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October 24, 2008 Lee's Knee is Healing Well! The knee is looking great and Lee is able to bend it about 50% already. Dr. Ian is
talking about going to one crutch from two and allowing some weight bearing while walking. A couple more weeks and he should
be walking unassisted. |
October 11, 2008 Lee Jr. Spotted In "Roadracing World"
Magazine! Thanks to a tip from our American friend and fellow
racer Nick G, we found out that there are two pictures of Lee Jr. with his name mentioned in the November 2008 Roadracing
World magazine. They can be found on page 120.
|
October 1, Lee Jr. Is Home Recovering from His Knee Surgery Lee Jr. went in yesterday for his knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus which was
due to his crash a while back at the Schubenacadie Superbike National. They also found a tab of cartlidge that needed to be
shaved down as it was catching also. He is home and really bummed
as he will not be able to walk on the leg for 5-6 weeks. They were able to repair the meniscus so there are stitches in the
knee joint which would tear from walking pressure. Looks like he will be buzzing around college in a wheel chair for the next
few weeks. Lee will be going in next week
to get the stitches out and should be starting physio then also. Thanks to Dr. Ian Eix(Highside Healthcare) for expediting
Lee's visit with the surgeon and the ice machine which controls the swelling and helps speed the healing process. We also
want to thank Dr. Manoj Bhargava for squeezing Lee in for surgery without making him wait months and months.
|
September 29, Lee Jr. Rips On His New Suzuki SV650! Lee finally had the chance to get out on his Suzuki SV650 this past weekend at the
R.A.C.E. Superseries final round at Shannonville Motorsports Park. Lee had
not even ridden an SV or even started the bike until Saturday morning at the track. He did however adapt to the bike very
quickly considering he had never run on the pro track before. With a total of 26 laps on the pro track over the
two days, Lee went from running 1:38's on Saturday morning to 1:14's in the final race Sunday. He ended up 14th in middleweight
sportsman, but was running quicker lap times than 4 riders in front of him. This was amazing for only having such a limited
number of laps on the bike. It should be very exciting racing
for Lee next year in the SV Cup class.
|
September 24, Toolee Motorsports In The Press! |
September 23, Toolee Motorsports Supports New Canadian Youth Road Race Team!
Lee Kuhn Jr. Motorsports would like to announce the formation of
their new team for 2009 and beyond, Toolee Motorsports. The team will consist of 20yr old Lee Kuhn Jr. of Hamilton, Ontario,
14yr. old Leah Vignale of Ottawa, Ontario and 12yr old Eden Oshell of Toronto, Ontario. The team will concentrate on the integration
and advancement of new, young riders into road racing to help guarantee the future of the sport in years to come. Team coach/manager
will be Hamilton, Ontario’s Lee Kuhn Sr.
Lee Jr. will be challenging for championships in both the R.A.C.E.
Regional and Parts Canada Superbike - SV Cup Challenge Series in 2009 on his Toolee Motorsports/Sturgess Cycle Suzuki SV650S.
He will also be running select WERA and CCS events in the United States. Lee Jr. in his first year of full-size bike racing
is the #2 plate holder for 2008 in the Parts Canada Superbike - CBR Challenge Cup Series and CBR Cup National lap record holder
at Ontario’s Shannonville Motorsports Park. He is also a nine time Canadian Mini GP Champion and multiple track record
holder.
Leah will be making her racing debut in the 2009 Parts Canada Superbike – CBR Challenge Cup National
Series, and at R.A.C.E. Regional events in Shannonville, Ontario aboard her Toolee Motorsports/Sturgess Cycle Honda CBR125R.
Eden will be a development rider for Toolee Motorsports in 2009 and beyond. He will continue to race Mini GP where
he is already a 2 time Canadian Champion in only his first 2 years of racing. He will also be racing his Toolee Motorsports/Honda
NSR 50 and advancing his riding skills on his new Roland Reidman supplied Honda RS125.
