When Saskatoon motorcycle road
racing star Brett McCormick made his off-season switch from the
Canadian Kawasaki Motors program to the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot /
Picotte Racing squad, many experts in the business questioned his
judgement.
After all, they argued, how can you leave a team that has won the
past three Parts Canada Superbike Championship titles for an
outfit that hasn’t even won a national Superbike race since
2005? But it turns out McCormick may be a bit smarter than the
pundits.
Two races into the 2009 campaign the 17-year-old has a win and a
second place finish to his credit and is leading the Parts Canada
Superbike standings heading into the third round of the series at
Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park June 26-28.
“It’s gone about as well as it could have gone,” says
McCormick of his early season performances. “I really can’t
complain. When you switch teams there’s always an adjustment.
Everybody always has their little doubts and you really never know
how it’s going to go. But I wouldn’t say I doubted the
decision. I knew that I could get the riding part done and I just
needed a team that could put the bikes under me.”
McCormick was the hottest young talent in Canadian racing when he
joined the Canadian Kawasaki Motors factory squad for the 2007
season, where he was teamed with Brantford, Ont.’s Jordan Szoke.
The rookie lived up to the hype in that first year, running away
with the HJC Pro Rookie of the Year Award and finishing fifth in
Superbike points while Szoke claimed his second straight Parts
Canada title.
Last year was a frustrating one for McCormick, however. Injuries
dogged him from early in the season and he was forced out of the
key doubleheader at Mosport International Raceway after a big
crash.
He ended 2008 in fine style, however, claiming pole position in
the final two races at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie,
N.S. and Shannonville Motorsport Park, and claiming his first
career national Superbike win at Shannonville.
“Last year was a tough year, no question,” McCormick admits.
“It was a character builder. But I learned from it. I just have
to take one race at a time, leave the last one behind and keep
going forward.
“It seemed like a long time since I had won a race and I think
getting the pole at Shubie was a stepping stone.”
And despite surrounding himself with a new crew McCormick was able
to carry that end of season momentum into 2009. He was on the pace
at the official preseason tests in Jennings, Fla. at the end of
April and he came out flying for the Parts Canada Superbike season
opener at Calabogie Motorsports Park, qualifying on pole and
leading until the final lap on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 before Szoke
snuck by.
“We actually struggled a little bit at Jennings but by the end
of the Calabogie weekend everything was clicking,” McCormick
says. “It was disappointing to lose the race like that, but it
was a great weekend for us.
It was my first race weekend with the team and I was pretty happy
with what we accomplished.”
At round two of the national series on the new Circuit ICAR in
Mirabel, Que. McCormick was not to be denied. He was quickest in
every session and took the lead on the second lap on his way to
victory.
“At Calabogie we were on top quite a bit of the weekend and
finishing second was pretty heartbreaking,” he says. “But that
just made me stronger going into Mirabel. It told me that I had to
work harder if I was going to win.”
In the Suzuki team McCormick has the benefit of the tutelage of
team manager Pascal Picotte, a two-time Canadian Superbike
champion who also tasted success in the United States. The two
have quickly formed a strong bond that has helped things gel
quickly in the squad.
“When it comes to talking to the crew every rider has his own
language and with a new team it can take some time to work the
bugs out,”
McCormick explains. “But Pascal and I seemed to understand each
other pretty well right from the start. Now we practically read
each other’s minds.”
While Picotte has contributed to McCormick’s overall racing
development the teenager feels it is in the area of setting up the
motorcycle that he has learned the most.
“The biggest thing has been my ability to give the team
feedback,”
he explains. “And Pascal has helped me learn how to do that. But
he also is very clear with me on what changes are being made and
any time the crew makes an adjustment he makes sure I understand
why it’s being done. So I’ve come a long way already in
understanding how the bike works and how to set it up.
“Maybe I’m hungrier to win this year too. I know I’m in a
position where I need to win races and I have a desire to learn
the stuff that’s going to help me do that.”
McCormick is clearly a rider on the fast track in the racing world
and a career outside of Canada surely beckons. But he is not
letting that distract him from his focus for the remainder of the
2009 season.
“I don’t know what next year’s going to bring,” he says.
“I’ve still got a lot more winning to do in Canada and I’m
just going to worry about that. I just want to focus on doing well
here. As for the other stuff, I don’t lose sleep over it.”
