VOLUME 59 ISSUE 48 NOVEMBER 29, 2022 P65
T
he call came the day after
MotoAmerica Laguna
Seca 2022, from my old
Pikes Peak team manager,
Shane Pacillo.
"Hey, man. We've got an
RSV4 Factory and we're going to
race the last round of the Cana-
dian Superbike Championship.
You want to ride it?"
"Err, nah, I'm all good thanks,
mate."
After the mental-ness of the
Isle of Man TT, then a weekend
of Superhooligan-ing with the
crew at Roland Sands Design at
Laguna, more racing was about
the last thing I wanted.
Then, about five minutes after
I hung up the call to Shane, I
realized what an idiot I was.
I called Shane right back.
"I mean, yes! Yes, for sure.
Count me in. Don't give the ride
to someone else. I'll do it."
Opportunities to race are not
as frequent as you may think,
least of all a turn-key job like this
in a new country and at a leg-
endary venue like Canadian Tire
Motorsport Park, formerly known
as Mosport about an hour's drive
northeast of Toronto.
But there was more to this
than just a freebie ride for a
journo. Aprilia was essentially
conducting a fact-finding mission
about the possibility of racing
the CSBK Championship full
time next year as, until this time
of writing, CSBK was the only
championship in North America
in which Aprilia's 1100cc V4
could be legally raced against
the hordes of regular 1000cc
four-cylinder superbikes from
BMW, Suzuki, Yamaha and
Honda.
Rennie and the
Aprilia were
gelling like dance
partners, until
Rennie stepped
on her toes.
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK I PHOTOGRAPHY BY CSBK
GREAT NORTH
A DAY T RI P TO T HE