Team sponsors include Sturgess
Cycle Ltd. Suzuki-Honda, Spyke, Arai, House of Kolor, Industrial Cryogenics Enterprises Ltd., Dreamsports Performance and
Car Audio, Highside Health Care, Bass Pro Shops, Pug Performance Gear, BMS France, GP Bikes, Classic Signs, MPHD Developments
LTD., The Morton Foundation, G&D Enterprises, Tsunamibike and series sponsors: Parts Canada, Pirelli, Arrow, Elka, Mimic,
Honda, Suzuki, and Dynojet. |
September 16, Moto GP Is Better Than Lee Could Imagine! Lee Jr., dad and their friend Jeff D'Allesandro who drove up from
Virginia, had the most amazing time of their lives at Indy. Thankyou to their new friend Stephen in California for the best
tickets money can buy and to him and his family for the kind welcome they gave us. The tickets included a private
suite with 16 tv's playing the races live, full access paddock passes, seats in the turn 9 terrace,
all meals, all drinks and a VIP parking spot right outside the gate. We were
treated like royalty. The biggest news of the weekend came when Lee met
with Bruce from Arai Helmets to find out he would be a sponsored rider in the 2009 season with the best helmets on the planet!!!!!!
This guy is amazing and guessed dad's head size within a 1/4 of a millimetre, when sizing him up for his own Arai! Wait until you see the new Arai 2009 RX7-GP,
which all of Arai's MotoGP riders are now wearing. This replaces Arai's RX-7 Corsair at the top of its full face helmet line
and is an all-new helmet, both in terms of design and materials, and all it's amazing features. Under the paint, the
PB SNC shell sports a Peripheral Belt born from Formula One, and is 35 per cent stronger, while a larger visor aperture
offers improved peripheral vision, and more efficient venting offers increased ventilation. The most amazing part of
the design though, is the five way adjustable "Air Wing", which reduces drag, turbulence and buffeting at high
speeds. Lee met all his heroes including Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Marco Melandri,
Jorge Lorenzo and the list just goes on forever. He also met up with Corey Rech and family in the Red Bull
Cup city, where Mattie was sporting awesome pink hair! The only bummer was that Lee didn't get to go out on a Buell because of
hurricane Ike hitting the track on Sunday afternoon. He did talk to the most awesome Buell engineer on the planet though and
has been invited down to Buell for a private tour of the factory! He will also be going to a US track day to do some test
riding on the Buells. All in all an incredible weekend with more news to come arising from the trip!!!!!!!!!!!
|
September 10, Lee Jr And Dad Are Going To Indy This Weekend!
Moto GP baby........ Sr and Jr will be heading down
to Indy to watch the Moto GP race and meet with some potential sponsors for 2009. Lee is ready to burst out of his skin, he is so excited!!!! |
Monday September 1, Lee Shows Incredible Heart At The CBR Final!
Lee Jr. and dad didn't make it to the track until Saturday morning and because of the knee damage he
sustained in Schubie, the plan all along had been for Lee to run only one qualifying lap, take the green in the race and then
come in the pits and wait for the checkered.....boy did that plan change. After consulting
with his doctor at the track and being fit with one of dad's Asterisk knee braces, the decision was made that Lee couldn't
do anymore damage to his knee than what already needed to be repaired in his upcoming surgery. This gave Lee the green light
to go out in his first practice Saturday morning and run the fastest lap time of the session by half a second! After the session
Lee was examined and had some icing and physio done by his doctor, Dr. Ian Eix and the all clear was given for a run at the
top qualifying spot and a national record. Begin
it did!!!! Lee went out Saturday afternoon and ripped of the fastest lap of the weekend, qualifying number one and setting
the new National lap record for the CBR Challenge class at Shannonville Motorsports Park; http://www.cdnsuperbike.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1142&Itemid=200. This record went unchallenged for the entire weekend. Sunday morning, Lee went out and took it easy to save his knee for the finals,
yet he still ended up running the second fastest lap times of the morning, less than half a second off his record time. Again,
Dr. Eix checked him over and the go ahead was given for an allout run for victory in Sunday's season finally. Lining up in the #1 grid position for the race, Lee was shuffled back to fifth after
a slow start on the green. He worked his way past fifth in half a lap and was up to the leaders running a close third
by the end of lap two. The entire grandstands went crazy when on lap three, Lee made an amazing pass from third to first coming
into Allan's corner. He held the lead for half a lap, but unfortunately, he just couldn't hold off the much lighter riders at
the end of the straightaway. Lap four had Lee almost high siding coming on to the straightaway in second and dropping to
a distant forth, quite aways back from the leaders. Nobody expected Lee to catch right back up to the lead pack in only two
laps, and again with the crowd cheering him on, he worked into third and again was fighting to get into second on
the last lap. He shuffled back and forth with the leaders and ended up crossing the line in third place. Lee wants to first thank Dr. Ian Eix, owner of Highside Healthcare for being there
for him and giving him the confidence he needed to go out and give 110% in the final weekend of racing, even though he was
suffering from a serious knee injury, which came from his crash in Schubenacadie three weeks prior. Lee also wants to thank his biggest supporter, Jamie Conrad and Canada's oldest Honda dealer Sturgess Cycle
for the incredible Honda CBR125R, Spyke leathers and Setup boots which carried him to his many podium finishes in the series.
