Mixed Results for Young at Grand Bend Another challenging end to the weekend for Ben Young with mixed results at round two of the Canadian Superbike Championship. Young dominated almost every session across the weekend, taking pole position on Friday, finishing race one with a comfortable lead, and topping all practice sessions. Unfortunately, Young crossed the line in 11th in Sunday’s race after oil on the track caused a crash which took him out of contention for the win. Young has always proved a strong racer at Grand Bend, and the weekend was no exception. The team (including Steve Weir who had been unable to join them at the track since 2019) got the brand new BMW M 1000 RR absolutely perfect, despite its first visit at the track, and Young put in consistent 1.02s laps, ultimately taking Pole by finishing over half a second faster than the nearest competition. Saturday brought perfect weather for race one of the weekend.
More, from a press release issued by CSBK: Dumas conquers crash-filled race two in mixed conditions at Grand Bend Grand Bend, ON – Just as the gap began to close atop the GP Bikes Pro Superbike series, Alex Dumas made sure to blow the doors right off it. The championship leader again mastered a damp track on Sunday, winning in dominant fashion to close out the second round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at the Grand Bend Motorplex, presented by Goderich Toyota. While it was a full-wet showing in round one for Dumas, this time he conquered the feature class in mixed conditions, avoiding the chaos in a crash-filled race two that forced many stars into costly errors – including reigning champion and title rival Ben Young. Attempting to navigate a tricky surface on his ‘B’ rain bike, Young didn’t even make the start after crashing on the warmup lap, remounting to enter the pits and hop
More, from a press release issued by CSBK: Dumas dominates race two at SMP, stretches out huge title lead Shannonville, ON – It may only be one round into the five-round Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship season, but Alex Dumas cracked the series wide open on Sunday with another victory at Shannonville Motorsport Park. It was Sam Guerin who grabbed the holeshot for a second day in a row, but Dumas was far less patient his second time following the BMW rider, taking over the lead late on the opening lap. Guerin initially managed to hang with the race one winner, but it was only a matter of time as Dumas stretched out an insurmountable lead, cruising to perhaps the most dominant victory of his GP Bikes Pro Superbike career. The result turned out even better for the Purple Skull Brewing/Liqui Moly Suzuki team, as rival and defending champion Ben Young saw his early title hopes unravel beneath him.
More, from a press release issued by CSBK: Young crushes Superbike pole in return to Shannonville Shannonville, ON – Reigning Bridgestone Canadian Superbike champion Ben Young will start his title defence from pole position this weekend, torching the feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike field in BS Battery qualifying on Friday at Shannonville Motorsport Park. The most recent winner of SMP in 2019 returned to the historic venue in triumphant fashion, though it didn’t always appear like that was going to be the case after rival Alex Dumas set the pace in morning practice and eventually the Q1 session. The 2021 champion set an early time of 1:05.058 and was able to sit on it for the rest of the Q1 fight, ultimately ending the first stage just 0.033 seconds off the 2019 pole position mark as the new Bridgestone tires adapted well to the warming conditions. However, whatever hope Dumas had of that pace staying the same was
Szoke fastest on day one of Bridgestone Winter Test at Jennings Jennings, FL – Jordan Szoke’s long-awaited return to the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship was almost perfect on Tuesday, topping day one of the Bridgestone Winter Test at Jennings GP in north Florida. Szoke didn’t need long to shake off the rust despite a year away from racing (and lingering effects from his serious motocross injury last off season), sitting third-fastest in the morning and fifth overall by mid-afternoon aboard his LDS Consultants Kawasaki. Facing perhaps more obstacles than anybody given his hiatus, new machine, and abrupt adjustment to the new spec Bridgestone tires, it seemed like top-five pace would be a great accomplishment in his 2023 debut – but the 14-time champion had one more trick left up his sleeve. In the final session of the day, Szoke crushed the previous benchmark with a time of 1:17.732 to go fastest overall in the combined times ahead of Ben Young.