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Wilson, Beattie on pole for support classes at Edmonton
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Headlining the support action was the return of former overall Canadian Superbike champion Jodi Christie, who is making a wildcard appearance in the Importations Thibault Pro-AM Twins class.
The 2014 Canada Cup winner was the fastest Twins rider in the morning despite a crash, but had stiffer competition from amateur championship leader Vincent Wilson in the qualifying process, as Wilson escaped with outright pole position by 0.251 seconds.
Christie will line up second on the combined grid but in the top pro position, while amateur Dallas Reynolds completes the front row.
Ryan Sunderman exited his first day in the national series on pole position, taking the top spot on the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike grid from championship frontrunner Tyler Brewer.
Brewer would have to settle for second and just 0.234 seconds behind local expert Sunderman, but it was still an important result as Brewer tries to chase down title leader Goran Radisic, who could only manage fifth and the middle of row two.
The smallest title gap in the national series opened up slightly in the EBC Brakes Amateur Sport Bike class on Friday, as Denis Giguere took pole position from championship leader Serge Boyer.
It was a crucial result for Boyer, however, as his main title rival Laurent Laliberte-Girard – who entered round three trailing by just a single point – was penalized and sent to the back of the grid for using improper fuel.
That also promoted youngster Zaim Laflamme onto the front row for his Sport Bike debut, as the former Lightweight star switched to bigger machinery in Edmonton.
The double-duty for Laflamme added a bit more cushion to Ryan Beattie’s championship hopes in the Super Sonic Road Race School Pro-AM Lightweight category, as the points leader continued his sensational run with another pole position on Friday.
The 15-year-old Beattie did have a challenge in the form of local rider Ian Wall, however, who will line up second and only 0.757 seconds off the pace. FIM MiniGP graduate Treston Morrison will line up third in his national debut, roughly a second off fellow teenager Beattie.
Mack Weil added another pole position in the Niagara Race Crafters Ninja ZX-4RR Cup, his third consecutive honour to kickstart the inaugural pro-am class.
Adolfo Silva will inherit pole in the amateur split of the grid, but an unfortunate crash in qualifying will likely leave him sidelined for the weekend action.
Collins tops FP2 to begin Saturday in Edmonton
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The GP Bikes Pro Superbike class produced its third different leader in three sessions at RAD Torque Raceway on Saturday, as Torin Collins topped FP2 at the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.
The 18-year-old has been at the sharp end of things all weekend, running third-fastest in FP1 and qualifying second on Friday, but it was Alex Dumas and pole-sitter Ben Young who were the riders to beat in each session.
Collins would take his turn at the top on Saturday morning, putting in a late time attack to move past Young with two minutes to go, posting a time of 1:17.756 aboard his Novalda Kawasaki.
That was just a quarter-second off his qualifying time as the Calgary, Alberta native continues to ramp things up ahead of race one on Saturday, with Young only marginally slower to begin the day with a time of 1:17.901.
The championship leader will face a tough task in Collins and Dumas, amongst others, but Young hasn’t looked out of place at all in his first trip to Edmonton and that trend continued in FP2 for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad.
Dumas, meanwhile, continued his own run at the front in third, finishing 0.443 seconds behind Collins aboard his Economy Lube Ducati. The 2021 champion qualified third on the grid for race one despite a mechanical scare in Q1, and appears to have sorted out any gremlins prior to his race one return this afternoon.
Completing a familiar top four was Jordan Szoke, who briefly led FP2 early in the session before slipping back to fourth. The CKM Kawasaki veteran did close up the gap considerably, however, finishing the morning just 0.520 seconds off the top and 0.077 seconds slower than Dumas as he eyes his first victory since 2021.
Sam Guerin rounded out the top five once again in FP2 but remained a comfortable 1.259 seconds off Collins out front, as the EFC Group BMW star continues to search for improvements in his maiden trip to RAD Torque Raceway.
The lead quartet of Collins, Young, Dumas, and Szoke are expected to headline the action when the lights go out on Saturday, with race one of the feature Superbike class scheduled for roughly 3 pm local time (5 pm ET) ahead of race two on Sunday.
The full schedule of events can be found on the series’ official website.
Laing takes emphatic win in Sport Bike race one at Edmonton
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The home fans were given an instant reward at the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship on Saturday, as John Laing powered his way to a second career victory in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class at RAD Torque Raceway.
