CSBK Untold: Extra Storylines from Round 6 at Shannonville

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 08:59 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

It seems like not much more excitement can be packed into Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship weekends, but every round more and more stories are left on the cutting room floor by the time Sunday comes and goes.

From the major headlines that require a bit more detail, to the countless hidden gems that never crack the spotlight, here are some added notes from the final round of the 2024 season at Shannonville Motorsport Park.

MacKay’s consistency continues for Honda

When David MacKay hung up his #1 plate from the Pro Sport Bike class and joined ODH Snow City Cycle Honda, the goal was to work his way into the top five by season’s end. Instead, MacKay settled in right away and took top-five finishes in each of his first three races, immediately shattering expectations.

The problem with expectations is that they change, meaning his top-seven finishes in six of the final eight races mostly went unnoticed. Yet here we are at the end of 2024, and MacKay will exit his first full Superbike campaign in fifth overall after another pair of strong finishes in Shannonville.

The Honda star found himself in a pair of duels with Trevor Daley and made calm, calculated moves in each battle to finish fifth and sixth at SMP. While Daley was at less than 100% due to a wrist injury, the reality is that MacKay found himself charging past a two-time Superbike race winner on each occasion, a big boost of confidence ahead of his sophomore campaign in 2025.

MacKay will be chasing that signature performance to take the next step in Superbike, but consistency is the hardest thing for many riders to find in a six-round championship, and the fan favourite proved once again that he is as steady as it gets in the feature class.

Boyer’s title quest comes up 0.001 seconds short

Much has been said about Laurent Laliberté-Girard’s championship run in the EBC Brakes Amateur Sport Bike class, and for good reason as he took a victory and two runner-up finishes in the last three races to complete an epic title comeback.

But when riders say the common cliché that “every second counts,” no one will understand that more than Serge Boyer.

The eventual runner-up was forced to settle for third on Saturday by a mere 0.001 seconds from Matthew Hooper, costing him four points towards his championship bid.

One day later, Boyer would end the year four points shy of Laliberté-Girard in the final standings, but with a tie-breaker in hand – meaning after almost four months, six rounds, and 12 races, all it took was a thousandth of a second to decide a national #1 plate.

Tache and Cyr spark new rivalry in Twins class

Jean-Francois Cyr and J.P. Tache have shared the track on many occasions prior to Shannonville’s finale, both having raced extensively in the pro ranks during the 2000’s.

They would be excused for not being the most bitter of rivals though, as Cyr took multiple pro victories in his career while Tache’s best finish was eighth in 2006.

Nearly 20 years and an entirely different class later, that unfamiliarity went out the window.

Tache and Cyr waged war all weekend in the Importations Thibault Pro Twins category, going side-by-side on a number of occasions on Sunday in one of the most exciting battles of the weekend, perhaps with a bit more pride on the line than usual.

Tache would follow up his dominant Saturday win with another race two victory, though, exacting a bit of revenge on Cyr later in their careers – even if the pair were all smiles on the podium.

Morrison climbs MiniGP ladder to CSBK stardom

The FIM MiniGP Canada Series was formally launched in 2023, and a last-round crash spoiled what was an otherwise fantastic season for Treston Morrison as he finished third in the championship and just missed out on a spot in the Valencia World Final.

Skip nearly one year ahead, and Morrison has wasted no time flashing his incredible talent on the Bridgestone CSBK tour.

The 14-year-old put on a show in the Super Sonic Road Race School Pro-AM Lightweight finale, battling it out with fellow amateur Cole Alexander in a spectacular fight on a drying track on Saturday as they hunted down and passed pro leader Stacey Nesbitt, with Morrison settling for second.

Race two produced another epic scrap between Morrison and Nesbitt, and he again showed his raw speed and aggressiveness as he put a pair of bold, but incredible moves on Nesbitt before breaking free from the former Pro Sport Bike rider.

Morrison would crash out of the lead, but his performances in just three rounds this year – taking two wins, two second place finishes, and nearly another victory at SMP – have set him up as one of the series’ biggest talents for 2025.