The 2025 eastern Canada motorcycle road racing season kicked off with the traditional Shannonville Motorsport Park Test Day and RACE School, hosted by the new MotoRACE sanctioning group headed by Allison, Jill, and David Grummett.
Action took place on the original Nelson layout as first used for racing on Thanksgiving, 1976. A strong School contingent was joined by a number of top Pro racers preparing for the opening of the Bridgestone CSBK National Series on the perimeter Pro layout, May 16-18.
Prior to the National event, the Regional Ontario tour will start May 10-11, with many racers opting to take advantage of that round to be fully prepared for the next weekend’s National.
Most notable performance at Shannonville on Wednesday, April 30, was that of Sebastien Tremblay, running the number one plate on his Turcotte Performance Suzuki GSX-R750, indicating his success in the middleweight National category last year. Famed tuner and builder Tremblay had an updated version of his successful GSX-R750 to sort in preparation for his Supersport title defence in the most competitive category in Bridgestone CSBK.
As well, Tremblay returned with the GSX-R1000 Superbike he briefly tried around Shannonville’s 15-turn track at the end of last season. With electrical issues now sorted, Tremblay lapped consistently with his all-black entry, and confirmed his plan is to use the bigger bike at least occasionally this season.
Photos by Colin Fraser
Another racer pleased to have sorted technical challenges is B&T MacFarlane Kawasaki pilot Connor Campbell, starting his second year in the Feature category aboard an ex-Jordan Szoke Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja.
Testing in Florida with the help of famed tuner Gary Medley (arranged by former Sport Bike Champ and Superbike race winner Kenny Riedmann) had resolved some of Campbell’s 2024 issues, and Campbell is more than ready for the start of the four event National Championship chase with his pair of newly-livered green meanies.
A minor brake issue forced veteran Ernest Bernhard to end his lapping session early with his booming “big bang” Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, but Bernhard was happy to credit the Tremblay team’s shop with helping him to improve his Yamahas performance over the course of the winter.
Back in action after missing some of last season was Ducati v-twin 955 Desmo piloted by Nathan Playford, who turned laps in every session and diced with several other National Pros. Although he only competed in two rounds last year, Playford still earned an encouraging 14th overall in the final Sport Bike points standings.
Matthew Hooper started 2024 at Shannonville as a School participant, and by the penultimate National round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was an Amateur front runner, making the podium in his venue debut. Now moved up to Pro with his Yamaha YZF-R6, Hooper turned more laps at the S.M.P. test than any other entered participant.
Campbell indicated during the S.M.P. test that the CSBK’s most successful racer, Jordan Szoke, was busy sorting his revised new Kawasaki equipment on the official series Dynojet Dyno on the same day. Another pre-season favourite, Economy Lube + Tire’s works Fast Company BMW mounted Alex Dumas, aims to make his M1000RR debut at the RACE Moto Regional the week before the Shannonville National dates of May 16-18. The National opener will include Qualifying Friday afternoon and Feature races on Saturday and Sunday.
