EMRA Round 4 Highlights and Results from Castrol Raceway

Sunny skies and a green track greeted over 100 of Western Canada’s fastest motorcycle road racers at Castrol Raceway just outside of Edmonton, Alberta on July 28th and 29th. The stage was set for an exciting round of racing as the season winds into it’s second half and the various championship point races begin to tighten.

Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions for the Expert Superbike race saw Ian Wall on his Argyl Motorsports backed BMW S1000RR put in the first seriously fast lap time of the day. As the day continued, track conditions would improve and current Superbike champion Mike Zottmann on his Bow Cycle Kawasaki ZX-10R would set the fastest time of the day, followed closely by Justin Knapik on his Echo Cycle backed ZX10R, knocking Wall down to third on the starting grid for Sunday’s Expert Superbike race. In Expert 600 Superbike qualifying, current points leader Ryan Boddy would set the fastest 600cc time of the day on his Reynolds Brothers Racing Yamaha R6, followed by Jon Bullee on a Riverside Honda backed CBR600RR, and with Shane Toews rounding out the top three 600cc time on his Graves Yamaha R6.

Sunday’s races would draw in a large spectator crowd. Race fans, friends, and family of racers were treated to a number of riders setting personal best lap times on some of the largest grids the Edmonton Motorcycle Roadracing Association has seen at Castrol Raceway. The Expert 600 Superbike race is always one of the most exciting races of the day, and Round 4 was no exception. Starting from P3 on the grid, Shane Toews would nail the hole shot and take the lead in front of Jon Bullee and Ryan Boddy. With Toews setting a blistering pace at the front, Boddy pushed hard to match his pace and get past Bullee, who was nursing a wrist injury suffered a week earlier in spectacular road racing crash. With Bullee left behind to manage his race, Boddy and Toews would battle closely and exchange positions a number of times throughout the race. On the penultimate lap, Boddy would make his pass for the lead stick and lay down his personal best lap time. He would then manage the small gap for the final lap and take home the win along with a strangle hold on the Expert 600 Superbike points lead. After the race, first place finisher Ryan Boddy said, “I started on pole position but wheelied off the line and dropped back to 3rd. I knew the #141 of Shane Toews had the pace to break away, so I fought hard and made a hard pass on the brakes to get back into second. On the second last lap I managed to make the pass stick in turn 4 and never looked back. The battle was intense and thrilling. I had to dig deep and set a personal best of 1:21.2 to take the win. I would like to thank all the volunteers, as well as everyone who has helped me out this season, Reynolds Brothers Racing, Pet auto body, Vortex Racing, Galfer USA, Hindle exhaust, Hot Bodies Racing, Spy Optics, and Shorai power.” Second place finisher, Shane Toews, would say on the podium, “A combination of being brave on the brakes and early on the throttle kept me in the front and brought me into the 1.21 lap times. Ryan and I battled back and forth and pushed each other swapping the lead position multiple times throughout the last three laps. Ryan got the better of me when I pushed a little deep into corner 4 on the last lap and left the door open. I was happy to bring it home in 2nd place. I would first of all like to thank the volunteers for their support to our racing community with the EMRA. I would also like to thank my family and friends for supporting me. I couldn’t be doing as well as I do without the support of my parents and wife Michele. I have to thank Justin Knapik with On Track Performance, he has been a huge part of my success. I look forward to the double header coming up in September!” In third place, Jon Bullee commented, “Today third place feels like a win for me. Just over a week ago I had a serious wreck racing in Utah. I hurt my wrist and ankle in the crash and at the time I thought my season might be done. But here I am today doing what I love, racing motorcycles, and doing well enough to collect this third place. I’d like to thank all my friends and family for supporting me. I’d also like to send out a huge thank you to my sponsors Riverside Honda, Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West, ANH Photo, On Track Performance, Team APE, and Freight Train Racing.”

