McKay vs Daccache on TSN National Television Coverage of Shannonville 50th.
The Nelson 50th Anniversary celebration weekend’s Economy Lube plus Tire Pro Superbike Feature race in the final RACEMoto Eastern Canada Regional Championship round of 2026 at Shannonville Motorsport Park will broadcast on Canada’s TSN2 Network next week. The premier of the final Regional of 2026 is scheduled for 12:30pm Eastern Time, Monday October 26.
This special event, celebrating the Thanksgiving weekend, 1976 opening of the track now called Shannonville with a big purse ($ 10,000 total) Superbike Feature courtesy Economy Lube, was recorded on the weekend of September 25-27.
Additional television support for the TSN Broadcast was provided by mega dealer GP Bikes in Oshawa, Canadian Kawasaki Motors, Yamaha Motor Canada, “Motorcycle Experience”on TSN, Goderich Toyota and The Super Sonic Road Race School.
Previews for the 14-lap “open tire” main event suggested a show down between the localseries Champ, Milwaukee Yamaha’s Pirelli shod Eli Daccache, and the western Ontario SOAR Series (based at Grand Bend Motorplex) Western Ontario Champ, Snow City Honda’s Bridgestone equipped David McKay, third overall in the Bridgestone CSBK National Series in 2026.
Both top Pro racers crashed on Friday during practice and were fortunate to rebuild their machines in time for Qualifying, heat races and the Feature race on Sunday afternoon, September 27. In the midst of this, another racer took centre stage: three-time Canadian Superbike Champion Francis Martin, aboard Scott Miller’s Fast Company Suzuki GSX-R1000, in the same spec used at the Parts Canada Superbike Championship final round at Shannonville in the fall of 2002.
Martin rode the exact same Suzuki 24 years earlier in the last ever race for full blown, “open rules” Superbikes before the switch to Superstock-based guidelines the following year. Miller built the bike then retired the bike, selling it to a friend who was also a sponsor.
After agreeing on a long-term possible repurchase plan, Miller eventually got the displayed bike back, lightly refreshed it (switching to 17-inch wheels from the original 16.5) and invited pal Martin to ride the potent Gixxer in all of it’s non-electronic, Ohlins forked, big Btembos glory. This Superbike’s ultimate performance is similar to current gen machinery (approx. 200 Dyno registered horsepower) but without any modern controls.
Crowd Favorite Martin set the pace Friday, and on Saturday fought for the Heat race podium behind the tight fight for first between McKay and Daccache.
Although an occasional recent racer, Martin retired more than a decade ago and will be inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in the 19th annual Banquet and Reunion event Trois Rivieres, Quebec, on Saturday night, October 24.
The last time a Regional event was broadcast at Shannonville was over 20 years ago, when local cable provider Cogeco covered some SuperSeries events. Saturday’s RACEMoto Regional Schedule featured the final National races for the Ohvale 160 and 190 spec classes for the MotoMINI FIM Canadian Nationals, determining who will join Team Canada in Valencia, Spain, November23-26.
The efforts of these rising Canadian star racers will be broadcast on the Canadian REV specialist motorsport network in a few weeks time. Both the RACEMoto Nelson 50th anniversary S.M.P. event on TSN and the pending MotoMINI broadcast will be hosted by TSN’s Marshall Ferguson, also the host of the CSBK Nationals and play-by-play of CFL football games, both with TSN.
