Saskatchewan bike racer turns heads in Daytona

ROB O'BRIEN/CDNSUPERBIKE.COM FILE PHOTO

Jordan Szoke of Brantford leads Brett McCormick (6) of Saskatoon during a race at Atlantic Motorsport Park near Halifax in this file photo taken last year. McCormick raced at Daytona last weekend.

Larry Tate

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Saskatoon teenager Brett McCormick came within only five points (out of 350 scored) of winning both the Pro Superbike and Pro Sportbike titles in the Parts Canada series in 2009.

For 2010, with the Canadian series cutting back because of financial restraints, McCormick and the Picotte Performance team he rides for out of Granby, Que., decided to try their luck south of the border.

With the series there also suffering from financial cutbacks, it's looking like a good year for a top privateer effort to shine, with more money and media attention the potential rewards.

After the first races at Daytona, it looks like the call was a good one. McCormick qualified his Suzukis very well; in the top 10 for both the Superbike and 200-mile races (the 200-miler uses 600 cc Sportbikes). In the double-header Superbike races, he didn't finish the first with an engine problem but rode impressively to eighth the next day in the second.

In the Daytona 200, held last Friday night, he suffered a mid-race crash that ended his run, but no shame there. No fewer than 13 other riders (of the 44 starters) also crashed out in the cold evening (6-10C) race temperatures, but he'd set a couple of fastest race laps and clearly impressed the American onlookers and international press.

The rest of his season should be interesting. Picotte is a former U.S. champion-level Superbike racer, and has assembled a very professional and experienced team to support the Saskatchewan wunderkind.

The Daytona weekend itself was a complete turnaround from the shambles of the entire 2009 season. The new owners of the AMA racing program (the Daytona Motorsports Group) made a mess of last year with dictatorial and inconsistent calls and rules changes, plus arrogant and high-handed one-way "communications" with the factories that supported the series.

The result was that the infuriated factories left, taking their money and teams with them.

DMG regrouped over the winter, fired half-a-dozen of the senior management staff who'd been responsible for the problems, and promised a new start.

It appears to have worked, with DMG talking to the teams before and at Daytona, implementing suggestions, and backing off on the high-handed rules interpretations that had infuriated everyone in 2009.

Ben Bostrom, a former 200 winner and an international star who's with the Pat Clark Yamaha team this year, said the series had "turned a corner," and added that "you could feel the love in the pits."

In the racing, long-time Honda stalwart Jake Zemke put his new Suzukis to good use, winning both Superbike races for the Michael Jordan team (yes, that Michael Jordan). His margin of victory in both races combined added up to less than 1/3 of a second, which should tell you how close the finishes were.

In the first race, five bikes were within half a second; in the second, first through third were covered by 0.07 seconds. It doesn't get much closer than that.

In addition, there was lots of passing and close racing up front, a good sign for the series. There were only a disappointing 20 entries in the class, but DMG has promised to up the pre-season posted prize money so the grids may increase as the season progresses.

In the 200, a second-time try came good for teenager Josh Herrin on his Graves Motorsport Yamaha R-6. Defeated in his first try at the classic event in 2009 when then-teammate Ben Bostrom drafted him by a wheel-width at the line, the youngster rode hard and cleanly all night, helped by superb pit work from the Graves team.

The time they made up in the pits ultimately gave him his margin of victory over Atlanta-based Dane Westby. Said Herrin: "I was expecting Dane to catch me because I was stressing so bad about dropping the bike. It was a relief when I saw the pit board (after the last stops) and could concentrate on getting to the checkered flag."

Westby couldn't catch back up to the draft after his last stop and settled for a good second, followed by former 200 winner Steve Rapp, this year on a Ducati 848.

Like Westby, Rapp was fast enough to win, leading the race a few times early on, but his pit team couldn't match the speed of the Graves outfit. It's still the highest-ever Ducati finish in the classic 200-miler.

DMG still needs to do some work, certainly including the 200 itself that the series considers its crown jewel. Last year it was decided to run the race Friday night under the lights in an attempt to inject some spectator interest; the spectators ignored it in droves, and the cool, damp nighttime conditions did nothing for traction.

It was worse this year, as only 25 of the 44 starters (compared to 80-plis only a few years ago) finished. Thirteen of the 19 non-finishers crashed, including McCormick and Melissa Paris, wife of 2009 AMA winner Josh Hayes.

Paris was pushing into the top 10 when she fell near the end of the race.

Temperatures of 10C, dropping to 4 or 5C by the time the race ended at 10.30, was no doubt the culprit. You simply cannot trust racing tires to keep heat and traction in those conditions.

Still, give DMG credit. They seem well on their way to digging themselves out of a very deep hole and rumour has it that both Honda and Kawasaki have opened talks about possibly returning in 2011.

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