Phil Leckie receives Dunlop Amateur Bonus for CTMP
TORONTO, Ont. – Phil Leckie has won the Dunlop Amateur Showdown in Ontario regional motorcycle road racing this year and will receive a free entry and tires for the final doubleheader weekend of the Bell Helmets Amateur Sport Bike National Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park August 15-17.
The event is part of the closing weekend for the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship, this country’s premiere motorcycle road racing series.
“I am very excited and honoured to be chosen as the winner,” Leckie said. “I am very thankful for this opportunity and can’t wait to give it everything I can.”
The 32-year-old from London, Ont. was judged to have the best performance among Amateur racers at two events earlier this summer co-sanctioned by Ontario regional organizations SOAR (Southern Ontario Association of Racing) and RACE (Racing Associates Canada Events). The first was held at SOAR’s home track of Grand Bend Raceway in Grand Bend, Ont. June 13-15 while the other ran at Shannonville Motorsport Park, home of RACE, two weeks later.
Racers who had previously held a Pro motorcycle road racing licence or had participated in more than two national rounds were ineligible for the prize.
Leckie finished second in the Blue Streak Racing 600 Extreme Novice class at Grand Bend and followed that up with a fifth in the Amateur 600 Sport Bike round at Shannonville two weeks later.
Leckie has been riding as part of the SOAR series since 2012 although a bad crash shortened his 2013 racing season. In his first year with SOAR he won the Rookie and Dunlop Cup classes, taking every race in the Rookie division and four of six in the Dunlop class.
This year Leckie leads the SOAR Blue Streak Racing 600 Extreme Novice class through four rounds and lies second in the Bickle Racing SuperBike Novice division. In the most recent event at Grand Bend he scored convincing wins in both 600 Extreme Novice and Superbike Novice aboard his Crashburn Cycles-supported Suzuki GSX-R600.
“Chris Washburn’s support from Crashburn Cycles has been unreal and he can’t be thanked enough,” Leckie added. “I’d also like to thank my fiancée Debra Badder and my team at Crashburn Racing – Dylan Patrick, Curtis Leckie and Mellisa Greenhalgh for all their support.”
Dunlop distributor Pro 6 Cycle and national series organizer CSBK will supply competitor entry and racing tires for Leckie as part of his Dunlop Amateur Showdown prize. The entry will include both the Saturday and Sunday Bell Helmets Amateur Sport Bike doubleheader rounds, while Leckie will also receive a maximum of six Dunlop DOT-type, class appropriate racing tires, the number permitted by national series rules, for use during the three-day event.
“We are very excited to present Phil with this Dunlop Amateur Bonus and extend our congratulations to all the racers who participated in the SOAR and RACE co-sanctioned weekends,” said Colin Fraser of Professional Motorsports Productions, which organizes the CSBK national series. “We wish him all the best for his national road racing debut and are excited to see him compete at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.”
“The jump from regional to national level competition is daunting for any Amateur racer,” added Sandy Noce of Pro 6 Racing. “We are happy to help Phil get an opportunity to race at CTMP and hope he enjoys the experience.”
The CTMP doubleheader is the final round of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship and its Bell Helmets Amateur Sport Bike series. Peterborough, Ont.’s Tomas Casas, riding the OCM Motor Sports / Peterborough Cycle Salvage Yamaha YZF-R6 holds a slender one-point lead over OCM / FTR / Honda Canada Honda CBR600RR rider Stacey Nesbitt of St-Lazare, Que. after the most recent round at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, N.S. on July 27.
For CTMP ticket information call 1-800-866-1072 or (905) 983-9141, email [email protected] or visit www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com.