It was a long-awaited return to the top step of the podium for Trevor Daley on Sunday, as he won a thrilling Sport Bike race two in the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, presented by Southwest Marine & Powersports.
Daley returned to Grand Bend Motorplex after a round one absence and scored an impressive podium on Saturday, his first action in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class in nearly ten years, but he had even more up his sleeve in race two on Sunday.
The OneSpeed Suzuki rider immediately snatched the holeshot from second on the grid and led the field through lap one, threatening to break away as soon as lap two with pole-sitter Sebastien Tremblay busy defending from rookie Mavrick Cyr behind.
However, Daley seemingly gave up his race-winning hopes as he ran off-track in turn two, relinquishing the lead and rejoining outside the top ten. That would kick off an incredible five-rider battle for the lead over the next few laps, but one that only distracted the crowd from a hard-charging Daley behind.
The long-time Superbike frontrunner had joined the leaders once again by the halfway point of the 18-lap race, and wasted no time in carving his way through the pack to reach Tremblay with six laps to go. Daley made another slight mistake in turn one, but again rebounded with remarkable pace to put the pressure back on Tremblay on lap 14.
He would make the race-winning pass in the penultimate turn of that lap, slicing past Tremblay under brakes in the penultimate corner and continuing his strong pace to the end to secure the victory. Tremblay would run deep in turn one chasing Daley, though he recovered to hold onto a crucial second place finish.
While he admitted it was a bit of an adventurous race, it was a much-deserved win for Daley in his return to the paddock, having taken his last pro victory nearly ten years ago at Atlantic Motorsport Park in 2014.
“They don’t call me the Wild Child for nothing,” Daley joked. “I made a few mistakes, but our pace was also really good and I had a ton of confidence, so hats off to Suzuki and my team. It was a long time coming, it feels great.”
It was an incredible comeback after Daley was running outside the top-ten early on, and one that came against perhaps one of the strongest Sport Bike riders ever in Tremblay.
However, it was also a sensible ride for the championship leader, as he escaped with yet another podium to extend his title advantage to a whopping 45 points for the Turcotte Performance Suzuki rider.
“It was a hell of a race. One of my contact lenses actually fell out fairly early, so I was trying to manage that,” Tremblay admitted. “I was a bit lucky to finish second, but we were able to pick up more points for the championship which is always good.”
The result was boosted by another DNF for title rival Elliot Vieira, though one that wasn’t entirely his fault. The GP Bikes Ducati rider was defending from local star Zoltan Frast when the two made contact in turn one and Vieira crashed out, effectively ending his early championship hopes.
Frast avoided any discipline as it was deemed a racing incident, and continued on to hunt down the lead group as he chased his first career national victory. The Clare’s Cycle Kawasaki rider ultimately couldn’t hang with Daley in the final stint, but managed a repeat podium after putting plenty of late pressure on Tremblay for second.
“I’m super excited. I still gave myself some early work to do, but to get my first two national podiums this weekend is something you can never complain about,” Frast said.
The breakthrough weekend actually moves Frast to second in the championship order, while Daley climbs to third and just two points adrift of Frast despite only appearing in one round thus far.
It was an excellent day for the Bauer brothers, as Dylan Bauer claimed fourth after briefly running as high as second, while Jordon Bauer managed a career-best fifth.
Dylan’s potential podium run was ruined by a disastrous lap 12 where he slipped from second to fifth in just three corners, though he was able to salvage an excellent fourth for Economy Lube Ducati.
As for Jordon, the OneStop Goat Shop Yamaha rider gradually managed his way through the field, earning an impressive fifth behind his brother.
Settling for seventh was John Laing, who slides to fourth in the championship and into a tie with Daley (who owns the tiebreaker thanks to his race two victory). The Vass Performance Kawasaki rider will hope to improve upon his tough weekend when the series shifts to his home track in Edmonton for round three.
Absent from the final finishing order was Cyr, who encountered a clutch failure on the penultimate lap. The Rizzin Racing/Economy Lube Triumph rookie seemed on course for at least his first career podium if not a potential victory, but instead failed to see the chequered flag due to the late issue.
Daley’s victory will not only keep Suzuki’s perfect win streak alive but also help extend their lead in the Constructors standings, where they have opened up a 64-point advantage over Kawasaki through four races.
Full results from Sunday’s race can be found on the series’ official website.
Main picture: Trevor Daley (166) came back to win Sunday’s Pro Sport Bike race at Grand Bend Motorplex after running off-track into the grass early in the 18 lap final. Fellow Suzuki rider Sebastien Tremblay (24) was second ahead of Zoltan Frast in third.
[Photo: Rob O’Brien / CSBK].
SOURCE: CSBK
