Parts Canada Superbike Championship

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan based 18 year old Pro motorcycle racer Brett McCormick will join the AMA Pro American Superbike series, riding for the Jordan Suzuki team. McCormick will make his debut at the upcoming third event of the season at Road Atlanta, near Braselton, Georgia, April 17-18.
 
McCormick tested for the team, owned by legendary basketball Superstar Michael Jordan, at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point, near San Francisco, CA, for the past two days.  With long time Jordan racer Aaron Yates injured during the previous round of the tour at Auto Club Speedway outside Los Angles, CA., last weekend, the opportunity opened up for McCormick to join the squad as a substitute for Yates.

Jordan team leader Yates was injured on Sunday morning, March 28, during the warm-up session for race four of the American Superbike series. Yates crashed in the infield of the road course, and was run over by a competitor who he had just passed.  The incident broke both bones in Yates' lower leg, the tibia in two places.  Yates is expected to be out of action for around two months after surgery that lasted six hours.

For McCormick, the opportunity to ride for the Jordan team was a much needed positive career swing.  The Jordan squad fields two Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbikes, and the other team entry, ridden by Jake Zemke and sponsored by the National Guard, is currently leading the series points standings.

McCormick was runner up in both the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike division in 2009, his third year as a Pro road race competitor on the Canadian National tour.  However the Blackfoot Suzuki squad folded during the past off season, leaving top prospect McCormick looking for work.  A potential job on the Superbike World Championship trail aboard a privateer Ducati looked promising, but a more experienced European racer got the job at the last minute.

So McCormick headed for the AMA Pro series opener at Daytona at the start of March, financing his own effort with the help of Picotte Racing of Granby, QC, entering Suzuki equipment he had raced in Canada during 2009.  Strong performances in practice and qualifying, as well as a seventh in the second Superbike race, helped attract attention.  Race rookie McCormick was also a pace setter in the 69th running of the famed Daytona 200, setting fastest lap and looking set for a top five finish before a minor tip over ended his night.

That effort earned McCormick a fill-in ride with Celtic Racing at Auto Club Speedway, piloting another Suzuki GSX-R1000 for top privateer outfit Celtic Racing.  Adapting to a new machine and missing track time in his debut at the venue due to a blown engine, McCormick wound up placing 12th in the opening race.

He then made a host of changes to the 2009 Suzuki, earning a very competitive seventh overall in race two.  More than his result however, his televised battle for position with veterans Ben Bostrom and Chris Ulrich helped convince the Jordan team to give “the kid” a try out. 

McCormick’s strong seventh best effort on track at the Infineon tests convinced the Jordan squad to give the Canuk a race ride for the next few races on the 2010 AMA Pro tour.