Collins tops FP2 to begin Saturday in Edmonton

The GP Bikes Pro Superbike class produced its third different leader in three sessions at RAD Torque Raceway on Saturday, as Torin Collins topped FP2 at the third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship.

The 18-year-old has been at the sharp end of things all weekend, running third-fastest in FP1 and qualifying second on Friday, but it was Alex Dumas and pole-sitter Ben Young who were the riders to beat in each session.

Collins would take his turn at the top on Saturday morning, putting in a late time attack to move past Young with two minutes to go, posting a time of 1:17.756 aboard his Novalda Kawasaki.

That was just a quarter-second off his qualifying time as the Calgary, Alberta native continues to ramp things up ahead of race one on Saturday, with Young only marginally slower to begin the day with a time of 1:17.901.

The championship leader will face a tough task in Collins and Dumas, amongst others, but Young hasn’t looked out of place at all in his first trip to Edmonton and that trend continued in FP2 for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad.

Dumas, meanwhile, continued his own run at the front in third, finishing 0.443 seconds behind Collins aboard his Economy Lube Ducati. The 2021 champion qualified third on the grid for race one despite a mechanical scare in Q1, and appears to have sorted out any gremlins prior to his race one return this afternoon.

Completing a familiar top four was Jordan Szoke, who briefly led FP2 early in the session before slipping back to fourth. The CKM Kawasaki veteran did close up the gap considerably, however, finishing the morning just 0.520 seconds off the top and 0.077 seconds slower than Dumas as he eyes his first victory since 2021.

Sam Guerin rounded out the top five once again in FP2 but remained a comfortable 1.259 seconds off Collins out front, as the EFC Group BMW star continues to search for improvements in his maiden trip to RAD Torque Raceway.

The lead quartet of Collins, Young, Dumas, and Szoke are expected to headline the action when the lights go out on Saturday, with race one of the feature Superbike class scheduled for roughly 3 pm local time (5 pm ET) ahead of race two on Sunday.

The full schedule of events can be found on the series’ official website.