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VOL. 51 ISSUE 21 MAY 28, 2014 P129 looked strong, as did Steve Crevier. The possibility of a Canadian winning was an exciting prospect for every- one on hand. Added to that was former GP star Mike Baldwin show- ing up, almost unexpectedly on a factory Bimota. The anticipation of the race was intense. The crowd almost came over the fences in exhilara- tion, jumping and shouting, when they realized it was Duhamel and McMurter giving close chase to World Superbike Champion Merkel on the opening lap. Du- hamel was all over Merkel on the second lap, getting his Suzuki sideways more than a few times. Not content to sit behind Merkel, Duhamel tried running around the outside of Merkel's Honda in a high-speed sweeping right-hand turn, then hit a bump and low-sided off the track, the bike barrel rolling. Merkel continued to be hounded by McMurter. On lap seven a roar came up from the crowd that could be heard all across the grounds. McMurter was leading his home World Superbike race. He'd made a perfect draft and slingshot pass on Merkel at the end of the back straightaway. McMurter would later say that running against world- class riders made him try all that much harder. His lead only lasted one lap, however. Merkel made the very same draft move on McMurter on the back straight and then once the leaders started hitting traffic Merkel was able to gradually pull away to a six-second lead. Meanwhile, Falappa was being Falappa. At one point he arrived way too hot to a turn and ran wide. But the ex-motocrosser saw no problem in running through the dirt. He merely stayed on the gas and pulled his bucking Bimota back onto the track, not looking back, instead depending on the coming riders to avoid him. Crevier nearly collided with Falappa when he pulled right back down into the racing line, not yet up to speed. Merkel wheelied his Honda across the finish line in victory. Frenchman Raymond Roche got by McMurter to finish second on a Ducati, but the fans were thrilled to have a Canadian on the podium in race one. In race two it was Falappa who seemed to figure the track out after his race one off-track excursion. And he and Merkel battled mightily back and forth swapping the lead. McMurter sat and watched patiently in a close third, not wanting any part of the pushing and shoving going on in front of him. The crowd ate it up. If you watch the TV broadcast you can hear them cheering as the leaders ride past crowded hillsides. Baldwin made a gearing change in his Bimota and ran a solid fourth much of race two before eventually settling for sixth after being nipped by Pirovano and Stephane Mertens at the line. The battle for the win between the leading trio of Falappa, Merkel and McMurter came down to the final set of turns. The three came upon lapper Don Vance. Falappa never flinched and swept around Vance with barely inches to spare. Merkel was balked ever so slightly by Vance, allowing McMurter to move up to his rear wheel. Merkel made one last stab at getting Falappa out of the last turn, but his Honda went side- ways and not only did he lose out on getting Falappa, but McMurter was able to sneak underneath him to steal away second, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. On the surface the return of World Championship motorcycle road racing to Canada seemed to be a resounding success, but not all was well. Behind the scenes World Superbike riders complained vigorously about the barrier-lined circuit. Terry Rymer had a terri- fying crash, exploding hay bales that lined the Armco. Some changes were made, but not enough. The rid- ers raced there again in 1990, but in '91 the race was boycotted by the World Superbike regulars (which is how Pascal Picotte and Tom Kipp got their names added to the list of World Superbike winners) and with that the race died. In retrospect it's a shame the track was not able to work up to the needed safety standards. Canada proved that it would support a World Championship road race in a big way and had there been the will on the part of track ownership, Canada might have be- come a regular stop on the World Superbike calendar. But for a shining moment in 1989 the motorcycle-rac- ing world turned its eyes to Canada and it produced a memorable World Superbike weekend. CN MOSPORT '89 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives