Campbell takes first career victory in “wet and wild” Pro Sport Bike race

It may be a new season, but the craziness in the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class continued on Saturday, as Connor Campbell took his first career pro Bridgestone Canadian Superbike victory in dramatic fashion at Shannonville Motorsport Park. 

As the first session of a rainy afternoon, the race proved to be a tricky battle of the elements, with heavy rain leading right up to the drop of the lights and lighter rain persisting throughout.

That forced three lead changes early in the race, as Campbell got a terrific launch from third on the grid and paced the opening two laps, before Matt Simpson moved his way to the front on lap three, with pole-sitter Macrae third.

What none of the lead trio expected, however, was the sudden emergence of Alex Coelho in the rain, who began to carve his way through the pack from eleventh on the grid and into the lead aboard his Lean Angle Motorsports Kawasaki.

A runaway first pro national victory seemed like a foregone conclusion for Coelho in the first half of the race, until Macrae and Campbell began to reel him in dramatically in the closing stages, setting up a three-rider battle for the win late on – both riders also chasing their first victory in the class.

Both would manage their way past the fading Coelho, but Macrae made quicker work of lapped traffic in his first ever rain race, jumping into the lead with four laps to go and seemingly snatching a first win of his own for the Colron Excavating Yamaha team.

That would all end in heartbreaking fashion, however, as Macrae crashed out of the lead on the final lap – handing the victory instead to Campbell and the B&T Macfarlane/Kubota Kawasaki program in his first race back from a scary injury in 2022.

“I can’t thank the team and all my sponsors enough – this is such a great way to start the year, I can’t believe it,” Campbell said. “The bike worked awesome. I’m glad Brad’s okay, but it’s a great start for us. Hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.”

The unfortunate twist for Macrae handed second place back to Kawasaki privateer Coelho, and a solid podium place to Simpson, who settled in behind the drama. 

“I was really in a groove in the first half. The Bridgestone tires were incredible and I had a good feel for the bike,” Coelho said. “We got held up by some lapped riders, but all-in-all I’m happy. It was a wet one but a good one!”

While Simpson’s lead was short-lived, the Blackstock Motorsports Yamaha rider brought home a smart third-place finish in the difficult conditions. 

“The goal today was just to grab as many points as possible, so we’re happy with the start,” Simpson said. “It’s a long season, so I tried to just keep out of trouble and avoid the traffic out there.”

Championship favourite David MacKay salvaged an incredible fourth from 13th on the grid, gradually dicing his way through the field and avoiding any incidents to keep his early title hopes completely intact.

MacKay couldn’t match the pace of the front quartet, but limited the damage as best he could for the Snow City Cycle Kawasaki team after a disastrous qualifying on Friday. 

Rounding out the top-five was Marco Sousa, the lone Suzuki in the finishing order as he held off Kawasaki rookies Zoltan Frast and Alex Michel in the menacing conditions. 

Notably absent from the grid was another preseason title favourite in Elliot Vieira, who’s struggle aboard the GP Bikes Ducati continued with a crash in morning practice that left him sidelined for the afternoon race, though he was thankfully uninjured. 

Jeff Williams took the inaugural victory in the Pro Twins class, finishing a remarkable fourth on-track and well clear of his fellow Twins competitors. 

The former Pro Superbike race winner was making an emotional return to the series himself, having suffered numerous injuries in a terrifying crash in 2020. The Williams Paving Aprilia rider has since returned to headline the new Twins division, and fought his way up the field against the higher-powered Sport Bikes en route to the win.

British Columbia native Andrew Van Winkle finished second in his debut, fending off veteran Hans Van Sleuwen in a close battle for second aboard his Importations Thibault Suzuki. Van Sleuwen would complete the podium aboard a privateer Suzuki. 

As for the amateur ranks, it was an abbreviated day as both scheduled afternoon qualifying sessions were cancelled due to the weather, instead using their Friday practice times to set the grids for Sunday’s races. 

That will put preseason favourite Andrew Cooney and the Fast Company Honda program on pole position in both the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike and Scorpion EXO Amateur Sport Bike classes, each time beating out Mavrick Cyr and the Rizzin Racing Triumph team. 

There were two other races on Saturday, however, as a pair of young riders each took dramatic victories after early crashes in the lightweight ranks.

Fifteen-year-old star and reigning MiniSBK champion Vincent Lalande won the Super Sonic Race School Amateur Lightweight race in his debut for SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki, inheriting the victory after an early crash from rival Jack Beaudry. 

Lalande and Beaudry were battling side-by-side on lap one when the Manitoba native and North American Talent Cup graduate went down, allowing Lalande to cruise the rest of the way to a crucial championship advantage. 

Class veterans Grant Nesbitt and Justin Marshall completed the podium, enjoying a thrilling battle for second behind the long-gone teenage sensation.

It was a similar result in the EBC Brakes Pro/Am Lightweight category, where Vincent Wilson took the overall victory after pole-sitter Ryan Vanderputten and both Lalande and Beaudry crashed out early on. 

The battle of attrition went in Wilson’s favour, as he brought home the win both on-track and in the amateur division, while runner-up Stacey Nesbitt will be the official winner in the pro class in her return to the CSBK paddock. 

Full results can be found on the series’ official website.