Daigle bounces back

By Don Empey

SHANNONVILLE, ON -- It was hard to understand. The talented young Quebec rider had just blitzed the field of Superbike riders aboard his A. Perusse Kawasaki ZX-6R to earn a commanding win, but his voice still rang with disappointment after the race.

“I really wanted to race at Shubenacadie (the previous week) in the Parts Canada Superbike national,” commented Karl Daigle. “I really like to race there but we just ran out of budget so I had to skip the round.”

Even so, Daigle remained optimistic as the RACE SuperSeries Superbike win on Aug. 16 put him back into the title chase to retain his number one plate in the series.

In the Pro 6 Cycle / Dunlop Pro Superbike final, Daigle jumped into the early lead with a quartet of superbikes in his wake. Behind him, series leader Andrew Nelson battled former champ Frank Trombino and young upstart Jodi Christie who was fending off MBP Ducati rider Michael Leon.

The battle for the lead waged on for the entire 10-lap final and at times Trombino looked to have something for Daigle, but the rookie champ just put his head down and raced to the checkered, leaving no doubt.

Trombino had to repel the efforts of Nelson, who took his new Yamaha R1 to the final step of the podium.

Christie ran a strong race after a lengthy battle with Leon. Leon tried to make a daring pass going into Allen’s but tucked the front end and took himself out of contention, leaving Franklin Dominguez to take fifth.

Daigle also set a new Nelson track record, and now sits third in the series.

Not to be outdone, Nelson also set a new lap record in the Parts Canada Pro 600 event. Nelson was on fire posting, a new lap time of 53.544 in the win, leading all the way. Daigle finished a strong second only 0.220 secs. behind with GoLo Racing's Trombino in third.

Just shy of a podium spot was Honda-mounted Christie with Kawasaki privateer Eli Dacacche fifth.

In Acme Slate AM Superbike action, BnE Racing’s Effram Ellenbogen had a brilliant ride to lead from start to checkered and take a commanding lead in the series. Hard on his heels however was Sebastian Tremblay, who has enjoyed some incredible runs as well.

BnE team-mate Billy Shields recovered from a poor start and closed off the podium in third.

Ellenbogen set a new lap record (55.071) in the contest, the first of a pair for the talented young local rider on the weekend.

Tremblay made a come from behind run to win the Bush Racing AM 600 event. Tremblay sat behind BnE team-mates Ellenbogen and Shields while they did battle and waited for an opportunity to pounce. At the mid-point of the contest, with his education now complete, Tremblay squeezed Shields aside and took the lead, which held up to the checkered.

Ellenbogen, who was hungry for the points, also got by Shields and chased down Tremblay but with only a couple of laps left in the race had to settle for second. In the effort, Ellenbogen set a new Amateur 600 lap record of 55.046.

Shields had to settle for the final step of the podium.

Once again Rob Busby dominated Orion Motorsports & Pirelli SV650 Cup action, leading from the start to win by a healthy margin. Busby now sits atop the division by 47 points.

In Bike Pro / Coventry Motocorp Thunder action, Leon took the Guy Martin, MBP-prepped Ducati 1098 to victory after a race long battle with Ducati mounted Derek Vammus.

Leon doubled up wins, taking the Westlake Medical Centre Heavyweight Sportsman victory. With a strong second place finish Vammus now leads the series by narrow 10 points over Jim Proulx with only one race remaining.

Natalie Catherine Provost won a hard fought battle against Vanessa Gareau to take the Bell Helmets RACE Women’s Open contest.