Lacombe and Daigle split

By Don Empey

SHANNONVILLE ON -- Heavy cold arctic winds greeted fans and racers alike as the RACE SuperSeries hosted round two on May 16-17. Sunday’s sunny skies did little to warm the frigid temperatures but at least dried off Shannonville’s 4.03km Long Track.

In the Pro 6 Cycle/ Dunlop Pro Superbike contest, national competitor Kevin Lacombe made a tune-up stop at Shannonville before the first Parts Canada Superbike event. Lacombe, aboard the Team Toyota/Yamaha Canada-sponsored Yamaha R1 chose to skip Saturday’s wet qualifying sessions but remained unhampered by a midfield start position.

While Yamaha mounted Andrew Nelson and reigning champ Karl Daigle wrestled it out up front, Lacombe displaced GoLo Racing’s Frank Trombino, who had himself displaced Honda Powerhouse Dealers/ Prostar Motorsports' Jodi Christie. By the midway point of the contest Lacombe made a brilliant move on the high speed back straight to get past Daigle and place a wheel into second to challenge Nelson.

With the checkered flag poised for the finish, Lacombe made good on his threat and dove into the lead for the win. Base Energy Drinks/ Nelson Racing-sponsored Nelson had to settle for the runner-up spot while Daigle took the final step of the podium. Trombino held on for fourth while Christie rounded off the top five.

Number one plate holder Daigle put his Perusse Kawasaki into the early lead in the Parts Canada Pro 600 Sportbike event and never looked back. The youngster held a commanding lead for all eight laps of the final and won the race with a healthy 9.623-second lead on his nearest competitor, Christie, who suffered a horrendous crash in the morning warm-up sessions, bravely remounted and rode hard to finish a strong second.

Christie had a race long battle with Yamaha mounted Nelson. The two exchanged positions on almost every lap until the final when Christie edged ahead of Nelson, who had to settle for the final step of the podium.

In fourth was Excel Honda-mounted Marie Josee Boucher who again had a strong race to finish just ahead of fifth place rider Jean Paquet.

For the second round now, the most exciting action took place in the Acme Slate Amateur Superbike class, where this time Bill Sheilds had a brilliant race for the win. Not to be outdone last round’s winner, Yamaha-mounted Efram Ellenbogen had another superb performance to gain second.

Both riders started well back in the pack of the 26-rider field, but steadily moved forward until the final lap of the race when leader Aaron Kennedy went off track. Sheilds got by new race leader Alain Lefebvre to take first, dragging Ellenbogen behind him to take a well-earned second place finish. Lefebvre had to settle for the final step of the podium.

In what was almost a carbon copy of the Am Superbike race, Shields and Ellenbogen teamed up to finish one-two in the Rush Racing Amateur 600 class. Shields got off to a good start aboard his Yamaha but Ellenbogen rounded the first corner back in 11th place. With another dramatic push through the field, he climbed his way back up to the rear tire of Shields in time to watch his teammate take the checkered.

This time Kennedy finished the race in third while Lefebvre took fourth.

In Bike Pro/ Coventry Motocorp Thunder action it was Derek Vammus aboard his 1098 Ducati with a narrow margin victory over Steve “Doc” Walker riding a BMW. Rob Busby continues to impress and didn’t disappoint fans with another win in Orion Motorsports/ Pirelli SV650 Cup action.

In Pro Honda Oils Women’s Cup Challenge action, Vanessa Gareau continued on a torrid pace with a big Expert win ahead of second place finisher Josee Bouchard. In the Novice division it was Roxanne Gravelle in first.