CSBK stars ready for round one after Thursday test at Shannonville

The long wait for the 2023 Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship season finally ended on Thursday, as a portion of the round one entries took to Shannonville Motorsport Park for the pre-weekend test day. 

Official times weren’t available for the Thursday shakedown, though many of the riders likely wouldn’t have threatened the best times of the weekend anyways as temperatures were unusually cold (5ºC) to begin the day and a pair of stoppages limited track time. 

That didn’t faze defending GP Bikes Pro Superbike champion Ben Young, however, as he broke in his new Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW M1000RR. Sporting the #1 plate aboard a rebranded black machine, Young settled in quickly at the venue where he won in 2019, approaching an unofficial high-1:05 lap time. 

His main rival, Alex Dumas, also flashed a new look on Thursday, hoping his new purple-and-yellow theme aboard the Purple Skull Brewing/Liqui Moly Suzuki will help him recapture his Canada Cup from 2021. 

Dumas will have plenty of recent knowledge around SMP thanks to his role as an instructor for the FAST Riding School, something few other riders can say, and that showed on Thursday as was the unofficial closest to Young with a low 1:06 lap time. 

The big story of the day instead became who likely won’t be racing this weekend, however, as star rookie Trevor Dion crashed hard in turn nine and is likely set to miss time with a hand injury. 

The LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider and reigning Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike champion has yet to confirm his absence from even the first two races at SMP, though some have expressed concern that he will recover in time for round two at Grand Bend. 

While one LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider was ruled out, the other began to work his way back into fitness on Thursday, as Jordan Szoke completed only a handful of laps in his return to SMP. 

The 14-time champion is still expected to race the full 2023 season, but has lost considerable strength amidst his injury recovery and recent health scares, making his effort at the Winter Test even more impressive as round one approaches. 

As for the current state of the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class, pre-season favourite David MacKay seemingly got off to a much better start than his Winter Test experience, finally gelling with the Bridgestone tires as he posted an unofficial low 1:09 lap.  

Running alongside the Sport Bike class will be the all-new Bickle Racing Pro Twins category, where local veteran Jeff Williams looked blazingly fast aboard his new Williams Paving Aprilia. The former Superbike race-winner proved he will be competitive even against the faster Sport Bike machine’s this season, something he’ll try to prove on Friday when official action begins. 

Amateur betting favourite Andrew Cooney wasn’t on-track Thursday as he is expected to arrive for Friday’s official practice sessions, though his status as the clear-cut benchmark was untouched thanks to the lack of any official times.

Teenage sensation Vincent Lalande got his first taste of SMP on Thursday, as the reigning Canadian MiniSBK champion prepares to make his national debut this weekend in the Super Sonic Race School Amateur Lightweight class. 

Lalande is considered the next star of the Bridgestone CSBK paddock, and the 15-year-old should waste no time in proving that this weekend aboard his SpeedFactory67 Kawasaki machine.

Certified times will be available on Friday when the pace ramps up in the first official action of the season, with morning practice for all classes before Pro qualifying in the afternoon. 

The full schedule for Friday’s track time can be found on the series’ official website.