Samuel Trepanier

CSBK
Round 1

PRO Superbike 2018

Having one of the best Canadian Motorcycle Racer of all time with us, Brett McCormick.

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difficult first weekend

new friends, new adventures

From left: Brett McCormick,
Paul-Etienne Courtois, Samuel
Trepanier and Martin Richard.
Photo Blysk Racing.

Since everyone was busy enjoying their summer, I thought it was a better idea to dive back into it while it’s cold outside. This post is a recap of the Canadian National Superbike Championship round 1 that took place during the last weekend of May 2018. As you will see, it was a busy one!

The story begins with me leading 18 laps on the final round of 2017 (watch the video here). Having ended on such a high note you can understand I was pretty excited to start the 2018 racing season. In order to reach my goal I had to improve my speed at some tracks and so I hired one of the greatest Canadian motorcycle racers of all time: Brett McCormick, of Saskatoon.

Brett arrived at Shannonville on the Thursday morning leading up the race together with the CSBK officials. I was ready to get on a track and enjoy this wonderful day organized by Pro 6 Cycle. The plan was for Brett and I to ride on my bikes but as it turned out, important delays in bike preparation were preventing me from using my main race bike. My hopes of riding along with Brett to help improve my pace were now shattered! Or were they?

As it turns out I had made myself a new friend in the paddock a few weeks before, Ivan Babic, a newcomer with lots of ambition and the talent to back it up. Sponsored by Champion Cycle in Toronto, Ivan owns two top of the line BMW S1000rr just like I do and was kind enough to let Brett borrow one. In the end I was able to carry on with my original plan thanks to Ivan.

the unexpected

Samuel Trepanier cleared out of the medic.
Photo Blysk Racing.

Brett and I worked hard at improving my riding and the day was a success if not for one odd thing. The front wheel didn’t grip well on some sections of the track, which was unexpected, but I assumed it was due to the cold weather.

Friday morning was the first official day of the National event and I was ready to improve my pace and apply what I’d learn from Brett. After a few laps, my Dunlop slick tires were definitely hot enough and so I decided to push my bike a little harder. I came out of the second turn with good speed, extending my breaking point just a bit more, and as I was tipping into the corner I lost control of the front end. It’s always a shock when the sound of your engine is replaced with metal and plastic grinding the asphalt. So you can imagine my surprise when I heard such a noise. You pray your bike doesn’t start tumbling and flipping too high above the ground. Unfortunately for me, that’s pretty much what happened! I ended up sliding down the track at 135 kilometers per hour! It could have been worse though, I could have been crushed to pieces myself. I made it out alive and unbroken but I was definitely NOT happy. I’ll admit there was a bit of yelling and cursing on my part. The thing is I’d spent so many hours with José Abba and Martin Richard putting this racing machine together and now that hard work was all for naught and had to be done again.

a 24 hours marathon

Blysk Racing Team working on
suspension. Photo by Blysk Racing.

Martin, Paul-Étienne Courtois, Brett and myself worked for 24 hours straight to put the motorcycle back together and finally had the bike ready for the 11 am free practice session. Massive shootout to Forsaken Motorsport as they drove all the way to the track to deliver us a fresh from the mill newly made triple clamp! Unbelievable service, thank you Étienne and Philippe Laflèche you saved the weekend!

I was extremely tired and exhausted from not sleeping but with a whole championship season ahead of me I had to summon the courage to jump on the bike and regain my confidence. I did okay and qualified in fifth place. I was not pleased but at least I could say I had given it my best. The fact is when you’re tired, the sensation of speed is exaggerated and your reference points change. You’re being tricked by your subconscious, which is probably a safety mechanism.

As Sunday morning came the front end of the bike was still not responding well as I was having important “chatter”. After the warm-up, I went over to Steve Weir and asked for his opinion. He said the numbers on my datasheet were fine and that I would have to double check these adjustments to make sure they matched what I had on the motorcycle. So I did just that and found the source of the problem as well as the reason for my crash on Friday. The suspension had not been adjusted properly.

When you crash at high speed you always wonder what could have been done to avoid it. Numerous factors are to be taken into consideration starting with your riding skills and so it can be difficult to pinpoint the source of a problem. When you find out that it’s only mechanical, it helps with your confidence. As weird as it may sound! Mechanical flaws are easily fixed.

Strength & stamina

Finally, the time came to race the 22 laps. With the proper settings on the suspension, my confidence was sort of back together despite the fact that I was tired. This was the first round of 7 and I had to perform.

My start was only decent and I was 6th after the first corner. I was following Leon who was going to try to pass Williams and decided to be patient and just follow. Leon tried to get on the inside of Williams and unfortunately lost the front…

I managed to pass Williams and was now in 4th place. I tried my best to keep the pace, but my energy tank was running on empty. When Daley came around I had nothing for him. I wasn’t even able to keep up as my concentration was ebbing. All I wanted at this point was to finish the race and not crash.

Here is the TSN coverage of the race so you can see the action live! I promise I’ll be at the front next round!

I was still able to bring home a 5th place together with left over from the crash and a long list of parts to give to Jeff Williams, Danny, Ivan, and Marcel Irnie. The goal for that weekend had not been reached and I still had a long way to go to get the right mindset back, but I’d learned plenty. For starters the brain is plastic! I decided to let go of the bitterness I was feeling and look forward to better performances in the future. I was going to regain the thrill of riding a motorcycle and pushing it to its fullest capacity no matter what.

I’m pleased to tell you that the following round at Grand Bend Motorplex was an excellent one! More about it soon!

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