The Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike championship opened up dramatically in race one on Saturday, as Sebastien Tremblay took a crucial victory in the second round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at the Grand Bend Motorplex, presented by Southwest Marine & Powersports.
Things didn’t appear to be headed that way as pole-sitter Elliot Vieira grabbed the holeshot while Tremblay slipped back to fourth, allowing Vieira to extend a slight early lead while the pack of Trevor Daley, Mavrick Cyr, and Tremblay chased behind.
Tremblay quickly made up for the poor start by moving back past Cyr on lap two, though he had a much tougher time with Daley as the two briefly battled on lap three, allowing another slight advantage for Vieira.
The GP Bikes Ducati rider was unable to gap the trio behind him, however, as Tremblay eventually moved clear of Daley and followed Vieira closely for majority of the 18-lap race.
The championship leader would make his race-winning move into the penultimate turn with five laps remaining, but it wasn’t without any late retaliation from Vieira as he attempted to pass Tremblay back in the same spot with two laps to go.
Unfortunately, that move would cost Vieira the race as he tucked the front and crashed out of the battle, handing Tremblay a comfortable cushion for his final lap and a pivotal win aboard his Turcotte Performance Suzuki. Vieira was thankfully uninjured.
The result sees Tremblay’s lead balloon from just eight points to a whopping 33 over Vieira, putting plenty of pressure on the title fight through just three races of a 12-race campaign.
“I actually wanted to pull away out of the gate, but I had a terrible start and had to pick my way through. Luckily I could see that Elliot wasn’t really stretching away, so I thought I could follow him for a bit before making the move,” Tremblay said. “It was unfortunate that Elliot went down, and I’m glad he’s okay, but it’s really good for us in the championship.”
The win was also a redemption of sorts for Tremblay after he was taken out of the lead at Grand Bend in 2019, an incident that left him with a broken collarbone and dramatically changed his title fight that season.
“We raced here last year, but before that was a really tough weekend for us at this track, so it’s nice to put that behind me,” Tremblay said.
The victory was hardly one that was gifted to him, however, as he had to fight through not just Vieira but also Daley in the early going, who made a spectacular return to the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class.
The OneSpeed Suzuki rider missed round one altogether but has not featured in the Sport Bike ranks much since his race-winning season in 2014, though it would be impossible to tell as he showed few signs of rust on Saturday.
“We’ve definitely learned some lessons in the 10 years away from this class. I could tell Seb’s pace was really strong, so I just wanted to bring it home as best I could for today,” Daley said. “There were some spots where I felt a bit faster but also some spots where they were stronger, so we’ll make some changes and try to do one better tomorrow.”
Daley’s impressive return to the podium came under a brief threat from local specialist Zoltan Frast, though Daley was able to respond and put enough distance between them to hold onto second at the line.
However, Vieira’s crash would still promote Frast to a hard-earned third and first career pro CSBK podium, as he flashed really strong pace aboard his Clare’s Cycle Kawasaki despite a poor start of his own.
“Overall it was a good race, but I gave myself a lot of work to do after the start. I was scrambling a bit and had to fight my way back through, but it feels good to be up here,” Frast said. “It’s a shame for Elliot, but with a few more laps or a bit of a better start we might have caught another spot here.”
The late crash promoted Cyr back to fourth after the rookie had slipped behind Frast in the late stages, though it was still an excellent result for the Rizzin Racing/Economy Lube Triumph teenager as he ran with the leaders in the early going.
Rounding out the top five was former Grand Bend pole-sitter Dylan Bauer, who makes a return in 2024 and enjoyed a thrilling battle with John Laing. The two traded passes numerous times in the fight for fifth, but Bauer would ultimately hold off the Cochrane, Alberta native for a great result aboard his Economy Lube Ducati.
Laing would have to settle for sixth after starting in ninth, a frustrating weekend for the Vass Performance Kawasaki rider as he sees his title hopes slip away. However, Vieira’s crash has opened up the battle for second in the championship, with Laing just three points behind the Ducati rider entering Sunday.
The one-two finish added to Suzuki’s lead atop the Sport Bike Constructors table, with Daley proving to be a valuable second piece in the absence of Ben Young. The result extends their advantage to 44 points over Kawasaki, who leapfrog Ducati by one point for second overall.
Full results from Saturday’s race can be found on the series’ official website at CSBK.ca.
