SpECiAL FEATurE: mEmOrABLE mOmENTS
and was seen by AMA Superbike team owner Eraldo Ferracci, who as a result put Szoke on one of his Ducatis later in the year. Back in Canada, meanwhile, Szoke would also triumph at Circuit
St-Felicien as he took his first of what now stands at eight national Superbike titles.
shannonville motorsPort Park, 1998 munroe’s Farewell
It wasn’t so much the race as what it signified – the end of Don
Munroe’s career. The Nova Scotian had been at the centre of Kawasaki’s success through the 1990s, winning Superbike titles in 1995 and ’97 and stringing together five Canadian 600cc Sport Bike crowns between 1994 and 1998. In 1997 he had swept all three na- tional Pro classes, winning the Open Sport Bike title on a ZX-6R. But apart from being a great racer Munroe was a classy person. He was always generous with his time, always measured in his
It looked like Jeff Williams had his second Superbike win of the
season. The Kawasaki rider crossed the start/finish line at the end of the scheduled final lap at Atlantic Motorsport Park in front of a spec- tacular lead battle. Only problem was, there was no checkered flag. In the excitement of the lead battle the flag was never shown, and
the pack battled on around the Nova Scotia track one more time. This time the checkered flag did come out, but now it was Jordan Szoke in front on his Honda CBR900RR. It was a cruel twist of fate for Kingston rider Williams, while Szoke celebrated his third win in a row.
mosPort international raceway, 2000
“holy Frank trombino” After a decade of Kawasaki domina-
tion the goalposts got moved in Cana- dian Superbike racing in 2000. Honda spared no expense in bringing in its fearsome RC51 twin and lining up a squad that included Jordan Szoke and returning champion Steve Crevier, who had been away for six years. True to predictions the RC51s were
almost unbeatable, but one of only two times they were beaten was at Mosport, when Frank Trombino scored a popular first career national win on the Brooklin
comments and always respectful of his rivals. When I spoke with him a few hours after his final race he was calm and thoughtful. I re- member writing that he was sorry his career was over, but he had no regrets. The time had come to stop racing and move onto an- other phase in his life. Indeed, he stepped away with no backward glances, a winner in his final Superbike race.
atlantic motorsPort Park, 1999 the win that never was
(Top) The win that wasn’t. Jeff Williams led what was scheduled to be the final lap at Atlantic Motorsport Park in 1999. Unfortunately for him, there was one more. (Above) The “Trombino Torpedo” – in 2000 Frank Trombino scored the first of an eventual two straight wins at Mosport on the Brooklin-prepared Yamaha YZF-R1.
PHOTOS BY COLIN FRASER 8
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