A sunny Saturday and Sunday in June greeted racers of the Edmonton Motorcycle Roadracing Association for Round 1 of the 6-round EMRA race season at Castrol Raceway. With over 100 riders registered to race over the weekend, grids would be packed and every race would be full of excitement. With retirement and change of bikes over the winter, both the Expert 600 Superbike and Expert Superbike titles would not be defended, leaving a large number of Western Canada’s fastest riders anxious for their shot at the titles.
Saturday’s action on track was focused on qualifying sessions for the 600 Superbike and Superbike races. From the opening session of the day, Jon Bullee on his Riverside Honda backed CBR600RR was at the top of the 600 Superbike charts and Ian Wall on his Argyll Motorsports powered BMW S1000RR topped the overall time charts. Halfway through the afternoon, an oil spill and resulting crashes brought out red flags and long delays while clean up took place. Mother nature would play a roll in the day as well; at the end of track clean up, a large thunderstorm blew through and brought a premature end to the day. Times and grids were set for the first races of the season.
Sunday got under way with many riders taking the early morning practice session as a chance to check out the section of track that had an oil clean up and make any final adjustments to their bikes. Excitement would build throughout the day; the sun continued to shine, temperatures rose, and a large number of spectators made their way into the grandstands to watch the opening round of EMRA action.
The 600 Superbike grid would form with 20 bikes. The red lights went out and Shane Toews on his Graves Yamaha R6 got the hole shot, followed closely by Jon Bullee on his CBR600RR, Brian Worsdall on his Honda Extreme CBR600RR, and expert rookie Travis Rogan on his GSXR600. The group of riders began to gap the field and exchange positions. By one third of the race distance, Rogan began to drop back as the pace of the front three riders was heating up. Through the tight back section of track, while lining up a slingshot pass for the lead, Bullee left the door open slightly and Worsdall pounced on the opportunity to take second place. Jon Bullee would recover second place the following lap with a late brake maneuver into turn 7 and began to pressure Shane Toews for the lead. On the penultimate lap, a small mistake by race leader Toews would prove costly; he missed his brake marker closing on lapped traffic and cut the bus stop. Giving back the advantage gained to Bullee and being passed by Worsdall in the process, Shane dropped from first the third. With a brave move he managed to gain back a position from Brian Worsdall but couldn’t find a way past Jon Bullee. Jon would close all the doors and left no room to pass, taking the checkered flag.
After the race Bullee said, “I’m so happy; I managed to pull off a pretty good weekend, but I am more relieved than anything else. I developed an electrical issue with the bike earlier in the day and pulling up to the 600 Superbike grid I was just hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I got a good start and began mixing it up with Brian and Shane. You could throw a hula-hoop around us for most of the race. I put some pressure on Shane in the last few laps and he made a mistake. I was there to take advantage of the mistake and held onto the lead. I’m glad the race was over when it was because my bike finally died on the cool down lap. I can’t thank my friends and family enough for their support this weekend. I also need to thank my main sponsor, Riverside Honda, for their continued support. Everyone there is always so kind and it is an honor to be involved with them. Thanks to Maxim Ducap for the Pirelli tire hook up, speedy tire changes, and pit signs. Hopefully next round I can pick up the pace and get something other than the hurry up sign from him. Lastly, huge thank you to all the volunteers; the EMRA puts on an incredible show, I can’t think of a better club to race with.”
The Grand finale of Round 1 was the Expert Superbike race. The grid formed, the lights went out, and the show was on. Ian Wall on his BMWS1000RR nailed the hole shot and took the lead, followed by Jason Kolmatyki on his Riverside Yamaha R1M and Trevor Bernhardt on his ZBM Racing ZX10R. Ryan Boddy on his ZBM Racing ZX10R, starting from third on the grid, launched a huge wheelie, resulting in him leaving himself a lot of work to do to close down race-leader, Wall. He did just that making his way past Bernhardt and Kolmatyki over the next five laps, but a mistake on the brakes into the final chicane at the halfway point of the race saw him tuck the front and his ZX10R. He crashed hard and landed on the track, bringing out the red flag. The race would be shortened to a running order six-lap dash. Ian Wall’s lead would be erased and a poor start on the restart meant Jason Kolmatyki led the race followed closely by Trevor Bernhardt. The laps ticked down and Wall made his way to the front, passing Kolmatyki with a bold, super late-brake maneuver into turn 1. Gasps and cheers could be heard from the large spectator crowd, as what they had just seen was an incredible display of riding; Wall never looked back and took the checkered flag.
