Shannonville Motorsport Park’s R.A.C.E SuperSeries closed the books on the 2018 racing season this past Saturday evening with a well-attended year-end race banquet.
Matt Simpson took home most of the accolades and trophies after a banner racing season. The young Bowmanville racer took top honours, walking away with the John McCaw Memorial Award, donated by the late Frank Mrazak, to the top teenage rider. Simpson also finished with a championship winning ride in the Mopar Express Lane Lightweight production class, as well as a third place finish in Lightweight Twins. Simpson also went on the grab the RACE SuperSeries “True Grit & Determination Award,” as well as the Steve Wilcox Award for the most exciting Amateur rider. Local racer Chris Fehr also presented Matt with his award given to the best amateur racer finishing with the most points in the season.
The CRCA "Rookie Marshal of The Year" award went to Lynn Cloutier while long time CRCA member Larry McMillan took the CRCA “Founders Award”. The CRCA “Rider of The Year” trophy went to rising star Joshua Thomas.
Ivan Babic was the recipient of the “Tony Marchese Memorial Award” that is presented to the Pro Privateer competitor judged to be the best appearing rider and machine combination of the season.
The “Maxime Mercier Gentleman’s Award “for sportsmanship and competition goes to Stanley Moran. The “RACE Series Riders Appreciation Award” went to Gary Green from the Sidecar Racers Association. The Edyvean Trophy SRA Championship Award went to Ian Boddaert and Greg Carrol.
The “Don Hickey Memorial Trophy” for the Amateur Sportbike Champion went to Craig Archer.
Steve Evans was rewarded for his diligent work keeping champion Matt Simpson on track by winning the prestigious “John Nelson / Danny Rae Tuning Achievement Award.” The “Tom Walther Memorial Award” presented to the Amateur Superbike Champion went to Nick Koleros.
The “Pat Gonsalves Award” for the most exciting Pro rider went to Tomas Casas.
The RACE SuperSeries #1 plate for the Pro Superbike champion this year goes to Elie Daccache. The series ended with Eros Mukja in second place and Kingston’s Chris Fehr in third. Fehr was also on hand top present his award for the most points earned by a Pro rider to Mike Raniowski.
Sponsorship members from Snow City Cycle were also on hand to give out some draw prizes. One of the prizes, to a trivia question, was won by Jacqui Prospero, who answered correctly to win a beautiful Kawasaki jacket. The jacket was then put up for auction, to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Riders Safety Fund. After a heated bidding war, Jacob Black, the autotrader.ca representative, shelled out $350 towards a great cause. The VRRA crew also made an unexpected donation towards the CRSF with a very generous donation of $1000.
Class championship awards were also handed out in the following categories:
Mopar Express Lane Lightweight Production
3rd. J.F. Cloutier
2nd. Alan Burns
1st. Matt Simpson
Masters Middleweight
3rd. Hans van Sluewen
2nd. Chris Fehr
3rd. Mike Raniowski
Middleweight Sportsman
3rd. Alan Burns
2nd. Andy Dickinson
1st. David Walker
Lightweight Twins
3rd. Matt Simpson
2nd. Joshua Thomas
1st. Hans van Sluewen
Pro Sportbike
3rd. Chris Fehr
2nd. Mike Raniowski
1st. Tomas Casas
Amateur Sportbike
3rd. Jared Walker
2nd. Todd Ferguson
1st. Craig Archer
Heavyweight Sportsman
3rd. Kayla Hannaford
2nd. Andy Dickinson
1st. David Walker
Lightweight Superbike
3rd. Justin Marshall
2nd. Hans van Sluewen
1st. Joshua Thomas
Sprint Cup
3rd. Vivian Matthews
2nd. Mike Raniowski
1st. Elie Daccache
Lightweight Sportsman
3rd. Connor Campbell
2nd. Alan Burns
1st. Matt Simpson
Amateur Superbike
3rd. Todd Ferguson
2nd. Ivan Babic
1st. Nick Koleros
From Don Empey for Shanonville Motorsport Park