One year ago, the 2024 Bridgestone CSBK National Championships opened at Shannonville Motorsport Park, a typical start for the Canadian National Road racing tour over the past forty-something years. In Sunday’s second GP Bikes Pro Superbike Feature race last season, reigning number one Ben Young took his second win of the season for the Van Dolder’s Home Team works BMW, followed by Samuel Guerin (EFC Group BMW) and Jordan Szoke (Repsol Kawasaki).
However, a talking point was the fourth-place finisher, rising star and former Pro middleweight National Champion Trevor Dion. On hand to start his first full season aboard the ex-works Danilo Petrucci Ducati superbike, Dion was supported by Ducati fan and bike owner Steve Moxey’s Economy Lube plus Tire chain of service stores.
At the Saturday 2024 opener, Dion ran with the leaders but faded to fourth, behind Young/Guerin/Szoke. However, there were issues with the Ducati and then Dion fell on Sunday morning, and the team pulled an almost new BMW M1000RR out of the trailer and hastily prepared that for Dion.
So, Dion netted two fourths on two distinct brands of bike at S.M.P. 2024, an achievement seldom seen in top level racing due to rider contracts, sponsor conflicts, manufacturer support and similar issues. This would be the last time the tour enjoyed Dion’s attendance – at the next round at his home venue of Grand Bend, a number of issues, including arm pump, forced him to withdraw from the National tour and Dion has not been seen at a national since.
This set in motion an unusual sequence of events. Moxey wanted to keep the popular-with-fans Ducati in the series and was contemplating offering his extremely competitive ride to several different potential front runners. Alex Dumas has departed the national tour at the end of 2023 to focus on a big money race in New Hampshire, but with that event complete, opted to test the Moxey Ducati at a Shannonville regional (where it went down again!) and then agreed to ride the booming V-4 for the rest of the National tour.
Veteran tuner Scott Miller had joined this group to assist Dion, recognizing the prowess of the rising start signed as number two to Jordan Szoke in a revamped Kawasaki program in 2023. When Dion retired, Miller opted to stay with the Moxey crew and take over responsibilities for Dumas.
At the next round in Alberta, Dumas was on the pace, and it was only a matter of time before the Ducati won. Success came at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park opener – the biggest race of the year.
However, little was said about the Dumas program during the fall of 2024, and rumor had 2021 National Superbike Champ Dumas (his rookie campaign!) opting to ride an Economy Lube plus Tire Ducati in MotoAmerica, where Moxey supports the works Warhorse program lead by the outspoken Josh Herrin.
Then Ben Young shook up the CSBK scene with the news of his departure from BMW after three Superbike crowns. Young joined Honda Canada, and insiders figured that BeeMm support would go to Guerin, who challenged Young frequently, though not consistently, in 2024.
But it turns out the structure of Young’s support was transferred to Scott Miller and his Fast Company group, major support coming from Economy Lube. Dumas is once again a factory supported racer after his early, successful teen-aged years with The Patrice Goyette headed Suzuki effort.
So what was once a thrown together, local (Kitchener-Waterloo in western Ontario) effort backing Dion has, in a season, turned into the factory supported BMW Motorrad effort with Dumas tasked with winning another number one plate for BMW (adding to their list of Champs including Brett McCormick, Szoke and Young).
This year at Shannonville, Dumas wasn’t perfect, but those in attendance and watching on TSN and RDS will remember him as the man to beat. While Dumas battled an on-form Guerin at the recent RACE Moto Regional opener at Shannonville, viewed as a national warm-up, Szoke opted to test at Grand Bend as (on different days) did the Honda contingent of Young and second-year CBR 1000RR-R racer David McKay.
As usual, the Canadian spring season has offered little in the way of mild weather for warm running, and if you can’t get the tires working, it is tough to do much chassis and electronic development. No one knew what was possible, especially with Young’s just-completed Honda.
Young had the expected teething problems, but his Honda worked, and his team were certainly in the ballpark with the electronic performance. It was no shock that both Guerin and Dumas, successful at the same venue a week earlier, were also on the pace, but attracting the most attention was Szoke on his revamped Kawasaki ZX-10R racers.
