Road Race Reality | Colin Fraser

Razgatlioglu on the Rise

Recently, I watched Donington’s fourth round of the Motul FIM World Superbike Championship, available in Canada via cable through the REVS network, or by a reasonably priced internet subscription straight from WSBK. The UK event featured typical weather for the Midlands – I’ve been to Donington Park many times, and it has rained at least a little, and often a lot, during every visit.

The first race of the three-event feature program started on a partially dry track, not ideal for tire choice decisions or rider confidence. With series king Jonathan Rea on pole at his sorta-home track for the first time on the works Kawasaki, a walk-away win was expected.

However, no one told Pata Yamaha with Brixx YZF-R1 mounted Toprak Razgatlioglu, starting from a distant 13th on the grid, leading the fifth row. Razgatlioglu was an incredible fifth into the first turn and muscled past the works BMWs of local lad and former series champ Tom Sykes, as well as Michael van der Mark, after half a lap.

From there, Razgatlioglu piled on the pressure, and Rea suddenly looked in trouble – a rare site. Razgatlioglu was visibly on the ragged edge, something you don’t see much anymore in the modern electronic era. Anyone who has pushed hard on a sport bike in iffy traction conditions will tell you that if it looks at all hairy, it is in fact completely crazy.

Rea continued to ride on the ragged edge as the confidently sliding Razgatlioglu hunted him down. On lap 3, Rea ran off through the fast, downhill Hollywood Corner, and was lucky to stay upright at full speed on the wet grass. Razgatlioglu was through, into a lead he would not relinquish. Rea closed at the finish, as Razgatlioglu ran out of gas heading for the finish line. He was lucky the opening laps were so wet...

As the weekend progressed, Razgatlioglu proved he might just have something for Rea in 2021, forcing the works Ninja rider to take chances, leading to a big fall by Rea in race 2. Razgatlioglu headed for the next weekend at Assen with 183 points to Rea’s 181.

Watching Razgatlioglu in the damp conditions sent me to YouTube to search out a famous lap at the same circuit by legendary Japanese ace Ryuichi Kiyonari. During 2009 WSBK qualifying on a recently repaved, soaking wet and slick Donington aboard the works Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR, 25-yearold Kiyonari is at one with his machine, Razgatlioglu style – maybe even more so.

Both riders show a willingness to push into a slide, even at full lean, a very risky practice in the wet. Rear-wheel steering, backing it in, wheelies and front-end tucks are all handled with little delay or loss of line. Achievements such as these, living on via the web, are almost as important as traditional success markers such as wins, poles and championship titles.

“It helps to do something memorable once in a while,” deadpanned Canada’s first Superbike champion, George Morin, describing the career of Michel Mercier as the former flat track racer climbed the Superbike ladder. When he retired from active competition, Morin opted to help Mercier in 1984, moving some sponsors over to Suzuki’s newest signing. Then Morin became Mercier’s manager with the move to the top class and the arrival of the game-changing Suzuki GSX-R750 the next season.

Mercier generated many memorable rides, and lots of good television, while marketing the GSX-R750 in the mid-1980s. However Mercier came under pressure from several other quick Canadian-based Suzuki pilots, including former Kiwi Gary Goodfellow from Vancouver.

In a career blighted by injury, ex-MXer Goodfellow was occasionally devastatingly fast. He and Mercier made the Match Race Team and travelled to the UK to race in 1987, where Goodfellow famously chased the legendary Kevin Schwantz at Donington before a popular video clip calamity.

On a damp track, Goodfellow was hard on the heels of the leading factory Suzuki star, looking for a way past heading into turn 1, Redgate. Then “Goodie’s” back end comes around, the diminutive Goodfellow catches it, then loses the front end, and winds up surfing on top of the “Boutique Suzuki” Gixxer into the gravel trap.

Clearly, Donington is a good place to show the world your maximum commitment level!

