To the Limit | Brett McCormick

Something to cheer for

Avery smart friend of mine from the racing industry once explained their take on local racing popularity. They said something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and it was along the lines of “For local racing to be popular, the local racing needs to feed into something bigger and better, or people won’t care.” This was a few years back but it’s stuck with me ever since.

A good parallel we all can relate to is in hockey. Our junior hockey system is massive across the country, with the OHL, WHL and QMJHL all building future NHL stars. These junior leagues have an impressive following of fans and bring out enthusiastic local crowds. I’m a fan of the WHL and love watching games in Saskatoon and Prince Albert. What makes it exciting? Watching the young talent develop, and realizing these guys are one step away from the best league in the world. Without that part of the puzzle, do thousands of fans care to watch teenagers chase a puck around the ice? I honestly doubt it.

I’ve been a racing fan from the moment I was old enough to understand it, but throughout my life I’ve had different attention levels when it comes to following along. I was a huge fan as a kid because anything on TV seemed untouchable, they’re stars. I can remember watching MotoGP as a kid being blown away by the talent the riders had, and especially star-struck with the American riders like Hayden, Hopkins and Edwards. Faster was a movie I could watch on repeat and never get sick of.

This made the AMA and Canadian Superbike series exciting for me to watch, because you could watch the local racing and wonder “who’s next?” Who would be the next Canadian to go race in the AMA, and who would be the next guy to leave the AMA for the world circuits? Miguel Duhamel was still winning in the AMA, and Pascal Picotte had just come back to Canada after a successful decade racing in the US. You had Americans winning in MotoGP and World Superbike. A rewarding time for us fans.

As my career developed and I was winning races in Canada, looking on to the US or Europe a lot of the guys I grew up idolizing were still racing. It’s pretty wild to line up next to a guy on the grid that only a decade earlier you were watching on the movie Faster thinking they were from a different planet. The fifth-place World Superbike finish I got in Portugal back in 2012 battling with Rea and Biaggi was insane; making a pass on Biaggi, there were more than a few reminiscent thoughts running through my head at the time. I know many of my Canadian buddies were yelling at the TV screen that day, something substantial for Canadian fans to cheer for. I’m not claiming to have made any big waves, but even having a Canadian racing in the series would be exciting for fans – and something that I hope to have the chance to cheer about in the near future.

The past number of years I haven’t tuned in to MotoGP a ton, but a bit more on World Superbike and MotoAmerica. I would keep up on MotoAmerica results to see how Alex Dumas was making out as he moved up through that series, and keep up on results of my US buddies still racing. World Superbike has been fun to follow along with the Americans racing the past number of years, but even more exciting now that Garrett Gerloff is at the front of the pack.

This year has changed for me, and I’ve been watching MotoGP religiously. Having North American riders to cheer for in Moto2 making their way to the front of that grid has been epic. It makes MotoAmerica even more interesting, too. Canadian Superbike is going to be extra exciting this year with Dumas racing, and I can’t wait to follow along. What if Dumas dominates Canada and gets back to a seat on a top American team, then leaps into World Superbike or Moto2! This is the excitement that brings fans out to the track: the hope that local talent doesn’t stop growing.

Don’t get me wrong, watching the best in the world compete is always worth tuning in to no matter where they come from – but it’s so much better to cheer on racers that come from your home soil. Gerloff up front in World Superbike, Cameron Beaubier and Joe Roberts in Moto2, and a lot more discussion around up and coming American riders heading overseas brings credibility to North American racing and excitement for the fans on multiple levels. Hopefully the next decade of racing is full of North American talent at the highest levels, and we all have something to cheer for and be proud of. IM