Renewed hostilities at RACE Round 3

By Don Empey

SHANNONVILLE, ON -- In what was a renewal of old rivalries, perennial combatants Andrew Nelson, Frank Trombino and Karl Daigle lined up for the Pro 6 Cycle/Dunlop Superbike final in Round 3 of the RACE SuperSeries at Shannonville Motorsport Park June 21.

Nelson, fresh off a brilliant ride in the recent national series, used the momentum to run to a resounding win in the two-part red flagged and restarted 12-lap final. Still basking in the glow of his first national podium, Nelson simply ran away in the final, leaving current champ Daigle to battle with former champion, GoLo Racing’s Trombino.

Trombino managed to give Daigle the slip and took his spot behind Nelson, waiting for an opportunity that never came and in the end had to settle for second. Daigle managed to hold off a hard charge by Marie-Josee Boucher, who looked to take her first Pro podium.

In the Parts Canada Pro 600 contest, reigning champ Daigle bested the field with an impressive ride to take the win to close the gap on class leader Jodi Christie, who finished a close second to Daigle. The last step of the podium was earned by Trombino but only after a disappointing fall on the last lap ended another great effort by Excel Honda’s Boucher.

Efram Ellenbogen was again brilliant with another runaway win in the Bush Racing AM 600 race. Team-mate Bill Sheilds however had to work a little harder to pull in behind Ellenbogen, starting as far back as 10th, and once again worked his way back up through the pack to grab the second step of the podium. Third place went to Kenney Reidman aboard the Triumph effort, the first podium finish for the talented young rookie.

The Acme Slate Amateur Superbike contest was postponed to a later date because of poor weather conditions.

The Westlake Medical Center S&D Heavyweight Sportsman race was the hilight of the weekend for Shannonville race fans. A three-way war waged on the race track, where you could throw a blanket over all three lead riders. In the end it was Derek Vammus with a narrow edge victory over Jim Proulx, with Dean Plater earning a third.

Rob Busby ran away in the Orion Motorsports & Pirelli SV Cup class. With the win, Busby now enjoys a 29-point cushion on second place finisher Jodi Greening.

Michael Cambers led from start to finish in the Michelin & Bridgestone 250 GP race. In Bickle Racing and Dempsey Racing 125 GP action it was Young taking control of the outcome on lap two of the contest. Natalie Catherine Provost dominated the Bell Helmets Race Women’s Open race and in Women’s Novice action it was Michelle Dagenais in first.

BMW-mounted Steve Walker took the victory in Bike Pro Air Cooled Thunder action, in Liquid Thunder action it was Ducati-mounted Vammus again dominant in the win, and Loic Viscasillas continues to lead the Excel Honda CBR125R Cup series.