ESMRA Kicks Off The Opening Weekend of the First Ever Supermoto Can/Am: Eastern North American Championship

It all began with a conversation after an ESMRA event at Batavia in 2008. The discussion was about how convenient Batavia International Motorsports Park was for its Canadian patrons and somehow a joke was told by Batavia curator, Chris Ranson, about how the event might as well have been a Can/Am. As everyone laughed, ESMRA CEO Tony Murray said: “Chris, you might just be on the right track!” Tony told Chris that he would think on it but, it might be something that could be put in play by the 2009 supermoto season. After careful thought, in November 2008, Tony Murray began contacting promoters in both the United States and Canada, whom he knew had held supermoto events during the season. By the end of March 2009, all the promoters had taken a joke, turned it into an idea, and developed a concept which all carried forward and created the first ever supermoto Can/Am series: The Eastern North American Championship!

Opening weekend: Saturday, June 13, 2009, under partly cloudy skies, ESMRA in conjunction with Dunlop presented a supermoto school with instructor Mark Burkhart of Monster Energy Burkhart HMC Racing and special guest, motorcycling legend, Doug Henry. Jason DiSalvo, nationally acclaimed Super biker with Team M4 EMGO Suzuki, gave aid to Mr. Burkhart and Mr. Henry during this exceptional day of instruction. Every school participant that was spoken to stated that they learned more than they thought possible and described the school and the day as an invaluable experience. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Treharne of Subway, NY and Bob Trimper of Batavia International Motorsports Park, everyone’s lunch and open practice were included with their paid school fees. Interestingly enough but, to no surprise, most who participated in the school were completely worn out by the time open practice began.

Race day: Sunday, June 14, 2009, amidst sunny skies and ideal temperatures, round 1 of the first ever supermoto Can/Am was set to begin. Expert and amateur riders from Quebec to Detroit were in attendance and ready to participate; and, participate they did. The Canadian – American battle had begun! Three of the four official 2009 Can/Am classes ran in round 1, with the Canadians’ Maxime Sylvestre taking the top honors in the SMX Open Class, and the Americans’ Greg Hunt and Mike Treharne taking the top honors in the Open Amateur and Open Novice Classes, respectively. Overall, it was a fantastic day of racing by all involved and a great start to a newly introduced, all promoter sponsored, international series!

Not only was Sunday the first ever supermoto Can/Am but, it was also ESMRA’s Race #5. All riders from ESMRA, 408 Racing, MiSupermoto and Mecagliss? were able to participate in the remaining nine (9) classes of ESMRA’s race day. This was a weekend of many firsts, great comradery, and lots of excitement.

For more information on any of the upcoming rounds of The Eastern North American Championship, please visit www.esmra.com or contact Tony Murray – tony_esmra@comcast.net or contact Sonja Lifsey – sonja_esmra@comcast.net.

ESMRA's gratitudes:

First, we would like to thank the all of the riders and spectators that came out to support this event.

Second, we have to thank Batavia International Motorsports Park for allowing the event to be held at their facility.

Third, ESMRA would like to thank Les Washbon with Dunlop, Mark Burkhart, Doug Henry, and Jason DiSolvo for making this past weekend one of the most memorable weekends that we will never forget.

Fourth, we would like to thank CJB Photography & Wheeling Cycle Supply for your long travels and being there during this two day weekend event. We know your presence there helped make for a better race day for all the riders and their families.

Fifth, Tony & I would like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Treharne and Subway for the great food that was supplied for the Supermoto School on Saturday.

Sixth, we would like to thank all of the promoters that are contributing their time and energy into making this series a reality.

Seventh, we would like to give a special thanks to Chris Ranson. Without your joke, this Can/Am idea might not have existed.

Eighth, we would like to thank Scott w/ SMR Magazine for allowing us to use his great photos of Mark Burkhart for the Opening Weekend Plaques.

Nineth, we would like to thank Drew w/ Crush Grafix for helping with continual updates to the ESMRA website so that we could make sure everyone was completely up to date with all of the details.

In closing, to all of those that we are forgeting to thank, please accept our apologies. We, ESMRA, know and are aware that we could not have made this past weekend a success without each and every one of you, your help, your time, and your dedication!!!!