Kruger, Lalonde and Schmidt top WCC opener

From the WMRC

The WMRC and Mission Raceway Park played host to some of the best racers in Western Canada last weekend for the opening rounds of the Western Canadian Championship (WCC). The WCC is a collaboration between the Mission, BC-based WMRC, the Edmonton-based EMRA and the Calgary-based CMRA. The WCC will see riders from across Western Canada compete at each club's home course with the goal of being the inaugural WCC Champion.

Reigning WMRC #1 plate holder Mark Kruger won both Expert 600 Supersport rounds on his Mile Zero Suzuki GSX-R600 despite still recovering from a broken leg in the off season. "Kramer" as he is known to his fans was able to hold off the hard charging Adam Robarts on his Motovan/Bodo Motors CBR600RR. Despite being a first year Expert, Robarts was able to lead several laps and narrowly lost out on his first expert class win after missing a shift on the final lap.

Ken Lalonde, another WMRC veteran was also able to win both of his Expert Open Supersport races on his Mile Zero Suzuki GSX-R1000. In race one, Lalonde fought five-time OMRRA #1 plate holder and 2007 WMRC #1 plate holder Alan Schmidt on his Orca Bay Suzuki GSX-R1000 for a full 12 laps around the 1.5-mile, nine-turn Rivers Edge Road Course, taking the win in the end as Schmidt wrestled with his brand new 2009 machine.

In Superbike action, Schmidt continued to have a rough opening weekend at Mission as he struggled with shifting problems on his Orca Bay Suzuki GSX-R750 to finish second in the opening Superbike race to Kruger. Schmidt had his GSX-R750 all sorted out for round two and went on to win by a healthy margin over Kruger. An eventful last lap battle saw current CMRA #1 plate holder Mike Zottman move up from fifth place to nab the final podium position on his Majik X/Mountain Toys Suzuki GSX-R1000 despite a violent highside in turn one that saw him get thrown up over the bars, knocking his brake lever out of position and causing him to run deep in turn three, pushing  both Lalonde and Robarts wide before gathering it all up to beat the two locals to the line.

In Heavyweight Twins, Darren James showed that the Deeley Harley-Davidson/Buell XB9R is still a potent weapon on the track, building up a 15-second lead in race one before having to settle for second place when the shift linkage broke, allowing the Mainland Hard Chrome Ducati 1098S of James Nadolny to take the win. James set off on a sizzling pace in race two, again building up a sizable lead over Nadolny only to have to retire after overheating problems caused by the restrictive stock exhaust, giving the win to Nadolny.

In the Intermediate classes it was a case of "The Usual Suspects" with Tom Oates on his Daytona 675 edging out Victor Alonzo in 600, Open and Superbike on Saturday only to have Alonzo take his first wins of the season in 600 and Open on Sunday, beating Oates to the line in both races. Anthony Basic was able to get CBR back together after highsiding out of the lead in Saturday's race to take the victory in Superbike on Sunday.

The series moves to Alberta for rounds three and four at Stratotech Park in Edmonton July 11 and 12. The WCC Class Champions will be crowned at the fast and flowing Race City in Calgary Sept. 19-20.