Top racers recover from challenges in a variety of ways, and injury makes things more complicated. Yamaha Canada’s occasional Pro Superbike ace, Tommy Casas, returned to national action at the recent fifth round of the Bridgestone CSBK tour at “old Mosport,” and made the most of a rough weekend. He celebrated by spending the next week riding small motorcycles for Hall of Famer Toni Sharpless at the Lombardy Go Kart facility in preparation for the penultimate MiniGP national.
Just after lunch on Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Casas was out for qualifying in Econo Lube Pro Sport Bike middleweight category aboard Brad Macrae’s Yamaha YZF-R6, but soon fell in turn three, bringing out a Red Flag. Casas was picked up during the stoppage and returned to Medical in the paddock to deal with a broken toe and tweaked hip.
Unfortunately, these events meant Casas opted to park the R6, ending a plan to return to the category where he twice earned the number one plate. Still, with a renewed focus on Superbike, Casas put together the kind of attention-grabbing weekend that his career surely required.
Casas admits he was disappointed to miss out on Middleweight, admitting “I think I would have been able to join the action, and I do miss it. The opportunity to race against those 750’s on Brad’s bike was a good one. The R6 felt really comfortable right off the bat, and we put in a good lap in our second session out Friday.
“Then I rode on the reserved side in the first Superbike,” continued Casas. “My flip from left to right was really hard to do – every single time it took a lot of effort, there was a lot of discomfort. But when I was battling with Torin (Collins, ZX-10R Ninja), I really started to push, because I knew I had to get this one!
“We had a really, really fun race, and I definitely pushed – racing him helped keep me distracted, dealing with the discomfort in my hip – it made me have to produce that extra bit. And seeing how aggressive he was made me get going when I hadn’t raced in a while.
“I ended up racing the 2022 Yamaha YZF-R1,” explained Casas of his new Superbike entry. “We have two of them, and one is race ready. The plan was to run them last year, but the 2019s we had were already ready to go, and considering the money and work required to get the new bikes built, we ended up sticking it out with the 2019, also because of the engine work we had done on the previous generation R1.
“We had a 2022 ready at the end of last year, but then I hurt my hand again in qualifying on Friday at Shannonville. The Mosport 2022 has a stock engine, but it has a really good, strong mid-range. And I felt that with the 2019 built engine, I was losing out coming out of corners.
“At Mosport especially, last year, coming out of the Hairpin at Mosses, it would drop out of the draft. But if I was leading a group, and Sam (Guerin, BMW) or Alex (Dumas, Suzuki) got beside me, the top end of the 2019 would carry me through, and I could ride with them.
“That was the big difference I noticed between the two generations of R1s. But I enjoyed the stock engine on the newer bike, more good throttle control and punch coming out of the corners. I was able to get out with the faster riders and stay with them in the draft.”
This factor was most evident in the dry on Saturday’s GP Bikes Superbike opener, when Casas had a terrific scrap with the Szoke Kawasaki of top rookie and Mosport first-timer Collins.
“There were a few things that I noticed with the new bike, things I discovered in a couple of tests, including Shannonville back in May. The biggest thing I found was that the electronic throttle was much more sensitive – the response is immediate. It takes some getting use to, and the first portion is a little too jumpy, and I still want to smooth that out.
“It was just the first 25 percent of the throttle I wasn’t happy with,” admitted Casas. “We need to work on the electronics with that – hopefully next year we have the actual race kit for the throttle, from GYTR (factory Yamaha racing parts).
“It was hard, at first, getting back out there, getting up to speed, when everyone has been racing all summer. Where am I going to stand with these guys? But although I haven’t been riding at race pace, I have been working with the FAST School at Shannonville and Toni’s Mini Superbike Series and School.
“I’ve been on a bike lots, but not at race pace, but the feeling of body positioning, using all the track, it helps me maintains some freshness. But it’s one thing doing School pace and another thing doing real Pro race pace!