The Round 4 Grande Finale race was the Expert Superbike race. The 17-bike grid made up of the fastest racers in Western Canada put on an incredible show. From pole position, current Superbike Champion, Mike Zottmann, got an incredible launch off the line and pushed right from the start to try and build a gap over the racers behind him. A number of intense battles would break out down the grid as the race went on. One of those battles played right into Zottmann’s hands, as former Superbike Champion Justin Knapik and Trevor Brenhardt would dice with each other all race long, allowing Zottmann to gain a four second gap which he would maintain throughout the race. Slightly further back, veteran racers Ian Wall and Jason Kolmatycki would have an incredibly close race which came down to a last lap, last corner, drag race amongst lapped traffic. Wall would choose the fastest line and take home the fourth place finish by just over one tenth of a second. After the race, third place finisher, Justin Knapik, would say, “We made some changes this weekend that really helped a lot with overall pace. On the start of the Superbike race I saw #13 Trevor Bernhardt come around me. I made a few moves to pass him, but he made himself pretty wide for the entire race. Kudos to him for putting down some great laps. I couldn’t get around him cleanly after dozens of attempts, and watched Mike make up a bit of a gap on us both while we battled. This weekend gives me some of the drive I’ve been missing knowing it is my last season in the foreseeable future. I can’t wait to come out swinging for our next round.” In second place, Trevor Bernhardt would comment, “The Superbike race had me starting in 6th on the grid after a difficult qualifying day with electrical problems on Saturday. A good launch would see me up to 3rd with the inside line into the next corner and managing to take 2nd from previous champion Justin Knapik. Putting in my fastest lap times ever around Castrol racetrack was not without its mistakes, most being forced by Justin’s pressure on me on almost every lap. He would get by twice and I would re-take him almost immediately each time. A great battle, and amazingly fun race would have me hold him off until the checkered flag and get my first 2nd place on the new ZX10 in the premier class. Huge thanks to my teammates, could not do it with a better group of friends or club, and all the sponsors: Bowcycle, Woolichracing, Dunlop, OneX, and Galfer.” From the top step of the podium, with a strangle hold on first place going into the final two rounds of racing, Mike Zottmann would say, “The bike felt great. I got off to a great start and straight away put my head down. I was able to drop into the 1:18s and pull about a 4 sec gap over second place. Once I had the pressure off I just managed the gap. The guys behind were really battling and pushing hard and it didn’t allow me to drop the pace too much. Our Dunlop tires were amazing and we expect to have the new slicks for Sept and I know they will help drop our lap times even more. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support again this year. Kawasaki Canada, Bowcycle North, Woolich Electronics, K-tech suspension, Galfer USA, Vortex, Red Rock Garage, and of course my ultra sticky Dunlop tires!”

The final two rounds of racing for the 2017 EMRA season will take place at Castrol Raceway on Sept 1st to the 3rd. A number of championships remain wide open and the racing promises to be intense. More information on the racing can be found at www.emra.ca.

EMRA Round 4 provisional results:

Argyll Motorsports Expert Superbike:

1. Mike Zottman

2. Trevor Bernhardt

3. Justin Knapik

4. Ian Wall

5. Jason Kolmatycki

Argyll Motorsports Intermediate Superbike

1. Ray Steel

2. Trevor Patrick

3. Cory Raketti

4. Richard Bolduc

5. Adam Knox-Taylor

Scona Cycle Expert 600 Superbike:

1. Ryan Boddy

2. Shane Toews

3. Jon Bullee

4. Allan Millican

5. Brian Worsdal

Scona Cycle Intermediate 600 Superbike:

1. Adam Knox-Taylor

2. Richard Bolduc

3. Trevor Patrick

4. Dillan Diederichs

5. Scott Manley

Echo Cycle Expert Open Sportbike:

1. Mike Zottman

2. Ian Wall

3. Brian Worsdal

4. Trevor Burnhardt

5. Peter Meier

Echo Cycle Intermediate Open Sportbike:

1. Adam Knox-Taylor

2. Ray Steel

3. Scott Johnson

4. Richard Bolduc

5. Scott Manley

EMRA Expert 600 Supersport:

1. Ryan Boddy

2. Shane Toews

3. Jon Bullee

4. Brian Worsdal

5. Matthew Norton

EMRA Intermediate 600 Supersport:

1. Richard Bolduc

2. Adam Knox-Taylor

3. Trevor Patrick

4. Scott Manley

5. Michael Cormier

Riverside Motosports Senior Open:

1. Trevor Burnhardt

2. Jason Kolmatycki

3. Ian Wall

4. Glen Gregoire

5. Darel Mesher

Honda Extreme Fast 25:

1. Mike Zottman

2. Justin Knapik

3. Trevor Burnhardt

4. Ian Wall

5. Jason Kolmatycki

Formula Thunder:

1. Neil Carlson

2. John Crump

3. Corey Svatos

4. Brian Oxtoby

5. Dominic Poulin

Women’s Open:

1. Bronti Verbeek

2. Tricia Reese

3. Johanne Bernier

Middleweight Twins:

1. Brian Oxtoby

2. Justin Litzenberger

3. David Trofimuk

Lightweight Open:

1. Don Manuel

2. Neil Carlson

3. Graham Lynch