Tremblay and Macrae top Bridgestone CSBK Supersport racers preparing for upcoming national
The 49th summer season of regional competition opened at Shannonville Motorsport Park on the perimeter Pro layout May 8-10, and Milwaukee Yamaha YZF-R1 racer Eli Daccache continued to set the big bike pace. The reigning RACE Moto Series overall pro Superbike Champ, Daccache won both of those events (Saturday and Sunday) as well as one of the two Sprint Cup races for 1000cc machinery, in his quest to earn his tenth straight number one plate for the S.M.P. based championship.
On Saturday, Daccache was penalized for a jump start in the first grid start of the season but overcame his five second punishment to beat runner-up Michael Leon’s Royal Distributing/Pro 6 Cycle BMW R1000RR. Third after fighting for the lead early was Brad Macrae on his Yamaha YZF-R9 Supersporter, gradually pulling away from Matt Simpson’s Suzuki GSX-R750, another Supersport-spec entry.
After running with the leaders, Connor Cambell had a technical issue and pulled into the pits with his B&T MacFarlane Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja. Campbell would opt to pack up and save his machinery for the upcoming Bridgestone CSBK national opener at the same venue, next weekend. Earlier in the day, his team-mate Alex Michel had crashed his brand new, pristine SpeedFactory Kawasaki and also opted to return to the shop to prepare for the next event.
In Sunday’s Sprint Cup, Daccache was working with a solid lead when he fell exiting the opening set of esses, uninjured but damaging his machine and gear. Leon was close to take the victory, with Macrae a reasonably close second. Álex Beaudoin was third from Chris Fehr.
Saturday’s opening Superbike Feature provided a clear win for Daccache, but Leon stayed close for second, an eventual six seconds behind after 12 laps of the 2.47 km “long track.” Supersport GSX-R750 mounted national star Sebastien Trembaly was a late entry, started from the back, and charged through the pack to earn third, Farnham Brewing Yamaha mounted Ernest Bernard was third most of the race and listed as fourth at the finish, ahead of Fehr and Mathew Annable.
For Sunday’s Feature, Daccache “Dr. Frankenstein-ed” his Yamaha back together after the Cup class crash, was late for the warm-up when his bike stalled on pre-grid and was worried that “everything was straight” after the fall his previous race. Daccache then got the hole shot and led the whole way, gradually gapping second placed Leon. Tremblay was a close third from Bernhard and Fehr.
In the poor conditions late on Sunday, Daccache set his best time of the weekend, a lap at 1:05.77, Leon turning a 1:06.6.
Two classes offered on track time for the middleweight Supersport contenders, and Saturday’s opening Pro 600 Supersport race was won over 12 laps by Macrae’s Colron Yamaha triple, well clear of the Kawasakis of Martin Perreault and Scott Szollos. Mid-program, Heavyweight also went to Macrae, lapping in the 1:07 flat range, good lap times for the cool and overcast conditions. Former national Supersport champ Tremblay was second, five seconds back, from Simpson in a preview of the upcoming national.
On Sunday, Macrae started with another Pro 600 Supersport victory and was leading the Heavyweight race over a pushing Tremblay when he fell exiting the final turn. He remounted to salvage third, nursing an injured hand with a best lap at 1:07.13. Tremblay won (best lap 1:07.43) ahead of Alexis Beaudoin.
Photos by Colin Fraser
Amateur Supersport featured some good action at the front, with Saturday’s opener going to Yannick Rouleau (Yam) over Daniel Johnson (Kaw) and Parker Sabine-Craig (Yam). On Sunday, Julien Montpetit pushed through the pack, improving on his Saturday fourth overall to earn victory on a Kawasaki. Johnson was second and Rouleau third.
J.S. Lefebvre won Saturday’s Superbike race by over five seconds from Sabine-Craig and Jeremy Lazure, with Lefebvre edging Sabine-Craig for first by just .62 of a second to secure the double on Sunday. Steve Garneau was third.
In the Middleweight division (primarily Twins), national ace Jean-Paul Tache cleared off on Saturday to edge fellow veteran Louie Raffa (both Aprilia mounted) for the win by almost twelve seconds, Seb Tremblay charging from the back on his Supermoto bike to grab third!
Sunday’s Middleweight race was another Tache demo, Raffa ten seconds back at the finish while the Suzuki of Justin Marshall (off track Saturday) claimed third.
Middleweight king Istvan Hidvegi dominated that class on his immaculate Kawasaki, winning Saturday by twenty seconds from 14-year-old big-wheel rookie Stefan Tanasic (Snow City Kawasaki) and Super Sonic Roadrace School boss Toni Sharpless (Yam). Unfortunately, Tanasic, a rising star, was involved in a start line shunt in Sunday’s MiniSBK race and broke his collar bone.
On Sunday, Hidvegi won Middleweight again by just over nine seconds (over 6 laps) from Sharpless, who held off a challenge from the Kawasaki of third placed arch-rival Alan Burns.
Two sets of Sunday races were on offer for the junior MiniSBK racers, using the interior go-kart layout of the original Nelson version of S.M.P.
In the Three and Four division, grandson of the organizers Thorleif Grummett continued his winning ways “at home” on a Honda CRF50, from the similar machines of Crosby Byberg and Chulainn Grummett. In race two, Grummett won by most of a lap from Chulainn and Crosby.
In the bigger bike MiniSBK division, Eric Sergi did most of the leading on his Supermoto Honda CRF150 from the Ohvale of Jozsef Molnar, with the pair dicing for the win. In the first race, Sergi held off the challenge to win by .278 of a second, while in part two, Molnar was first by all of .1 of a second. The Moto2 Division of the same race was won both times by the Ohvale of rookie Cohen Byberg, who rode up through the field.
