Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1392185
Dumas Sweeps Canadian SBK Opener E ighteen-year-old Alex Dumas continued his winning ways at Calabogie Motorsports Park, by topping race two of the Pro Superbike doubleheader to sweep the opening round of the Canadian Superbike Champion- ship, July 11. Though the top-five finishers were identical to race one earlier in the day, the results were under much different circumstances in race two, as Dumas found him- self trailing pole-sitter Ben Young for most of the early portion amid a seven-rider battle. However, the 18-year-old man- aged to find a little extra pace by the midway point, moving his Liqui Moly Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the lead and relegating Young to sec- ond, once again. Young was able to maintain the gap aboard his Van Dolder's Home Team BMW S 1000 RR, and even seemed poised for a last-lap maneuver, but it wasn't in the cards as Dumas ended his historic debut weekend with another victory. "[A] crash in qualifying was a bit of a setback, but we had two strong starts and now two wins, which is pretty amazing," Dumas said. "Ben pushed me really hard in that second race, but every- thing worked perfectly. I really love racing Superbikes." Young will now leave Calabo- gie trailing Dumas by 17 points in the championship battle, and although he will head to round two expecting better results, the 2019 Champion easily squashed any idea that he would be rusty in his return after a season off. "There was a bit of a question mark, with a new bike and not having raced in nearly two years, but the BMW was amazing, and I didn't really feel like I lost any- thing," Young said. "I almost had Alex on the last lap, but it's so hard to pass here. Reigning champion Jordan Szoke was in the mix for the entire race as well, consistently lapping close to Dumas and Young aboard his Canada General Warranty Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja, but he was unable to capitalize on the two riders ahead of him as he will exit round two with a 29-point deficit. "I was struggling with grip out there which was really hurting our drive, but I thought our corner speed was really strong. The new IN THE WIND P48 Alex Dumas (23) swept both races in the Canadian Superbike Championship opener, which also means that the former MotoAmerica Junior Cup and Twins Cup Champion is undefeated in his CSBK Pro Superbike debut.