“My goal going into C.T.M.P. was to have no pressure; after the years with the injuries, and trying to balance my schoolwork, there was so much going through my head. So, we cleared that out for this year, showed up, and decided that I’m just here to have fun, enjoy myself. It was a big benefit and allowed me to get back up to speed more quickly.
“I know there was some hype surrounding my return, but I was more excited than anything. I was worried about where I would stand against Alex (Dumas, Ducati) and Ben (Young, BMW), they’ve been fighting it out, and of course Sam Guerin.
“Unfortunately, the crash on the 600 did impeded my progress with the Superbike. I think it kept me from a Podium position on Saturday; but that Sunday race was a big plus – I got a Podium, but now I really want a Podium in the dry!”
In Sunday’s feature, several top guns followed in the recent footsteps of Jordan Szoke and Guerin and gambled on starting on a drying track with a grooved front rain tire and slick Bridgestone rear. Was Casas tempted to join in? (Szoke was catching Casas for third late in the race).
“We did consider the gamble, and having Jon Cornwell (Hall of Famer, former top Pro and tuner for Attack Yamaha in the US) in our corner was a real benefit. We had people around the track in different corners, giving us updates, and in the end, Jon said, ‘just go out and ride it as hard as you can early on because if you open up a big enough gap, there aren’t going to catch up to you’ – Jordan almost did, but not quite!
“Now when I got the hole shot – I’m not going to lie – there was a part of me that though oh-oh, what do I do now.
“The track was drying at a pretty rapid rate, and I know the Bridgestones are really good in that situation, but I didn’t really know how to deal with the tire. And John Cornwell said that you really want to shred the tire as fast as possible, to get it as flat as possible (a wider contact patch as the tread wears way). I was feeling all the movement; it gets pretty squirmy.”
These challenges caused Casas to respect on his on-track teaching: “So, in the way the kids I coach are getting this kind experience so early in the game, I am still on a different part of that learning curve.
Casas got an epic start on both days, in both wet and dry conditions, with his new Yamaha.
“It’s funny, when I did my practice starts, I completely butchered it. We played around with the clutch, and I was getting to use to starting again after a year off. I always have really good reaction times, and it felt so good to get the hole shot on the wet track and jump out front.”
Casas wasn’t using his launch control, and like several other Canadian stars, prefers to do all the control himself with the throttle, even if the new bike is a little tricky.
“I have never used launch control, and the new system has an integrated package, so we should work on that – we want to start using it, it is there for a reason. I have good trust in the traction control, especially after crashing the 600 at the start of Mosport. I now appreciate the new electronics on the R1 a lot more! We don’t have the setting fully sorted for me to make the most use of their abilities.”
What is it like working with an established top tuner such as “Corndog?”
“He gives me a pretty hard time when he needs to, and I love it, we’ve got to know and understand each other. He knows when I could get more out of myself. In Superbike Q1 on Friday, I was in some pain, and I dropped out of the top ten (eligible to move to Q2). All he said was that I had to suffer for just a couple of laps. So, I put those two laps in and did what was needed to make it into Q2. We have a good relationship.”
Cornwell is famous for working with a wide range of successful riders, and Casas is now coaching several of the top guns in the MiniGP series, racers looking to represent Canada at Valencia in the World Championships this fall. Does the ‘Cornwell experience’ come into play?
“It is helpful, because I like working with the kids a lot, but sometimes I am too polite. But Jon, having all that experience, he knows when it is a rider not giving his 100 percent versus a motorcycle needing work. With the kids, it can be hard to decipher if they are just playing around on the bike or if they are actually lacking, needing something.
“Working with the kids, it’s pretty sweet to see just all the opportunities and experience that they are getting. I try to go back and try to incorporate what I was thinking – but I can put lot more thinking into things now than I could back when I was a pre-teen. I do have to remind myself: what was I like at that age?”
With the final 2024 round coming up on Labor Day weekend on the 15-turn track at Shannonville, what is the Casas plan?
“We have a Podium this year, and now the goal is to have at least another Podium and make it in the dry. The true goal of these two races is to establish some momentum for next year.”
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