Michael Leon

The Royal Distributing Superbike Team scored a fifth-place finish by Michael Leon at Autodrome St Eustache during the 3rd round of the MOPAR Canadian Superbike Championship held over this past Canada Day holiday weekend.  The entire paddock faced a record-breaking heat wave, with humidex temperatures reaching 47 degrees Celsius during Sunday’s race.  Michael raced the team’s newly prepared 2018 BMW S1000RR Superbike for the first time.

The weeks leading up to the event were very hectic for the team as they worked to prepare their new 2018 model for competition. The motor had been prepared by Pro 6 Cycle in Toronto.

The crew, Kyle Blakely and Joe Gervais, worked throughout the weekend to try to improve the setup of the machine. The struggle was the search for rear grip. Consulting with suspension guru, Jon Cornwell, they tried various ways to increase traction without making the machine less stable at the highspeed direction changes.

Michael qualified with the fifth fastest time during the Saturday Superpole session with a time of 46.605 seconds. One of the top 5 competitors was unable to complete the post session dyno run process and was disqualified from the results, promoting Michael to 4th. He was assigned a second row starting position.

For the 22 lap race, Leon got a slightly better start than at the previous two rounds and was 5th into the first corner.  He lost a spot falling back to 6th after a few laps.  By the midway point, Michael had regained 5th place and was able to open up a gap during the final 5 laps.

“I’m a little disappointed.  I was able to run a couple of quick lap times that were fast enough to run with the guys who finished on the podium, but couldn’t sustain that pace over many laps.  We were a little behind the eight ball all weekend playing catch up with the setup.  We wanted a podium result here at home, but will have to wait for another shot at it the next one.  I’m pretty excited about the new bike.  Pro 6 did an amazing job with the motor.  It’s more powerful than anything that I’ve ever ridden.  I can’t wait for Mosport!” commented Michael.

The next event for the Royal Distributing Superbike Team will be the 4th round of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship which will be held at Atlantic Motorsport Park, July 20-23rd.

The Royal Distributing Racing Team would like to thank Royal Distributing, Pro 6 Cycle, Dunlop USA, BMW Motorrad Canada, Windmill Motorsports, Bell Helmets, Joe Rocket Canada, Five Gloves, TCX Boots, Hindle Exhaust, Liqui Moly Canada, Motovan, Performance Friction, Perry Performance, Forsaken Motorsports, Apex Brakelines, GianMajor Inc., Armour Bodies, Woodcraft, MWR Air Filters, Bickle Racing, Dave Smith and Vortex Racing Sprockets.      Return to News Page.