Revisions to the electronics rules aimed at giving the other builders a shot at matching the well-developed and integrated BMW program meant that Szoke’s Ninja was running better than ever. While Young, Guerin and Dumas all had visiting electronics aces working in their pits, Szoke was doing his own tuning, after spending the winter working through online tech seminars.
As well, Szoke’s engines were recently revamped by Miller, and “Jordan of the Jungle” believed he now had a package to challenge the topflight, be-winged BMWs. Did we mention that Economy Lube plus Tire also sponsor Young, Szoke as well as primary interest Dumas?
Weather conditions over the weekend were poor, usually overcast, and cool, sometimes drizzling. But overall, the track mostly stayed dry, and the new flagging procedures aimed at managing wet conditions were only used for an Amateur event.
Dumas had a minor tip over on Friday, then ran off track early Saturday afternoon, in the middle of the revamped Q2 session. But he weas quickest when it counted, earning pole in mediocre conditions with a lap of the pro Circuit at 1:04.7 – laat year Young topped the grid at 1:04.8.
In Saturday’s race, Dumas was out front early under considerable pressure from Guerin, who started fourth. Szoke and Young were right there too, meaning the pre-season hype had worked out as advertised for once!
Dumas has some minor shifting issues and Szoke took the lead, earning a roar of approval from the grandstand. But Dumas muscled back into the first, seemingly getting a slightly better drive out of SMP’s medium speed turns and onto the not-so-long S.M.P, back straight that runs parallel to Hwy. 401.
At the flag, Dumas was just ahead of Szoke and Young. McKay was not far behind for a solid fourth, and Alberta rising star teen-ager Philip DeGamma-Blanchet out dueled Trevor Daley for fifth. “Phildebeast” has inherited a strong CBR1000RR-R Superbike built by the crew from Mot’s Fabricating, while Daley was using the same Supersport-spec GSX-R750 that earned top Canadian honors at Daytona’s 200 in March.
For much of race one Guerin looked a likely winner, right on top of Dumas, but an electronic glitch caused a throttle control issue for last year’s runner-up in the standings, and he eventually retired.
Sunday morning’s conditions were cold and miserable, but all the top runners went out for the brief morning warm-up – such is the pressure these days to improve your set-up between races. Dumas fell immediately, once again using up spares for the right side of his BMW, but the bike had successfully survived two tip overs in reasonable shape – a big step up from last year’s Ducati dramas. Miller figured the big wings might be protecting the rest of the bike!
There was some controversy on the feature race grid when Fast Company decided to change the rear tire on Dumas’s bike. Rubber surprises don’t happen much in control tire “spec” series, but the lack of sun and heat meant Dumas opted to run a little used dual compound rear slick, an “extra soft” VO2 3LC offering.
Speaking on the Podium after the race, both Szoke and Young considered that tire choice too risky, Young saying that “five minutes of sun and it would be way outside the operating window and it wouldn’t have lasted.”
In race two, McKay was a little further back that in the opener for fourth, but seems set for a solid season his Andrew Westbrook built Honda. Once again DeGamma-Blanchet went at it almost all race long with OneSpeed’s Daley in an entertaining dispute for fifth, the westerner again getting the nod.
The initial and encouraging success of Young, McKay and DeGamma-Blanchet means that Honda has a serious shot at the Canadian Manufacturer’s title in 2025.
Eighth on Saturday, Zoltan Frast continues to impress on his Claire’s Cycle backed, ex-Ben Young yellow BMW, getting seventh in race two. Eighth went to Guerin, who fell mid-race from the lead group but remounted to salvage something from a weekend that promised so much.
Connor Campbell has found form with his B&T MacFarlane supported Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja in 2025 and earned seventh in race one but fell early in race two.
Next up for Bridgestone CSBK is round two at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie,
Nova Scotia, June 6-8. Last year, Guerin and Young traded wins. Guerin’s success came with a bold tire gamble, while Young’s result was from sheer pace. Will the Honda be sufficiently developed to dominate when the top guns head out on the “roller coaster?”
