Cyr clinches pair of amateur titles in support action at SMP

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Saturday, September 16, 2023 19:23 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

Mavrick Cyr crossed off his entire weekend to-do list on Saturday, officially becoming the first national champion of the season in the penultimate day of amateur classes at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Friday.

Looking to clinch the Scorpion EXO Amateur Sport Bike championship, Cyr initially had his hopes denied for at least another day as rival Andrew Cooney won on-track, closing the title up exponentially as Cyr slumped to fifth.

However, post-race tech inspection later revealed that Cooney was over the horsepower limit aboard his new Economy Lube and Tire Ducati, receiving an eight-place penalty and relegating him back to ninth in the final order.

That promoted Cyr to fourth and crucially ahead of Cooney, handing him the Amateur Sport Bike crown and becoming the first national title winner of 2023 as the Rizzin Racing Triumph rider extends a 47-point lead with only 27 points on offer Sunday.

The penalty for Cooney was especially notable for Bryce DeBoer, who moves up one place to score his first ever national victory. The reigning Lightweight champion carved his way through the top trio early on and briefly snatched the lead from Cooney, battling for a few laps before settling for second on-track by just 0.171 seconds, a result that was made even better in the final results.

Joining the lead fight just a touch too late was the hard-charging Mack Weil, who gets promoted to second and remains firmly in the mix with DeBoer and Cooney for the vice-champion spot, while fellow teenager Philip Degama-Blanchet found his way onto the podium after originally taking fourth at the line. 

The great day only got better for Cyr later on when he navigated a chaotic AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike race to take his third victory of the season, clinching that title as well as he becomes only the third rider ever to win both amateur championships in one season. 

In what was the closest title fight entering the day, Cyr instead found himself in a battle of attrition at the front, as Cooney’s rough day concluded with a crash in turn three that erased his championship hopes. With fellow title challenger Tyler Brewer eighth at that point, it looked as though Cyr’s only rival left would be race leader Matt Vanderhorst.

However, Cyr made a move on the BMW rider just past the halfway point and things quickly turned to disaster for Vanderhorst after that, as he collided with Bryce DeBoer in the turn ten hairpin and both were unable to remount.

Cyr would then only have to deal with Degama-Blanchet, who reeled in the 18-year-old in the final laps but was unable to make a move stick for his first national win, settling for second as Cyr clinched the double.

“It’s a dream come true! That was a hard-fought race, but we battled to the end,” Cyr said. “I struggled in the second half of the Sport Bike race earlier, so I tried to put my head down early in Superbike and thankfully we did enough to win the title.”

Degama-Blanchet will enter the wide-open fight for the vice-champion spot as he scored his best ever CSBK finish, putting the amateur classes on notice as the 15-year-old continues to turn heads.

Goran Radisic completed the podium for the first time in his national career, a hard-earned result for the BMW rider after coming close a number of times before in his strong amateur career. 

Vincent Lalande moved within striking distance of a spectacular debut crown, winning a dramatic and controversial battle with rival Vincent Wilson to take a 22-point title lead in the Super Sonic Race School Amateur Lightweight class. 

The two championship foes went back-and-forth throughout the race, but came to blows on the final lap as Lalande charged through to the front and Wilson went wide off the back-straight, allowing Jack Beaudry through to second.

CSBK officials determined it was a racing incident, though one that severely impacts the title fight as Lalande will now just need to finish in the top-ten on Sunday to clinch the junior trophy, continuing what’s been a stellar year for the 15-year-old phenom.

Wilson would avenge his loss in the EBC Brakes Lightweight Pro/Am, however, winning outright in the split-class race to secure the amateur championship.

The New Brunswick native battled all race long with pro title leader Stacey Nesbitt, but the duo ran into lapped traffic in the final few corners which allowed Wilson to extend a crucial advantage at the line, one that would be enough for him to lift the trophy after Lalande was relegated to fifth on-track and third in the amateur split. 

Nesbitt would still wind up with a pro victory despite losing on-track to her amateur counterpart, extending her title lead to 24 points over Ryan Vanderputten with one race to go after the latter had to settle for third on-track. 

Wilson’s performance will also move him into a tie with Andrew Cooney for the Surron Canada Electric Rider Award lead, recording the fastest lap – his fourth of an eight-race season – to move to 50% of the possible fast laps after Cooney was denied any improvement in the Sport Bike race. 

The full results from Friday’s races can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.