Without this amazing shop and it's employees, Lee never would have had the results he did in 2008. Not a coincidence that
this is the same shop were his grandfather bought dad's first Honda in 1974! HONDA ROCKS!!!!!! Finally, to all the other sponsors, partners, fellow racers, family, friends and fans
who helped Lee achieve his goal of being on the overall season podium in his first year of full-size bike racing, THANK-YOU,
THANK-YOU THANK-YOU!
|
Monday August 11,
Reward for info! To ruin what was a great race
weekend, the Lee Kuhn Jr. race pickup was broken into in our driveway after dad had fallen asleep inside the house after
driving the 20 hours straight home from Nova Scotia. Though the truck was locked with alarm on, Dad had left his window
partly down and hadn't cleaned the travel stuff out of the truck and in the front console was a folder and bag with Lee's
race winnings and his leftover US and Canadian travel money from the trip. In all, over $2000.00 was taken. A Tim
Hortons cup full of toll change(toonies, loonies and quarters) was also taken. When the
alarm went off, our neighbour saw a young white male, around 18 years old with medium length brown hair, blue jeans, white
tee shirt, and back pack leaving the driveway on a silver mountain bike heading north towards Main Street in Hamilton centre.
This was in broad daylight around 3pm Monday afternoon. This was Lee's race money
for the final round at Mosport and the Kuhn family is offering a reward for any information on its whereabouts. We can be
reached at 905-978-0910 or call Hamilton Police Services at 905-546-4925 or your local Crimestoppers.
|
Monday August 11, Lee
Is Loved In Nova Scotia!
Lee Jr. and dad were on their own this past weekend to drive the 2000km to
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia for the 3rd and 4th round of the Canadian Superbike series - CBR Challenge. Upon arrival at Shubie around 10:30 Wednesday night, we were greeted by CD, one
of the SV650 competitors who was already setup in the pits. Though space was at a premium, he moved stuff around and
offered us a spot next to his trailer, which was full of other Ontario SV competitors bikes also. We spent a couple of hours
setting up and getting ready for the morning as quiet as possible, as most were sleeping. Morning had us meeting a whole pile of new friends and fellow competitors and Jr. made his way out onto the
track for the first practice. After a few laps he was flying and set the fastest laps in the morning practice, over a second
faster than his closest competitor. This continued with Lee in the top three all weekend. Friday qualifying put
Jr. solid in the #3 grid position for Saturday's and Sunday's races. Saturday's racing was very exciting with all four
of the top riders swapping positions continuously through the whole race. Lee fought his way to a third place finish, but
had new found confidence(and lines) ready for Sunday's race. Sunday was
a whole different ball game with Lee not holding back. He left the line with the pack and immediately worked up to the second
position. Coming into turn one he put a spectacular pass on the series leader and moved into the #1 position, but when he
ran wide to carry his speed onto the rumble strips, they turned out to be intermittentley stacked patio stones and
he was launched into the grass, crashing hard. The pack took off with Lee and the corner marshals trying to get his bike started
again. The crowd was roaring when he managed to get the bike restarted, jumped back on and began the impossible task of chasing
down the pack with only 3rd and 4th gear (his shifter had bent into the frame). He quickly moved past the last two riders,
but was out of touch with the lead three. Dad and the entire crowd kept encouraging him to keep going anyway, even though
it was obvious he was hurt. On the last lap it was heard over the loudspeakers that there was a big crash in turn 2 and two
of the front runners had taken each other out and were trying to get their bikes restarted. The whole crowd knew and they
were screaming at Jr. to go, showing him two fingers. Lee couldn't figure out why everyone was yelling and giving him the
