Colin Fraser: Back Home with Ben

“Thankfully, I think our preparation is going well,” starts Ben Young, who was worried that the break between Bridgestone CSBK round four at Atlantic Motorsport Park and next week’s annual National blow-out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park would not allow him to catch up from all his recent Japanese travels.

Testing for the 48th annual Coca-Cola Suzuka Eight Hours World Endurance round and the race itself, right after “Shubbie,” made for a hectic and unplanned early summer for the Collingwood-area’s three-time CSBK number one plate holder – with the bonus of a solid 13th place result after a long hot day in Japan.

“With my BMW Superbikes, we planned to replace our stock engine used this year with the rebuilt race engine from last year. So, I spent the day with Scott (Cartier, one of Ben’s tuner/builders) and got two engine swaps done for our two current bikes in good time.

“But I also wanted to get the GSX-R750 buttoned up,” continued Young, who is supplying his top-Canadian-at-Daytona Sport Bike class machine that he used to win the Shannonville opener to popular unretired former Pro Superbike Champ (Honda, 2014) Jodi Christie to use at C.T.M.P.

“The Suzuki needed an ECU update, so Trevor (Daley, original builder of the two GSX-R750s that lead the Bridgestone-supported Canadian program at Daytona in March) took the ECU to Laguna, and it arrived with the Courier as we were packing everything up.

“But the Suzuki wouldn’t run, so I had to leave it with Scott. It turns out the issue was likely with the battery voltage; Scott charged this up and we seem to be good.”

So that is a positive for Christie, who along with his mom and girlfriend is already in eastern Canada, travelling from home base in northern Alberta.

“We aim to get the bike set up and he can get out on track for the test day, Thursday, with Rider’s Choice,” continues Ben of his new role as sponsor/bike owner/team patron.

Last week, Young was recovering from the grind of racing and travelling for Japan, and confirmed that unlike Daytona the past two years, he was ready to return to Suzuka “basically as soon as that race was over!”

“The weather was tough, it was never below 26 degrees C, even at night, and always humid, but thankfully, no rain. But since we had similar weather at Shubenacadie, now that I’m back home, I have no trouble working in the heat – I’m acclimatized.”

Overall, for Ben Suzuka went “as well as I could have wanted. I came straight from a good effort out east, and while we only won on Sunday, our pace was there – just interrupted by the weather.

“The first couple of days in Japan for the race were tough, with engine issues that put us behind overall. But we made substantial progress, and there was good co-operation between everyone involved – lots of staff to support the effort, including Alpha Technic (BMW’s Racing arm).

“It’s a shame we were at a bit of a disadvantage with our bike; really, we were on a Superstock bike in the Superbike class. But I think this makes our effort more valuable.

“We were certainly down on top speed, and compared to our Canadian tracks, you spend a lot of time in the top gears at Suzuka,” reflected Young. “The rules allow for a type 5 engine, and for instance that is what we will have back in my “A” bike this weekend at Mosport. So, we went 286 through the traps, compared to 305 kph for the winning Hondas.”

In his opening stint, the second of the race, Young was “comfortable, but we had lost some positions in my team-mates first session, and I had it in my head to make up that time; but maybe I was over riding it a bit, and that takes it out of you in 25 laps at about two minutes a lap.”

Young struggled once he pitted, admitting that “I was done, my legs were really hurting – I didn’t have the best set-up for the handlebars, the ergonomics. I was spent, but I had some Physio, got in the cold pool, and things got better.”

“In my next stint, I made an effort to be more relaxed, and my average lap time was half a second better. It took a little less effort, and I was less in my head.

“I also started to leg dangle, do that Rossi thing, you can ride like that on a smooth track, and it allows you a bit of a stretch.

“For the third stint, we were established in our position – a minute behind the next up, and over a minute clear of the team behind. The team asked me to try and go a second slower, so we had some room. I really enjoyed those laps, enjoyed that track – a bit like a track day.”

As far as racing on the World level, non-Spec Bridgestone slick tires, Young admitted that “I really couldn’t tell much difference to our Canadian tires. I didn’t have enough time to really start pushing the front.

“It’s so important in a team type event not to crash. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, I wanted to keep all the doors open.”

“I have to say a big thank you to the whole Team and boss Taro; they were true professionals – everyone was great to deal with, amazing people. Willy Vass was there working with the Alpha Teknik guys, and we used Willy’s set-up, so that was great, too.”