In the fall of 1987, Yamaha Canada hosted an annual dealer event that included sponsoring the final Shannonville event of the season, “The Yamaha Ride to Win Weekend.” The feature race on Saturday was a WERA national six-hour endurance round, where the beleaguered regulars were looking to stay in front of a bunch of hastily former local squads.

The WERA Series had run the weekend before at Pocono in Pennsylvania, and that sixhour was waterlogged, dominated by rising start Scott Russell on the Solmax Yamaha. A week later, conditions were worse at Shannonville, and Russell rode for more than five hours to walk away yet again. We didn’t know he was a world Superbike champ in the making, but clearly, Russell was something special. IM

Dewildt Marine & Powersports 450 Lake Ave N Hamilton, ON 1-888-656-7570 dewildtmarine.com

Larry’s Small Engines 286270 County Road 10 Mono, ON

519-941-1517

larryssmallengines.ca Jack Carter Powersports Calgary, AB N: 630 46 Ave NE. #117

403-277-0099

jcpowersportsnorth.com S: 15220 Shaw Rd SE.

403-230-7777

jcpowersportssouth.com

Tri-City Cycle & Sport Inc. 351 Weber St. N Waterloo, ON

519-884-6410

tricitycycle.ca Bob’s Motorsport Ltd. 615 St. Clair Street Chatham, ON

519-354-6377

bobsmotorsport.com

Larry’s Small Engines 286270 County Road 10 Mono, ON 519-941-1517 larryssmallengines.ca

ISDE 2021 Preview

By Mark Dzikowski

With the world finally opening up its borders and relaxing the strict pandemic rules, race schedules for all forms of motorsports are revving up to full speed. This includes enduro racing and it’s great to hear that the 95th edition of the International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE) is back on the schedule for 2021. With the event cancelled in 2020, the hosting country and venue stayed the same for 2021, namely in the Lombardia and Piemonte areas of Italy. The last time Italy hosted the event was in September/October 2013 in Sardinia. With the late summer/early fall start, the temperatures in Sardinia were warm but moderate; however, this year’s event is being held at the end of August. Granted, it’s further north and in a more mountainous area, but chances are, it is going to be a hot one.

Canada has ramped up its participation in the event over the last eight years with both Men’s and Women’s Trophy Teams competing as well as Club Teams. This year, Canada is sending a Men’s Trophy squad and a single Club rider. It is great to see that we have enough top-level riders still interested in representing Canada at the pinnacle event of enduro racing in the Trophy division.

The Men’s Trophy Team will be made up of Phillipe Chaine, Jared Stock, Tyler Medaglia and Kade Walker. Many who follow Canadian ISDE efforts of the past decade will recognize at least the first three names. Chaine, a product of Quebec, has been a staple in Canadian enduro racing and GNCC racing in the United States for over a decade and, of course, represented Canada multiple times at the ISDE since 2013. Phillipe will be racing his KTM 250XC-F in the E1 class.

Jared Stock, an Alberta native, is back after a three-year racing hiatus and is a member of multiple past ISDE Men’s Trophy Teams. A veteran Canadian nationals motocrosser who made a jump into the sport of enduro in 2013, Stock will be racing his KTM 500 EXC in the E3 class.

Tyler Medaglia, from Nova Scotia, needs no introduction and will be the third ISDE veteran on the team and past Club C1 class winner. Winning a Club class is no small feat, as some of the best riders from around the world that didn’t make the cut on to their country’s premier Trophy Team enter the Club category. On top of his ISDE accomplishments, he is a multi-time Canadian national motocross champion, Arenacross champion, five-time member of the Motocross de Nations and still races the premier motocross championships in Canada and the United States at a ripe age of 34. Medaglia will be racing his GasGas EX 350 in the E2 class. While the first three members of the team are all proven ISDE veterans, Kade Walker is the new kid on the block to the Six Days but not to the enduro world or motocross racing. Originally from Quebec, Kade has been globetrotting and racing mainly in Europe, with his latest home-away-from-home being in Italy while racing the Italian Enduro Championship. This should be a great advantage to the Canadian team having a “local” on the ground participating in the event. Walker will be racing his KTM 250 EXC in the E1 class. I dare to say that this year’s team will be one of the strongest and experienced Men’s Trophy teams Canada has sent overseas in many years.

