Shannonville, Ontario – On a scorching hot July 9-10 weekend, over 70 riders came out to challenge Shannonville’s Nelson Circuit and brave the tough 1.8km layout which offers little room for mistake as the average lap time is under one minute. A circuit that has garnered notoriety for chewing up and spitting out even the best motorcycle racers in the country.

A notable change to the Super Series for round three was the absence of Sidecars as they took the weekend off, and in their place was the Ohvale Eurorace Minicup championship who hosted round three of their season on the Go-Kart track located within the Nelson itself. The series comprised of a variety of mini machines, serves as a launching point for many young and aspiring motorcycle racers; highlighting Shannonville’s reputation as the Birthplace of Champions.

Round three saw the return of Bruce Linn, Jack Newman and Kayla Hannaford, who made her first start since May after recovering from a broken collarbone and concussion sustained in a qualifying wreck on the Long track. Meanwhile in Novice, Yan Lavalée, Pedram Jajarmizadeh, François Boulais, Sergey Badekin and Kevin St-Germain made their Super Series debuts after graduating the race school earlier in the month.

Saturday’s races got off to an exciting start as 22 riders took to the track in Pro/Am Sportbike. Starting from the pole, Drew Weber had a rough outing as he went down on the second lap. The crash forced a red flag, opening the door for Alex Coelho to hold off Chris Fehr and Mike Raniowski to claim the victory. The Am Sportbike race was won by Jordan Decarie, claiming his fourth win of the season ahead of Eric Quintin and Adam Pearsall.

Jean-Pascal Schroeder picked up his first win of 2022 in Lightweight Sportsman, the victory was extra special as Schroeder had recovered from COVID-19 the week prior and wasn’t sure he was going to be able to race. Andrea Purdy logged her season best finish of second, with Dylan Leclair rounding out the podium.

In the Novice class, top two in points Ryan Dunwoodie and Alexis Beaudoin were locked in a spirited battle. Dunwoodie dominated the race until Beaudoin nipped him on the penultimate lap, earning the Quebec rider his first Super Series victory. Turning heads in his debut, Jajarmizadeh rounded out the podium finishers.

In Heavyweight Sportsman, Weber had another crack at taking a win on his backup bike. However, an off-track excursion allowed Raniowski to take the win with Pearsall and Barnes completing the podium. Elie Daccache took a dominant victory in Pro Superbike, gapping second place Coelho by a margin of over 30 seconds. Fehr completed the podium. In AM Superbike, Dunwoodie made up for his Novice defeat earlier in the day. Taking the class victory for a second time in a row ahead of Decarie and Matt Vanderhorst. Schroeder claimed the Lightweight Production win after outdueling his long-time friend Eric Quintin. Being locked in a tight battle, Quintin went for a pass but couldn’t make it stick and went off track in the grass. He still held on for second, while Purdy completed the podium for her second of the day.

Daccache once again dusted his competition in Sprint Cup, taking that Milwaukee Tools sponsored Yamaha to the top step of the podium ahead of Coelho and Fehr.

On day two, the racing was just as exciting as the first. Due to an injury sustained on day one, Martin Perreault was unable to complete the weekend while Weber was forced to sit out day two, following incidents in qualifying and Saturday’s races.

In Pro/Am Sportbike, the race was once again red flagged on the start. An incident involving Kana Matsumoto and Jose Azevedo, took both riders out of the race and, fortunately, they were both unhurt. Upon the restart, Coelho seemed destined for another win but due to a fuel issue it allowed Fehr to close in. The two fought hard, but in the end, Fehr got the better of Coelho in a tense battle. Raniowski finished the podium.

Decarie doubled up on his Am Sportbike win, making a case to possibly turn Pro in 2023. While the second and third remained unchanged from the previous day, Quintin in second and Pearsall in third.

Schroeder doubled up on his Lightweight Sportsman victories, beating out both François Boulais and Andrea Purdy. For Boulais, it would be his first ever Super Series podium. Dunwoodie seemed destined once again for another Novice win. However, after high-siding the bike coming into the esses, Dunwoodie logged his first DNF of 2022. This allowed Beaudoin to go two for two in Novice, with Jajarmizadeh and Adrian Mitchell completing the podium. David Gosselin was checked and cleared from the at track medical facility after suffering a scary accident coming to the checkered while fighting for third.

With the absence of Weber, Raniowski took his second straight Heavyweight Sportsman victory. With Wes Barnes having an amazing run for second, beating out his friendly rival Pearsall by a few seconds.

With his bike being in desperate need of repair and roughly 80 minutes to fix it, Dunwoodie needed a miracle to be able to compete in the Pro/Am Superbike feature. When the bike came back to the trailer, Dunwoodie’s wife Candace immediately jumped into action looking for tools and with help from a troupe of fellow riders including Coelho, Weber, Azevedo, Daccache, St-Germain, Real Grandmont and Scott Szollos, Dunwoodie fixed his Ducati and rallied for a P3 finish behind race winner Vanderhorst and second place Decarie. Daccache went on to win the Pro Superbike feature ahead of Coelho and Fehr.

Schroeder took the win in Lightweight Production ahead of Quintin and Purdy, however this win was much more convincing, controlling the race from flag to flag. To end the day, Daccache dominated Sprint Cup ahead of Coeho and Fehr.

With the drama unfolding over the weekend on the tight confines of Nelson, two changes had to be made to the points standings. Beaudoin became the new Novice class points leader, while Coelho took over the Pro Sportbike points lead.

As the dust settles, the Super Series will return to the Long Track for round four this August 20-21. This visit will be the second and final time the Super Series will use the configuration this season, before concluding in September on the Pro Track.

Quotables

Ryan Dunwoodie: “When we saw the 5-minute board Scott [Szollos} said got it and we finally got pressure in my clutch lever. As soon as we heard that I got ready and we all started putting panels on the bike. I was heading out for pre grid when I realized had no front brake, so I immediately turned around and Drew Weber twisted a few things by hand and then I had front brake back. So to finish third in the Am Superbike race after all we went through, it is definitely the best podium of my career so far.”

Jordan Decarie: “We made significant progress in bike setup this weekend. Each session we set attainable and measurable goals and were able to acquire invaluable data each time we were out on track. We were able to make an informed decision for the races and set the bike up to match the conditions. The technical layout of the historic Nelson track suits our Champion Cycle tuned GSXR 600 very well. We are thrilled to celebrate two Amateur Sport bike victories with our amazing partners and we look forward to returning to the long track in August.”

Kayla Hannaford: “I think it’s natural to be a little afraid at first, when you come back from a big accident. I gave my family a good scare and I definitely didn’t want to do that again, but once I got back out there all those feeling dissipated. I was fighting through a little bit of pain in the collar bone and in the muscles, but once I hit race mode the pain seemed to melt away because my brain was focused somewhere else.”