After a long six months of winter, the 2024 Super Series kicked off the weekend of May 10-12 on the Pro Track of Shannonville Motorsport Park.

Round one saw close to 100 entrants that spanned from Super Series regulars and a few Bridgestone CSBK contenders that made their presence known throughout the weekend. Despite the threat of rain scaring off a handful of competitors, the action was still gripping and exciting.

Saturday

The first race on the docket was Sportsman Lightweight. Polesitter Zaim Laflamme on the No.777 Barbee Racing Suspension Kawasaki got off to an early lead. However, it was an unlikely source that would take advantage of the new lightweight regulations and jump to the lead. First time series competitor Dallas Reynolds on an Aprilia RS 457 used his extra horsepower to pull from fourth to first down the Fabi Strait and never looked back. Reynolds claimed his first Series win, on bike No. 606.

Pro Sportbike saw a large contingent of CSBK visitors, as well as three new Pros. 2023 AM 600 champ Wes Barnes made the leap to Pro on his No.84 Big Red Racing Yamaha R6, while Kana Matsumoto and Rob Massicotte joined Barnes on the adventure. SOAR’s Zoltan Frast won the pole and was gobbled up on the initial start. All of a sudden it was a blue streak that shot past the field to take the lead, that being the No.50 Yamaha R6 of Massicotte.

Leading a majority of the race, Massicotte seemed poised for victory before misfortune struck. Massicotte missed a crucial shift coming out of turn 10, which lead to his rhythm being off and allowing Alexander Michel to slip past and claim his first ever win at the Pro level.

“This is why we never gave up,” Michel said on pit road. “I saw the guy in front had some sort of issue, and I was gaining on him in the final laps. I got close and made my move and passed him. This is my first win at the Pro level, so it means a lot.”

In AM 600, Colin Duncan started on pole on his No.590 KFC Racing Triumph Daytona. The Brighton, Ontario rider was out for a country stroll before the bike puzzlingly ground to a halt with a few laps to go. In the ensuing commotion, Scott Szollos managed to slip by Serge Boyer and hold him off for his first AM 600 win on the No.10 Lean Angle Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Duncan mentioned post-race that it was an engine failure that cause his bike to lose power.

In Novice, the Super Series race school graduates gave the fans in the stands a real treat. With a large contingency of both 600 and 1000cc motorcycles, it was a diverse field. Matthew Hooper lead off the initial start, and kept his run clean the entire way. With Daniel Johnson and Craig Fraser in hot pursuit, Hooper held off the late race charge and took him the first Shannonville checkered flag of his career.

Heavyweight Sportbike proved to be a great new addition to the Super Series class list. Specializing on all the bikes that fit between 600 and 1000 cc, there would be some serious toys showing up to play. Sean Latta made the switch from Triumph to Suzuki over the winter, and the change was instantly shown to be beneficial. Grabbing the lead away from Sebastien Tremblay, Latta held on for his long awaited first Super Series win.

Elie Daccache held off Samuel Guerin to claim top honours in Sprint Cup, while Zaim Laflamme outdueled Istvan Hidvegi and Alan Burns to win Lightweight Sportbike. Daccache would make it a double dose with a win in Pro Superbike on his No.1 Milwaukee Tools Yamaha R1, with Matthew Annable taking his long awaited first AM Superbike win by holding off the ST Motorsports duo of Boyer and Giguere.

“That was so much fun,” Daccache said. “I’m not sure where everyone else ended up but I hope they had as much fun as I did. I trust this bike 100%, and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

Sunday

With weather moving in overnight, some riders decided to call it a weekend to focus on the CSBK national race that is to be run Victoria Day Weekend. Despite that, the racing didn’t suffer at all.

Dallas Reynolds went back to back in the Sportsman Lightweight finale, with the podium remaining unchanged from the day prior. Pro 600 saw Michel make another late race pass for the lead, but this time he passed Sebastian Hothaza on the penultimate lap to complete a perfect weekend.

In AM 600, Denis Giguere took his Turcotte Performance Suzuki to the point following a good battle from Boyer and Albert Diguer. Novice saw Fraser pull out a statement of a win, on his No.56 Empire Racing entry. Taking the lead away from Hooper, the moment of the race actually came at the hands of the No.28. Hooper went off track in turn one, but somehow managed to keep bike the up and slide upright through the grass. Despite what seemed like a sure DNF, Hooper used his Motocross background to get the bike out of the mud and to the finish.

Viera claimed the victory in Heavyweight Sportbike, after he made a late race pass on Tremblay for the lead. While Daccache completed his perfect weekend, going back-to-back in both Pro Superbike and Sprint Cup. Laflamme claimed the victory in Lightweight Sportbike for the second day in a row. Last but not least, the AM Superbike finale came down to the wire. 2021 Novice Champ Tyrone Tavares returned to the Super Series on his No.97 613 Motorsports Yamaha R1, not sure what to expect for the weekend he found himself leading off the start. With Annable in pursuit, Tavares was passed by the No.612 with one to go. However, a crash between Giguere and Alexis Beaudoin opened the door for Tavares to make a move.

The No.97 reclaimed the lead down the back strait and edged out one last charge from Annable to take his first victory as an Amateur rider.

With round one in books, some riders will return to Shannonville for the Bridgestone CSBK national race. Others will be back for Super Series round June 15-16. Full results and standings are can be found on Super-Series.ca.

Photos by Pete Gorski