The Canadian roadracing season opened in traditional fashion at Shannonville Motorsport Park May 9-11, with the newly formed RACE Moto sanctioning group staging their first event on the perimeter Pro version of the circuit.
In an event that serves as an unofficial warm-up for the next weekend’s opening Bridgestone CSBK National round, several National stalwarts battled the top Regional competitors. Conditions were generally good, but very cool in the mornings.
The 14 lap Lou-Anne Printing Superbike Feature race, held at the end of Sunday’s program, was won by the Econo Lube/Fast Company BMW M1000RR of former works Suzuki and Ducati rider Alex Dumas. The just completed BMW ran for the first time Friday, and Dumas steadily built his pace, at times over a second quicker than his 1000cc mounted rivals.
Over the weekend, Dumas often ran at the front battling the EFC BMW of Samuel Guerin. Both Dumas and Guerin are based near Quebec City. Like Dumas, Guerin had a pair of BMWs to test prior to the National and edged both the Sprint Cup races over Dumas. Sunday’s second Sprint Cup race, won by Guerin, was interrupted at the halfway mark by a Red Flag, so no show down was possible between the two pace setters.
Both Guerin (1:05.36) and Dumas lapped in the low 1:05 second lap range on a sunny but cool day. Last year, BMW mounted Ben Young started from pole position at the opening S.M.P. National with a lap at 1:05.27; Young has now signed with Honda Canada and was not on hand at Shannonville for the Regional.
In Lou-Anne Printing Pro Superbike, Dumas took advantage of Guerin’s decision not to compete (preplanned) and grabbed the hole shot, chased by reigning Regional Champ Eli Daccache on the Milwaukee Yamaha YZF-R1. Daccache stayed close, but didn’t challenge victor Dumas. Dumas was National spec Bridgestone shod, with Daccache on Pirelli rubber and third finisher Michael Leon using Dunlops.
Third in Pro Superbike was the Royal Distributing Pro 6 Cycle BMW of Leon, who at times during the event battled Daccache at a similar pace. Making his race debut on an ex-Ben Young banana yellow BMW, former middleweight front runner Zoltan Frast scored a strong fourth.
Matt Vanderhorst was a solid fifth, pulling away from Ernest Bernhard’s Yamaha. At the finish, Berhard was caught by Matthew Annable (Suz) and Chris Fehr (BMW), the trio finishing in a near dead heat. Fehr netted seventh by .7 of a second from Berhhard, while Annable was right there for eighth.
The 600cc class Pro middleweight racers featured in Pro 6 Cycle Pro Supersport, unretired 2023 National Sport Bike runner up Matt Simpson piloting his Yamaha to a dominant win. Simpson race twice last year, at Daytona in March and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August, and crew chief the rest of the season.
On Saturday, Brad Macrae won Supersport after a great dice with Simpson, but Macrae opted not to ride Sunday, where rookie Pro Matt Hooper took his Yamaha to second after a good dice with third placed Rob Massicotte, also aboard a R6, for a Yamaha sweep of the podium. Missing 2024 due to arm injuries, Macrae turned heads in the opener with laps in the 1:07 flat range on his Yamaha YZF-R6.
In the Heavyweight class, the Middleweight division front runners were joined by the “Generation Two” entries, including Ducati’s potent 955 Desmo v-twin. Early in Sunday’s Heavyweight race, reigning Pro Sport Bike Champ Sebastien Tremblay worked his way to the front on the Turcotte Performance Suzuki GSX-R750.
However, Tremblay fell from first with no real damage after bottoming his front fork, setting up a dice for the lead between Simpson and the GP Bikes/Econo Lube Ducati of Elliot Vierra.
After a good battle, Vieira got in front for good with just over a lap to go, Vierra taking his second class win of the weekend, Simpson just .2 of a second back in second place. Nathan Playford pushed his Ducati to a solid third, ahead of the Yamaha of Alexis Beaudoin. Best middleweight lap of this race was Tremblay at 1:06.9, while Vierra and Simpson battled in the mid 1:07 range.
More from a press release issued by MiniSBK :
2025 Motul MiniSBK at RACE Moto Shannonville Opener
Stockill Continues to Set Mini Pace.
Last November, Jager Stockill was in Aragon, Spain, representing Canada in the FIM MiniGP World Championships aboard a spec Pirelli shod Ohvale 160. Since then, he has played hockey over the winter and then emerged from hibernation to co-ride to the 3 Hour Endurance race victory last weekend at Brechin, ON., near Orillia. Stockill shared his success with former top CSBK National Pro and factory Yamaha racer and current Super Sonic roadrace School instructor Jake Leclair.
Photo by Colin Fraser
This weekend, Stockill was at Shannonville Motorsport Park for the revamped RACE Moto Regional opener and dominated both of Saturday’s debut 12 lap races for the MiniSBK competitors. The event marked the launch of smaller-wheeled racers among the “big bikes” at S.M.P.’s permitter Pro circuit – the MiniSBK riders using the infield go-kart version of the original Nelson layout, first used back in 1976.
Fastest during o\icial testing on Friday, May 9, Stockill was the pace setter in Saturday’s o\icial Q sessions, with a lap of 50.516, followed by the similar Ohvale 160 of rookie Stefan Tanasic at 53.5 and Ted Mota’s YCF super moto at 53.34 to complete the front row of the grid.
Stockhill set a blistering pace in the opening twelve lap race, turning a best lap of 50.45 and lapping up to second placed Tanasic. Mota netted third, while Eric Sergi placed fourth and Honda mounted Sean Whitloch turned the fifth-best time.
In race two, Stockill quickly took command and took o\, once again lapping at 50.516 in a very consistent e\ort. Tanasic and Mota entertained the “fans in the stands” with a near race long battle for second between the tucked-in racer style machine of Tanasic and the “sit up” entry of Mota. At the finish, after several passes, Tanasic earned second by .14 of a second from the charging Mota.
Sergi was a lap down in fourth, Whitloch placing fifth for the second time Saturday afternoon.
The MiniSBK Series returns to Shannonville with a RACE Moto hosted event June 13 and 14, for an event that also includes qualifying for the U.S.-based Mission MotoAmerica MiniCup events.