The 2011 Canadian National Supermoto Series came to a close
Sunday October 9th at Shannonville Motorsports Park. A hot, sunny
fall day greeted the riders as they set out to secure their final championship
standings. Tight points standings in the majority of the classes provided added
excitement to the day’s races.
When the Novice class left the line it was Keith Fowler who
took the lead over Danielle Hine and Jeff Waddell. Albert Cule stalled his bike
on the starting line but re-fired quickly and joined the race at the tail end.
Waddell pressed Hine for a couple laps before moving into second through the
dirt section. Cule was mounting a charge and eventually reeled in Hine, made
the pass then did the same on Waddell to secure 2nd place. Fowler
held his lead for a wire to wire victory.
In the Novice class points standings, Keith Fowler’s win
gave him 3rd place and Albert Cule placed 2nd overall.
George Borrissov missed the final round but still managed to keep his points
lead and win the Novice National Championship.
Keith Fowler on his way to winning the final Novice race of
the 2011 season
In the SM2 250 class 58 year old iron man racer, Steve
Scharfe won the final round in convincing fashion to go 5 for 5 on the season
and take the SM2 250 National Championship. Samuel Benoit placed 2nd
in the final race to keep his 2nd place standing in the
championship. Jean Philippe Benoit rounded out thepodium in 3rd
place.
Steve Scharfe after winning the SM2 250 final
Francois Asselin grabbed the holeshot after the flag flew
for the Open Amateur start. Sam Harris and Ryan Welburn followed in 2nd
and 3rd respectively. Harris kept things interesting by staying on
Asselin’s rear wheel and trying for a pass on a couple occasions. Asselin kept
his lead by shutting down all Harris’ pass attempts. Welburn lost traction
under his front end under braking coming into the first dirt corner and went
down handing 3rd place over to Jerrett Bellamy.
The win moved Asselin into 3rd place in the points
championship. Bellamy maintained his 2nd place standing and Harris came
away with the Open Amateur National Championship.
Open Amateur National Championship podium
Sam Harris got another good start, this time he led the SM1
Semi Pro class into the first corner ahead of Chris Barendregt and Steve
Scharfe. Coming into this final race, Harris held a 2 point lead in the SM1
points standings over Frederic Coeymans who only got a 4th place start
for the final race. Barendregt was tied for 3rd place in the
standings with Jerrett Bellamy who started 5th. For Coeymans to win the championship he would
have to win the race. Scharfe’s years of experience made this very difficult
and the much younger Coeymans was not able to get past to improve his 4th
place position. At the front of the pack Harris held his lead to the finish
ahead of Barendregt.
Harris added to his Open Amateur Championship by also winning
the SM1 Semi Pro Championship. Coeymans kept his 2nd place points
position and Barendregt edged out Bellamy for the final Championship podium
position.
Sam Harris celebrates his SM1 victory over Chris Barendregt
and Steve Scharfe
In the SuperQuad class Eric Girard took the lead off the
start and never looked back. Mathieu Robataille finished the race 2nd
but clinched the National Championship ahead of Girard.
Mathieu Robitaille earned 2011 SuperQuad National Championship
The future of Supermoto, the mini class, had 2 riders
contesting for the win: Brandon Foubert and Ethan Cule. It was Cule who took
the lead off of the start on his 65cc 2 stroke. Foubert on the larger 140cc 4
stroke put on a good race with Cule but was never able to get past.
Ethan Cule leading Brandon Foubert in the Mini Class
Chris Barendregt got a good start to edge out Francois
Asselin as the Veteran 35+ riders raced into the first corner. These two riders
were followed closely by Steve Scharfe and Bart Bidzinski. Barendregt held his
lead while Scharfe pressed Asselin for a number of laps before making the pass
into 2nd place. That’s how they would finish with Barendregt taking
the win over Scharfe and Asselin.
The finishing order did not affect the championship point
standings where Steve Scharfe came out on top for a 2nd 2011
National Championship. Francois Asselin claimed 2nd and Chris
Barendregt placed 3rd overall.
Chris Barendregt edges out Francois Asselin (401) for the
lead on the Veteran 35+ start
Coming into the final race weekend the Pro Open Champion had
already been crowned and that was none other than the 2010 runner up, Maxime
Sylvestre. The rest of the positions were not yet decided. Andy Cule held a gap
over 3rd place Yves Lagace and 4th place Michael Martel.
Having already clinched the title, Maxime Sylvestre decided
not to attend the final race but the 2010 Pro Open Champion Dave Arnold did
come out to make his only race appearance of 2011. When the green flag flew on
the final race of the 2011 season it was Michael Martel who led Arnold and Paul
J Rouillard around the first corner and into the dirt. Arnold didn’t waste any
time getting into the lead. He used his unique technique of wheeling over the
small metal kicker ramp to stay low and get a better drive past Martel entering
the fast asphalt right hand corner. Behind them Andy Cule made his way around
Rouillard for 3rd place and set his sights on Martel. The battle of
the day came when Cule reeled in Martel and they diced it out for a couple laps
before Cule cut to the inside of Martel through the fast “carousel” section of
the Shannonville Nelson track and made the pass for 2nd stick. At
the end of the 10 lap race Arnold had opened an 18 second margin of victory
over Cule 2nd and Martel 3rd.
Dave Arnold took the Pro Open win
Andy Cule (32) battles it out with Michael Martel (11)
Michael Martel’s final race efforts moved him into 3rd
place in the Pro Open National Championship. Andy Cule’s first season racing
against Pros was a successful one as he finished out 2nd to the more
experienced Maxime Sylvestre.
2011 marked another successful season of supermoto racing in
Canada. With new riders coming out it looks like the sport may be on the
upswing once again. For 2012 we look forward to more new riders coming out to
enjoy the cross of motocross and road racing disciplines that is Supermoto.
Words and photos by Jerrett Bellamy
