Shaw-O’Leary seals the deal

By John Hopkins

SHUBENACADIE, N.S. – When local star Austin Shaw-O’Leary crashed his Dua Motorsport / GoLo Racing Honda CBR600RR during Inside Motorcycles Amateur Sport Bike practice on Sunday morning at Atlantic Motorsport Park, a collective groan went up from the partisan crowd.

The 16-year-old from Falmouth, N.S. had been the sensation of the third round of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship to that point, dominating practice and qualifying for both the Amateur Sport Bike and Bazzaz Amateur Superbike classes. Had the fairy tale come to an end?

Not by a long shot.

Undaunted, the plucky Shaw-O’Leary jumped on a Kawasaki ZX-6R borrowed from local Pro Ron Munroe and completed his dream weekend by winning both Amateur Nationals in convincing fashion. The wins were his first National level victories and marked Shaw-O’Leary out as a real star of the future on the Canadian scene.

“It’s been a dream weekend,” said a grinning Shaw-O’Leary on Sunday evening. “I didn’t think I’d do this well. I’m a little sore from this morning and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get back out, but I was so glad to get back on a bike.

“I’ve waited such a long time for my first national win. I’m just ecstatic about it.”

The accident in turn nine damaged the front end of the Honda and left Shaw-O’Leary walking with a slight limp. He skipped the Amateur Superbike practice later Sunday morning, so his first real laps on the Kawasaki were in the Amateur Sport Bike race.

Despite a long delay due to a red flag on lap six of the race, which negated a huge lead for Shaw-O’Leary, the youngster did it again in the six-lap restart. He took the lead early in the first lap and pulled away at the rate of about a second a lap. Initially he was chased by the Hornblower Racing / Blue Streak Racing / ProPulsion Yamaha YZF-R6 of Will Hornblower, but on lap four series points leader Philippe Masse got ahead on his Racingphil.com / Pete’s Superbike Kawasaki ZX-6R. The St-Hyacinthe, Que. rider was unable to make any more of an impression on Shaw-O’Leary than Hornblower had, and finished 6.553 secs. behind, with Sarnia, Ont.’s Hornblower third.

Shaw-O’Leary grabbed the Performance Under Gear Performer of the Race Award for his effort.

The fan favourite had to work a little harder to get his Amateur Superbike win. Initially he had to overcome the challenge of the Robinson Racing / Gym-Max BMW S1000RR of Tim Robinson, then hunt down and take the lead from an impressive Trevor Daley on the One Speed / Riders Choice Suzuki GSX-R1000. Once in front on lap five of 10, Shaw-O’Leary again pulled away to a 6.732-sec. win over Daley, with Masse third.

Both Shaw-O’Leary and Daley were presented with $1000 Dua Motorsports contingency payback awards, while the winner also received a bike ramp courtesy of national series title sponsor Mopar.

Shaw-O’Leary now finds himself in the title picture for the Amateur Sport Bike class. His win moved him up to second with 119 points, while Masse leads with 151. Hornblower is third on 113.

The climb is greater in Amateur Superbike, where Daley now has 137 points to the 107 of Masse, while Shaw-O’Leary is fourth with 80.

Shaw-O’Leary was gracious in his thanks to Munroe, saying “Without Ron being so generous I wouldn’t be out here.”

But Munroe was quick to deflect the praise.

“I didn’t make anything possible,” he pointed out. “Austin made it possible. I just gave him what he needed to go and do it.”

The weekend was perhaps best summed up by a magnanimous Daley, who said of Shaw-O’Leary, “He had awesome pace all weekend. I’m just happy I stayed ahead of him as long as I did.”

Amateur Sport Bike Results

Amateur Superbike Results

Amateur Sport Bike Point Standings

Amateur Superbike Point Standings