Michael Leon

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. 

When practice for the event started on Friday, Kyle (Windmill Motorsports) was on hand, and we made steady progress during each session. We are experimenting with a new TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) connected to the onboard data recording system. Kyle can see how the tire pressure and temperature fluctuates from corner to corner and lap to lap. This allows us to more precisely set our tire warmer temperature so that tire temps remain stable during the race. It may sound like a simple thing to predict, but without being able to validate the actual pressure and temperature, it is hard to do. If we set the warmer temp too high, then we lose temp and pressure during the race, which leads to loss of grip and performance from the start to finish of the race. If we set the warmer temp too low, then there is a loss of grip during the first few laps while the tire temp builds. Real TMPS values turned out to be very helpful and a real game changer. For example, we were able to learn that during the required one-minute wait on the pre grid, we lost 3 psi and 10 degrees Celsius in the front tire (which is huge). Knowing this, we can compensate by setting the warmer a bit higher and end up with the correct pressure by the time the flag drops on the actual grid. All this technical side of racing is so fascinating, and Kyle has made huge strides in understanding how to use the data system to full advantage. Thanks, Kyle !

We made several set up changes throughout Friday and Saturday, including gearing, front and rear suspension spring rate changes and even the swingarm pivot position. Each change made the bike better. I became more comfortable with each session too.

The Shannonville Super Series now runs a double header format, with races for each class on Saturday and Sunday. I scored second place finishes in the Saturday Pro Superbike and Sprint Cup races, although I was far off the pace of the race winner, Elie Daccache. Fortunately, our progress continued, and Sunday was even better.

On Sunday morning, I was able to make another step forward, lowering my best time by over a full second, while riding on a 36 lap old rear Dunlop R3 tire. The new generation Dunlops are proving to be very durable.   I went faster again in the opening laps of the Pro Superbike race on new tires.  My early pace was slightly better than the previous day, losing about 2 seconds to Elie Daccache during the first couple laps.  Losing so much time over the first lap shows that we have much room to improve, but this was much better than the time we lost in the opening laps on Saturday.   Elie is fast and for sure the man to beat.  The Super Series has been dominated by Elie over the last few seasons.  He is renowned for checking out early and running at lap record pace while winning by huge margins over the other Super Series locals.  His pace was a least ½ second per lap faster and I was surprised when he uncharacteristically made a mistake and tucked the front in one of the slower corners, luckily unhurt.   I inherited the win.  I couldn’t believe it.

In the last race of the day, Sprint Cup, I finished 2nd.  Looking back, my best time of the weekend was a 54.9, still far from the mid 53s that I was able run the last time I raced this configuration in 2017, so we still have far to go.  The best part of the whole weekend is the feeling that we can get there.

This was as an important weekend for us. The new Royal Distributing 2024 BMW S1000RR Superbike is running great. We ended with positive reinforcement from the good results and had no major issues. I have great fondness for the Super Series at Shannonville. I have been racing there on and off for almost 30 years and have had some many great memories including two #1 plate seasons. The number of rider entries wasn’t particularly high, but everyone had fun and the event was run very smoothly. The series has made a change and now the races will be run according to a predetermined number of laps (rather than a preset time, like some car racing series), which is a super positive sign of change. All in all, it was a great weekend of racing for our team. I’m looking forward to carrying the progress forward at the next round on the long track configuration in August. I hope to see you at the track.

Yours truly,
Michael Leon

About Royal Distributing:
Since 1990, Royal Distributing has built a reputation as Canada’s Powersports leader. Royal carries all the gear and aftermarket parts and accessories for Motorcycle, Snowmobile, MX, ATV, Bicycle, Ebike and Marine. Royal offers great product selection at everyday low prices and ships orders coast to coast within Canada for free on orders over $45*. For all your powersport needs, you can check them out at www.royaldistributing.com, call them at 1-800-265-2970 or visit one of their five “superstores” located in Guelph, Innisfil, Whitby, Sudbury and Kanata, ON.
The Royal Distributing Racing Team would like to thank Royal Distributing, Pro 6 Cycle, BMW Motorrad Canada, Dunlop USA, Windmill Motorsports, Bell Helmets, Joe Rocket Canada, Forma Boots, Hindle Exhaust, MWR Air Filters, and Dave Smith.