The title of this report could easily be confused as a reference to the well known May long weekend that often includes a case of beer. Wrong. It is a reference to our team’s results this past weekend, at the Shannonville Super Series event that was held on the long track layout where we scored 2nd place in four of the races.
Kyle was on hand Friday for practice, guiding the setup development of the 2024 Royal Distributing BMW S1000RR Superbike. We put to good use what we learned during a recent electronic engine control training session with Alpha Racing that I participated in. Alpha is the German company responsible for much of BMW Motorrad’s racing efforts and R&D. The training was a great experience, and I learned a lot. Kyle had already taken the training in 2021. Some parts of the ECU system program have changed since then, so a refresher was nice. Throughout the day, we worked on further refining the engine braking and traction control and made some good progress. Read more…
It felt good to have a trouble-free race weekend for the first time since July 2022. The obvious highlight of the event, for our team, came on Sunday afternoon, with an unexpected win in the Pro Superbike class. Along with the victory, we left the track with 3 second place finishes.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of prep. At round one, we were sidelined with a motor issue with our 2023 BMW S1000RR. With BMW Motorrad Canada’s help the team started to prepare a brand new 2024 S1000RR. Unfortunately, by the time the 1000km break in was finished and the bike received the first service from our local dealer, Gabriel BMW, we were unable to be ready in time for round 2. In retrospect, this may have been a good thing and allowed for a more detailed bike prep rather than thrashing it together at the last minute. After all the superbike prep was done, the team was able do a few laps at some the Pro 6 Cycle track days at Calabogie to verify the bike before the heat of battle. Read more…
One thing is sure when it comes to racing, things rarely go as expected.
Unfortunately, and unexpectedly, our season didn’t start as planned.
Our 2023 BMW S1000RR suffered an engine mechanical issue while practicing for Rd 1 of the RACE Super Series this past weekend.
The problem could not be repaired at the track and we were forced to withdraw from the event and return home to lick our wounds after only a few laps of practice. Read more…
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Back in Action! (Finally)
14 months is a long time to go between race reports.
That’s how long it’s been since I’ve last had to write one.
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After a career highlight of finishing on the podium last July, followed by a career lowlight of breaking my pelvis the next day and then breaking my collarbone in early May, our race program has not gone to plan in 2023.
It was great to return to action this past weekend at Shannonville Motorsports Park to participate in the Shannonville Super Series regional season finale. I rode our new 2023 Royal Distributing BMW S1000RR Superbike to 2nd place finishes in the Saturday’s Sprint Cup and Pro Superbike races. On Sunday, I finished second again in Sprint Cup and had a DNF while running in second in Pro Superbike, when the chain jumped the rear sprocket due to a chain adjuster malfunction. Read more…
On the Box!
That’s right, we did it! We got on the podium out East!
Since I started travelling to Atlantic Motorsports Park in the 1990s, I have had a love / hate relationship with the place. We either have great results: in the past I have scored a pole position, a win and 2 second place finishes in Canadian Thunder, I qualified on the front row and finished in the top five multiple times in Pro Superbike. Or bad results: like an blowing my shoulder apart or fracturing my wrist and foot. Shubie can be wonderful and also very cruel.
Sometimes, like this year, we have a bit of both. Read more…
When we lined up this past weekend at Calabogie on Saturday and Sunday for the 3rd and 4th CSBK national races of 2022, we had found a much better set up on our Royal Distributing BMW Motorrad Canada S1000RR Superbike than last season. At the final round last year, we were struggling with tire life. I could put in a few fast laps at the start of a race, on a new tire, but grip would fall off and so would the lap times.
Superbike racing often appears to be an individual sport. The rider gets all the glory. But rest assured, when racing at a high level, it is 100% a team sport. I am so lucky to have some of the best teammates in the paddock and getting to work with them to solve the ‘racing puzzle” each weekend is one of the reasons I keep coming back every year.
