Just ahead of its first race weekend for 2019, the Canadian Superbike championship has announced two key sponsors for this season, backing the amateur supersport and lightweight classes.
Aftermarket parts/accessories distributor Parts Canada has returned this season, and is once again sponsoring the Amateur Sport Bike class (won by Luc Labranche on a Yamaha R6 in 2018, just ahead of Nicolas Meunier on his Kawasaki ZX-6R).
Along with the usual deals that sponsorship entitles, Parts Canada will also continue to sponsor the Hardest Charger award. The winner is determined by comparing the best lap times between qualifying and race, with the winner earning Alpinestars pit support equipment. This award is handed out every weekend, and at season’s end, a Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike Hardest Charger Champ will be determined by a look at the season’s total results. More details in the press release below!
TSN’s Motorcycle Experience show is also on board as a sponsor for 2019. It’s the 30th year for Motorcycle Experience on TSN, and the show is celebrating by supporting the growing Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike series. Last year, Jake LeClair won the Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike title on a Yamaha R3. He’s moved on to Amateur Sport Bike on a Yamaha-sponsored R6, so there’ll be a new winner in the series this year. More deets in the presser below!
Press release
Parts Canada continue support for CSBK in 2019
Parts Canada will continue to sponsor the 2019 Mopar CSBK National motorcycle roadracing Championship series, continuing to support the Amateur Sport Bike National Championship class.
The Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike Championship series for middleweight class machinery is one of the key development categories in National competition. In 2018, Luc Labranche of Mirabel, QC., aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6, narrowly edged Nicolas Meunier of Verdun, QC., Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja mounted, for the Parts Canada supported Championship.
Parts Canada will also continue to back an unusual initiative recognizing the “Hardest Charger” in Amateur Sport Bike action. A comparison of best lap times between Qualifying and each Race will determine the winner of the “Parts Canada Hardest Charger” for that event. Famed Italian supplier Alpinestars, exclusively distributed in Canada by Parts Canada, will provide the awards, including various items of pit support equipment.
Competitors will only be allowed to win this special bonus once per season, so in the case of a repeat best effort, the second best racer will get the Award. At the completion of the CSBK tour at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park August 12, the results for the season will be tabulated and an overall Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike Hardest Charger Champ will be crowned.
Parts Canada will also provide support for contests and social media giveaways prior to and during National events, encouraging participation by fans, spectators and competitors.
Parts Canada is a national distributor of aftermarket parts and accessories for the Canadian power sports industry. With distribution centers in Calgary, AB, and London, ON, Parts Canada have the ability to offer next day delivery from coast to coast.
Parts Canada are long-time supporters of motorcycle sport in Canada, and currently back Yamaha YZF-R6 mounted Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike National Double Champ Tomas Casas of Peterborough, ON.
In 2019, works Fast Company Suzuki superbike racer Trevor Daley of Mississauga, ON, also joins the Parts Canada support team. Daley will concentrate on the Feature Mopar Pro Superbike category with his 2019 GSX-R1000 racer bikes.
Among the products offered by Parts Canada are HJC, Z1R, Icon, Alpinestars, Thor, Hot Bodies Racing, Drag Specialties, Rinehart Racing, Yoshimura, Moose and DP Brakes.
The 2019 Mopar CSBK tour kicks off at Shannonville Motorsport Park east of Belleville, ON, May 16-19. Shannonville hosted the second-ever Canadian National Superbike event on September 21, 1980.
Reigning National overall number one plate holder Jordan Szoke of Lynden, ON., has won the opening race at Shannonville for the past six years and aims to make it seven in a row in his debut on the Express Lane Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja Superbike.
Press release
TSN’s “Motorcycle Experience” Title sponsor for Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike in 2019
TSN’s “Motorcycle Experience” program celebrates their 30th anniversary of broadcast on The Sports Network in 2019, and part of the festivities surrounding this milestone with include the support of the Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike class on the 2019 Mopar CSBK National motorcycle road racing tour.
“Motorcycle Experience” host Dave Hatch of Picton, ON, also the owner of Whistlestop Productions, who have created a wide range of broadcast programs, including shows focused on music, technology and sports, beyond “Motorcycle Experience.”
“I think that Amateur Sport Bike is a good fit for our show,” confirmed Hatch, a former competitor in the Shannonville Motorsport Park, ON, based RACE SuperSeries. “This class centres on the rising stars of Canadian competition, and there is also a lot of focus on the lightweight class of machinery in terms of street bikes as well as in competition these days.”
The Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike category is for very lightly modified, street-bike based racers below 500cc’s displacement. The class is built around Kawasaki Ninja 250, 300 and 400 bikes, as well as Honda singles and twins and the Yamaha YZF-R3 twin.
Last season, Jake LeClair from Blackstock, ON, scored the inaugural Ltwt National Championship aboard a Yamaha, earning the very first bLU cRU Factory Ride award. Yamaha Canada are supporting LeClair as he climbs the ladder to the Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike category with his sponsored 600cc Yamaha YZF-R6.
TNS’s “Motorcycle Experience” is known for their moto, “the voice of motorcyclists everywhere,” and have long supported two-wheel sport. The original version of the TSN magazine show, “Motorcycle Rider,” sponsored a Grand Prix class at Shannonville in 1993.
Hatch will be on hand at the Shannonville Motorsport Park National opener May 17-19, presenting awards on the podium to the top finishers in TSN’s “Motorcycle Experience” Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike event. Each National weekend features two races for the Ltwt racers, one on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday.
As well as supporting the CSBK tour in 2019, TSN’s Motorcycle Experience will be on hand at the Toronto Sheraton Airport Hotel and Conference Centre for the 14th annual Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame event November 2. This event is the kick-off for the 40th anniversary of Superbike racing in Canada, 1980-2020.
“I have been involved in the Superbike series over the years in a number of roles, and I look forward to celebrating this anniversary with some of the founders of the sport in Canada,” explained Hatch. “Canadian motorcyclists have a great story to tell, and the Superbike racers are certainly some of our best story tellers.”
In 2019, TSN’s “Motorcycle Experience” 30th anniversary season is supported by Kawasaki, Honda, BMW, Yamaha and Olympia riding gear. This season’s episodes recently went into broadcast rotation on TSN, and are available at the “Motorcycle Experience” web site.
