Pasowisty clinches championships

From Race City Motorsport Park

CALGARY, AB -- Chad Pasowisty had no idea when the 2005 motorcycle racing season opened that he would finish it as a champion. In fact, the Edgewater, BC resident probably would have said he was retired. He was wrong.

When BC tuner Murray Newman, who provided the Kawasakis that Dale Yamada rode to the 2004 CMRA titles, called just prior to the first race of the 2005 season, Pasowisty decided that he wasn't all that retired after all.

On Sunday at Race City, Pasowisty set the seal on a very successful comeback season by taking both the Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association Superbike and Heavyweight Sport Bike championships.

At mid-season, after a couple of successful races, Newman and Pasowisty came to a parting of ways. Once again it looked as if Pasowisty was headed for the sidelines, but up stepped James McCarthy of Edmonton with a very quick 1000cc Kawasaki and the two quickly formed a very potent partnership.

Pasowisty finished second in Sunday's Superbike and Heavyweight races, trailing national rider Clint McBain, who won every race he entered on the weekend. In the final for the Superbikes Pasowisty admitted that he took it easy with the championship on his mind.

"I was going to stick with Clint because he was sort of showing me a good way around the track," Pasowisty said. "About halfway through I thought, 'Man, I can't let this [the championship] go,' and I started slowing down."

Pasowisty's only real challenger for the title, Mitch Rathje startled him on lap 8 by passing him for second on the back straight. "I started picking it up," Pasowisty recalled. "I thought, 'What am I doing?' and slowed down again."

Rathje was closing on McBain when the chain on his Yamaha broke, knocking him out of the race. Kel Davidsen of Calgary took over second place in the final standings with his third place finish.

There was more grief for Rathje in the Heavyweight race. A mid-race red flag for a crash stopped the entire field and the starting order was reset based upon the previous lap. Rathje's crew had calculated the fuel load a bit too optimistically and he ran out of gas halfway through the final lap.

McBain also won both races for 600cc bikes --­ Middleweight Superbike and Middleweight Sport Bike. Second both times was Guy Tomlinson, who finished the day as champion in both categories. Tomlinson even managed to lead each race, and had some close dicing with McBain before the latter finally took the point for good.

"Each time this weekend that he's been with me, he's taught me something," Tomlinson said, adding that he sees McBain as more a mentor than a competitor.

Carey Fougere of Calgary is also a double champion, earning the honour in both Sportsman and Formula II. Davidsen won the Senior Open title and John Jones is the champion in the Veterans class. Shawn Becker of Penticton took the SV Cup title. Another BC rider, Shawn Jones of Coquitlam topped the Middleweight Sport Bike Amateur class and Cam Braaten of Regina was tops among the Heavyweight Amateurs.