MISSION, B.C. — Stephen O’Toole clinched the 2011 Westwood Motorcycle Racing Club number-one plate at Mission Raceway Park with a victory and two runner-up finishes at the doubleheader series finale. The Victoria, B.C., rider shook off a practice crash on Saturday morning to prepare for a fight in Superbike Race 1 against veteran Ken Lalonde, who led O’Toole by three points, 208 to 205, entering the weekend.
“Race one started well with me in the lead for a few laps but Ken managed to get by, and then we started into lappers,” said O’Toole. “He would gap me but I was able to pull him in. We were both pushing beyond the track conditions. He was moving around a lot and pushing hard and I was sliding too, he pushed too hard coming out of nine on the white-flag lap and lost the front, ending his race. That put me 16 points in the lead so all I had to do was manage the rest of the races.”
O’Toole’s second-place finishes in Superbike 2 and Sunday’s Superbike 1 (second race cancelled due to inclement weather) secured him the title, awarded to the WMRC racer with the most year-end points in the Expert Superbike class.
“Man was that ever nerve-wracking,” said a relieved O’Toole, “as it would be a crapshoot if it rained, but luckily that never happened. It takes a lot of effort to go after a title.”
For O’Toole, who was already in his 40s when he started road racing in 2003, it was a banner season, winning 8 of 13 Superbike races and also earning the Expert Open Supersport championship on the same Yamaha, sweeping all six races he entered.
The title winning 2007 Yamaha YZF R-1 had its engine rebuilt prior to the season by David Lanigan at Speeddealer Motors, which resulted in some top-end power gains, but more importantly, vastly improved low-end and mid range drivability, which O’Toole says were key to managing and optimizing an open-class machine on the tight, 2km (1.2 mile) nine turn Mission road course. Rod Matechuck of RMR Suspensions has been instrumental in the development of the R-1 over the past several seasons, working closely with O’Toole to achieve the best possible combination of stability and steering quickness on the stop-and-go Mission layout.
O’Toole’s championships were made possible by the support of: RMR Suspensions; Speeddealer Motors; Marbod kern and Mspeed performance, Pirelli race tire supplier; VP Fuels; Jamie Emery and Action Motorcycles; Motovan Parts and accessories; Henneberry Electrical Contractors; OPP Racing.