All things considered Canada’s 18-year-old Brett McCormick had a strong showing at Daytona International Speedway this past week. Arriving on a shoe-string budget with his TK Picotte Racing Suzuki machines set up for Canadian spec and underpowered compared to his US rivals, the runner-up in the 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship was able to qualify his GSX-R1000 in 9th position for the Superbike competition and his GSX-R600 in 8th for the 69th running of the Daytona 200.
As for the actual races, the Saskatoon native was only able to finish one of three. In the 2010 AMA Superbike series opener on Thursday, won by Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Zemke, McCormick found himself battling it out early on with the M4 Monster Suzuki of Chris Ulrich for sixth spot. Unfortunately a mechanical problem on lap 6 of 15 put an end to the Canadian’s promising start. The week’s second superbike race on Friday, also won by Zemke, saw a more satisfying result for the sole Canuck entry, with McCormick placing a strong 8th amongst the higher powered factory American entries.
“I guess you could say I’m content, we did a good job,” said McCormick. “I was there, I was right with the leaders. But I couldn’t afford any kind of mistake, or I would lose their draft. Then John Hopkins went by me, he went off the track, and I made a small mistake – I lost touch.”
“I tried to make it back up but I couldn’t. Eventually the rear tire was pretty gone on the left side, and we just didn’t get a chance to work that tire in our limited practice. My gearing choice might have been a little tall, but in the end, I’m really happy with the effort. We weren’t far off.”
The Daytona 200, Friday night’s feature under the lights, saw the TK Picotte Suzuki rider starting the race on the second row and joining the lead group from the start. A slow pit stop later dropped him off the pace, but McCormick was still in the running for a strong result until he crashed at the chicane on lap 31 of 57. Though able to remount and continue, damage to his GSX-R600’s brake system forced McCormick to retire from his inaugural 200-mile effort— a bitter pill after a promising week at the legendary Speedway.
“I was pretty much through the corner when I fell,” said McCormick of the crash. “I just tucked the front end as I released the brakes. I wasn’t doing anything different, nothing had happened before in that section, so it was a surprise. The bike was really awesome, the best it had been during Speed Week. “I could slide it wherever I wanted, it was sick.”
“Maybe our bike was lacking just a little bit against the American equipment in terms of power, but it was close,” he added. “I had to be right there with them in the draft, and use the brakes to my advantage in a big way. But I could get them in the infield by using my mid-corner speed, reel them back in.”
“I really was thinking, if we could get a good pit stop, we could win this thing,” lamented McCormick. “This could be our race.”
As for what he plans to do now that his self funded Daytona effort has come to an end, last year’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship runner-up says he once again finds himself a loose ends.
“I guess you should say we’re looking for sponsors, some support,” admitted McCormick “Right now I’m out of my money, so we need some people to get on board. I can’t say enough about Pascal and the whole team – seriously, we were right there.”
2010 Daytona American Superbike Race 1 Results
- Jake Zemke (Suzuki)
- Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) +0.238
- Larry Pegram (Ducati) +0.259
- Aaron Yates (Suzuki) +0.291
- Blake Young (Suzuki) +0.307
- Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) +27.398
- Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) +27.43
- Shawn Higbee (Ducati) +1 lap
- Shane Narbonne (Suzuki) +9.078
- Barrett Long (Ducati) +16.377
- Chris Clark (Yamaha) +16.427
- Eric Haugo (Suzuki) +16.989
- Josh Hayes (Yamaha) +01:14.2
- Johnny Rock Page (Suzuki) +01:23.2
- Eric Pinson (BMW) +01:43.2
- Trent Gibson (Suzuki) +01:43.3
- Skip Salenius (Suzuki) +1 lap
- Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)
- Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) +6 laps
- Brett McCormick (Suzuki) +10 laps
- David Anthony (Suzuki) +14 laps
- Scott Jensen (Suzuki)
2010 Daytona American Superbike Race 2 Results
- Jake Zemke (Suz GSX-R1000), 15 laps
- Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), -0.009 second
- Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), -0.081
- Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -0.212
- Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), -0.858
- Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), -1.838 seconds
- Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), -22.383, ran off track twice
- Brett McCormick (Suz GSX-R1000), -29.235
- David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), -34.124
- Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -34.404
- Jeffrey Tigert (Hon CBR1000RR), -46.244
- Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), -46.486
- Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), -48.176
- Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), -78.778
- Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), -78.890
- Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R1), -79.303
- Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000), -80.553
- Trent Gibson (Suz GSX-R1000), -86.921
- Eric Pinson (BMW S1000 RR), -88.530
- Skip Salenius (Suz GSX-R1000), -110.336
- John Hopkins (Suz GSX-R1000), -9 laps, DNF, mechanical
- Shawn Higbee (Duc 1098R), -13 laps, DNF, crash
- Barrett Long (Duc 1098R), -14 laps, DNF, mechanical
2010 Daytona 200 Results
- Josh Herrin Yamaha YZF-R6 57 laps
- Dane Westby Yamaha YZF-R6 7.964
- Steve Rapp Ducati 848 24.496
- Danny Eslick Suzuki GSX-R600 40.973
- Kevin Coghlan Yamaha YZF-R6 1 lap
- Cory West Suzuki GSX-R600 1 lap
- Geoff May Suzuki GSX-R600 1 lap
- Shawn Higbee Buell 1125R 1 lap
- Taylor Knapp Ducati 848 2 laps
- Eric Wood Honda CBR600RR 2 laps
- Eric Haugo Yamaha YZF-R6 2 laps
- Ryan Patterson Yamaha YZF-R6 2 laps
- Bobby Fong Ducati 848 2 laps
- Ricky Orlando Kawasaki ZX-6R 2 laps
- Santiago Villa Suzuki GSX-R600 2 laps
- Paul James Buell 1125R 3 laps
- Andrea Padovani Ducati 848 3 laps
- Alex Lazo Yamaha YZF-R6 3 laps
- Dario Marchetti Ducati 848 3 laps
- Walt Sipp Buell 1125R 3 laps
- John Ashmead Kawasaki ZX-6R 4 laps
- Robert Vargas Kawasaki ZX-6R 4 laps
- Kyle Keesee Kawasaki ZX-6R 7 laps
- Calvin Martinez Yamaha YZF-R6 7 laps
- David Dumain Yamaha YZF-R6 8 laps
- Melissa Paris Yamaha YZF-R6 10 laps
- Brett McCormick Suzuki GSX-R600 26 laps
- Kris Turner Suzuki GSX-R600 27 laps
- David McPherson Yamaha YZF-R6 28 laps
- Barrett Long Kawasaki ZX-6R 33 laps
- Michael Barnes Yamaha YZF-R6 36 laps
- Tommy Aquino Yamaha YZF-R6 40 laps
- Reese Wacker Suzuki GSX-R600 42 laps
- Jeff Wood Suzuki GSX-R600 42 laps
- Craig Moodie Yamaha YZF-R6 47 laps
- Anthony Fania Jr. Suzuki GSX-R600 49 laps
- Fernando Amantini Kawasaki ZX-6R 56 laps
- Martin Cardenas Suzuki GSX-R600 57 laps
- Clinton Seller Yamaha YZF-R6 57 laps
- Josh Day Yamaha YZF-R6 57 laps
- P.J. Jacobsen Suzuki GSX-R600 57 laps
- Bostjan Skubic Yamaha YZF-R6 57 laps
- Russ Wikle Suzuki GSX-R600 57 laps
- Mark Crozier Ducati 848 57 laps
