Against all odds, Sebastien Tremblay moved one step closer to a second career Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike championship on Saturday, carving his way through the field to win his fourth race of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Tremblay started eleventh on the grid after a red flag cut qualifying short on Friday, but that did little to hold up the points leader as he was already fourth in the running order by the end of lap one.
The Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider quickly found himself locked in a battle with the Economy Lube Ducati duo of Elliot Vieira and Mavrick Cyr, though the two hardly raced like teammates as they waged war at the front in a spectacular three-way fight.
Cyr’s challenge would inevitably be derailed as he made contact with a lapper, slightly damaging his V2 Panigale and limiting him to a more distant third, but Vieira and Tremblay continued to duke it out at the front similar to their battle at CTMP a year ago.
Tremblay would seize the front for good with just four laps to go, but couldn’t break away from Vieira as the two were set up for a thrilling last-lap duel. Unfortunately, lapped traffic again got in the way of Ducati’s hopes as Tremblay crucially put a pair of riders between them, allowing him to squeak out an impressive victory by just one second.
The charge from eleventh to first was perhaps the most emphatic win of Tremblay’s historic career, and one that will be crucial in the championship as he puts one hand on the trophy with a 67-point lead and just 79 points remaining entering Sunday.
“I had my work cut out for me, but the door was open to get a few riders into turn one and from there I just tried to pick them off one by one,” Tremblay said. “Mav and Elliot battled really hard, but unfortunately Mav had a small issue and that helped me be able to pass Elliot. I tried to just put my head down and I was able to keep him behind me, but it was tough for sure!”
Vieira would have to settle for second after his encounter with lapped riders, a frustrating outcome that prevented his last-lap attack, but still a much-needed effort for the Guyanese star after his recent run of DNF’s.
“Sebastien just had a bit more today, honestly he was just fast everywhere,” Vieira admitted. “I still thought I could get him on the last lap, we just unfortunately got caught up in lappers. But it is what it is.”
The Economy Lube Ducati team would complete the podium with a two-three finish, as Cyr was equally frustrated with his mid-race holdup but still managed to escape with a third consecutive podium.
“I had a good start, and I was thinking maybe I could get out front and stretch my lead a bit, but these two were just too fast,” Cyr said. “I still could try and get them in turn two every lap, but we had a bit of contact and an issue which held us up.”
While his championship hopes remain on thin ice, Cyr’s performance will move him to within just a single point of John Laing for second in the standings, a remarkable achievement for the 19-year-old rookie as Laing had to settle for seventh on Saturday.
Pole-sitter Trevor Daley was reeling in the lead group when he crashed out of fourth, though the OneSpeed Suzuki rider was thankfully uninjured. That opened the door for a thrilling battle between Jodi Christie, Andrew Van Winkle, and Matt Simpson, which went nose-to-tail for almost the entire race.
Three-time champion Christie would fend off his younger counterpart despite a string of pass attempts in the final corner, an excellent return for the Scot-Build Suzuki rider in his first Sport Bike action since 2015.
Van Winkle would have to settle for fifth, though still an impressive finish after he started 16th on the grid for FD Racing Suzuki.
As for Simpson, the hometown rider was firmly in the mix with Christie and Van Winkle when he lost power with only three turns to go, having to push his PMR Yamaha across the line to salvage tenth.
The victory for Tremblay and strong support from Christie will maintain Suzuki’s advantage atop the Constructors Championship, though the battle for second ramped up dramatically as the Economy Lube duo promoted Ducati into a tie for second with Kawasaki, with Ducati owning the tiebreaker by virtue of more podiums.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at roughly 1:15 pm ET at CTMP on Sunday, where Tremblay will try to clinch his second career middleweight championship.
