The emergence of Canadian racing star Vincent Lalande continued on Sunday, as the 14-year-old sensation scored his fourth consecutive victory to begin the year at the second round of the Canadian Mini Superbike Championship in Lombardy, presented by the Super Sonic Road Race School.
Lalande has quickly evolved into a household name atop the feature Motul Canada Cup class, winning the first three races and taking an early chokehold on the championship fight despite a trio of thrilling battles with rival Ben Hardwick, but he was handed his first major curveball on Sunday as an afternoon thunderstorm produced the first wet race of the campaign with new Pirelli rain tires mounted on their Ohvale machines.
Despite the treacherous conditions, the duo seemed set for another epic battle when Hardwick grabbed the holeshot and an early lead, but Lalande needed just five turns to snatch the place back and began to pull a gap out front. Hardwick eventually settled in by lap six and began to chip away at the deficit, turning the fastest lap of the race in the process, but his early deficit proved to be insurmountable as he could not mount a last lap attack on Lalande.
The 0.162-second margin between the top two was amazingly one of the largest gaps of the season thus far, as the duo continue their nail-biting battle in what is surely to be just the beginning of a long rivalry in Canadian racing.
The race marked the fourth consecutive 1-2 finish for Lalande and Hardwick, though Hardwick will hope to reverse his fortunes quickly with a rapidly growing championship lead for Lalande through the inaugural four races of the Canada Cup series.
While Hardwick has been put on the back foot entering round three in the battle for the title, his fourth consecutive podium should put him in a comfortable position to claim at least a top-two spot in the overall championship, after fellow frontrunner Merik Sommer was injured on Saturday and usual challenger Brandon Stephens stalled on the starting grid.
Lalande continued his perfect season in a pair of support categories as well, winning both the GP-1 and Moto1 races prior to the afternoon showers aboard his SpeedFactory67 Buccimoto machine, as he continues to set the standard around the Lombardy Raceway.
It was also another productive day for youngster Michael Galvis in the support ranks, as he scored another victory in the Sport-1 class and added a second-place finish to Lalande in the Moto1 category aboard his Kawasaki KX65 machine.
The MiniSBK field will now prepare to enter unfamiliar territory as the series shifts to the Grand Bend Motorplex for round three, where they will run in conjunction with the opening round of the Canadian Superbike Championship national tour, before returning to Lombardy for round four late next month.
More information, including schedules and registration details, can be found on the series’ official website at www.supersonicschool.com.
From a press release
