@cdnsuperbike • (August 21, 2015)- The Royal Distributing Superbike Team wrapped up the final Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship event with a 10th and 9th place at Rounds 6 & 7 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Team rider Michael Leon finished his first season back on a Superbike in sixth overall in the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship.
Qualifying was held on Saturday morning due to heavy rain during the scheduled session on Friday. For the first time this season, Michael was not able to qualify in the top 5. As the first part of qualifying wound down, Michael sat in eighth place and elected to start installing a new Dunlop KR451 2662 (soft) rear tire to be ready for the Top Ten Superpole session, instead of staying out on track to continue trying for a better lap. The plan backfired. In the final moments, Michael was bumped to 11th place and missed out on Superpole. Some strategy lessons were definitely learned.
During Saturday’s Superbike race, Leon rode the Royal Distributing / Pro 6 Cycle / Multi-Tact BMW S1000RR to finish in 10th place after a race long battle with fellow BMW rider Tim Robinson and Yamaha-mounted Darren James.
In the Sunday Superbike race, Michael finished 9th. He was able to turn his fastest lap of the weekend in the opening laps, a time of 1:23.144 seconds, but wasn’t able to keep pace with the front pack.
“I just wasn’t able to find my rhythm this weekend and was a little off the pace that I’ve had most of the season," said Leon. " guess they can’t all be good weekends, but looking at the big picture, we had an amazing season. We qualified on the front row 3 times, had 3 top five finishes and almost won a national Superbike race. Kyle was a terrific addition to the team and very dedicated. Working with Jon Cornwell was a revelation in how to approach setting up Superbike suspension. My family and I had the opportunity to see our beautiful country from west to east. The new BMW S1000RR is an awesome machine, and I consider myself lucky to race it. I worked with amazing sponsors like Royal Distributing, BMW, Pro 6 Cycle and Multi-Tact. It was an amazing summer!”
Michael would like to thank the following people, without whom the season would not have been possible:
- Wife, Jennifer, and daughters, Jaimie and Jayden, for all of their support
- Crew Chief, Kyle Blakely
- Suspension Guru, Jonathan Cornwell
- Scott Spark, John Mochrie and Todd Fisher, from Royal Distributing
- Chris Duff, from BMW
- Sandy, Sheena and Joe, from Pro 6 Cycle
- Pierre and Justin, from Multi-Tact
- Matthias, from Shoei Helmets
- Bruce Parker, from Speed & Strength
- Lang, Lee, Alison and Scott, from Hindle Exhaust
- Gianfranco, from Gianmajor Inc.
- Billy, from Armour Bodies
- Eric, Nick and Waylon, from Woodcraft
- Kyle, from Vortex Racing
- Etienne and Philippe, from Forsaken Motorsports,
- Dr. Stephane Laflamme and Dr. Leblanc
- Dave and Louise Smith, for their tireless support.
Follow the Leon Racing Team during the off season as they prepare for 2016 at www.facebook.com/leonracing74 andwww.instagram.com/thisguyraces.
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