Prior to the national, we had the chance to try some new things at the Pro 6 GP regional a few weeks before. The regional went very well. I won the Pro Superbike race after an epic battle with Ivan Babic that went down to the last lap. To read more about it and see some pictures, please check out the news articles about that race that was published on multiple motorcycle news websites. Such as Inside Motorcycle Pro 6 GP Thiller or Roadracing World Leon Wins
Read more…
About to start the 2022 season
The business of racing is all about results. That’s the whole point, to line up and find out who’s fastest on the given day. When the results don’t come it’s hard to remember why we voluntarily put ourselves through the stressful process of preparing and competing. This past weekend at Grand Bend, at the opening round if the 2022 Canadian Superbike series, we didn’t get the results we were looking for. Sometimes in racing, it just doesn’t go your way.
But I’m staying positive and focusing on going forward.
A few weeks ago, we raced at the first round of the Pro 6 GP series at Calabogie regional series. That was a good event for us. We finished in 4th, fighting for the podium up until the last corner. Kyle and I had tried a new chassis set up and were able to improve rear tire life after a few laps, compared to last season. We left there with valuable points needed to defend the Pro 6 GP regional number 1 plate.
Read more…
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
On Saturday, the 2021 racing season came to a close at Calabogie Motorsports Park with the final round of the CSBK series. The double header event was added to the schedule in the final weeks of summer, bringing the total number of superbike races to seven. Like round one, it was a combined event with points counting towards both CSBK and the inaugural Pro 6 GP Calabogie Regional series. The schedule was condensed to hold the event over two days with practice and qualifying on Friday and two Pro Superbike races on Saturday, along with the other classes. Read more…
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Sometimes the most difficult part of a race weekend is sitting down to write the race report. This was almost the case this time, but the actual worst part of last weekend was sitting and watching race one, under a tree, in corner eight at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after crashing out of the tail end of the lead pack during race one of the triple header. Not the weekend that we wanted.
The second round of the CSBK season started out for our team in the best way possible. P1 in the first practice! We had spent the days leading up to the event riding with Pro 6 Cycle during their track days. Kyle was able to tune the S1000RR’s electronics and try out a rear linkage, made by Foresaken Motorsports, lent to us by BMW rider Marc Labossiere. By the time Friday morning rolled around, we had the bike dialed. At the end of the session, we threw on a new rear and BAM, a lap time of 1:21.560. Good enough for P1! For perspective, my personal best ever at “Mosport” to that point was a 1:21.455 set during one of the races there in 2018. The pole time in 2019 was a 1:21.598 set by Ben Young. Long story short, we were already at race pace on Friday morning.
I just want to take a moment to congratulate and thank my teammates, Kyle and Jaret, for their amazing work. This season we have changed things up a bit and Kyle has taken over responsibility for the S1000RR data system and tuning the kit ECU’s electronics. He has exceeded my expectations and taken to it like a duck to water. Jaret never shies away from hard work and busts his ass at every event. Between the two of them, they gave me the best motorcycle that I have ever ridden at CTMP. Thanks guys, job well done. Read more…
Pro 6 GP Regional Calabogie Race Report
The switch still works!
Last Saturday, July 24th, I competed at the Pro 6 GP regional event held at Calabogie. This was the first time that Pro 6 Cycle has independently hosted a one-day regional race and I’m happy and proud to say that it was a great success. There was exciting racing across all the classes and many of the top Pro National Superbike competitors were there including, Tomas Casas (Yamaha), Sam Guerin (BMW) and Ivan Babic (BMW). Sebastien Tremblay, who has been dominating the 600 class, with whom I’ve had lots of good battles with over the years, even showed up with a Kawasaki superbike to mix things up.
Photo by Heshan Fahmy
I was flying solo and handled the crew duties as well as riding. My crew chief, Kyle (Blakley) was racing too. He rode his new 600. It was fun to see him in action and cheer him on. He finished 13th in AM 600. I realized how lucky and spoiled I am at the Nationals when I have both Kyle and Jaret spinning wrenches and taking care of everything.
For each class, the day consisted of a 15 minute morning practice, a 20 minute qualifying session and then the race later that afternoon. All did not go as planned, as in racing it rarely does. In the end, it worked out OK.
Read more…
