Every sports series aim to have their title chase go to the wire, with the likelihood of an unpredictable finale always tempting. The Bridgestone CSBK National road racing tour had the feature Pro Superbike category go right to the wire last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. EFC Group BMW’s Sam Guerin’s last-minute win over the Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda of Ben Young on Saturday set up a scenario where the top three were covered by just six points with one race left to run – Sunday.
The third component of the season long log jam atop the standings was Econo Lube and Tire/Fast Company BMW pilot Alex Dumas, who looked like he might win the “old Mosport” opener until possible gearbox issues caused him to run wide into turn eight, off the long back straight, at top speed – twice. Dumas salvaged fourth, with Jordan Szoke on the Joe Rocket/Repsol Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja earning the last podium spot after a typically impressive Mosport effort for the wily veteran.
Saturday night, Fast Co. bike builder Scott Miller visited the venue’s tower for an event celebrating pending inductees into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame, and then returned to the paddock to swap out engines in the Dumas BeeMm – the powerplant from the previous seven races was returned to the alloy chassis.
The top racers in Canada this season all went to sleep Saturday night with a solid shot at the Canada Cup and number one plate, and Szoke (127 points) was also an outside choice – but much would need to go wrong for points leader Young (150), second overall Dumas (148) and Guerin (144) to lose out.
A wild card arrived during Sunday morning’s warm-up, when newly crowned Pro Supersport Champ Torin Collins went out on an Economy Lube and Tire Ducati Panigale v4 Superbike, the spare machine Dumas rarely used in 2024. Turning 12 laps, Collins was two seconds off the pace in V4 debut, an impressive sixth overall. Despite this promising effort, Collins was concerned about the Duc’s “two-stroke” power delivery and opted to race the same 955 twin he took to the win in Supersport on Saturday and second on Sunday.
The race started with Dumas in the lead, chased hard by Young, the pair dicing in turns eight/nine/ten. But on lap six, the Yamaha of Ernest Bernhard suffered an issue on the front straight, and dropped oil on the way into turn one.
On the next lap, leader Dumas lost the front-end entering turn one and fell, while Young (on a different line) made it through, as did the rest of the field as the race was Red Flagged. The race would be restarted to complete the planned 20 laps, but what would be the specifics regarding Dumas?
Officials determined that spilled lubricant, and not Dumas, was the reason for the race stoppage. But Dumas would need to take the resumption of the race on the same machine he started with, and his crew scrambled to fix the bike, including brake concerns and a coolant issue. These caused Dumas to come into the Pits after the warm-up lap, and start the race from pit lane, after the field left the grid.
Szoke jumped into the lead of the final ten lap sprint (two warm up laps were offered so the racers could view the results of the lengthy and successful oil clean up) with Young soon taking the point and Guerin, the most successful racer of 2025, close in third.
As Szoke was planning a late race move to win his first feature since C.T.M.P. five years ago, Guerin made a dramatic move in turn eight, scene of the Dumas drama the day before. Guerin fell and was injured, ending his incredible come-back effort just short of a first career National Championship.
Guerin’s drama would surprise Young and distract Szoke, and in the end the Honda took the win and the Championship. Guerin was off to Hospital in Oshawa and eventual surgery in Toronto on his knee and neck.
All this drama meant that Dumas, at one point dead last, completed a fantastic charge through the field to earn third, turning laps times with a couple of tenths of the leaders. The deep crowd at the Winner’s Enclosure rewarded Dumas with two separate chants of “Al-ex, Al-ex!,” but it was tough to view the injured 2021 Champ as he realized his debut season with BMW was going to come up just short.
Young took the title, his fourth in a row and fifth overall, with a total of 175 points, Dumas second with 164 and Guerin third at 147. Szoke’s strong C.T.M.P. moved him to a close fourth at 144 points, good for fourth overall.
On the podium, Young indicated that any of the top four could have earned the title, and all wished the best for Guerin, who at that point was receiving medical attention at turn eight.
Young is now just one title away from a tie for second-overall on the all-time list with Steve Crevier, who earned his sixth overall Championship in 2001 for Honda (having also won for Yamaha and Kawasaki), a seemingly insurmountable total until Szoke ramped his career up, taking his 14th number one plate in 2020. Hall of Fame class of 2018 inductee Crevier was on-hand at C.T.M.P.
After the race, Young opted to go to downtown Toronto and visit a friend who lives in the forest of Condos along the waterfront and then attend at Goo-Goo Dolls concert. The next morning, he got up early to drive back to C.T.M.P. to attend a Pro6 track day, where he rode with friends including “T.V. Tommy” Casas. On Tuesday, Young was back home near Collingwood, trying to tidy his garage!
Fourth on Sunday belonged to David McKay, helping the Snow City Cycle backed Honda racer to place fifth overall in the series standings. Next up was Alex Michel, making a memorable Superbike debut on the injured Connor Campbell’s B&T McFarlane Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja Superbike. Michel turned laps within a second of second year Superbiker McKay, so it was a strong debut for the Montrealer. Unfortunately, Michel had a clutch issue in Supersport and dropped back from a strong third in the standings to net fifth overall.
Pro Supersport was, as expected, anticlimactic, with season long points leader Torin Collins winning Saturday to guarantee his title. However, Collins did make things interesting: he switched brands, parking his successful Suzuki GSX-R750 (actually lending it to Calgary friend Ryan McGowan) and jumping on a Warhorse Ducati 955 Desmo v2, in what was viewed as a try-out for the American Ducati squad.
(If you are wondering if anyone ever changed brands in a Championship season, Mario Duhamel parked his Walter Wolfe Suzuki RG500 square-four for a first-gen Honda CBR600 Hurricane back in 1987 on his way to victory in what was then called Pro 600 Production.)
Sunday’s Supersport counter was looking like a dramatic fight to the finish, something that hasn’t happened much in the class in 2025 thanks to Collins. But a red flag mid-race ended the action, as Collins and new arrival Casas waited to challenge leader Seb Tremblay. It did seem fitting that Tremblay, noted for his rotten luck, finally delivered in a class where he has set the standard for the past several seasons.
