May 11 -12, 2024
Mission Raceway Park
Mission, British Columbia

I am racing in the 600 Supersport, Open Supersport and Superbike classes with the WMRC. The 600 class being the one my bike (a Triumph 675) is suited for and the other two I am underpowered for but they give me the challenge of competing with faster, more powerful bikes to better myself as a racer. I was able to get a good start in both of the 600 races, getting into the lead right away and was able to manage the pace of the race from the front bringing home the victory both days. In Superbike I was also able to get a good start and put myself in the mix to battle near the front. It was a learning curve for sure as the power of the other bikes was a considerable advantage in 3 or 4 areas of the track. I used the handling of my smaller bike to help me keep the bigger bikes close, finishing 3rd Saturday and 4th Sunday. The Open Supersport grid had me starting further down the order and I was not near the front going into the first corner. I was competing against guys that had a lot more power but didn't corner very quickly and it was quite difficult to use the advantages of my smaller bike as I was slowed in corners more than expected. I finished 5th in both races but I think I learned some things to help me in the future.

June 21-23
RAD Torque Raceway
Edmonton, Alberta

This was my first race in the Pro Sportbike class with the CSBK. I had not been to Rad Torque Raceway before, nor had I ridden the Suzuki GSXR600 that Marco Sousa was so generous to provide for me. Thursday was a practice day and I found the track to be a fun layout with good grip and I gelled with the bike quickly which helped me get up to speed right away. Friday was qualifying and my best lap time was 3rd fastest so I had a front row starting position for both races. I did not start well in Saturday's race and I fell to the middle of the pack. I had made it up to 5th and was attempting a pass for 4th when I ran wide and fell back to in 6th. I battled back to 5th place and was trying for 4th again but the race ended before I could make the pass so 5th place it was. On Sunday I started better and was able to slot into 2nd place. The leader put in a super fast 1st lap and was a little over a second ahead of me and I had a couple guys right on my tail so I concentrated on putting as many consistent, fast laps in as I could. I slowly started to gain on 1st place and pull away from 3rd place. Around the half way point of the race I could tell I was going to catch the leader and was trying to figure out where I might be able to make a pass, but he fell going into turn 2 promoting me in 1st place. I felt like I had a good rhythm and fast pace and kept powering through the laps until I saw that I had a substantial lead with only 2 laps to go. I backed my pace off a little to make sure I was able to finish safely. Winning the Pro Sportbike class in my second ever race (which I found out tied a record). This win also made me the youngest person to ever win a race in this class. To say I was pleased with my first race weekend in the Pro Sportbike category would very much be an understatement.

July 6
Mission Raceway Park
Mission, British Columbia

The 1st race of the day Saturday was the Superbike class. One of the regular fast guys was away and another had a mechanical issue during the warm up lap. I had a great start and lead everyone into turn one which surprised me as I was one of the only Supersport bikes on the grid. I had a lot of pressure from behind at the beginning of the race, concentrating on late braking and getting as good a drive out of the corners so I could to try and keep the liter bikes (1000cc) behind me. I was able to break away and give myself a few seconds of a lead so I kept my pace up and was able to bring it home in 1st place. Next up Saturday was the 600 Supersport class. Another good start and a race win to add to my results. My last race of the day was Open Supersport. There was a crash going into turn one that forced me wide but I was still able to come out of the turn in 2nd place. I focused on the gap the leader had in an effort to gain back the advantage lost in the 1st corner. I would gain a little here and there but not enough to get much closer. Towards the end of the race I found myself trying too hard and just making mistakes and losing time to the leader. 2nd place was as good as I could finish in this race though I did my personal best lap time while I was trying to catch the leader.

July 12-14
Atlantic Motorsport Park
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia

I have been looking forward to this race for a year. This was my favorite track of all the CSBK tracks I went to last year and I qualified on pole for the Pro Twins race only to have a crazy storm cancel the entire weekend due to flooding. Qualifying on Friday went well. The bike was working well. I think we could have been better with the front suspension set up but I was still able to qualify 3rd, the top 3 of us being separated by just over 1/10th of a second. In Saturday's race I did not get a good start and dropped back to 5th right away though I was able to work my way back to 3rd and pressured 2nd place most of the race but was not able to pass. Sunday I got an even worse start and dropped to 6th coming out of the first corner. We had made a few suspension changes and I was feeling a bit better on the bike and with a few aggressive passes made my way through the field passing for the lead on lap 12. In the last 3 laps my rear tire was overheating and I was struggling for rear grip. Between that and lapped traffic, I lost any lead I had gained and a mistake going into turn 4 on the last lap lead to me being passed at the end of the back straight leaving me in 2nd place. On Sunday I also entered the Superbike race with my 600. I had qualified 9th. My start was a little better and going into turn 1 I was in 8th position. I had made my way up to 6th position by half way through the race when the rider in front of me crashed in turn 4, handing me 5th place. I was gaining on 4th but not fast enough to challenge for the position before the race ended. Overall a very successful weekend and Shubie is still one of my favorite tracks.

August 9 - 11

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Bowmanville, Ont.

This is seen by many as the premier event for motorcycle racing in Canada and the additional riders entered in the Pro Sportbike class showed that. The track is very fast and as I found out last year, will make you pay for a mistake. Thursday's practice was good for me to get up to speed as I had not raced this track last year due to my injury. My lap times were not far off the leaders, though I did not feel l was that fast. Friday brought rain for practice and qualifying. I was 2nd fastest in practice and was looking forward to a good result in qualifying. That was the opposite of what happened. On my out lap I hydroplaned in a puddle that was WAY deeper then I could have guessed and crashed, sliding down the front straight. When I was able to get back on my bike, qualifying was red flagged and then canceled due to another rider's crash. Most people only had 2 timed laps and I didn't have any which put me in the 17th grid position. Saturday was dry and I knew I had my work cut out for me. I nailed the start and began passing riders immediately coming across the start/finish line in 7th place after the 2nd lap. By lap 6 I was in 5th and made the pass for 4th on lap 7. I battled Jodie Christie (a past CSBK Champion) the remainder of the race for that 4th position eventually losing out and finishing 5th. Racing with Jodie was great fun, we passed each other multiple times but ultimately kept each other from being able to gain on 3rd place. Sunday's race started with a wet but drying track. I was starting from 17th again. I had another good start, passing many on the first lap and making it up to 5th during the 2nd lap. I passed for 4th on lap five and could see some extremely dark clouds coming when heading up the back straight. On lap nine I passed for third and was preparing to get wet. The skies let loose in turn 8 on the 10th lap, it started pouring. I guess thunder and lightning were part of the show as well and during the 11th lap the race was red flagged and the race was called as more than 50% of the laps had been completed. That put me on the podium for the 4th time in 6 races which definitely put a smile on my face considering how qualifying went. This year, I was able to conquer Mosport!