Dumas denies Szoke in epic battle at Shannonville opener
It didn’t take long for the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship to deliver on its 2025 hype, as Alex Dumas won a thrilling season opener in the GP Bikes Pro Superbike class at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday.
Dumas started from pole position and led majority of the contest in his debut aboard the Economy Lube BMW, though it was anything but easy as he was pushed throughout the race by rivals Jordan Szoke and Ben Young.
The 2021 champion would grab the holeshot from Szoke with Sam Guerin taking third, as defending champion Ben Young struggled off the line in his first appearance for Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda and nearly got squeezed out by Guerin into turn one.
The front-running group of four were practically nose-to-tail for the opening laps before Guerin moved his way into second, chasing down Dumas aboard his EFC Group BMW and lapping faster than his Quebecois counterpart.
Unfortunately, just as Guerin was looking set to strike for the race lead, the championship runner-up from a year ago encountered a presumed electronics issue coming onto the front straightaway, having to check up and allow both Szoke and Young through.
Guerin would try to fight the issue for another lap before entering the pits on lap seven, a significant blow to his title hopes just one race into the campaign.
There was still plenty of drama left, however, as Szoke would use the opportunity to track down Dumas and put all sorts of pressure on the 22-year-old, eventually capitalizing on a mistake in turn four to take the lead with just four laps remaining.
The 14-time champion would lead the next two laps with Young trying to find a way through on Dumas, but it never materialized as Dumas instead charged back through on Szoke on the penultimate lap, fending off a final attempt into the famed Allen’s chicane to secure his 15th career Superbike victory.
While his first win for BMW hardly came easy, Dumas would prove himself as the early favourite in the 2025 title chase aboard his new machine, becoming only the seventh rider ever to win for three different manufacturers (having also won for Suzuki and Ducati).
“It was a hard race for sure, but congrats to these guys, it was a lot of fun,” Dumas said. “The bike felt a little different than yesterday, but we made it better this morning and I think we can improve again for tomorrow.”
The second place finish will be bittersweet for Szoke, who falls just short yet again of a heroic comeback victory but came much closer to win number 79 than ever before, looking more like his old self to begin 2025 after severe injuries in 2022.
“Last year we were able to get up at the front, but we could only kind of hang there for a while and then eventually drop back, so it was nice to be able to stay up there today and battle with these guys,” said the CKM Kawasaki rider. “I was faster than Alex in turns three-four-five, but he just managed to get me on the straight. It was nice to put on a show for the fans, and I’m looking forward to it again tomorrow.”
Szoke was also given the FAST Hard Charger Award and $500 to go with it for his resurgent effort, chosen by FAST Riding School owner Martin Hamel.
As for Young, the four-time Canada Cup winner turned in a solid debut himself in his new colours, matching the pace at the front the entire time but admittedly giving himself too much work to do after a slow start on the CBR1000RR-R.
“That was my first real launch on the new bike, and I didn’t exactly make the most of it, that’s for sure,” Young joked. “We got caught up in lapped traffic near the end and I had to change plans a bit. We still have steps to go but it just comes down to more time on the bike.”
The result will still be a welcome one for Honda as they usher in a new era with the #1 plate holder, as Young will claim their first podium since 2023 and just their second since former champion Jodi Christie departed the series in 2015.
The performance of David MacKay will also put Honda firmly in contention for their first ever Constructors Championship, bringing home a comfortable fourth aboard his ODH/Snow City Cycle machine and inching closer to his first career Superbike podium.
BMW will still enter Sunday with a slight Constructors lead, earning 33 points between Dumas and Superbike rookie Zoltan Frast in eighth, while Honda and Kawasaki each earned 29 points.
Rounding out the top five in his first full-fledged Superbike effort was 17-year-old phenom Philip DeGama-Blanchet, who made a late move on Trevor Daley to put three Hondas inside the top-five aboard his Taylor Racing machine.
Daley would still manage an impressive sixth on his OneSpeed Suzuki machine, a lesser-powered GSX-R750 built primarily for the Supersport class, as Daley went back-and-forth with the youngster in their own dramatic duel.
Reigning Pro Rookie of the Year winner Connor Campbell was seventh for B&T MacFarlane Kawasaki, a good result from ninth on the grid as he claims valuable points for his manufacturer, while Frast will take over the lead of this year’s Rookie of the Year fight for Clare’s Cycle BMW.
The feature GP Bikes Pro Superbike grid will now return for race two of the doubleheader on Sunday, scheduled for 3 pm ET.
Full results can be found on the series’ official website:
