Parts Canada Superbike Championship Round #1, May 19-21,
Shannonville Motorsports Park
This past May 19-21 saw the Round #1 of the Parts Canada Superbike National series Championship at Shannonville Motorsports Park near Belleville, Ontario. Vicki competed in both the Amateur 600 and the Women’s Cup Challenge races.
This weekend was the first full race weekend that Vicki would be competing aboard her new Wheelsport Honda CBR600RR. The Thursday and Friday practice sessions were used as important test sessions to ensure the bike was performing at its best and all relevant adjustments were made. After some fine-tuning of suspension and gearing, the Honda CBR600RR was running strong and smooth. Unfortunately the weather was not quite as cooperative. The forecast for the weekend was a constant mix of sunshine and rain and even a little bit of hail for Sunday’s race card. This proved a challenge for all racers in terms of the critical decision about which tire compound to run. Fortunately, thanks to Brad Clarke from Compulsion Racing and team mate Vanessa Gareau, the team was able to set up Vanessa’s bike as a dry bike for Vicki; while Vicki’s HondaCBR600RR was set up for wet conditions.
The Saturday afternoon qualifier for Amateur 600 went well, with Vicki placing 26th on the grid in her first career AM600 race. Vicki was pleased with this placing as she was concerned about her ability to qualify for the competitive AM600 field. Unfortunately, the Women’s Cup Challenge qualifier was postponed until Sunday due to a scheduling conflict with the Parts Canada Superbike Series, and was later cancelled due to rainy conditions. Vicki placed 2nd on the Novice Women’s grid as the series organizers opted to base the grid positions based on 2005 results.
The weather continued to prove nasty on Sunday—bringing freezing cold temperatures, mixed with periods of sunshine and pouring rain and even a downpour of hail mid-afternoon on Sunday. To add to the challenge of the weather, the entire Parts Canada series was running behind schedule due to a number of red flags in certain races, as well as inclement weather. The scheduling delay made for a long day but worked out to our advantage as the skies began to clear mid-to-late Sunday afternoon for the AM600 and Women’s Cup Challenge race finals.
Vicki started the AM600 aboard Vanessa’s CBR600RR. This would be Vicki’s first time aboard Vanessa’s new Honda, combined with her first time competing in an AM600 race. The goal for this race was to get the feel for the bike and to finish the AM600 race in good standing. Vicki battled hard with the rear of the pack for the a large portion of the race....the HondaCBR600 was running strong and Vicki was pleased to complete the race placing 33rd overall-- not bad for a first-time performance!
The Women’s Cup Challenge was the final race of the day. Vicki had a strong start and led the Novice women into turn one. She led the novice group for 1-2 laps before being overtaken by two other novice riders. There was a solid battle between Vicki and an American rider for 2nd and 3rd place respectively; while Vicki was only nominally concerned about the front-runner who had a jump start and would later be penalized 4 positions. After much battling with the more experienced American rider, Vicki lost the lead in the corners but managed to hold on for a second place podium finish-- a great start on her new Wheelsport Honda CBR600RR! We see more podiums in Vicki's future!
Very special thanks to Honda Canada, Wheelsport, Bell Helmets, Performance Under Gear, Compulsion Racing and Dave Shirley, Brad Clarke, Vanessa Gareau, Simon Blue and Kathy Ferguson.
