Reigning Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Champion Ben Young has enjoyed a busy couple of weeks recently; on Sunday, he unexpectedly clinched his sixth career GPBikes Pro Superbike title at CSBK round four of the National tour at Grand Bend, nabbing his second win of the weekend for the Van Dolder’s Home Team/Parts Canada Honda CBR1000RR-R effort.
One week before, Young was completing the Coca-Cola Eight-Hour World Endurance Championship round at Suzuka, Japan, his second successful result at that storied event. Seven days prior to Japan, Young was at CSBK round three at Calabogie, where his winning streak came to and end with Jordan Szoke’s Saturday success for Kawasaki; but Young continued a new run with a solid success Sunday at Grand Bend.
Young has now won three in a row heading into the final double header of 2026 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August and will not have the pressure of a title chase to distract. Last year, “old Mosport” produced one of the most dramatic Canadian Nationals in history, with both BMW entries of Alex Dumas and Sam Guerin falling on the final Sunday of the season.
Young wound up with his first win and clinched another number one plate (maybe his toughest?) in his first season leading Honda Canada’s renewed program.
At Grand Bend last weekend, Friday’s Q session started with a glitch, as local star David McKay earned pole for the Snow City Honda program, Young having an uncharacteristically rough session to claim second. Third was Zoltan Frast in is first start of the 2026 Nationals, aboard an ex-Young banana yellow BMW S1000RR.
On Saturday, Young chased down quick starting McKay to win, while McKay earned a close second and Frast fell from a battle for third with Szoke. On Sunday, it looked like an on-form McKay was ready for his first career feature race success, but David’s fall late in the race upset the fans and set up that third straight win for Young.
“I hope we clinched the manufacturer’s Championship too,” remarked Young after the race, referring to the one-two-three punch of McKay-Andrew Van Winkle and Young that have shown so well this season.
“I felt pretty comfortable in the race, I was planning on doing the same thing as yesterday,” started Young of the methodical method that took him to first a day previous. “Just sit behind David, but then we got behind some lappers, and there was no reason to force the issue too much.
“Then we got by those lappers, David opened up the gap, and I was quite content – I was thinking about the bigger picture, Championship number six. David was riding phenomenally, and I would have been content with second.
“I wasn’t giving up a push for it; he looked the same as yesterday, maybe a bit more consistent. Maybe he just had a slightly different mentality today.
“He was getting a great drive onto the back straight, and that is kind of the make it or break it point here (at Grand Bend), and again the wind was an issue, and today it was less manageable than yesterday. But I had a bit more of a gap, so it wasn’t the same pressure.
“I wasn’t right behind him when he fell, but I could see him run on, and I thought, ‘oh no,’ as he went over the front end on the grass. It’s a shame for David and his team; it was completely there to win. I was not forcing the issue, by any means.”
“I wasn’t risking it today, with the bigger picture, the Championship. There were no braggin’ rights to be won. The perfect season is gone, anyway.”
Although Young never spoke of winning all the 2026 GPBikes Pro Superbike National races, it was on his mind given Szoke’s four seasons of previous perfection.
“Yes, obviously, I want to win,” reflected Young. “The reality is I am not racing to try and beat all of Szoke’s records.”
Considering his shoulder and hip injuries suffered a week earlier at Suzuka in final Practice, Young admitted that “I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks at home. The shoulder is OK, I was defiantly felling it, but mentally you’re just focused on finishing that race.
“Here there is lots of hard braking, a really physical track, so not ideal with a nagging injury.”
In Japan, the works supported Team Suzuka Honda, tuned for that specific track, was not as impressive for Young, not “gnarly.” At Grand Bend, he reflected that “we tried some gnarly stuff, and then we went back to our softer power mode this morning.
“Through the corners, if you hit a bump, it might want to rev. The disadvantage of this bike is that it is either soft or gnarly, and I need a middle ground. When we tried full power mode, it was just too much. And there was no need, we’re getting our results.
“I had fun, and it’s good to be back at Grand Bend (after a year away). I hope we come back. It’s a tough place to race a Superbike, you need to settle in – you can’t rush.”
Next up for new Champ Young and his fellow Canadian Superbike aces is the traditional big event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, August 6-9.
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