The Cochrane, Alberta native and pole-sitter didn’t get a spectacular start as he dipped back into third on lap one, but his troubles were short-lived as Laing stormed past rivals Elliot Vieira and Sebastien Tremblay to take a comfortable victory at his home round.
Laing made a hard but clinical move on Tremblay into turn six on lap two, standing up the championship leader before chasing down Vieira on lap three and making another beautiful pass in turn seven, the last time either rider would be within striking distance of Laing as he led for the remainder of the 18-lap event.
The Vass Performance Kawasaki rider had to briefly defend from Vieira around the midway point, but Laing responded in excellent fashion to restore a safe advantage and bring home his second career victory.
“That was an interesting one. I didn’t get the greatest start, but Seb left a little bit of a gap and then I was able to reel in Elliot a lap later,” Laing said. “From there I just tried to manage the pace. I could hear the rumble of that [Ducati] V2 behind me, but I was able to stretch it out a bit by the end.”
It was an emotional win for Laing, who put on an impressive show in front of his local friends and family – some of whom had never seen him race prior to Saturday.
“I’ve had a lot of friends and support in the paddock, and especially now at home with my family, it’s so awesome,” Laing said. “I especially have to thank Willie and Nadine Vass who have been with me since day one. I started racing in 2021 and my bikes have been unreal the entire time.”
The win propels Laing to second in the championship order and within 35 points of Tremblay, having trimmed 12 points off his deficit already this weekend, partly thanks to the performance of Vieira behind him.
The Economy Lube Ducati rider led in the early stages and nearly mounted a comeback effort on Laing, but ultimately had to settle for second after the home favourite distanced himself for the final time.
“It’s unfortunate, I felt good early on but things didn’t really pan out,” Vieira said. “I had some vibrations on the handlebars, so it went from trying to keep up with John to just trying to hold onto second ahead of Sebastien.”
As for Tremblay, the Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider was never properly at the front of the field but did what he needed to in regards to the championship picture, escaping with a podium and 16 points despite a difficult trip west.
“It’s nice to just be up here on the podium with them, because we’ve had a bit of a terrible week,” Tremblay admitted. “I’ve had problems with my shoulder which made it a bit of a long race, but these two rode really well so I am okay with third.”
The best action of the race unfolded behind the podium places, as a group of five riders battled for fourth through majority of the contest.
A trio of rookie teenagers would eventually separate themselves in the final stint, as 19-year-old Mavrick Cyr led 16-year-old Philip DeGama-Blanchet and 17-year-old Andrew Van Winkle with two laps to go.
A slight bobble from Cyr would allow DeGama-Blanchet through in turn seven on the penultimate lap, however, and the Calgary, Alberta native would hold on the rest of the way while Van Winkle sliced his way past Cyr for fifth.
It matches the best result of the season for DeGama-Blanchet as he marked the second Vass Performance Kawasaki inside the top-four, while Van Winkle exited with a strong comeback effort in fifth for FD Racing Suzuki after a horrible start forced him to carve his way through the field.
A difficult final two laps overshadowed what was a strong Economy Lube Ducati debut for Cyr, who sat inside the top-five for virtually the entire race despite still getting acclimated to his new machine.
Local star Justin Knapik managed an impressive seventh in his national return, with the Edmonton native running as high as fourth in the early going. The Argyll Motorsports Yamaha rider would slip back in the late stages but still salvaged a great result after battling with the younger trio ahead of him.
Alex Michel tied his best result of the season in eighth, a much-needed crop of points after the SpeedFactory67 rider faced multiple mechanical failures in round two, while local rider Neil Lauzon held off Suzuki Canada’s Marco Sousa to round out the top ten.
The strong showing of Laing out front and DeGama-Blanchet in fourth will help Kawasaki claw back a handful of points on Constructors Championship leaders Suzuki, reducing their deficit to 53 points while extending a 21-point advantage over Ducati in third.
Race two of the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class is scheduled to get underway Sunday at roughly 1 pm local time (3 pm ET) from RAD Torque Raceway.
Young holds off Collins to win hectic race one at Edmonton
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Ben Young escaped with a crucial and dramatic victory at RAD Torque Raceway on Saturday, fending off Torin Collins in a last-lap duel at the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.
Young led the race from start-to-finish, grabbing the holeshot and gradually extending a comfortable advantage as the rest of the field battled behind him, but a charging Collins rapidly erased that gap in the final five laps as he chased a historic victory in his CSBK debut.
