Hi everybody!
Wow! I cannot believe its September already! The summer has flown by so quickly and it’s hard to imagine that the Parts Canada Superbike season final took place this past weekend at Shannonville Motorsports Park.
After returning from Shubenacadie , Nova Scotia a few weeks ago, I was pumped and ready to get back on the racetrack! All the parts had arrived for my Kahuna Kawasaki ZX-6R back-up bike, and with much thanks to the folks at Kahuna Kawasaki, Canadian Kawasaki Motors, Kawasaki Motors USA and some elbow grease from Brad Clarke and John Sharrard the back-up bike was ready to roll in case I needed it.
Friday Practice
The sun was shining at Shannonville on Friday morning and we could not have asked for a better weekend to go racing. I awoke Friday morning excited and ready to take on the weekend! After a brief practice session out on the A bike, we decided to test the back-up bike to shake it down and make sure all the bugs were out of it—good thing we did as it would turn out I needed it later on that weekend (more to follow on that front). I spent most of Friday taking it easy and getting myself reacquainted with the Pro Track circuit—one of my favourite configurations at Shannonville.
Saturday Qualifying
Did I mention the weather was great and I was feeling excited to be back racing again? Saturday was amazing! I spent Saturday morning warming up and getting some issues resolved in my head before we turned to Saturday afternoon’s timed qualifying sessions for both the Parts Canada AM600 race as well as the Women’s Cup Challenge.
First up was the highly competitive AM600 qualifier. We were separated into two groups as the field was so large; I was scheduled to go out in Group 1—the first of the two groups to qualify. I put my game face on and out I went. I just wanted to go and turn some fast laps on my ZX-6R and focus on getting faster each time. It must have worked. I turned about 8-10 laps and I was getting signals from my crew chief and mechanic, Brad Clarke, that indicated that I needed to go faster …and faster still! I thought I was doing pretty well…so when I received these signals from Brad, I thought “What??!” I finally pulled into the pits to find out where I was positioned. Brad leaned over my bike and said “Do you know what times you are doing? You are sitting in 2nd place right now with a time of 1:11.5!" Wow! I couldn’t believe it. I was just out there focusing on turning some fast laps and here I was sitting in second place! With this in mind, I opted to sit in pit lane for a while and see what times my competition would pull off. With 4 minutes left in qualifying, only one other person had gotten in front of me. I had lots of energy left and thought I might as well go and turn some more laps just to be safe. I eventually qualified 6th in my group and it was enough to position me well for the final and I was right in the mix in terms of laptimes! I was finally back up to speed and feeling pretty darn good about it!
The second qualifying session was the Women’s Cup Challenge. Once again, I was feeling like a well-oiled machine on my Kahuna Kawasaki ZX-6R! This time, I simply paced one of my competitors who is typically faster than me, and I rode with her the entire session. I was feeling very comfortable and qualified with a time of 1:11.2…another personal best! Fantastic! I felt like a million bucks and was ready to drop my times some more on Sunday!
Sunday- Race Day
After hearing all the buzz in the paddock on Saturday afternoon about people talking about how I was back on track, I was pretty excited for the races to start on Sunday afternoon. I took it easy during Sunday morning practice and started to focus on the afternoon race card.
The first race of the afternoon was the AM600 race. The grandstand was packed with so many loyal fans and the weather was once again perfect—a rarity it would seem in the Parts Canada series this year. I rode onto the track, did my 2 warm-up laps and took my position on the grid. I was focused on the lights and ready to tear off to a great start when the light turned green! It was shortly thereafter that the unthinkable happened! I did not get the most solid start that I would have liked and was a little slow to get off the line as I brought my ZX-6R under control. I was just about to get moving when all of a sudden SMACK! …someone had run right into me…their motorcycle hit my leg pretty hard, and it must have run into my shifter as well, as my shifter was now jammed underneath the foot peg and my bike was stuck in gear and I couldn’t shift my motorcycle. Frustrated, I pulled off the racetrack and was convinced I would be sitting out the AM600 and watching it from the infield. The next thing I know there is a red flag, indicating that a rider had gone down. I took a look at the start line and it would appear that the rider who hit me is lying on the ground—I later learned that they highsided running into me and broke their collarbone. An unfortunate incident indeed, but that is part of racing. I myself suffered a rather nasty blow to my left femur and knee which is now quite black and blue; sore and swollen.
Lucky for me we had the back-up bike back together again and I was able to take advantage of a full race re-start. With thanks to Dave, Brad, Ken and even Shawna, we managed to get the warmers on my back-up bike in time for me to re-start the race. The tires weren’t as good as the ones on the A bike, but at this point it was my only option—and an option I am very glad I had! Once again I went out to start the AM600 race…leg throbbing in pain but still convinced I was going for a great finish after yesterday’s qualifying! The race started and I did not start strong—still a little shaken perhaps from the last start. I stayed out front of some of my competitors for a few laps, but eventually the pain got to me and it was difficult to ride really hard. I had to settle for a 26th place finish. I guess I should just be happy I got to race the AM600 and that I managed to finish clean.
The Women’s Cup Challenge race took place at the end of the day…and thankfully we had time to fix the shifter on my A bike in between races, while I iced my leg and popped copious amounts of Advil. I guess neither the ice nor the Advil paid off. I started the women’s race, which was a pretty small field. I chased down another rider for several laps—she is a solid rider with some good lines and can be difficult to pass. I nearly had her several times but wasn’t able to close the deal. Eventually the pain in my leg was simply too much to handle and I had to settle for a 6th place finish.
Overall it was definitely a weekend of highs and lows and ups and downs. Racing has sometimes been described to me as a crazy drug..it is like an addiction and it definitely comes with some very powerful emotions. I went from being on top of the world on Saturday afternoon to not so great by Sunday. That is racing. I am happy that my laptimes improved so much and I know what I need to focus on to be stronger for next time. I definitely cannot complain about the weekend for the most part, as I chalk it all up to learning something new everytime I am out there!
And on another note, I have to say BIG KUDOS to my buddy and fellow TEAM GREEN competitor Jordon Szoke for another amazing season! Jordon clinched both the Pro600 and Pro Superbike championships for the second year in a row aboard his Factory Kawasaki ZX-6R and ZX-10R respectively! Jordon is such a great guy and talented rider—he and the boys at Canadian Kawasaki have worked really hard this year and it was awesome to see all of their efforts pay off! Congrats Jordon!
I also have to say a special thanks once again to all of my loyal sponsors who have been so great to me all season. Big thanks to Kahuna Kawasaki, Canadian Kawasaki Motors, Bell Helmets, Compulsion Racing, Accelerated Technologies, Performance Under Gear, Komodo Gear, Vortex, Armour Bodies and Bickle Racing for all of your help and support! To Dave, Brad, John, Ken, Sean and Efram…I couldn’t do it without you guys and thanks so much for everything!
The final race of the season is the RACE Regional final September 28-30 at Shannonville Motorsports Park. I hope to see you all there!