With very little off-road racing being conducted over the past 16 months in Canada and the United States due to COVID-19, the riders will have limited time to get into the racing form before flying over to Italy. Seat time and practice is important, but nothing compares to getting into race shape other than actually racing. Tyler Medaglia is getting some race prep by competing in select AMA motocross rounds in the US and the Canadian Triple Crown series over the summer. The rest of the team will have to catch up and enter as many races as possible between now and mid-August when they will make their way to Lombardia for the event which starts August 30th.

Many people aren’t aware that participating in the ISDE representing your country is not a cheap endeavour. Almost all riders, including professional factory-sponsored riders, pay their own way or raise the funds in order to go. The costs are always north of $10,000 per rider, on top of the costs of running the support team at the event. The Canadian ISDE effort is no different and relies purely on fundraising to send riders to represent their country. If you would like to support our Canadian team, please contact Blair Sharpless at blairsharpless@gmail.com. IM

Memories of Team Canada and the parade of ISDE athletes in Italy in 2013. PHOTO BY MARK DZIKOWSKI

VRRA 2021 Season Gets Underway

Joining the rest of Ontario on the road back to normalcy, the Vintage Road Racing Association got back on track with two invitational events, both held on the July 10 and 11 weekend in conjunction with the CSBK (Calabogie Motorsports Park) and SuperSeries (Shannonville Motorsport Park). Here are a few of the race winners.

(Left) Darrell Cooney – Winner Vintage P5. (Above) Rob Massicotte (No. 91) – Winner Vintage Two-Stroke. (Top, left) Tim Ruhl (No. 241) – Winner Vintage P3. (Top, right) Colin Duncan (No. 590) – Winner Vintage P4. PHOTOS BY TIM MCGILL

The regular VRRA season will get underway at the Vintage Festival on August 6 to 8 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and the VRRA Grand Prix at Shannonville Motorsport Park on September 3 to 5. For complete race results and more information visit www. vrra.ca. IM

Alex Dumas monopolized the checkered flag in the opening round of the CSBK 2021 season.

PHOTO BY TIM MCGILL

Dumas Dominates CSBK Season Opener

With a racing CV that includes MotoAmerica Junior Cup and Twins Cup championships, expectations of Alex Dumas’ foray into to the Canadian Superbike Championship were high and the 18-year-old sensation did not disappoint. Following a qualifying performance that saw him start from fourth on the grid behind Jordan Szoke (third), Tomas Casas (second) and Ben Young (pole), Dumas successfully piloted his Liqui-Moly Suzuki GSX-R1000 to victory in both of the season opening races held at Calabogie Motorsports Park.

Heading into the season finals to be held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Dumas holds a 17-point lead over 2019 CSBK Pro Superbike Champion Ben Young and a 29-point advantage over 14-time and defending champ Jordan Szoke.

Visit www.csbk.ca for all the latest results and news from the Canadian Superbike Championship. IM

Canada’s Fastest No-bar Motorcycle

In just his third season in motorcycle drag racing, Ontario’s Jesse Vanbetlehem has achieved the crown of the fastest no-bar motorcycle in Canada.

Entering the 2021 season, Vanbetlehem’s 2008 GSX-R1000, equipped with a new engine and turbo setup from VanPal Racing, immediately impressed running a series of 200-plus mph runs at the opening round of the Maxima Racing Oils Canada Heads Up Shootout Series on the quarter-mile dragstrip at Toronto Motorsports Park. In addition to winning the King of the Streets class that weekend, Vanbetlehem’s fastest speed of 204.77 mph set a new benchmark for no-bar bikes in Canada.

For more information on the Maxima Oils Canada Heads Up Shootout Series visit www.ontariogrudgewars.com/canada-heads-up/. IM