17 Sep

Tyrone Tavares Taking His Passion to the Next Level in Pursuit of Novice Title

The Novice class is always one of the most exciting the Super Series has to offer. The first step on the ladder for most riders, Novice is the first chance for them to prove themselves in a race setting. 

One year ago it was Drew Weber making a name for himself, this year that honour belongs to Tyrone Tavares. Locked in a tough fight with fellow rider Jordan Decarie, Tavares has relished his time in the novice class.

“I feel my riding skill have developed a lot this year,” Tavares said. “In race situations you find yourself a lot more focused and you got to keep everything nice and tight to go as fast as possible. In terms of the championship, Jordan has a slight advantage equipment wise but personally I’m just focussing on what I can do and being the best I can be. We got two more races, I hope I can learn it quick and we can bring it home.”

The class is unusually the most packed on track and despite being the class with the least amount of race experience, it always tends to produce amazing races. With both riders standing at two wins a piece, the championship right is separated by only 20 points.

Tavares loves the opportunity to race with so many competitors out on track. With the novice class being separated into its own class, it’s made it even tougher to get wins but the learning experience has been second to none. 

“In the paddock we all know each other,” Tavares added. “We are all friends and we like to push each other to do better. We have a great relationship with no animosity. We just go out there and focus on racing and it gives a lot of confidence and the trust is there. When I make a pass I know that I’m going to be raced clean.” 

A life-long fan of bike racing, Tavares was thrilled to get the chance to race in the Super Series after completing the FAST School. After many years of riding bikes on the street, Tavares made the jump to the track. 

Getting introduced to the world of racing from his friends, Tavares hit the ground running. With the racing bug firmly caught, a life-long dream for Tavares has been realized. 

“I had always wanted to get on track for as long as I have been riding bikes,” Tavares said. “I had some friends in the area and they introduced me to it and I did my first track day with the FAST School. From there I knew I wanted to race in the Super Series, but even though I’ve been riding street bikes since 2015 I hadn’t really become serious about racing until 2019. I got my R1 and I put it together to go racing, did a bunch of track days and I was finally able to go racing this year.” 

The championship would mean everything to Tavares, especially considering his tight competition. With the slimmest points margin out of any class, any mistakes can be disastrous. With Tavares knowing he is so close to the title, he tries his best to just focus on racing when out on track. 

“Knowing how strong Jordan has been it would mean a lot,” Tavares said. “He is an extremely good competitor and it’s hard to keep pace with him sometimes. It makes me get home after the race and thing about what I can do to get better. It keeps me focused on progression, it’s important to do the right things to go faster but also be safe. Jordan is an awesome guy to learn from and I look forward to racing with him throughout the classes, and it’s been an amazing experience.”

Tavares plans to continue his climb up the ladder and hopefully looks to move up to amateur in 2022. However, 2021 still isn’t over yet which means until that final checkered flag waves on the Sunday the battle isn’t won. 

A possible friendly rivalry in the making, the Super Series looks forward to the Tavares/ Decarie era of the future.