Calabogie, ON – May 24, 2009

Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Motorsports had a great opening to the 2009 season, with new rider Brett McCormick a close second in the Superbike and in the Pro 600 Superbike Race.

After a promising testing session in Florida in April, this first set of results exceeded the expectations of the team principals, even though Brett himself wanted more, especially in the Superbike race.

Team owner, manager and riding coach Pascal Picotte was more than satisfied with the whole event. “I was close to reliving my own 2003 season, with all of the team’s resources focused on only one rider, so that information gets quickly turned into corrections on the bike and we can immediately see if it improved the bike or not. Working with McCormick, a relative rookie, proved to be an advantage according to Picotte. “The kid is like a sponge, he absorbs all that we say and just goes out and applies it immediately, with no preset ideas to get in the way. Brett is focused on the job, thinks through his comments and tells us in clear terms what he feels on the bike.”

In the Pro 600 Sport Bike race, McCormick finished second to Jordan Szoke, after not matching his own qualifying pace during the race. Second place after a race-long battle with Kevin Lacombe provided little consolation. “We were right with Jordan all week end in terms of speed, but not actually quicker on the 600 – like we were on the Superbike. We just ran out of development time, so I could not quite match his pace. We’ll be ahead next time out!”

In Superbike, Brett took the lead on the second lap and stayed ahead of Szoke for the next 14 of the 16 lap race. “It’s disappointing to lead the whole race and then lose it on the last lap,” the runner-up finisher said. “I was managing the lead a little bit but the bike felt good.” In fact, McCormick was hindered slightly by a lapped rider on the last lap, while second place man Szoke was obviously pushing hard and managed to slip by the Suzuki. A frustrated McCormick was unable to get back in front despite some pretty ambitious passing attempts on the outside of the leader, and ended up 0.133 sec behind at the end.

Overall, McCormick is convinced that victories in both classes are there for the picking. “The green bikes are good, but our team is awesome at every level, with Pascal, Paul Fournier, suspension man Mike Fitzgerald and all of the guys working incredibly hard and having fun in the bargain. We can still find a lot of speed in our bike, and I can’t wait for the next race!”

Picotte saw a lot in McCormick’s riding in the two races. “I suspect that Brett was feeling the pressure a little bit in the 600 race, but it all came good for the Superbike, where he stayed just clear of Szoke for the whole race, and was unlucky with the lapped rider, but also wise enough to remain second rather than risk throwing it down the road with an over aggressive banzaï move. I am pumped, and so is the team!”

Round 2 of the 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship is set for June 12-14, at the Circuit ICAR near Montreal.

This weekend’s races will be shown on TSN and TSN HD, on Tuesday, June 16 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and repeated Saturday, June 20 at 4:00 a.m. Eastern. The event will also be televised on RDS. Check local listings for dates and times.