The TL/DR on CSBK’s Edmonton round over the weekend is: People expected a lot of change-ups, and that’s what they got.
The longer version is this: Torin Collins showed he is very much the real deal, bagging the Pro Superbike win in Race 2 of his very first CSBK weekend—and only losing by 0.4 seconds to Ben Young in Race 1. It was a tight race down to the last lap, and while Alex Dumas didn’t have quite the zip he’d hoped for in his return to CSBK, he still managed a third-overall in his first Pro Superbike race this season. The rest of the season looks promising if Dumas can get his Ducati running how he’d like. While Collins is focused on his MotoAmerica season, if he comes back as well, then either of these guys could play a spoiler to Young’s championship campaign. That would be tough, though, as Young currently sits 34 points up on second-place Sam Guerin in that series. Young grabbed third in Pro Superbike’s Race 2 (behind winner Collins and second-place Dumas), and his consistency will win him the championship at this rate.
In Pro Sport Bike, we’re starting to see a similar situation. Lots of fast guys can challenge front-runner Sebastien Tremblay any weekend, but Tremblay’s steady approach has him at the front of the standings even though John Laing got the win at his home track in Race 1—ahead of second-place Elliot Vieira and third-place Tremblay—and Andrew Van Winkle (last year’s Pro Twins winner) took the win on Sunday’s Race 2 ahead of Mavrick Cyr and then Laing again. Add it all up, and Tremblay’s points from Alberta are enough to keep him 32 ticks ahead of second-place Laing in the overall title hunt. With the next race at challenging Shubenacadie, Tremblay’s experience there will certainly be in his favour and we can expect him to pad his lead a bit more as the series heads east in July.
Support class racing
The biggest news in the support classes was the return of former Pro Superbike/Pro Sport Bike champion Jodi Christie, who won both the Pro-Am Twins races. Vincent Wilson is still atop the Amateur standings in that series with a gritty third-place finish in Edmonton after crashing out. For the rest of the standings, including Amateur support classes and all Pro classes, see CSBK’s website here. Full race and session results, including Superpole, are here. CSBK’s next race weekend is July 12-14 at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Nova Scotia—more info here.