peace sign until he came down the hill in turn #1 and saw that he was in the second position, as the riders couldn't get their
bikes going. He looked like a man possessed as he flew out of the turn, trying to distance himself from the two in case they
restarted, knowing they might have all six gears and more speed. He didn't need to worry though as he found himself taking
the checkered with his fist pumping in the air at the end of the lap. As he
came into the pits from the cool down lap, he was greeted by Scott McKay the series tech director, who noticed right away
that Lee was hurt. He asked him if he needed medical attention and he said he did. Dad and the others made their
way to the podium, not knowing what had transpired. It wasn't until dad was questioned on his whereabouts that everyone realized
he was missing. A call was put out and the medical team answered that they had Lee and would send him over after they had
done some temporary splinting. This is why Lee is seen in the pictures with his arm in a sling in the podium shots. After
the podium and many cheers from the spectators, Lee returned to medical for a full assessment, but refused a hospital trip
and was released, asking dad to just take him home. Once home,
Lee made a trip to the hospital and it looks like there are no broken bones in his hand, but possible torn ligaments in his
knee. Another assessment will be done in 5 days, once the swelling is down. Lee wants
to thank the many new fans he met in Shubie and wants to let them know that it was their cheers that helped him find the strength
to keep riding after the crash. He showed a pile of heart to
get back on and continue. |
Monday August 4, Lee
Is Back In Mid-Ohio!
Lee arrived Friday
morning and setup his pits and campsite then dad re-geared his bikes and got ready for practice at 10am.
Even though there were a number of very fast previous USMGP Champions present, it was obvious from the start that Lee was
going to be the one to beat.
Lee practiced all day Friday with 15 minute sessions for each group, senior pocketbike,
junior pocketbike, senior motard and jr. motard running non stop. Motards included YSR's, NSR's, metrakits, RS125's etc. Their
was as much ride time as you could stand. During all this, not only were AMA and Redbull Cup riders with us, but the start
of the 50,000 fans also started rolling through our pits. These were all serious motorcycle fans and they were genuinely interested
in the racing and the equipment. They even asked the kids for autographes!
We must be proud of Lee Jr. as
he took endless amounts of time to coach other riders in technique, riding style and bike setup. He also did countless laps
with different riders following him to show them proper track placement and lines that they should be using. He would also
follow them and then critique their riding for them. By the end of the weekend, there were some very fast kids out there because
of this. He also let anyone who wanted to try his bikes take one out and he himself was able to ride some very cool bikes
owned by other riders. He was even offered a CRF150F motard to ride and after 7 laps was the fastest motard rider in
attendance.
In the end, Lee won every single heat race over the weekend, every qualifier and then every final on
Sunday by a huge margin, being named the 2008 USMGP Senior Minimoto Champion. He also chose to take his CBR off display in
the paddock and race against much faster bikes in the senior motard class. Again, even starting at the back of the pack everytime,
he managed to make his way to the front and took a first, a second and a pile of thirds. This was with the other bikes having
20kph+ on him on the straightaway.
In all, an amazing race weekend and experience that he will remember for
the rest of his life.
Lee is now home for two days getting prepared to drive 20 hours Tuesday night to
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia with dad, for the next two rounds of the Canadian Superbike Series-CBR Challenge. Dad's
take on things:
I don't even know where to begin!
This weekend at Mid-Ohio was the most incredible
weekend of racing we have ever done......period! I have met and know a pile of people and don't get star struck, but this
weekend had me pinching myself to make sure I was awake.
