When the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers signed on to sponsor the opening event of the 2019 Mopar CSBK tour on the Pro Circuit at Shannonville Motorsport Park, these new backers might have hoped their event would attract a little more attention than usual. It would be safe to say the strong turn out of racers and fans at S.M.P.’s 42nd season opener saw a few more surprises than expected.
Young Steps Up
Ben Young started his fourth season on the CSBK tour as the new leader of the BMW Motorrad effort, with continued backing from Barrie Trim and Moldings and Scot Built on his S1000RR. At the tail end of 2018, Young earned his first National Feature class win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and pushed Champ Jordan Szoke into a last race fight for the title. While Szoke hung on to earn the crown for BMW before departing for Kawasaki in the off-season, Young seemed to be poised for true contender status.
The 2019 Shannonville opener confirmed that Young is ready to take control at the front of the field. In a weekend with odd weather and many unknowns, Young set the pace in every session, turning consistent laps on an established platform while many of his opponents were busy sorting out new equipment.
In the race, Young was challenged throughout, but never headed. Kenny Riedmann furnished the main opposition on his Sturgess/Hindle Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja but couldn’t quite make a move on winner Young. Riedmann was actually passed by Jordan Szoke’s Mopar Express Lane/Blackfoot Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninja, but in the end Szoke settled for a very close third, one second covering the top three at the line.
So Szoke leaves Shannonville without the points lead for the first time in seven years, Young taking every point available in Szoke-style. However, given the fact that a Saturday morning crash sent Szoke to the hospital for an injured arm and destroyed his brand new “A” bike, any decent result was a bonus.
Szoke will be expecting better at round two at Grand Bend, but Riedmann is not confirmed as an entrant at Ontario’s “west coast” event. While Szoke might be disapointed with his start, it still placed him in front of several expected front runners.
Casas Confronts Critics
Starting his first season as a true, 1000cc-equipped, contending competitor in Mopar Pro Superbike with the Parts Canada/Yamaha Canada YZF-R1, reigning and twice Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike Middleweight Champ Tomas Casas was expected to struggle. With little testing time and two different bikes to ride, may insiders didn’t think the Casas program could handle the workload.
Instead, “T.V. Tommy” looked solid throughout the weekend, and ran fourth from early in Superbike, dicing with established top echelon riders Jeff Williams (BMW) and the Royal Distributing entry of Michael Leon (BMW). It is true that some of the potential front runners encountered issues, but a fourth in your Feature debut is a seriously impressive effort for Casas and justifies Yamaha’s official return to the top category.
Blysk BMW’s Samuel Trepanier is well overdue for his first Feature victory, but for the second year in a row a crash in practice set back his opening round program. A careful run up to fifth got him some useful points, and Trepanier should be back with the leaders at Grand Bend.
The Fast Company/Parts Canada Suzuki GSX-R1000 program of “T-Rev” Daley showed promise, but two minor falls meant that the real pace of this new package has yet to be revealed. Daley returned to the pits, got some parts from his truck and got back on track to net a finish, and has a few points that could come in useful later in the season.
Hornblower Breaks Through in Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike
It’s hard to imagine a more popular winner than Will Hornblower, who scored his first National Pro career success at Shannonville on Victoria Day weekend with his Bickle Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Just as Hornblower was developing a plan to pick off leaders Casas (Peterborough Cycle R6) and Sebastien Tremblay (Turcotte Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja), Casas tucked the front trying for the lead and opened up the win for the sole-surviving front runner – Hornblower.
After numerous efforts over the years that almost yielded a win, Hornblower certainly looked relieved on the top of the Podium. David McKay continued his recent run of strong 600 class showings with second on his Kawasaki, while 2018 BCR Pro Rookie of the Year Samuel Desmarais netted his first Pro National podium for Kawasaki to start his second season in the top category.
Also attracting attention was the Snow City Yamaha of Elliot “E.T.” Vieira, the protege of former G.P. star and new Hall of Fame inductee Clive Ng-A-Kien. The Guyanese ace has been on the fringes of the series for the past two seasons, with unrelenting bad luck. After all kinds of mechanical issues, Vieira finally had a trouble-free weekend, earning a front row start for the race. Vieira then blew his launch, and had to charge back through the pack, surviving a couple of adventures to net a solid fourth.
Meanwhile, expected Championship contenders Casas and Tremblay got very little out of the weekend, although Tremblay managed to remount and salvage something. While Hornblower heads the standings with 52 points, Tremblay is 10th overall with 20 points and Casas managed just 4 points (Pole position) with his DNF. The charge of Tremblay and Casas up the Liqui Moly points standings for the remainder of the season should make for an exciting Championship chase.
Amateurs Start their Chase
Every year, the opening races of the Championship chases are very significant for Amateur competitors: who will step up and win, then make the push for a National title before earning Pro status?
In Mopar Express lane Amateur Superbike, the big bikes were in control, and Dave Natale’s potent Aprilia RSV4 RR got clear to earn the win from the Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninjas of Guillaume Fortin and Julien Lafortune. Fortin was less than half a second behind winner Natale at the finish. Best BMW belonged to Andrew Haick in fourth.
The top middleweight in AM Superbike was Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja mounted Christian Allard, who earned fifth among the big bikes. Earlier, in the Red Flag-shortened Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike, Allard built a solid lead to earn the win, six seconds clear of runner-up Jared Walker’s Ninja. Wayne Marchand ran the top Yamaha YZF-R6 to third, right with Walker, while 2018 Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike Champ Jake LeClair was fourth in his official 600cc National debut, backing that up with eighth in Superbike.
Some Good for Hart
Atlantic Motorsport Park star Avery Hart made an impressive Shannonville Motorsport Park debut in TSN’s Motorcycle Experience Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike, scoring a solid second in his Saturday opener and then backing that up with a win with his Yamaha YZF-R3 on Sunday. The Amateur Lightweight racers will have more races than any other class in 2019, with a total of 12 Nationals, and Hart has established himself as a serious title contender.
Another rising star, Ben LeClair, the pre-season favorite with his R3, held off Hart to win the opener, and then battled to second in race two. Honda CBR500R mounted Matthew Simpson was also part of the very busy and entertaining lead group both days, earning a pair of thirds on his big twin.
A race winner in 2018, Yamaha’s Alex Berthiaume was a very close fourth in Saturday’s opener, turning the fastest lap of that race to earn pole for Sunday’s race two. Unfortunately, he crashed out of the lead dispute in the second race. Popular rising star Jacob Black was the top Kawasaki Ninja 400 racer with fifth on Saturday and a close fourth on Sunday, Amy Szoke returned to Lightweight to score seventh on Saturday and fifth on Sunday with her Ninja.
Hart now leads the standings with 98 points, LeClair right behind at 96 while Simpson is third with 75. Next up is Grand Bend, another new track for Hart, and a chance for LeClair, Simpson, Black and Szoke to tighten up the points race.
