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RUSH HD / BMW MOTORRAD CANADA SUPERBIKE TEAM SHOWS POTENTIAL AT ICAR
Let’s talk about pressure, the pressure on a new team racing in Canadian Superbike for the first time, the pressure of a French Canadian rider racing in his home province, the pressure to live up to the hype created by the new BMW S1000RR and finally the pressure of a rookie superbike racer competing in his first race. That’s a lot of pressure and it was only the first round of the 2010 Parts Canada Superbike Championship.
Even before the bikes had hit the track at Circuit ICAR, a 2.8 km (1.78 mile) 14 turn cement racing facility just outside Montreal near Mirabel Quebec, there was a buzz in the pits about the new BMW and its potential. A couple very successful tests under the teams belt showed the S1000RR in the capable hands of two time Canadian Superbike Champion #16 Francis Martin and the rookie superbike racer #210 Michael Ferreira.
Friday May 28th
The weekend started slow for the Rush HD / BMW Motorrad Canada Superbike Team as the riders were still sorting out the different feel of the S1000RR race bikes. Lap times were improving with each pass of the start/finish line as the riders made subtle changes to suspension and gearing options. Both Martin and Ferreira ended the day comfortably inside the top 10 for times.
Saturday May 29th
Saturday morning practice times set the top 10 for eligibility into the Pirelli Superpole held Saturday afternoon. Every racer picked up their times including both Martin and Ferreira from the day before. The top ten was only separated by 1.4 seconds which included 6 riders being separated by only 2/100 of a second. This is where both BMW riders were and the positions were swapping every lap. This was heart stopping for the crew of the Rush HD / BMW Motorrad squad.
As Superpole got underway Ferreira was the third rider to get a chance at grabbing pole position and he grabbed the bull by the horns putting down his best time of the weekend. Martin was next up and not to be out done by his rookie teammate, Francis took the lead by .5 seconds to hold the #1 spot temporarily with his best time of the weekend. As the balance of the riders took turns trying to beat the time set by Martin, our qualifying results ended with Francis Martin in the 3rd starting position on the front row and Ferreira in the 6th spot on the second row. A very good result for both riders and giving hope to the team for Sunday’s race.
Sunday May 30th
Race day and all the excitement of the team’s first Pirelli Superpole now behind us, both riders settled into focusing on the afternoon race. This was going to be 18 laps and physically demanding on the tight and bumpy ICAR track. The biggest concern for the riders now was the start of the race because neither of them had practised launching the new superbikes very much and every bike is different. As the crew was preparing to go out and line up for the main race, a funny noise was detected when warming up Martin’s “A” bike. The crew quickly went to work to swap some of the suspension over to the backup bike which was already on tire warmers just as a precaution. The biggest challenge for Martin now was hoping the feel of the bike would be good as he had only done a few laps on the “B” bike all weekend.
On the pre-grid the entire team was nervous but only showing their serious faces as the riders were preparing to compete. The new countdown lights went out and the riders launched into turn one. Both Rush HD / BMW Motorrad riders got great starts and were sitting 3rd and 5th entering turn 2. By the end of lap one Martin was 3rd and Ferreira had dropped to 8th position overall. By the half way point Martin was still holding his own in 3rd and Ferreira was tangled in a five rider battle that saw position changes occurring every corner.
As lap 11 started Martin started to encounter rear tire wear problems and started to fade. He was caught by Kevin Lacombe on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 and continued to fade until being passed by Frank Trombino on a Honda CBR1000RR then in the closing stages of the race his teammate Michael Ferreira. The positions held until the end of the race with Ferreira in 5th overall in his first Superbike National and Martin right behind in 6th spot.
For a team with two riders it is always difficult to be extremely happy for one riders result and sympathetic to another riders disappointment. Round one was a valuable learning experience for the entire team and successful at showing the potential of the new S1000RR for the next rounds of the Canadian Superbike Championship.
For images of the Rush HD / BMW Motorrad Canada Superbike Team and video thoughts from the riders, please visit our team Facebook page (BMW Motorrad Canada Superbike Team) or our web site www.bmw-motorrad.ca for additional updates.
The next race will be rounds 2&3 from Race City in Calgary Alberta the weekend of June 25-27, 2010.
The Rush HD / BMW Motorrad Canada Superbike Team are proudly supported by its racing partners High Fidelity HDTV & Rush HD, Joe Rocket Canada, Pirelli, Original BMW Parts, Hotbodies Racing, Hindle Exhausts, and Acceleration Racing.
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