ST-EUSTACHE, QC – JULY 4, 2018
The third round of the MOPAR Canadian Superbike Championship (CSBK), saw riders head to Autodome St-Eustache in Quebec – a change of scenery after the first meetings in Ontario. The temperature was as hot as the action, providing fans with lots of fantastic racing. Ben Young continued his campaign for the championship on his #86 Scot-Build BMW S1000RR by finishing with another 2nd place finish.
Friday practice gave the team time to experiment with bike set up. Previous years at St Eustache have seen Young a little off race pace, so Scott Cartier, Willy Vass and Steve Weir worked with Young based on feedback to improve the bike. Their hard work payed off, with Young ending up only 0.2 seconds away from the top of the time sheet.
Morning practice on Saturday allowed further fine tuning, bringing the gap to Jordan Szoke in P1 down to only 0.08 of a second. Hot and humid temperatures brought a threat of heavy rainfall in the afternoon, so Superbike qualifying was moved forward to 2PM. During qualifying, Young struggled to get in a good flying lap and as such, wasn’t able to use up the tire properly. He ended up 0.2 off pole position, qualifying in P2, behind Jordan Szoke in first, and Trevor Daley in third.
The sun beat on fans and riders alike on Sunday, with a temperature of 45 including humidex, but that didn’t stop the #86 machine or rider. Young got the hole shot after a fantastic start. The first few laps proved to be close racing, with Young and Szoke swapping between 1st and 2nd. Young maintained a fairly consistent lead until lap 3, where Szoke got by and Young decided to bide his time to see what would happen. Szoke, however, slowly crept away, gaining about 0.1 of a second on Young each lap. Young crossed the line in a comfortable 2nd place, gaining valuable championship points.
Of the weekend, Young said the following: “The team worked great all weekend. Sadly, this was our last weekend with Steve. It’s been great having him onboard, but he has other commitments during our last two meetings. I still feel like we were slightly missing something in the race at the front end of the bike, but we ran hard and compared to previous years, we were much quicker. Looking forward to another great race at Shubie in a few weekends time”.
The MOPAR Canadian Superbike Championship returns to TSN for 2018. Visit www.csbk.ca for confirmed dates at times for broadcasts.
The MOPAR Canadian Superbike Championship heads to Atlantic Motorsports Park in Shubenacadie, NS on July 19-22, 2018.
Young’s partners for his 2018 CSBK Championship season include; Scot-build Developments, BMW Motorrad Canada, AXO Racing, Arai Helmets, Hindle Exhaust, Woodcraft, SBS, Motion Pro, Bickle Racing, Liqui Moly, ACF-50, Barrie Trim and Mouldings Inc.
He is also proud "Laps for Muscular Dystrophy" (Laps4MD) rider who's pledged to donate $1 for every lap he leads. These donations go to Muscular Dystrophy Canada to help make a difference in the lives of over 50,000 Canadians affected by a neuromuscular disorder.
To keep up-to-date on Ben Young throughout the year visit; www.BenYoungRacing.com, www.facebook.com/BenYoungRacing and on Twitter and Instagram: @benyoung_86.