From the third step of the podium, Trevor Bernhardt said “All three of us up front were very close and showing each other a front wheel on multiple occasions. Ian Wall would eventually take the lead on the second last lap, and Kolmatyki had just a little too much pace for me to try to take a risky move for second. All three podium finishers were extremely happy with the result, giving fans a close race. I’d like to thank ZBM Racing and especially Mike Zottmann and Dunlop, as well as Woolich Racing, and Vass Performance.”
In second place on the podium, Jason Kolmatyki commented, “The restart went perfectly and myself and Ian went into the first corner side by side with me coming out with the lead. I lead the race for four laps with Ian and Trevor right behind me. With two laps to go, Ian got past me coming into corner 1. My lap times say I fought back, but it wasn’t enough. I just kept my head down and rode as hard as I could, knowing Trevor was there looking to get by. I laid down a good time in the final lap to hold him off to finish in second.”
From the top step of the podium Ian Wall said, “I got a great start and was sitting in a comfortable lead when a red flag was called. The race was restarted in race position with 6 laps to go. It was a drag race between Jason and I into corner 5, he had the inside line so I gave it to him and fought to keep up. I knew Trevor was right behind me and could make a move at any moment so I had to pass Jason into corner one. From there I just kept my pace and won the race. Thanks to my sponsors and all the volunteers for putting on a great race weekend.”
Rounds 2 and 3 will take place on July 6-8th. Over three days of racing action from Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway. For more information on the racing check out www.emra.ca
EMRA Round 1 provisional results
Riverside Motosports Expert Superbike
1. Ian Wall (BMW S1000RR)
2. Jason Kolmatyki (Yam YZF-R1M)
3. Trevor Bernhardt (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Tosh Gable (Hon CBR1000RR)
5. Brian Worsdall (BMW S1000RR)
Riverside Motosports Intermediate Superbike
1. T.J. Messinbird (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. Corey Raketti (BMW S1000RR)
3. Chase Charland (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Kyle Allan (Duc 1098)
5. Sean Henderson (BMW S1000RR)
Honda Extreme Expert 600 Superbike
1. Jon Bullee (Hon CBR600RR)
2. Shane Toews (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Brian Worsdall (Hon CBR600RR)
4. Travis Rogan (Suz GSXR-600)
5. Corey Svatos (Tri Daytona 675R)
Honda Extreme Intermediate 600 Superbike
1. Cody Conrad (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Chase Charland (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Owen El-Baba (MV F3)
4. Xavier Cartron (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Richard Parsloe (Yam YZF-R6)
Echo Cycle Expert Open Sportbike
1. Ian Wall (BMW S1000RR)
2. Trevor Bernhardt (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Jason Kolmatyki (Yam YZF-R1M)
4. Brian Worsdall (BMW S1000RR)
5. Ryan Boddy (Kaw ZX-10R)
Echo Cycle Intermediate Open Sportbike
1. T.J. Messinbird (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. Corey Raketti (BMW S1000RR)
3. Chase Charland (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jeremy Pompey (Suz GSXR-750)
5. Sean Henderson (BMW S1000RR)
Riverside Honda Expert 600 Supersport
1. Shane Toews (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Brian Worsdall (Hon CBR600RR)
3. Jon Bullee (Hon CBR600RR)
4. Matthew Norton (Suz GSXR-600)
5. Travis Rogan (Suz GSXR-600)
Riverside Honda Intermediate 600 Supersport
1. Cody Conrad (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Owen El-Baba (MV F3)
3. Chase Charland (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Kevin Osborn (Tri Daytona 675R)
5. Kevin McMurray (Suz GSXR-600)
Vicious Cycle Senior Open
1. Ian Wall (BMW S1000RR)
2. Trevor Burnhardt (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Darel Mesher (BMW S1000RR)
4. Robert Haynes (BMW S1000RR)
5. Nick Sosniuk (Yam YZF-R1)
Argyll Motorsports Dash for Cash
1. Ian Wall (BMW S1000RR)
2. Ryan Boddy (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Trevor Bernhardt (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Brian Worsdall (BMW S1000RR)
5. T.J. Messinbird (Yam YZF-R1)
Taylor Racing Formula Thunder
1. Corey Svatos (Tri Daytona 675R)
2. Owen El-Baba (MV F3)
3. Kyle Allan (Duc 1098)
4. Kevin Osborn (Tri Daytona 675R)
5. Devon Sosniuk (Suz SV650)
Women’s Open
1. Tricia Reese (Suz GSXR-750)
2. Bronti Verbeek (Suz GSXR-1000)
3. Tanya Cornwall (Yam YZF-R6)
Middleweight Twins
1. Justin Litzenberger (KTM690)
2. Devon Sosniuk (Suz SV650)
3. Jason Henton (Suz SV650)
Lightweight Open
1. Torin Collins (Yam YZF-R3)
2. John Georgiou (Yam YZF-R3)
3. Kyle Allan (Hon NSR250)