CANADIAN HARLEY-DAVIDSON XR1200 CUP SERIES PREVIEW
ImprovIng wIth age T
EvErgrEEn CrEviEr goEs for third straight titlE By John Hopkins
here’s life in the old dog yet. Almost a quarter-century after scoring his first national Superbike title in 1989, Steve Crevier continues to be one of the biggest stars of Canadian road racing.
This summer the Maple Ridge, BC veteran is pursuing a third
straight crown in the Canadian Harley-Davidson XR1200 Cup Se- ries. Crevier is, in fact, the only winner in the history of the category, which was launched in 2011. But this season he will likely face the toughest threat to his supremacy. The XR1200 Cup features all riders aboard Harley-
Davidson’s XR1200 or XR1200X motorcycles. A spec Vance & Hines performance kit is part of the package, and teams are also able to upgrade suspension, hand and foot controls, brake components, and instrumentation. The class has run as part of both the British Superbike Cham- pionship and AMA Pro Superbike Series, and a special non-championship race as part of the Indianapolis Mo- toGP weekend is one of the highlights of the program. Crevier gave the category instant star power when it
was launched in 2011, running a bike with backing from Kingston shop MotoSport Plus and the tuning expertise of longtime Superbike wrench Pete Snell. After a winter of in- decision, Crevier returned to defend his crown last year, continuing with MotoSport Plus but without Snell’s techni- cal assistance. Instead, former class competitor Dan Thomson led the crew and the result was the same, as Crevier won all but one race en route to the crown. If Crevier is to be toppled from his throne, the challenge
will most likely come from one of his fellow racing veterans in the series. Last year Crevier’s former Superbike sparring partner Michael Taylor ended his retirement and joined the class with the support of Oshawa, Ont.’s Mackie Harley- Davidson. The Toronto rider took a little time getting up to speed, but was starting to look ready to steal a victory from the champ when he broke his leg in a practice fall at Le Cir- cuit Mont-Tremblant. Back to full health and with a year on the XR1200 under his belt, Taylor could be ready to make a run at the title. Darren James has competed aboard virtually every
Harley-Davidson racing motorcycle that has been on the track in the past decade or so, and he could also figure in the XR1200 title reckoning. The Vancouver racer has had in- jury dent his challenge in the first two years of the XR1200 Cup, but when fully healthy he can run with the likes of Crevier and Taylor. Last year James was joined by John Ross McRae in the
Ruthless Racing team, and the young Calgarian showed he could also run at the front of the class, finishing on the podium three times. He could be considered an outside shot for the 2013 title. Another young racer to make progress last summer was
Ottawa’s Elie Daccache, who cracked the top three in the final weekend of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Daccache is back this year under the umbrella of Harley-Davidson de l’Outaouais and Freedom Harley-David- son in Ottawa. Also expected back is East Coast star Blaise Fougere,
who will run with the support of the Atlantic Harley-David- son Retailers. The likeable Fougere had a top finish of fourth at his home track of Atlantic Motorsport Park in 2012 and should come into the new season in a more confident frame of mind.
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Steve Crevier (top) is looking for a third consecutive Harley-Davidson XR1200 Cup Se- ries championship. Fellow former Superbike champ Michael Taylor (above) will be among the racers looking to dethrone Crevier.
The XR1200 Cup Series encourages dealer backing of competi-
tors, and to that end the pot has been sweetened for 2013 with the announcement of up to $3,000 in co-op for retailers supporting rac- ers in the national series. The addition of more riders to the class this summer should pro-
vide for some excellent racing and make it even tougher for Crevier to achieve his three-peat.
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