From a press release issued by Professional Motorsport Productions:

BUSY SEASON FOR SUPERBIKES

TORONTO, ON The busiest season in Canadian Superbike racing’s 26-year history is set to hit the track.

The 2005 Parts Canada Superbike Championship title chase will consist of eight races over seven weekends and the tour will visit six different venues across the country.

For the first time in almost a decade the season will not end at Shannonville Motorsport Park on the Labour Day Weekend. Instead the champion will be crowned a week later at the Mont-Tremblant circuit in Quebec.

And the race held in conjunction with the Molson Indy Montreal Champ Car World Series event will now count as a points round of the series instead of running as a non-championship invitational. Only the Superbike feature class will run in Montreal, however, not the Pro and Amateur 600 Sport Bike national support classes.

The Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike division will probably run a doubleheader at one of the existing series stops, giving it the same number of points races as the Superbike class.

The event at Mosport International Raceway in mid-July will once again run as a doubleheader. But after also featuring a doubleheader format last season the second round of the series at Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park will return to a single race set-up, although it is the most likely venue for a second Pro 600 Sport Bike race.

“This will be an exciting season for the Parts Canada Superbike Championship,” said Colin Fraser of series organizer Professional Motorsport Productions. “Over the past few years we have added some impressive new venues and events to our schedule and that has allowed us to produce the most interesting and diverse schedule in our history for 2005.”

For the fifth straight year the Parts Canada Superbike Championship will open at Shannonville Motorsport Park on the May 20-22 Victoria Day Weekend. Competitors will once again tackle the 1.53-mile, 11-turn Pro track.

After a five-week break action will resume on the July 1-3 Canada Day Weekend at the high-speed 2.0-mile Race City circuit in Calgary.

From there the riders and teams will head back east to Mosport’s daunting 2.45-mile circuit for their lone doubleheader July 15-17. Feature races for the Parts Canada Superbike and Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike classes will run Saturday and Sunday, while the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class will run Sunday only.

The second half of the season opens at the 1.46-mile Atlantic Motorsport Park track in Shubenacadie, NS, near Halifax Aug. 5-7.

The series then wraps up with a busy stretch in late August and early September. The Superbike class will run on the fabled 2.7-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at the Molson Indy Montreal Aug. 26-28. There is still a chance this round may move a week earlier.

“We had a fabulous debut at the Molson Indy Montreal last year,” Fraser said. “Even though it was a non-championship event our riders showed their stuff in front of a crowd of 50,000 on race day. There was no question of us coming back.”

The Montreal round won’t be a full points-paying event. Every rider who starts the Superbike feature race will receive the same amount of series points.

The tour will return to Shannonville Motorsport Park for a race on the 2.5-mile Long Track on the Sept. 2-4 Labour Day Weekend.

A week later the season will wrap up at the 2.65-mile Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in the Quebec Laurentians. This will mark the first time the national tour hasn’t concluded at Shannonville since 1996, when the Alma, QC street race was the final round.

Thursday test days will be held before the opening Shannonville round, as well as the Race City, Mosport and Mont-Tremblant events.

All events will again be televised on The Sports Network across Canada, and through the French language Reseau des Sports in Quebec.

Pascal Picotte of Granby, QC will be gunning for a third straight title in both the Parts Canada Superbike and Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike classes. Levis, QC’s Dominic Lavoie is the defending International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike champion.


2005 Parts Canada Superbike Championship Schedule

Round 1 May 20-22 Shannonville Motorsport Park (Pro Track) Shannonville, ON

Round 2 July 1-3 Race City Motorsport Park Calgary, AB

Round 3 July 15-16 Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, ON

Round 4 July 15-17 Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, ON

Round 5 Aug. 5-7 Atlantic Motorsport Park Shubenacadie, NS

Round 6 Aug. 26-28 Molson Indy Montreal (Superbike Only) Montreal, QC

Round 7 Sept. 2-4 Shannonville Motorsport Park (Long Track) Shannonville, ON

Round 8 Sept. 9-11 Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant, QC