It seems like not much more excitement can be packed into Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship weekends, but every round more and more stories are left on the cutting room floor by the time Sunday comes and goes.
From the major stories that require a bit more detail, to the countless hidden gems that never crack the spotlight, here are some added storylines from the opening round of the 2024 season at Shannonville Motorsport Park.
When reigning Sport Bike champion David MacKay decided to join the Superbike class with Snow City Cycle Honda for 2024, there was two major lines of thinking within the CSBK paddock. Many believed the project would need some time to develop but pay big dividends near the end of the season, while others questioned the decision altogether.
Already, both are wrong.
MacKay’s “teething period” lasted for about 24 hours at Shannonville, as he carved his way through the field from eighth on the grid to finish fifth in both GP Bikes Pro Superbike races, running as high as fourth in race two.
His race pace was very strong for someone in his first weekend aboard the CBR1000RR – a machine with very little data in Canada over the last ten years – as he looked instantly comfortable and capable of running with the main title protagonists.
That progress is especially important as MacKay and the Snow City Cycle team now turn their heads to Grand Bend for round two, a track he knows better than anyone in the CSBK paddock.
After a strong Superbike debut in the final weekend of 2023, there were big hopes for Connor Campbell and the B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki team entering 2024, shaping up as the favourite for the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year award.
However, a bizarre crash nearly derailed Campbell’s weekend as soon as it began, as he suffered multiple broken ribs and a significant bruise near his eye in Friday morning practice.
That wouldn’t stop the 24-year-old, though, as he qualified an impressive fifth and fought his way through two feature 20-lap Superbike races to take finishes of ninth and seventh, a valuable points haul for Kawasaki towards the Constructors trophy and enough to give him an eight-point cushion over fellow rookie Mavrick Cyr.
Not every rivalry is born at the front, as midfield battles often produce some of the most exciting action between unlikely foes. Except on Sunday, it was two very familiar rookies who wasted no time in starting their first clash of the pro ranks.
Battling for fourth in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike race, 19-year-old Mavrick Cyr was looking to defend from 16-year-old Philip Degama-Blanchet when the latter launched a daring pass into the penultimate corner on the last lap.
It was a bold but legal move, one that CSBK officials chalked up as a racing incident, though Cyr and the Rizzin Racing Team thought differently of the contact between the two teenagers. Thankfully neither rider nor team crossed any lines of misconduct in their post-race argument, but it’s clear there is no love lost between the former amateur competitors.
Given both Cyr’s and Degama-Blanchet’s incredible potential, it may not be the last time the two renew their rivalry either, as each teenager exited the weekend garnering praise from virtually everyone in the paddock –besides maybe each other.
Speaking of young riders in close competition, the next wave of stars wasted no time in making their presence felt this weekend, as Ryan Beattie and Zaim Laflamme went to war in the Super Sonic Road Race School Pro-Am Lightweight ranks.
The 15-year-old Beattie and 22-year-old Laflamme were separated by virtually nothing all weekend, taking the fight to pro Cameron Walker as well, but it was Beattie who found the slightest of margins when he needed it to beat Laflamme in both races.
The son of flat track legend Steve Beattie, the younger Ryan will feel very confident after remembering that round one was his worst weekend of 2023, but things will surely only get better for Laflamme as well after he rattled off four consecutive top-five finishes at CTMP and the SMP long track last season.
Regardless of how the Lightweight rivalry shakes out this season, it’s clear this is just the beginning of things for both Beattie and Laflamme in the CSBK paddock.