Daley doubles up again as Young inches closer to Superbike title at CTMP
Bowmanville, ON – Sunday again proved to be Trevor Daley’s day in round five of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, as he doubled up for the second time this season in changing conditions at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
All eyes were on the championship battle between Ben Young and pole-sitter Sam Guerin in GP Bikes Pro Superbike race two, but Daley stole show with a spectacular start-to-finish win for his second career feature class victory just hours after winning in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike category.
Daley snatched the lead on lap one from the end of the first row, pacing Young and Tomas Casas on a wet but drying track in a surprising lead trio after Young started from ninth and Casas battered and bruised himself in a Friday crash.
The story then immediately shifted to the chaos behind, as race one winner Alex Dumas crashed out in turn eight of the opening lap just moments before Guerin fell in turn nine, seemingly handing a fourth career Canada Cup to Young.
Daley ironically helped deny his close friend that honour, though, fending off a persistent Young for most of the contest before stretching out a slight advantage in the final four laps, mastering the unpredictable conditions aboard his OneSpeed Suzuki.
“If you asked me yesterday if I was going to win, I probably wouldn’t have seen it coming, but I think Sport Bike gave me some clue about what the track was going to do” Daley admitted, after injuring his wrist in a Saturday crash. “People keep saying this Suzuki GSX-R1000 is outdated, but that’s two wins now in only two weekends this year.”
The win secured yet another “Daley double” for him after his Sunday sweep earlier this season in Grand Bend, a remarkable feat for Daley and the OneSpeed Suzuki team.
As for Young, his championship celebrations will be put on hold for a pair of reasons, as Daley’s victory coincided with a remarkable comeback effort from Guerin to finish sixth.
Still, it was yet another podium for the Van Dolder’s Home Team BMW star as he opens up an even 50-point lead with just 54 points left on offer, meaning he can secure a third Canada Cup in a row as early as qualifying at Shannonville.
“I obviously wanted the win, but Trevor was pretty gnarly out there, especially through turns two and four, so I just did the wise thing for the championship,” Young said. “The grip was starting to go as the track dried, but this BMW was bulletproof again today so it was nice to have that safety net.”
Completing the podium was Casas, who wasn’t able to fully stay with the lead duo but settled into a strong third for the entire race.
The Yamaha Motors Canada rider was banged up for his season debut but still managed an impressive third career Superbike podium, holding off a dramatic late charge from Jordan Szoke.
“It’s been a tough couple years, so it means a lot to be back up here and have everyone stick with me,” Casas said. “It sucked to not do the whole series this year, but hopefully we can end the year strong in Shannonville and put something together for next year.”
A few less clouds may have dramatically changed things for Szoke, who was one of a handful of riders to gamble on a rear slick tire and began to carve his way through the field in the last half of the race.
It was ultimately too little, too late for the CKM Kawasaki rider as he missed the podium by four seconds, though it was a small margin in the greater picture of his race after running outside the top-15 in the first two laps.
Completing the top five was David MacKay, who lost out to the rear slick gamble of Szoke in the last few laps but otherwise flashed great pace in yet another top-five finish for ODH Snow City Cycle Honda.
Guerin would make a similar gamble to Szoke and flashed both the risk and reward of that decision in the same race, crashing on lap one before remounting his EFC Group BMW and lapping as much as eight seconds a lap faster than the rain-mounted riders ahead of him to salvage sixth.
It’s a difficult setback for the EFC Group BMW team as they now need a near-perfect weekend at SMP just to have a shot at the title, though Guerin did manage to keep his chances alive after it looked impossible earlier in the race.
His performance would also help BMW to a third consecutive Constructors Championship, clinching the title as they take a 125-point lead into the final round with a max of only 90 points remaining to rivals Kawasaki.
Paul Macdonell would take seventh for PMR/Vass Performance BMW in the next group of rain-tire runners, while slick-mounted Mavrick Cyr charged through the field to take eighth on the final lap for Economy Lube Ducati.
Brian Worsdall would earn ninth for Mot’s Machining Honda after running as high as fifth in the early full-wet conditions, while Sebastian Hothaza completed the top ten for the second day in a row in his Pro Superbike debut.
Connor Campbell would claim a crucial eleventh over Torin Collins, giving him the lead in the Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year award fight over his satellite Kawasaki teammate.
Campbell will have an eight-point cushion going into the last round aboard his B&T MacFarlane/Kubota Kawasaki, with Collins’ status for the finale yet to be confirmed in the Economy Lube/CKM Kawasaki tent.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.
