Tradition continues at Race City

From Professional Motorsports Productions

TORONTO, Ont. – The Parts Canada Superbike Championship returns to one of its most storied venues when the third round of the national motorcycle road race series visits Race City Motorsport Park in Calgary June 25-28.

The 3.2km (2.0-mile), 11-turn track hosted its first national in 1987 and this summer’s event will be the 27th at Race City. Only Shannonville Motorsport Park in Ontario has run more Canadian Superbike rounds.

The event will be promoted by Kel Davidsen and Tim Johnson, both longtime local racers and executive members of the Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association.

"It is exciting to have experienced motorcycle racers and organizers like Kel and Tim looking after the Race City round," said Colin Fraser of Professional Motorsports Productions, which organizes the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. "The Alberta motorcycle community is important to us and we look forward to bringing our series back to Calgary this summer."

The 53-year-old Davidsen was an original CMRA member when the club was founded in 1987 and served as its president from 2004 to 2007. Johnson, 42, started racing with the CMRA in 1993 and was its president in 2008. Johnson also worked with PMP in its SunTrust Moto-ST Series in 2007.

"We both have experience putting on races," Davidsen said. "We are still on the CMRA executive but we also wanted to ensure that Calgary stays on the national calendar. We are both able to put in a lot of effort to make this event a success. We have many ties in the industry and good relationships with other western clubs."

Johnson and Davidsen are working on attracting sponsorship for the weekend from both inside and outside the motorcycle industry, and are also planning events beyond the racing to add to the weekend.

"We have talked to stunt show teams who are interested in coming and we’d like to bring back things like demo days to make this an exciting event for the fans," Johnson said. "We have close relationships with the existing volunteers, and we also want as many of our local club racers as possible competing at this event."

The CMRA has a history of producing top Canadian racers and Cochrane, Alta.’s Clint McBain finished second in last year’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship. It will run a six-round series at Race City this summer, opening May 23-24 and closing Sept. 19-20. More information is available at www.roadracing.org.

The June 25-28 national weekend will also include a doubleheader for the Honda CBR125R Challenge in co-operation with the Alberta Mini RoadRacing Association. One race will be held on the main Race City road course, while the second will be staged with the AMRA at the adjacent Varsity Chrysler Speed Park.