Ben Young will enter the final round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship with one hand already on the Canada Cup, as the season concludes this weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park, August 30-September 1.
It’s a return to the same venue where Young kickstarted his title campaign nearly four months ago with a pair of victories on the perimeter “Pro Track” layout, but now he will take to the interior “Long Track” layout to try and close out the season the same way he started it and secure a fourth career GP Bikes Pro Superbike championship.
The math is simple for Young, as he needs to just score four points out of the 54 remaining this weekend to exit with a third consecutive Canada Cup and retain his #1 plate for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW squad.
Young has taken nothing for granted, remaining adamant that “anything can happen,” and that is true – after all, he is no stranger to bizarre mechanical issues at Shannonville – but it would still take a near perfect weekend from Sam Guerin to try and leapfrog Young as he trails by 50 points.
What makes the odds even slimmer for Guerin is that Young showed zero signs of vulnerability on the Long Track layout last season, winning two of three races and overcoming a last-round deficit to Alex Dumas to win his third title.
Guerin was hardly as convincing in that 2023 finale, taking finishes of fourth, fifth, and fifth to close out the season. However, the EFC Group BMW star has been an entirely different rider in 2024, making it difficult to judge just how much those results will translate to his current form.
Already locked into a top-three spot, Guerin will have nothing to lose as he tries to erase his deficit to Young at the finale and complete one of the most improbable comebacks in history, but he won’t have a shortage of other contenders trying to get in his way.
The main favourite on race day may actually be Dumas, who is the most recent winner on the “Long Track” layout after ending the 2023 campaign on top.
The 2021 champion looked very strong all weekend a year ago, earning pole position and leading early in race one before crashing out, then leading majority of race two and winning race three.
That was also Dumas’ final weekend for Suzuki, and it’s entirely possible his new Economy Lube Ducati will suit the layout even better after Trevor Dion took it to three consecutive podiums on the Long Track last season.
The most recent winner in the feature class is also expected to return to Shannonville, as Trevor Daley makes his third appearance of the season aboard the OneSpeed Suzuki.
The circuit hasn’t been one of Daley’s strongest throughout his career, taking just one podium all the way back in 2014, though the same could have been said for Grand Bend and CTMP prior to his stunning victories.
It’s also difficult to critique Daley’s Long Track results from a year ago, where he overcame brutal injuries to finish fifth, sixth, and sixth. Now healthy, it’s entirely possible he could add a third “Daley Double” to his resumé at Shannonville.
Experience is at a premium on the 15-turn version though, having returned in 2023 after being absent from the calendar since 2004, and that lack of familiarity will play right into the hands of Jordan Szoke.
Szoke admittedly hasn’t raced the Long Track layout as much as other tracks in his career, but he will have more laps to draw from than most of the grid combined, evidenced by his podium charge in race one last season despite being at a worse stage in his recovery than he is now.
The CKM Kawasaki rider has not finished outside the top-four at all this year and should be a strong bet to at least continue that streak to end the campaign, looking much more like his old self in the second half of this season.
Another rider chasing a dream victory is Tomas Casas, who returned to the podium for a third time in his Superbike career last time out at CTMP. The Yamaha Motors Canada rider made his season debut after missing the first four rounds and didn’t miss a beat, finishing fifth and third after leading the opening lap of race two.
Casas looked very strong in practice and qualifying a year ago at the finale before a Q2 crash and injury ended his season prematurely. Now having regained his health and a bit of confidence from his CTMP effort, the two-time Sport Bike champion will be eyeing another podium – or maiden victory – at SMP.
A pair of young Kawasaki riders will be vying for a bit of hardware to end the season, as Torin Collins will return for a third appearance and try to hunt down Connor Campbell in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year fight.
Campbell has led the award standings for majority of the season, finishing inside the top-ten in each of the first eight races for the B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki team and scoring points on every occasion.
It’s been a bit of an opposite story for Collins, who missed rounds one, two, and four but has benefitted from his victory and podium in Edmonton to find himself just eight points behind Campbell entering the final round.
The difference may come down to familiarity, as Collins will be making his first ever trip to Shannonville while Campbell made his Superbike debut on this layout last season, hopping aboard the ZX-10R Ninja on short notice to take two top-eight finishes.
Collins will also be under a new tent for the third time in three appearances, remaining aboard the same Kawasaki from his CTMP appearance but departing the CKM program to ride for Economy Lube alongside Dumas.
Main picture: CSBK championship leader Ben Young (1) heads into the final round of the season this weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park needing to score only four points to secure his fourth Canadian Superbike Championship.
[Photo: Rob O’Brien / CSBK]
SOURCE: CSBK
