Team News: Tomas Casas Season Review

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Category: Team News

Published on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 10:16 EDT

Breakout year ends with injury at Shannonville finale

A career-best season ended in unfortunate circumstances for Tomas Casas and the Parts Canada Yamaha team, as a right wrist injury sidelined him for the final round of what was an otherwise strong 2023 Bridgestone CSBK campaign.

Casas got off on the right foot at the opening round at Shannonville in May, finishing third in a wet race one to secure just his second career GP Bikes Superbike podium. The former two-time Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike champion would add a strong fifth-place in race two, exiting round one sitting third overall in the championship.

Round two was a case of what could have been, as Casas was running well inside the top-five of both races before a pair of mistakes hurt his weekend. A runoff in race one would leave him a respectable sixth, but a crash out of second place in another wet race two dropped him to tenth and fifth overall in the standings.

After round three was cancelled due to flooding, Casas roared back in round four with three consecutive top-five finishes in the tripleheader, consistently fighting with title frontrunners Alex Dumas and Sam Guerin. Finishes of fourth, fifth, and fourth would promote him back to fourth overall in the Superbike table, while he also added a pair of wins in his one-off in the Pro Twins class aboard a Yamaha MT-07. 

Heading into the final round chasing his best career finish in the overall standings, Casas and the team appeared headed in the right direction as he consistently ran near the front in practice and put himself fourth on the provisional grid in qualifying.

However, a fast crash shortly after would result in an unfortunate injury, as Casas suffered a fracture in his fifth metacarpal and damage to his ulnar head and radius of the right (throttle) wrist, sidelining him for the final weekend and dropping him to seventh in the final tally.

“Ending the season with an injury sucks, but getting the seat time I haven’t over the past few years was a plus,” Tomas said. “I had fun, we managed to get on the box, built momentum, and gathered more data for 2024.”

Despite the bitter end to the year, Casas would wind up tied for fourth in points-per-race, trailing only title winner Ben Young, former champion Dumas, and Guerin as the team cemented themselves as podium threats every weekend.

His efforts were also crucial to Yamaha’s season, as he (along with rookie Paul Macdonell) had helped the brand to third in the Constructors Championship for the bulk of the year prior to his injury, their highest ever position.

Facing a far shorter recovery time than his previous scaphoid injury, Casas has already turned his focus to 2024 and returning to the front of the Superbike grid, as he chases not just his first feature class win but also a championship challenge.

“We will now focus on recovery for next year,” he added. “There is a lot of work ahead this offseason to be back and stronger than previously!”

Part of those offseason plans will include helping the FIM MiniGP duo of Michael Galvis and Ben Hardwick in their trip to Valencia, Spain this November, as he continues to help build the future of the sport while focusing on his own career.

Casas would like to thank all of his supporters for their help through a breakout 2023 campaign, including Yamaha Canada, Parts Canada, Taso’s Restaurant and Pizzeria,Yamaha Financial Services, GBRacing, Motul, Hindle Exhaust,Bickle Racing, Flexiglass, DP Brakes, Fast Company, Brooklin Cycle Racing, Vortex, Human 2.0, Forsaken Motorsports, Peterborough Cycle Salvage, Trackdayhub, Laps4MD, and everyone else who helped along the way.

You can follow Tomas Casas through his social media platforms below:
Instagram: @tomas_casas18
Twitter: @tomas_casas18
Facebook: Tomas Casas Racing

From a press release