The Canadian Superbike championship has wrapped up its second race weekend of the year at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with plenty of wild action on-track. You can read a full race report at CSBK.ca, but we’ve got a quick summary below:
Jordan Szoke rode his Kawasaki ZX-10 to the win in the Pro Superbike class, but it was hardly a guaranteed thing. Szoke took Superpole, but in the warmup lap before Sunday’s race, decided the track conditions called for a bike switch, as the surface was still drying off. He quickly moved over to his backup bike, with a soft rear tire and a rain tire on front—and had to start from the pits, instead of pole position.
As the race moved on, Kenny Riedmann put in an impressive show of his own, as a wildcard entry on Trevor Daley’s Suzuki GSX-R1000. Due to COVID regulations, Daley wasn’t able to ride for the weekend, and lent his bike to Riedmann. Riedmann led most of the way, but pro rookie Samuel Guerin got in front with his BMW S1000RR with only five laps to go. Then, Szoke managed to get in front of Guerin, after battling through traffic, and took the win. Guerin was second (only the third rookie in CSBK history to earn a podium in his first three races), and Riedmann was third.
Race 2 saw Szoke win again, with Riedmann second and Guerin third. Michael Leon was pushing his new BMW towards a podium, but crashed with four laps left, causing a red flag. No word on how Leon is, or Jeff Williams, who suffered a nasty incident on Friday in the run-up to the races.
Now, Szoke has a 71-point lead in first place in Pro Superbike, and it’s unlikely there will be enough events left in the season for anyone to get past him. It’s simple mathematics: You win points in races, and if there aren’t many races, you can’t earn enough points to gain on the leader.
There’s no confirmation on any more events this season at all. Officially, CSBK says “The series remains optimistic of more racing to end the 2020 season, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks as CSBK officials continue to address their plans amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.” A Shubenacadie event seems unlikely, with Atlantic Canada still enforcing strict border controls, and Quebec also seems a long shot for 2020 races, but maybe we’ll see something at Shannonville or Grand Bend?
In the other classes, 2019’s Pro Sport Bike champ Will Hornblower showed up at CTMP and looked to be setting a good pace before Sunday, but crashed out during the wet warmup lap. In the soggy race, Sebastien Tremblay took the win (his second consecutive win), with Christian Allard in second and Nicolas Meunier in third. The Kawasaki-mounted Quebecers are tearing it up this season, and no doubt they’ll be the guys to beat as long as they remain in this class.
In Amateur Superbike, Jordan Royds took the victory in Race 1, followed by Alex Cleary and then Sarah-Michelle Cotton, the first female rider on a national podium in several years. Cleary won the second race, followed by Royds and Anthony Bergeron in third.
Brad Macrae won Amateur Sport Bike, with Dave Carolli in second and Serge Boyer in third.
In Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike, Paul Courtois, Herve Remetter and J.F. Cloutier finished 1-2-3 in Race 1. In Race 2, it was some more familiar faces on the podium; Matt Simpson took first, followed by Mike Maguire, and in third, former CMG big boss Jacob Black.
