From a press release issued by the series organizer:

TROMBINO TOPS IN SUPERBIKE

SHANNONVILLE, ON – Kleinburg, ON’s Frank Trombino was the pacesetter on the opening day of practice for the Honda Motorcycles Challenge, the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship, at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Friday.

Making his debut with the Honda Canada / Orion Motorsports team, Trombino lapped the 1.5-mile Shannonville ‘Pro’ circuit in 1:06.734 on his Honda RC51 in the final practice session of the day.

Toronto’s Michael Taylor was second fastest on the Yamaha Motor Canada / Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R1 with a time of 1:07.025. Despite falls in both the morning and afternoon sessions Huntington Beach, CA resident Owen Weichel placed third at 1:07.178 aboard the Canadian Kawasaki ZX-7RR.

“I’m surprised how quickly I’ve been able to adapt to the RC51,” said Trombino, who finished fourth in last year’s Parts Canada Superbike series riding for Yamaha. “The bike can certainly go faster. It’s just a matter of me getting adjusted to it.”

Trombino’s teammate, defending series champion Steve Crevier of Maple Ridge, BC was fifth quickest in practice on Friday aboard his Honda RC51 with a time of 1:07.653. Just ahead of him was Sherbrooke, QC’s Francis Martin, who recorded a 1:07.210 on the Suzuki Canada / Fast Company Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Former Canadian Superbike champ Jordan Szoke of Brantford, ON was eighth quickest on a Blackfoot Motosports Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a time of 1:08.493. Szoke is making a one-off appearance at Shannonville.

In other action at Shannonville, Trombino also led the way in practice for the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Open Sport Bike national support class. Trombino, the two-time defending champion in the category, recorded a best lap of 1:07.973 aboard his Honda CBR954RR.

Weichel set the quickest time in practice for the Yoshimura 600 Sport Bike class with a lap of 1:08.748 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R. Defending champion Crevier was third quickest at 1:08.856 riding a Honda CBR600F4i.

Official qualifying for all three national classes will be held Saturday. Practice begins at 8:30 am with the first qualifying session scheduled for 12:45 pm. Winner of the Parts Canada Superbike pole will receive the MPM Array Pole Award, a Swiss Force Carbon Fiber embellished watch.

Feature races will run Sunday afternoon.

This weekend’s event will be televised on TSN on Sunday, June 23 at 6:00 pm EDT and later this year on Quebec’s RDS and across Canada on the Outdoor Life Network.