Picture sitting under your awning and multi-time superbike
champion Aaron Yates is sitting beside you while in front of you, Lee Jr. is suiting up his son to go out on his 40 Open DM.
This is no joke! The track was located inside the paddock, with the motor homes of all the best riders in North America
lined up down the side of our track. They sat out under their awnings with us racing right in front of them. We also camped
right their with them also.
Superbike stars Aaron Yates, Matt Mladin, Neil Hodgson, Ben Spies, Jamie Hacking, Tommy
Hayden, Roger Hayden, Eric Bostrom and more, plus the entire Red Bull Challenge roster made our pits their home away from
home.
They not only socialized with all of us, but actually watched us racing and cheered on the riders, offering
tips to those who wanted them. Imagine standing with Aaron Yates watching Lee Jr. race and having him say "Holy sh*t
that kid is fast". I was speechless!
The Red Bull kids even gave us a break from running the races, by taking
over the flag stand and marshalling positions and ran off one entire afternoon of racing so that Chuck from USMGP could race
and I could video Lee and get out of the sun for a bit. These kids are some of the best riders in the world and don't have
to leave the mini Red Bull city, yet they chose to spend all their off time with us in our pits socializing, coaching riders
and just cheering everyone on. Our good friend, former pocketbiker and Red Bull star Corey Rech, brought them all over at
the beginning of the weekend and they never left. |
Wednesday July
30, Can-Am Challenge New York!
It was great for Lee Kuhn Jr. racing to get back down to
Cherry Valley Raceway to see our old friends from TSMMR. The Can-Am Challenge is something we have been doing since 2003,
but this year we actually had a trophy for the winning country to take for the year. Lee practiced Saturday upon arrival, but it was obvious he wasn't himself. He was one of the fastest, but
just wasn't going 100%. Sunday found Lee in the top three in qualifying in every class and still not going his usual pace
in Dad's trained eyes. When the afternoons racing started, it was Lee, Nick(his Tsunami teamate from Quebec) and American
Jimmy D, leaving the rest of the field in their dust. In the end Lee pulled off a 2nd in Expert Production, 2nd in Expert
Super Production, 3rd in Expert Open 40 and 3rd in Expert Open 50. Not a bad
days racing, as many other Canadians were on the podium, but the cup was lost by one measley point to the USA.
If only one more Canadian rider had shown...... Dad's thoughts on Jr's race
pace and general condition were found true Tuesday night when he had to rush to the hospital to find out he has had a bad
infection in his lungs for a while and it triggered his childhood asthma to kick into overdrive. Antibiotics are now on the
agenda and I think we will see the old Lee Jr. flying in Mid Ohio this weekend, where he will be attending the AMA Superbike
race. He will be running his DMs' in the USMGP demo races all weekend in front of the huge crowd. |
Friday July
18, Lee Rocks At CBR Challenge Round #2!
Lee was flying at Mosport International Raceway
today on his CBR, qualifying #3 and landing on the podium in second place in the final! Lee loved the big trophy but was most
excited to get his first big check on the podium.......yay! Lee
was also interviewed again by TSN Sports on the podium. The interviewer thought it was awesome
that Lee had chased down the leaders after a bad start and landed in second.
Like always, Lee wants to thank his many sponsors. They are the ones making all this
possible. Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou! |
Sunday July
6, Lee Runs Away With Big Wins At OMMRA Race 5!
Though it was Lee's first time running
a bike at Innisfil against riders who have run a race there already, he continued on his winning ways by running away from
the field in Expert 40 Open and Expert 50 open. He won both classes by a huge margin.
Lee also raced Expert
Open Aircooled for the first time and although he was taking it easy so he could break in the brand new BZM aircooled 50cc
engine in his new DM, he still managed to win one of the heat races and ended up second on the podium for the day.
Another great day and again Lee wants to thank his many sponsors, as without them, none of this would be possible. |
Thursday July
3, Lee Jr. Rocks In Calgary.
The racing at Race City park in Calgary could not have been better
for Lee.
