Shannonville, ON – The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship finished the weekend in style on Sunday, as round one wrapped up with a pair of dominant victories as Ben Young and Tomas Casas each won race two in the pro classes at Shannonville Motorsport Park.
In the feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike class, there was a change of fortune for Connor Campbell, as main sponsor Superior Crane was able to get the #814 bike up and running for Sunday with a brand new engine after a tough day on Saturday.
But it was Ben Young who swept up a perfect weekend after what he said was “the best launch of my life”, yet it was not enough for the reigning champion as he was still beaten off the line by Jordan Szoke, repassing him on the inside of turn two.
It was tough without the morning practice, however, as most riders opted to sit out in damp conditions. The Van Dolder's Home Team Honda rider stated that “I was planning on some changes that I wanted to attempt during morning practice, but I had to go into the race kind of blind, so I was really trying to pick up the pace to catch and slowly pick the pace up.”
Szoke was not able to catch up, but was firmly in his own pace, securing another second for this weekend. But he was never shaken much by his troubles early into the weekend, as the Lynden, ON rider said that “The podium for me was always in reach once I got my bike running, even though I am currently not in the physical shape I want to be, that is how confident I was throughout the weekend.”
The AIM Insurance-sponsored Kawasaki rider was able to stay in second for the whole race but was ultimately not able to challenge Young for the victory, taking two podiums on the weekend.
It was more joy for Honda as Andrew Van Winkle was able to secure third, his first career Pro Superbike podium, even with Mackay close behind challenging him in the early parts of the race.
The Chilliwack, BC rider was still shaken up by yesterday’s early run-off, coupled with the lack of practice today, mentioning that he was in his head for the majority of the race. “I hesitated so much, like I was getting off the gas sooner and especially at the final turn, I was just cooking the tyres through there. My race yesterday was so much better.” A young gun with high expectations, coupled with a good weekend here in Shannonville, the Mountainview Motorsports Honda rider will be an exciting prospect for the future of this series.
Honda will exit round one with a massive lead in the Constructors Championship thanks to Young, Van Winkle, and MacKay, the latter finishing fourth in race two on Sunday.
In the OPP Pro Supersport class, it was Cole Alexander who stole the spotlight at the launch once again. The French Glass Co. Suzuki teen rocketed off the line to third and quickly got up to second as pole-sitter Sebastien Tremblay got a bad launch and a bad line through turn three.
But it was a familiar face on the top of the podium once again, with fan favourite Tomas Casas winning race two comfortably, who propelled himself into the lead and a dominant victory.
The FAST Riding School Suzuki rider able to snatch a race win in both supersport races, which has the #18 rider reconsidering his commitment for this CSBK season, saying “The plan was only for me to participate in rounds one and five, but it looks like I will need to gather up some more sponsors and hopefully make it to more rounds. It would be kind of a waste to throw away two opening race wins, but this would be a talk with my whole team.”
Matthew Simpson once again put up a strong drive to land himself in second after a beautiful move into the back straight to pass Alexander. He would stay there even after Tremblay cleared Alexander and tried to make a move on him, but the Blackstock Suzuki rider was unfazed and pulled away.
While the launch was not what Simpson dreamt of, this result makes it two podiums in two races, outdoing his singular podium last year at Shannonville and putting him second in the championship off a tie-breaker ahead of Tremblay.
Tremblay had to do a recovery run as the ST Motorsport & Suzuki Canada rider was not able to catch up to Simpson at the end of the race, the QC rider having to settle for third. Tremblay had issues with untested setup changes due to the damp conditions during morning practice, and was therefore not feeling one hundred per cent during the race.
Further down the field, Mackenzie Weil and Marco Sousa had an extraordinary fight, the former able to pass the latter through the penultimate corner, but Sousa kept at it and returned the favour a lap later. Weil was stuck behind until the last lap, as the Snow City Kawasaki rider went round the outside to nick seventh place off the Suzuki Canada rider on the final corner of the final lap.
The support classes were just as competitive, even with a smaller field in the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike. A rocket of a start from both Alexis Beaudoin and Baillie Ives had them fighting for position into turn one, Beaudoin victorious in that encounter as the #146 shut the door on Ives.
Beaudoin would cruise home into the finish in first and was mostly unbothered during the race. After a poor start, JS Lefebvre would use the power in the #79 to catch up to Ives, and would manoeuvre the rumbling Ducati right through after a couple of laps stuck behind Ives, finishing second and Ives in third.
In the EBC Brakes Amateur Supersport class, Beaudoin was once again best in the field. Another superb start launched him straight into third after turn one, which he would decisively pass both Jeff Barnard and Ives to go into first after two laps. The #146 rider was able to coast to the finish with a more than comfortable lead.
It was a family duel further down the field, with Nicholas Krans winning out that exchange over Julia Krans, riding that momentum to pick up a third place in class ahead of Daniel Johnson in fourth.
Ives caught a stroke of luck as the #6 rider was promoted into second after Barnard had an incident, causing him to go off track right before the back straight, subsequently retiring from the race. Yannick Rouleau also had a stroke of bad luck, retiring the #827 bike after less than seven laps and running close to the pack.
There was drama in the Scorpion EXO Ninja ZX-4R Cup and the Importations Thibault Twins Cup, as Bronti Verbeek would stall off the line and was hit by Jacob Black on his ZX-4R, unable to avoid the #93 Yamaha. Both riders would not return for the restart at the end of the day but have thankfully avoided any serious injuries.
The Twins Cup would return later on, with Aprilia again grabbing all the honours, as JP Tache would sweep the weekend leading from start to finish. Justin Marshall would again get a really good start on his Suzuki, but the abundance of power from the Aprilias would prove too much for Marshall, as he dropped back bit by bit until he finished the race in fifth. Louie Raffa and Sebastian Silva rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
The ZX-4R class would once again be won by Jared Walker, as he led from start to finish. Behind him was Rob Cousineau, who would put up a good fight which kept Walker honest right up til the line, finishing in second with a gap of less than a second. JP Schroeder would finish close in third, only 2 seconds off from Walker as the closest class of the day.
The Super Sonic Road Race School Lightweight Sportbike class was once again dominated by Lachlan Alexander and the crew of Kawasaki riders, as the #32 was best in class, roaring from start to finish uncontested after turn two. Scott Szollos and Mason Archer would attempt to follow Alexander to no avail, but were consistent enough to insert themselves into the second and third place to complete the podium.
The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship will now take two weeks off before heading east to Atlantic Motorsport Park, June 5-7, for the second round of the 2026 campaign.
