Some racing news for you. First up, LeClair Bros Racing has just announced Jake LeClair (pictured above) is going to be racing in CSBK’s Pro Sportbike series for 2020, riding for Yamaha Motor Canada.
It’s just the latest step in an exciting career for LeClair, who’s gone from the 2018 Lightweight Sport Bike championship to second overall in CSBK’s Amateur Sport Bike series in 2019. After that, LeClair also took in the VR46 Yamaha Master Camp, run at MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s Italian “motor ranch.” Obviously, he’s fast, and people are noticing, if Yamaha’s inviting him to its prestigious racing school.
For 2020, Jake LeClair will be aboard an R6 in the Pro Sport Bike. By the sound of things, longtime Yammie rider Tomas Casas is focusing on the Pro Superbike class for 2020 and not racing his supersport, meaning Yamaha had room to put a new rider into the 600 series. This should shake things up a lot; Casas has been at the front of the supersport series for a while now (second overall in 2019, champion in 2018), so there’s room for new talent to prove itself.
As for Ben LeClair, he’s also moving up the ladder. Ben won the 2019 Lightweight Sport Bike series, and will be riding an R6 in the Amateur Sport Bike series for 2020. Are the LeClair brothers going to conquer the Canadian roadracing scene, with the help of Yamaha? Maybe …
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Over to the MotoAmerica championship, where Canadian rider Alex Dumas has announced he’s re-upped with Team Hammer for 2020.
Dumas is on a massive tear, having taken the 2019 Twins series in MotoAmerica on a Suzuki SV650, and the Junior Cup the season before that on a KTM RC390. Now, he’s going to be aboard a litrebike.
For 2020, Dumas will ride in the Stock 1000 series, aboard an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000. Sounds like a big jump from an SV650, but Dumas has been hooning around California’s CVMA series on litrebikes this winter, racing at Chuckwalla to hone his skills.
By the way, if you want to buy the SV650 that Dumas raced last year, it’s for sale. Team Hammer has it for sale for $26,500 US. Upgrades include MoTec M84 Engine Management, MoTec CDL3 dash,  2mm overbore engine, additional oil cooler, Dymag wheels (including a spare set), high-volume air box, 3D-printed carbon fibre ram air tubes, and M4 exhaust. Team Hammer also provides set-up notes with the bike. A cool bike, for sure, but probably not terribly practical unless you’re planning a run at the IOMTT or MotoAmerica—it’d be a little much for most club-level racing in Canada, probably.
