There were many different scenarios that could have played out in Sunday’s Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship finale, but few could have predicted the drama that unfolded in the feature class as Ben Young secured his fifth career GP Bikes Pro Superbike crown at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The afternoon was set to be a straight shootout for the crown between Young, Alex Dumas, and race one winner Sam Guerin with only six points covering the three of them, and that’s exactly what the fans got in the opening laps as they peeled away from the rest of the field with Jordan Szoke in tow.

Dumas would grab the initial holeshot and lead the first six laps, fending off a thrilling back-and-forth with Young in turns nine and ten on lap three as he chased his second career Canada Cup.

Unfortunately for the leaders, lap seven would kick off the chaos, as an engine failure further down the order left oil on the circuit entering turn one. Dumas would encounter the oil moments later, crashing and bringing out the red flag and seemingly ending his title hopes.

However, after trackside marshalls confirmed that the oil caused the incident – and not a crash of Dumas’ own accord – he was allowed to restart the race, though with rules stipulating that it had to be on the same machine he originally started with.

The Economy Lube/Fast Company BMW team would complete the necessary repairs to get the bike back on-track when the restart began, though with a few last-minute adjustments as Dumas was forced to start from the pit lane, all but ending his chances at the 2025 championship.

Upon the restart, it was the same remaining three that immediately broke away, with Szoke grabbing the holeshot before Young wrestled the lead back at the end of the lap as Guerin chased in third.

They would run in that order for the entirety of the restart, with Szoke building towards a potential race-winning move while Guerin needed to somehow leapfrog both riders on the final lap to complete his epic mid-season comeback.

Neither would materialize, as Young covered off Szoke into turn eight while Guerin tried a desperate move around the outside of both of them, crashing out and officially handing the championship to Young.

The Van Dolder’s Home Team Honda rider would add his second victory of the season just for good measure, celebrating a historic title from the top of the box as he becomes only the third five-time Superbike champion in series history – joining Szoke (14) and Steve Crevier (6).

“This is the outcome we wanted but isn’t really how we wanted it to go. It’s unfortunate things ended this way, but we still had to ride really hard to the end,” Young said. “I’m glad Alex is okay, and hope Sam is as well. Those first few laps were a lot of fun, and all these guys are worthy of being champions for sure.”

He will retain his championship for a fourth consecutive year after a successful title defence for Honda, becoming the first champion for the brand since Jodi Christie in 2014 – and winning Team of the Year honours in the process.

“It’s been such an incredible year. No one really expected us to even win races when we joined Honda, and here we are with another championship,” Ben added. “I can’t thank the Van Dolder’s Home Team and Honda Canada enough. There were a few dark days early in the year, but we’re standing here with another #1 plate.”

The celebrations overshadowed what was a somewhat anti-climactic battle for the championship, with Dumas clawing his way back to fourth by the last lap and inheriting the podium after Guerin’s scary crash.

Guerin was transported to local hospital following the incident but is thankfully expected to make a full recovery. It’s a tough end to the year for the EFC Group BMW star after his sensational comeback, winning four times this season – more than any other rider.

That crash would limit Szoke’s chances of a last-corner pass for the win, but he still managed to put in an excellent effort to finish second after some tweaks to his Canadian Kawasaki Motors machine, leapfrogging Guerin for third overall in the final standings.

“We tried some different gearing after seeing where we were losing, and it felt really good. We kind of had nothing to lose, but unfortunately it didn’t really unfold the way we wanted it to today,” Szoke said. “I thought I could maybe get Ben in turn ten, but Sam flew by us in eight and it actually kind of stunned me a bit, so I had to just bring it home in second.”

While the whole podium was congratulatory to Young, neither Szoke nor Dumas were shy about how they felt following the initial red flag.

“It’s too bad about the oil. I’m glad Alex is okay, it could have been a lot worse. He deserves to be a champion as much as anyone,” Szoke said.

Dumas was even more blunt after he felt the red flag should have come out sooner, possibly preventing the crash that spoiled his chance at his first title since 2021.

“This is the worst day of my life. I had the pace to win, but there was a red flag mistake that caused me to crash in the oil. The team worked so hard to repair the bike, but there was nothing I could do,” Dumas said. “Congrats to Ben, and I hope Sam is okay. It just sucks that it played out that way.”

Matching a career-best fourth was David MacKay, who ran firmly with the leaders for a few laps on the original start and ahead of Szoke following contact off the line. The ODH Snow City Cycle Honda rider would wind up only 0.101 seconds away from his first career Superbike podium, battling with Dumas on the final lap but coming up just short in a drag race to the line.

Rounding out the top five was Alex Michel, capping off an excellent debut weekend for the B&T McFarlane Kawasaki team as he looked extremely comfortable in his first real action aboard the Superbike.

Zoltan Frast would take a strong sixth for Clare’s Cycle BMW, fending off Supersport champion Torin Collins on the restart after Frast was initially amongst the leaders on lap one, while Collins put in an excellent ride aboard his Economy Lube Ducati V2 Panigale to finish seventh from the back of the grid.

Phil DeGama-Blanchet would complete a strong first Superbike campaign in eighth for Mots Machining Honda, matching Frast and Collins on pace but getting disrupted by Dumas’ charge through the pack as he rode a quiet final few laps to the finish.

Sebastian Hothaza would finish ninth for Ride42 Yamaha, ending a great season debut for him as the top Yamaha rider in both races, while Ryan McGowan fought his way to an incredible tenth in his first weekend ever at CTMP while riding injured aboard Collins’ former Novalda Suzuki GSX-R750.

Full results can be found on the series’ official website.

For more information on the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship, visit www.csbk.ca or email info@csbk.ca.