OTSFF to run Yamaha Superbike effort

From Team Toyota Yamaha Racing

CONCORD, ON -- OTSFF Sports Marketing Group Canada’s Andre Laurin has announced his company has signed a contract with Yamaha Motor Canada to operate its factory road racing team for the 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship season. The team will campaign Yamaha’s YZF-R1 (Superbike) and YZF-R6 (Pro 600).

“We’re delighted to venture back into the road racing scene and doing it in collaboration with Yamaha Canada makes it that much more interesting,” said Laurin. “Other than a returning Kevin Lacombe, this will be a whole new team, new group of people, new semi, new everything.”

Yamaha Motor Canada’s PR specialist Brian Hudgin said he welcomed the team collaboration with OTSFF.

“We’ve known Andre for some time and when the opportunity arose to get OTSFF involved with our road racing program we acted upon it. We’re very excited about this partnership. With the OTSFF crew we’re looking forward to building on what we did last season,” he said.

The team will be managed by Keith Hamilton out of OTSFF’s corporate headquarters in Concord, ON. Hamilton has been director of the company’s racing program since 1999. He has managed a previous Canadian national road racing team for the company in 2007 as well as the 2008 Yamaha (USA) Factory Racing National ATV Championship team.

“We are very excited to be on board with Toyota Yamaha and the joint venture we’ve embarked upon,” said Hamilton. “We’re confident we can bring all the necessary ingredients to the table to podium weekend after weekend. Our goal is to put this team in the winners circle and walk away with at least one championship title next season.”

In addition to Granby, Quebec’s Lacombe (Superbike and Pro 600), the team lineup includes Coaldale, AB’s Royce McLean (Pro 600) and Becker, MN’s Tony Kasper (Pro 600).

Lacombe, who has been with Team Toyota Yamaha for the past three seasons, finished runner-up in the 2008 Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike Championship and third in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. Over the course of the season he recorded four podium finishes each in Superbike and Pro 600, including a win in 600 and a number of pole position starts in both classes.

McLean, who turned just 14 on Oct. 3, has been competing with Yamaha dealership support since he started racing in 2004. In addition to securing a truckload of amateur titles, McLean, in his first major pro race in October , won the U.S. 125 Grand Prix National Championship race at Miller Motorsports Park. A week later he carded fifth place in the 750 Superbike race in Portland, OR.

Although Kasper has not won a career championship, he has been one of the winningest riders on the CCS/ASRA, CRA and AMA racing circuit in the U.S. Since 2006, he has recorded in various classes an impressive 78 podium finishes, 31 of which were first place.