Shannonville Motorsport Park
September 4-6, 2015
Shannonville, Ontario, Canada
R.A.C.E SuperSeries Round 4
Positions And Proposals
The steamy hot Labor Day weekend weather did little to deter the racers at Shannonville Motorsport Park in Round four of the five race series. Lap records continued to drop and most racers left after the weekend boasting best ever laps times on the Shannonville 2.47km. Pro Track. With $5000 up for grabs, the Pro riders were in fine form and the racing was the best and closest fans have seen in years.
In Pro Superbike action, former champion Frank “Warlord” Trombino returned to Shannonville, looking to return to his former glory, after a year long absence from competitive motorcycle racing. Trombino did indeed get a blistering start and held the early lead with points leader Elie Daccache and Jim Proulx in tow. Trombino’s early lead quickly evaporated however after Trombino was forced to the sidelines with a mechanical failure. The battle was then relegated to Proulx and Daccache, and with only 9 points separating the two for the class championship, a win was of the utmost importance. The two riders battled throughout the race, with Steve “Doc” Walker inheriting the final step of the podium after Trombino’s early exit. Daccache pressed hard to overtake Proulx and with the checkered flag in sight, Daccache lost the front end coming off the high speed Fabi straight and crashed out of contention. Proulx took the win and now holds a 31-point advantage over Daccache with one round of racing remaining. Walker finished a close second, hounded all the way to the finish by Jeff Williams. Derrick Whyte rode to fourth with Pedro Sousa finishing in fifth.
Daccache came out on top of a heavily contested Pro 6 Cycle/Dunlop Tire Pro 600 race. Daccache took the early lead and never looked back, while behind him a three-way war was taking place. Jeff Williams, Brent Strong and Frank Trombino went through the corners three abreast. At every opportunity the advantage changed with a different rider taking the lead. The close action brought the Shannonville fans to their feet and cheering erupted at every change of position. When the dust settled, it was Trombino with a late pass going into Allen’s Corner past both Williams and Strong to take the second step of the podium, leaving Williams on his own to dispatch Strong to fourth place. Stacey Nesbitt had a strong outing, finishing in fifth.
Local racer Mike Raniowski had a big weekend. The “Take Mike For Granite”, “Fuerst Racing” sponsored racer won the Muskoka Brewery Amateur Superbike race with a commanding lead. Kingston’s Steve Cole was having a great battle with Chris Gray until the mid-point of the race when a low side get off ended his effort, handing second place to Gray. Chris Fehr enjoyed a strong outing and took third in a close race with a now remounted Steve Cole. Cole mounted a strong come back but had to settle for fourth. Payam Shiafinia took a well-earned fifth.
In Gravenhurst Plastics Amateur 600 action, Raniowski again earned a big win. Early race leader Michael Hood got the early jump into first and set the pace for the shortened event. Hood and Raniowski battled for five laps and as the last lap flag was being aired out, Hood took a nasty tumble coming into the front straight. Raniowski was forced to do some tip-toeing past the fallen bike and rider to take the win and since Hood’s crash created the red flag stoppage to the action, he finished with any race points. Behind the lead duo another epic battle was unfolding, with Aaron Burns earning a second and Chris Fehr in third. Fourth went to Michael Van Ek and in fifth was Colin Duncan.
Winning his race, the 300cc Production class championship, and the heart of his girlfriend was Eric Quintin. After his checkered flag lap of victory, Quintin called his girlfriend, Martini Brisson, to the finish line, where he asked for her hand in marriage. Thankfully, she said yes, setting yet another Shannonville record.