

That should give the Vass Performance Kawasaki competitor some reinforcement as he enters round two, especially having tested at Grand Bend in recent weeks and running competitive times compared to the local SOAR regional riders. 

Those regional specialists will once again prove to be a major X-factor at the venue, as Grand Bend – more than any other circuit – is known for having its SOAR stars produce strong national results at their home track.

Amongst those names to watch will be the trio of Nathan Playford, Zoltan Frast, and Sebastian Hothaza, who have all proven to be very fast at Grand Bend in recent history.

Frast was the one to beat in the regional Pro 600 race last weekend (the equivalent to Pro Sport Bike), escaping with a six-second victory over Hothaza aboard his Clare’s Cycle Kawasaki. Frast took solid finishes of eighth and seventh in round one, but could be on course for a first career national podium at Grand Bend after taking a best finish of fourth in race one a year ago.

As for Hothaza, the Ride42 Yamaha rider earned a career-best sixth in race one last season, and his regional pace suggests he will likely be in the same range as he eyes a top-five result in round two. 

Playford, meanwhile, turned plenty of heads on day one at SMP when he qualified fourth and just marginally off the front row, but the Playford Company Ducati rider could only convert that into a pair of sixth-place finishes – something he will look to better or at least replicate in his return to Grand Bend.

Should any of the “locals” falter in the national spotlight, however, there will be a pair of young rivals ready to pick up the pieces in their first pro trips to the Motorplex. 

Sixteen-year-old phenom Philip Degama-Blanchet first put himself on the CSBK radar last season with finishes of fourth and third at Grand Bend, the latter being his first of five amateur podiums, and his fourth-place finish as a pro at SMP proved that there won’t be many growing pains for him against top-flight competition.

The same goes for 19-year-old Mavrick Cyr, who was the double-amateur champion from a year ago and won both races at Grand Bend. The Rizzin Racing Triumph rider is fresh off a heated duel with Degama-Blanchet in round one but was no easy task to beat himself, taking fifth place finishes in both contests.

The absence of Young will represent a massive loss for Suzuki in the inaugural Sport Bike Constructors Championship, having extended a 20-point advantage over Ducati in round one thanks in large part to his and Tremblay’s efforts.

Now, the duo of Vieira and Playford – as well as the potential return of veteran Louie Raffa from injury – could be enough to swing the title fight in Ducati’s favour, though Kawasaki also lurks just another five points back thanks to Laing and Degama-Blanchet.

The full schedule for the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class – as well as the six other national classes – can be found on the series’ official website.