Right from the start of the national road racing program at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Victoria Day Weekend, it was clear that the storyline for the opening race of the 2025 Bridgestone CSBK National tour would centre on Torin Collins. The Alberta-based teenager competed in two of five National events last year, both in the Superbike class, and made it clear that he was a generational talent.
At Shannonville, Collins was aboard a new (for his family-run team) Suzuki GSX-R750, a bike similar, but in detail different, from the machine he rides for the Latus squad in MotoAmerica races in the USA’s Supersport category. In the US, his Gixxer is one notch below the official squad’s Vision Wheels/M4/ECSTAR backed entries, mostly in terms of fuel-injection.
In Canada, where the electronics are not specified (via FIM world spec), an ignition re-flash or similar will get you in the neighbourhood of the Dynojet rear-wheel Dyno enforced 125 horsepower Supersport middleweight class restriction for a mostly-stock, current era (2011 or newer) Suzuki 750.
Collins competed at Rad Torque in Edmonton and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Superbike class action on Kawasakis last season but has opted to move from Ben Young’s world to Seb Tremblay country in 2025 – “the Shaker” has been the gold standard in middleweight since before COVID.
After attracting lots of attention for his aggressive efforts in learning Shannonville on Thursday, by Friday Collins earned Supersport pole, edging the resurgent first gen rules Yamaha YZF-R6 of unretired Matt Simpson by .1 of second. Tremblay was a close third.
In Saturday afternoon’s opening race, Collins took off and gapped the field, eventually edging Simpson by two and a half seconds. Tremblay was third, another five seconds back.
This success was similar to Alex Dumas’ debut at Calabogie four years ago – Collins’ first race in the class and first win. At that point in the program, he had competed in five National races (over two seasons in two classes) and won three of them.
Sunday’s conditions were bleak, with no sun to warm the track; the pace a little slower that the day before. Collins got another good start but Trevor Daley, on the same OneSpeed Suzuki that earned top Canadian honors at Daytona, got a rocket launch from row three and got into a battle with Collins. This dispute for the lead was resolved when Saturday’s winner dive bombed Daley into the second last Allen’s Corner, sliding back into first with his feet off the pegs!
From there, the flamboyant Collins leg-dangled his way clear, and survived a restart after a scary incident involving the luckless Simpson. The second part of the race lasted eight laps and give or take a sideways moment heading onto the front straight on the last lap, Collins was in command – his margin over Daley all of 1.6 seconds.
Reigning Champ Tremblay was third for an all Suzuki GSX-R750 podium, with “Gen 2” Ducati 955 Desmo rider Elliot Vieira fourth. The first early rules finisher was British Columbia’s Andrew Van Winkle in fifth on a Sousa GSX-R600.
Also worth a mention was former rat-Kawasaki pilot Phil DeGamma-Blanchet, now piloting a Taylor Ducati and finishing eighth after running higher on the opening laps. Alberta-based “Phildebeast” is good friends with Collins, and along with Van Winkle, this trio were enjoying an entertaining “hang” for much of the opening National weekend.
Last year, in print, on TSN and via podcast, I lamented the risk of having three talented teen-agers from the west in the series – I was thrilled by their trajectory but worried they couldn’t all find a way to stay on the tour. All three were in fine form at Shannonville, and if you get chance to see these guys in action, please come to the track, ASAP.
Recently, western stars including Saskatchewan’s 2011 Champ Brett McCormick and Bodie Edie have climbed the National ladder, only to run out of opportunities and head home. Collins, certainly the highflyer of the group at the elevated age of 19, raced in the World support series in Spain before returning to North America to make the podium first time out at Miller in MotoA action at Utah, mid-2023.
Since then, Collins has struggled to confirm his potential in the US, seemingly suffering a similar to fate to McCormick’s troubled 2011 with the Jordan Suzuki squad. In Canada, he is more than a contender, and a lack of track knowledge doesn’t seem to be a factor – we will know for sure in a few days at one of the toughest tests of a young racer, Atlantic Motorsport Park in Nova Scotia.
Last year at Shubenacadie, Tremblay staged one of the great fights of the year with Van Winkle, the two all out on the last lap with Tremblay pushing hard for the narrowest of victories. No doubt Collins has watched the video of that already-legendary race and will be aiming to show as well around the “roller coaster” as both Van Winkle and DeGamma-Blanchet did in their debuts on the east coast last July.
DeGamma-Blanchet was showing well in the American Talent Cup series in 2023 but when that tour collapsed with little warning, DeGamma-Blanchet forced to scramble for support to compete last season. On a shoestring 636 Ninja effort, not much different from the self-funded programs of Collins and Van Winkle, Phil and his father attracted lots of attention, particularly on a wet and slippery surface at A.M.P. in 2024.
Now the pressure is on Collins to prove that his aggressive riding style can lead to Championship consistency and eventual success. Van Winkle faces an uphill struggle on his Suzuki 600 in a world of 750 level performance (read mid-range) while the now fully fit DeGamma-Blanchet (check out those abs!) has a great problem to deal with – focus on his Supersport Ducati Twin or the Mot Engineering Honda CBR1000RR-R in the Pro Superbike feature.
At Shannonville, DeGamma-Blanchet had two strong Superbike efforts, battling Daley in both races to go 5-5. That effort helped Honda in the Manufacturer’s Standings, and the trio of Ben Young/David MacKay/”Phildebeast” should continue to pile up the points all season. Both McKay, the 2023 Middleweight Pro Champ, and DeGamma-Blanchet are looking for a first Feature podium – it will be interesting to see who gets there first.