Collins got a poor start from second on the grid and slid to fourth behind Alex Dumas and Jordan Szoke, allowing Young to build up as much as a five-second advantage by the midway point, but Collins would eventually claw his way through Szoke and Dumas to find clean air and begin his hunt towards Young.
The 18-year-old Collins was carving away nearly a second-per-lap on Young before the championship leader stabilized things with three laps to go, but lapped traffic held Young up just enough to allow Collins to close within striking distance on the final lap.
The two would go side-by-side in the final few corners before Young slammed the door, escaping with the race one victory by just 0.4 seconds at the line.
It was a massive result for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW rider, who almost doubled his championship lead from 15 points to 29 in his first race at RAD Torque Raceway.
“I knew it was going to be wicked pace, and I was kinda keeping an eye on Torin all weekend,” Young admitted. “But our Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW was working well enough that I knew I could put my head down and run a comfortable pace, so it’s nice to bring home the win in my first trip here.”
As for Collins, the Novalda Kawasaki rookie put on quite the impressive showing in his wildcard debut, reeling in Young and nearly stealing a victory in his first ever Superbike race, a feat that would have put him alongside Dumas as the only riders to ever do so.
The win was also a monumental one for BMW as a manufacturer, as they score their 63rd career Superbike victory – equalling Suzuki’s mark for second all-time (and now just eleven behind Kawasaki for the feature class lead).
“I knew I was going to have to work really hard out there, but I got a bad start and then the bike just felt a little slow,” Collins said. “After the first couple laps I knew I had better pace though, so once I got by Alex I was lapping really well. Another lap or two would have been nice, but I’ll take second.”
Settling for third in his CSBK return was Dumas, who didn’t have as much of a challenge for his rival Young as he would have hoped. However, the Economy Lube Ducati rider remains confident that with some mechanical fixes he can close the gap on Sunday.
“First off, I have to thank Steve Moxey from Economy Lube, crew chief Scott Miller, and the whole team for the opportunity. A week ago I didn’t even know if we’d be here,” Dumas said. “I had some front chatter which was weird and made things really difficult, but we’ll do our homework tonight and get back up to the front tomorrow.”
Dumas extended his streak of having every career finish be on the podium, but by the finest of margins after Szoke nearly spoiled his return on the final lap.
The CKM Kawasaki veteran managed to stay with Dumas once Collins had made his way through the pair and wound up just three second off the victory, one of his closest efforts yet as he continues to work his way back from 2022 injuries.
Rounding out the top five was Sam Guérin, who ran a lonely race for the EFC Group BMW team as he ultimately couldn’t stick with the lead quartet. While still a solid result in his first trip to RAD Torque, it was a bitter one for the championship fight as Guérin slips to 29 points behind Young entering race two.
Local favourite Paul Macdonell earned a career-best sixth in his homecoming, charging through a late-race battle with former regional foes Brian Worsdall and Tosh Gable. The Grande Prairie, Alberta native made a great pass on Worsdall into turn one and held on the rest of the way aboard his PMR/Vass Performance BMW, moving him into fifth in the overall championship.
Worsdall would relinquish another position to 16-year-old Philip DeGama-Blanchet in the final laps, an excellent result for the rookie aboard his lesser-powered Vass Performance Kawasaki Sport Bike machine, though Worsdall held on for an impressive eighth for Mots Machining Honda.
Pro Rookie of the Year leader Connor Campbell made some late improvements to earn ninth, keeping him tied with Macdonell for fifth in the championship aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki.
Jon Bullee would complete the top ten at his home circuit for Riverside Honda, holding off Bronti Verbeek in a late battle. Verbeek, notably the first female pro since Stacey Nesbitt in 2017, would settle for a strong eleventh for Jack Carter Powersports BMW.
Missing from the final order was David MacKay, who crashed out of sixth early in the race. The ODH Snow City Cycle Honda rider was reeling in Guérin for fifth when he fell in turn ten, though he’ll retain fourth in the championship entering Sunday.
While it was a difficult day for Guérin, his performance coupled with Young’s victory was enough to add a slight extension to BMW’s total in the Constructors Championship, though Kawasaki countered with an excellent day from Collins and Szoke.
BMW will hope for an even better day in race two as they try to build upon their dominant 82-point advantage, while Kawasaki tries to hold off Honda, Suzuki, and Ducati for second.
Race two of the feature class is scheduled to get underway at roughly 3 pm local time (5 pm ET) on Sunday, with the full slate kicking off at 1 pm local time.
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