Organizers of the Canadian Superbike series have announced the series will visit Grand Bend Motorplex in 2017.
Located just south of the town of Grand Bend, on Ontario’s Lake Huron, Grand Bend Motorplex is eastern Canada’s newest roadracing track. The Southern Ontario Associates of Racing (SOAR) series runs there, and the facility’s drag strip has hosted the Mopar Canadian Nationals for almost 20 years.
For 2017, CSBK will use Grand Bend’s 2.2-km Technical track layout, visiting on the June 8-11 race weekend. Testing starts Thursday, practice starts Friday, Saturday will see qualifying and some racing (such as the Ninja 300 series, probably), and Sunday will see the Pro features.
Along with the CSBK racing, organizers are also considering adding support races, with hints of a tie-in with the vintage scene. CSBK already tried this back in 2015, with the VRRA supporting the opener at Calabogie, and it appears they’re considering a repeat performance.
Given the timing of the Grand Bend event, it would appear this could be the CSBK season opener, instead of the traditional Shannonville event, leaving us to wonder once again: What’s the future with Shannonville? Unless there’s a race in May this year, it seems the Ontario track has once again dropped from the season opener slot.
Along with the Grand Bend event, CSBK also announced updated tire rules for both pro and amateur sport bike classes.
In the past few years, competitors have run DOT-legal tires in the 600 cc series. Now, racers will use Dunlop’s KR448 and KR451 racing slicks, with new compounds being introduced through the year, particularly when track conditions warrant. The Dunlop slicks are already in use in MotoAmerica’s US series, and this decision will allow Canadian racers to choose from a wider variety of compounds during the season. Of course, Dunlop provides spec tires for CSBK, starting their second three-year contract next season.
Tire riles?:)