The Canadian Superbike Championship takes the best that Canada has to offer in terms of racers and teams and turns it into our highest level of motorcycle road-racing for the country.  Not only is it recognized by the Canadian Motorcycle Association, the CSBK championship was first originated in 1980, and has only grown in popularity over the years, making it one of the longest running and fastest growing motorcycle races in Canada!

I was so excited when my friend Jason Brown over at Southwest Marine and Powersports called me up to let me know that the Canadian Superbike Championship was coming to the Grand Bend Motorplex for round 2 of this series! I had known for a while that pro superbike racer’s Jordan Szokes and Sam Guerin had joined team Rocket as sponsored riders, so obviously, having the opportunity to go see them race against each other so close to home was a no-brainer!

The team at Southwest Marine and Powersports hosted a gorgeous kick-off party on Thursday June 6, at their state-of-the-art dealership which is located just on the outskirts of Grand Bend. They had Torched Brewing on-site providing local craft beer and excellent discounts in-store, staff of Southwest were manning the barbeque making sure that all the customers were well fed, and Pro racers, race teams and their motorcycles were on scene for us to get an up-close and personal look. This provided a very intimate experience for those local riders who were excited to see their favourite manufacturers and racers!

Waking up on Saturday morning I was filled with race excitement! I got up, checked the radar (which looked dicey) got ready and was headed to the Grand Bend Motorplex! This was my first time ever attending this track, so was excited to see what it had to offer! A few friends and I jumped on the bikes and headed north out of London, straight for Grand Bend. The trek up is always a relaxing ride – mainly straight down hwy 7 with a few nice sweeping curves. The skies were clear and the sun was shining down on us!

When we pulled up to Grand Bend Motorplex, I noticed that the parking lot outside of the race gates were full of cars, but I had to ask myself “Where are all the bikes?!” I got off my bike and walked up to the ticket stand, where I exchanged my ticket for a wristband that would cover me for the Saturday and Sunday that the races were taking place. I was also then told to drive my motorcycle into the track as there was separate motorcycle parking – now I am really feeling like a VIP.

I was checking the race schedule the whole night prior, so I knew that the national anthem was set to start at 1PM and races were going right after. There were going to be 6 races in total for Saturday – 3 before the Superbikes even got on the track! I parked the motorcycle and went straight for the Grandstands. As I was walking towards them, I noticed the whole walk was filled with different vendors lining your way. I didn’t have any time to shop in that moment as I wanted to ensure I could secure a good spot!

First up was the Economy Lube Pro Sports Bikes which was very exciting to watch. Sitting in the Grandstands was a good experience as we were able to hear the announcer, however the view of a complex corner coming out of the straight-away was completely hindered by trees and large vehicles.  While we were watching, there was a crash, however we were unable to see… I knew that I had to find a better spot to watch the race if I wanted to see the most thrilling section of the track!

In between races, they had some breaks for spectators and race-fans to walk around, get food, shop the different vendors. They also had One Wheel Mafia occupying the drag-strip, performing stunts such as burn-outs and wheelies, that was definitely a cool and smokey feature! I am always impressed with the amount of control those stunters have on such large motorcycles like Harley's!!

The feeling of rain started to daunt over us. I could see everyone looking at their weather apps as there was a storm coming off the lake – was it headed our way? The weather radar said we were clear for another few hours, we would have just enough time to watch the Superbikes!

As we were walking around, looking for a better spot to watch the races, we found ourselves in the middle of pit-alley. This was a cool experience as we were able to get up close and personal with the motorcycles that were about to go on the track, and the ones that had just come off! You could smell the burnt tire immediately – what a lovely smell! We also got an up-close look at the motorcycle that had recently crashed in race #1. The front of the bike was unfortunately not looking so good, but thankfully, the rider was just fine! As we were walking out of the pit, I noticed that spare tires were set aside, except these ones appeared a little different… They were rain tires that were set aside in case they needed to quickly switch them out with the race tires.

Eventually, we found our spot in an abandoned grandstand off to the side, it was right beside where the racers lined up to start and we were able to see the entire track! Time for the superbike racers to come out and line up! Team Suzuki was directly under us giving feed-back to racer Trevor Daley. The only downfall was that we were not able to hear the announcers.

The bikes lined up, you could hear the bikes start to rev – excitement was in the air – all of a sudden, they were off! Front tires struggled to stay on the ground as they launched out of the starting gate. The top 5, which included Sam Guerin, Steven Nickerson and Ben Young. Jordan Szokes and David MacKay held their spots for the majority of the race. Steven, Sam and Ben all battled for first place, taking their turns leading. At one point, it looked like Steven was going for gold, however he took a slide on turn eight with nearly 3 laps to go which took him off the podium. At that point, it was up to either Ben, Sam or Jordan to take first place. Neck and neck to the finish line, Sam was able to pull ahead of Ben Young and secure his first win at round 2 of the Canadian Superbike Championship!

We rushed over to the podium when the race was all finished to see those amazing athletes take their well deserved trophies, and what an honour it was to be able to see my first CSBK race and have both Rocket riders finish in the top 3 spots!

Overall, my experience at Round 2 of CSBK at Grand Bend Motorplex was incredible and I would highly encourage all motorcyclist and race-fans alike to get out and watch a Canadian Superbike race in person! It will blow you away with the speed, agility and technique that it takes to navigate a track on a superbike! This event has so much potential to be an absolute blast of an entire weekend – I just feel like not enough people know about it yet!

Now that the London motorcycle community knows about this event – next year will be even larger!