After a two-year hiatus from racing on the East Coast, the local race team of Ben Young returned with a vengeance, securing the double-win and pole position at Atlantic Motorsports Park on July 22-24. Just like Young’s last visit to Shubie in 2019, the track brought the heat and the drama, making for a fantastic weekend’s racing.
The excitement kicked off on Friday with the Superpole session in which Young and title rival Alex Dumas tied for pole position. Young crossed the line with seconds to spare to complete a clean flying lap, and ended up putting in a 1:07.521 – matching Dumas to the thousands of a second. Confusion ensued as this was unprecedented in the Canadian Superbike Championship. Ultimately, Young and Dumas would both earn the full four championship points for pole position, and grid positions for the race would come down to a coin toss. Young won the coin toss and had his sights set on the top of the box for the weekend’s races.
With a heat warning in effect, the lights went out to start race one of the premier superbike class. Young had a great start off of the line going into turn one in second position. The Van Dolder’s BMW M1000RR was solid throughout the typically rough track, and Young put on a great show for fans putting pressure on first position, even swapping paint at one point. The pair were wheel to wheel for the first half of the race, and eventually the pressure was too much for Dumas. Entering turn five, Dumas crashed out and Young took first position. Young won the race, earning him his 8th national Superbike victory and significantly increasing his championship lead.
Sunday came with no relief from the heat, but fans would be rewarded with great racing. The start of the race was slightly delayed due to some spitting rain. This would continue on and off for the race, though more as a ‘mental rain’, as it was evaporating on the tarmac as quickly as it fell. Young got off the line and slotted into 3rd position on the first lap behind Dumas and Trevor Daley. Young navigated his BMW by Daley and made the chase for the lead by the second lap, but had to make up what was now a two-second gap to first position. Young put in consistent pace and made a pass on Dumas to take first position. Despite the spitting rain and hot temperatures, Dumas kept pushing and Young let him past, falling into second and allowing his rival to set the pace of the race. With two laps to go, Young got a great drive onto the back straight and retook first position. Feeling comfortable, he put in a couple of flying laps and went on to take his second win in as many days at Shubie.
Having accomplished full points at Atlantic Motorsports Park, Young now holds a strong 31-point advantage in the Canadian Superbike Championship going into the final round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in a few weeks, where he hopes to secure his second Championship title.
Of the weekend, Young had this to say: “It was great to be back east at by far the most technical track we visit. We had two very different races with all sorts of situations thrown our way. It was great to walk away with another double win this year and extend the points on the championship lead.”
The next, and final round is a triple-header held August 12-14, at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport), in Bowmanville – a track which always brings out great racing.
Young’s partners for his 2022 CSBK Championship season include BMW Motorrad Canada, Van Dolder’s Home Team, Scot-Build Developments Inc., Parts Canada, HJC Helmets, Alpinestars, Hindle Exhaust, Barrie Trim and Mouldings, Clearlite, Primitive Patterns, DP Brakes, Alpha Racing, and Vass Performance Cycle.
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.
