Another new winner was crowned in the Economy Lube Pro Sport Bike class on Saturday, as Mavrick Cyr cruised to his first career pro Bridgestone CSBK victory at Atlantic Motorsport Park, presented by Pro Cycle and Canadian Kawasaki.
The reigning amateur champion didn’t look like a 19-year-old rookie at all in race one, launching into the lead from second on the grid and decimating the rest of the Sport Bike field en route to a comfortable six second win in only his eighth pro race.
The Economy Lube Ducati rider laid down a number of stellar early laps to distance himself from the chasing pack of four, holding steady the rest of the way to become the sixth different winner in seven races – already tying the season-long Sport Bike record with five races left to go in 2024.
“I got a really good start, and just tried to go as fast as I could early on and leave them behind to battle,” Cyr said. “It feels amazing. I owe a huge thanks to my dad, and to Economy Lube for helping make this happen so quickly.”
The feat helped both Mavrick and his father, Jean-Francois, make history in the process, becoming only the second father-son duo to ever win pro CSBK races, joining Yvon and Miguel Duhamel.
As for the chaos that unfolded behind him, it was a race-long battle between championship leader Sebastien Tremblay and 17-year-old Andrew Van Winkle, which was initially accompanied by pole-sitter John Laing and Elliot Vieira.
Laing couldn’t match Cyr’s early pace and had to fight hard to keep the rest of the field behind him, bottling up Vieira and Van Winkle while Tremblay fought through from fifth on the grid.
Tremblay would inevitably scrap his way through each of the names to move into second, forcing Laing wide with an excellent block-pass in turn one and giving Van Winkle enough room to sneak through on Laing as well.
Despite a late charge from Van Winkle, Tremblay would hold on for a crucial second to extend his championship lead for Turcotte Performance Suzuki, opening up a 37-point advantage over Laing with the runner-up finish.
Van Winkle would claim the final podium spot for FD Racing Suzuki ahead of 16-year-old Philip DeGama-Blanchet, with three rookies inside the top-four spots as DeGama-Blanchet matched his career-best finish of fourth for Vass Performance Kawasaki.
Laing’s late pace would suffer from the scorching conditions, having to settle for fifth aboard his own Vass Performance Kawasaki after what he admitted was a surprise pole position on Friday.
The temperatures would also force a third consecutive DNF for fan favourite Elliot Vieira, who briefly ran in the podium places before having to retire his Economy Lube Ducati due to overheating issues.
The battle of attrition played into the hands of another rookie in Mack Weil, who earned a career-best sixth in his first trip to AMP as a pro for MotorcycleCourse Kawasaki. The fourth rookie in the top six places ties a record for the Sport Bike class, which has seen a massive youth movement in 2024.
Marco Sousa would claim a crucial seventh for Suzuki Canada, who extended their lead in the Constructors Championship – albeit slightly – to 69 points over Kawasaki and race winners Ducati.
The local duo of Adam Singer and Chad Whitehead would complete the running order, enjoying an early back-and forth before Singer managed to put his Suzuki slightly clear of Whitehead and his Kawasaki in the final laps.
The field will return for race two at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Sunday, scheduled for roughly 1:10 pm local time (12:10 pm ET).
Full results can be found on the series’ official website.
<
Discussion about this post