Today, the Canadian Superbike series was supposed to start Day 1 of its traditional doubleheader of racing in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia (as we told you here). Unfortunately, that isn’t happening, due to disastrous rainfall in Nova Scotia. The racing has been canceled, and currently, raceteams are stranded at the track while organizers are figuring out what to do next.
We do not use that word “disastrous” lightly—a CBC report suggests this is the heaviest rain Halifax has seen since Hurricane Beth in 1971. Some areas near Halifax got as many as 250 mm of rain over only 5-7 hours, CBC says. Flooding is prevalent in the region; cars are abandoned on Highway 101; and a dam in Windsor was actually at risk of breaching, at one point.
Atlantic Motorsports Park, CSBK’s home for the weekend, lies not-far north of Halifax, in Shubenacadie. That area took its own pasting from the rain, and a bridge along the road to the track has been washed out because of the storm. See the post from the sARL Facebook page below (sARL=Society of Atlantic Roadracing League, Nova Scotia’s regional moto roadracing series).
Obviously, emergency personnel are already busy dealing with trouble across this whole area, and ambulances would be unable to reach the track in case of a crash. Even without such dangers to think of, the track facility itself is currently unusable, with gravel all over the track at the end of the Rollercoaster section, thanks to the train.
With all that in mind, we have this statement from Canadian Superbike officials:
The third round of the Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia has been officially cancelled, effective immediately.
CSBK officials made the difficult decision early Saturday morning, July 22, to cancel the event for the remainder of the weekend due to a “force majeure” situation regarding extreme rainfall and flooding in the area, specifically resulting in catastrophic damage to the roadway and bridge area in and out of the facility.
The safety of all participants, staff, and fans on site remains the top priority of all CSBK officials, and anyone on site is advised to shelter-in-place while local authorities work to repair the road surface exiting the racetrack.
More rainfall is expected throughout Saturday and Sunday, with evacuation warnings in some nearby areas due to potential flash flooding, including nearby Elmsdale, Nova Scotia just outside the facility.
“This week has offered extremely challenging circumstances due to persistent rain, and local flooding is a major concern,” CSBK founder Colin Fraser said. “It has rained non-stop for the last 18 hours, and most of the staff and local racers could not access the venue due to the many damaged roads and bridges.”
“We want to thank all of our competitors and fans for their patience during this unprecedented time, and we look forward to round four at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park,” Fraser added.
It will be determined at a later date if and/or how the race and broadcast schedule for each of the seven national classes will be affected moving forward.
More details will be provided when available.
We’ll share more when we know more.
Roads are open again, everyone is home (or on their way).