2011 Mopar CSBK Canadian National Superbike Champion Brett McCormick of Saskatoon, SK, rode on a road race track for the first time in almost four years at Le Circuit Mount Tremblant in Quebec this week. A guest of Marc-Olivier Labelle’s Tremblant Superbike Track Day group, McCormick took part in three days of on-track activity at the famed and fast 4.26 km, 15 turn facility.
25-year-old McCormick used a Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja supplied by Ross Millson Racing, and tuned at Tremblant by Scott Cameron. The BMW Motorrad Canada squad that took McCormick to the National title five years ago included Cameron among the crew. The following year, McCormick went to Europe to ride World Superbike in 2012 for the Czech-based Effenbert Liberty Ducati team.
McCormick’s final race in 2012 was at the penultimate World Round at Portimao, Portugal, where he earned a close fifth in the wet opener and ninth in dry race two. After that, the squad folded, and McCormick opted to head home to study Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.
Now entering his fourth year of post-secondary education, closing in on his degree, McCormick attended the most recent Mopar CSBK National event August 21 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario, and wanted to get back on a Superbike.
Support for the Tremblant trip came from Tremblant SBK, Ross Millson Racing, SC Motosport, Pro 6 and Shoei.
“There were two main goals with the trip,” explained McCormick following his last afternoon session on Wednesday, September 7. “One was to see if riding a fast bike on a fast track would still put a smile on my face, and two, to see if I still had a feel for the riding and tuning of a modern superbike.
“When I left the pit lane for the first time, I really felt like an alien, it took me a few laps to cruise around and get comfortable, finally get my knee on the ground after about three laps,” admitted McCormick. “But it was cool how quick it all came back.
“I have never had any trouble going from bike to bike, getting use to the handling and power delivery, then working to get the most from it,” continued McCormick. “I was impressed with the Kawasaki, sure it wasn’t a World Superbike, but it was fast and worked really well without much adjustment. Day one we were on a used front Dunlop slick and a new rear we put 40 laps on, and just trying to get comfortable. After that, we started to work through things, and it didn’t take much to get the chassis feel I prefer. Scott has worked with me before and we can get a lot done together.
“It was nice to remember the direction to go to get things working, and get the process going to make changes and evaluate them quickly. I was really happy with how much my feel came back, starting with the front end and then we got the rear working and could try some new tires and really have some fun.”
No official lap times were recorded, but observers say that McCormick was on the national Pro pace by mid-afternoon of his third day, when the pair opted to stop early and pack up.
McCormick now heads home for university, and is considering a return to Pro national-level road racing activity for the 2017 season.
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