The Mopar CSBK Canadian National motorcycle road racing series will include five weekends in 2017, at four established venues and one new track: Grand Bend Motorplex in a resort area on Lake Huron, Ontario.
While the second round at Grand Bend’s Technical Layout on June 8-11 will mark a debut for the Mopar CSBK tour, Shannonville Motorsport Park will host the 53rd National races held at the track, a record for the series. More often that not, the CSBK tour, launched in 1980, has opened at Shannonville. In eleven of the past 15 years, the Pro racer who has won that SMP opener has gone on the clinch the overall number one plate and Canada Cup.
For 2017, Jordan Szoke of Lynden, ON, will be aiming for his 12th career Pro Superbike crown aboard the Express Lane/Motovan-backed BMW Motorrad S1000RR entry. Szoke has gone unbeaten three times in the National tour, including the past two seasons in a row. Szoke took the title for the first time in 1998.
The 2017 Mopar CSBK National Schedule includes:
Round One | Shannonville Motorsport Park, ON - Pro Track | May 26-28 |
Round Two | Grand Bend Motorplex, ON - Technical Track | June 8-11 |
Round Three | Autodrome St-Eustache, Montreal, QC | June 23-25 |
Round Four | Atlantic Motorsport Park, Halifax, NS | July 13-16 |
Round Five | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, ON DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND |
August 18-20 |
The August events at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park north east of Bowmanville, ON, include the season-ending double header races that have become a traditional wrap-up for the National Championships over the past decade. Feature Superbike races, as well class races for each division in the Nationals, will take place on Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20.
For the fourth straight season, all competitors at the CSBK Nationals will compete using a range of Dunlop spec slick race tires, with the exception of the DOT-equipped Kawasaki Ninja 300 spec Series. Each Round of the series includes two Ninja 300 races, Saturday and Sunday, for the popular rider development class for identically-prepared twin-cylinder Kawasakis.
Besides the Mopar Pro Superbike Feature category for open class, street-based 1000cc class racers with up to 200 horsepower as measured on the Official Series Dynojet Dyno, further support National Championship classes include: Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike, Magneti Marelli Amateur Superbike and Shoei Premium Helmets Amateur Superbike.
The start of the serious, post-practice weekend work at each National centres on the Dalton Timmis Insurance SuperPole, where grid positions for the Feature Pro Superbike race are established. Dalton Timmis Insurance also provide a prize fund for final Superbike Qualifying, as well as supporting television and video coverage of the season-long Mopar CSBK Championship.
Mopar CSBK racers will support the Dalton Timmis Insurance Booth at this weekend’s International Motorcycle SuperShow in Toronto, with the downtown Toronto Motorcycle Show up next, February 17-19, followed by the Montreal Motorcycle and Hall of Fame weekend in Quebec, February 24-26.