The week started off with Lee qualifying number one in all his classes for the GRC Cup. This was followed
by wins in three of the classes and a second behind Eden his team mate in the 14-40 class.
The AMRA/CNMRA races
had Lee qualify number one for the two minimoto classes and after starting 18th on his CBR for the Formila Supersport class,
qualify 3rd right behind Peter Lenz and Bohdi Edie. These are two of the fastest kids on the planet right now. In the
end, Lee ran away with the wins in both minimoto classes and won the Formula Supersport class on his CBR. Watching Bohdi and
Lee dice it out in the finals was the highlight of the week for everyone.
This was the best run racing we have
ever attended and we want to thank the AMRA, Jay Fox, Brandon Schmidt and all the other volunteers and competitors who made
it such an awesome event. Lee also wants to thank all his sponsors for their continued support.
Lee does want to
apologize to his sponsors for running the bikes in primer with no stickers though. This came about after a Calgary sponsor
bowed out at the last minute due to the CBR National being cancelled and us having to primer the bikes in the hotel parking
lot. Not to worry though, they will be repainted for the next round at Mosport.
Calgary
Results
GRC Cup:
1st - Expert Open 50
1st - Expert Open 40
1st - Expert open Aircooled
2nd -
14-40 Production
AMRA/CNMRA:
1st - Expert Open 50
1st - Production 40
1st - Formula Supersport(Honda
CBR)
DNF - Spec under 21(broken sprocket) |
Sunday June
22, OMMRA Race Four Without Dad, As He Is Already On The Way To Calgary!
After
many crashes, a rain out and re-run of race 4 at race 5, Lee still ended up on the podium with a third
in Expert Open 40 and a first in Expert Open 50. It came about with a bizarre way of adding the points from the race and a
half before it rained at race 4 to a total of the races at race 5.
Lee had to do his own tuning at race #4 as
dad was on the way to Calgary with the other bikes to make it there for Thursday morning practice.
Lee attended
race 4 and then had to run his bikes to the airport where by a gracious sponsorship by UPS, they had a plane waiting
to fly his bikes out to Calgary for the Thursday practice of the GRC Cup. Dad picked up the bikes and Lee at the Calgary airport
on Wednesday and were at Race City for setup on Thursday morning. A special thankyou to Greg for making all this possible!
|
Monday June
16, Calgary Superbike National-CBR Round Cancelled!
PMP has announced that the CBR125R Challenge
race at the Canadian Superbike Nationals in Calgary has been cancelled due to lack of participants.
Lee Kuhn Jr.
racing was the only team to commit and signup for the Calgary race. Lee was absolutely crushed to hear this news and
went as far as offering to take other CBR racers and their bikes to Calgary to make the race happen, but there was no interest
shown. This is really a shame for a series that only started with 5 races. It will make the points race very tight.
Lee will still be heading to Calgary to display his CBR at the Superbike Nationals and race Minimotos on the small
track next-door in the AMRA races and GRC Cup which are being held the same weekend. Lee has a Calgary sponsor who
stepped up at the start of the season to help him do the CBR race there, and he still needs to do everything he can to promote
and support him and his other sponsors.
Hopefully, PMP will be able to give Lee a bit of track time on the big
track to put in some laps on his CBR. |
Sunday June
1, OMMRA Race Three and #1 In Both Open Classes!
Missing race 2 for the CBR Nationals and
having no minimoto practice didn't hamper Lee's ability to run away from the pack at Sutton Ontario's 3S Racing with overall
victories in both Expert Open classes, even though he is still on his unfreshened 07 bikes. It was also his first time running
the track in the reverse direction on a minimoto. The only challenges came when dad's rusty tuning skills caused jetting
issues a couple of times.
Lee was testing the new ultra-light carcass PMT tires and they performed flawlessly.
Lee wants to thank Tsunamibike, DM Telai, BZM, PMT, Nexo Sports and all his other sponsors
for their continuing support.
OMMRA race 4 is unfortunately on departure day for the Canadian Superbike Nationals
in Calgary. It will be tough for Lee to win the overall points championship, missing multiple races this year. |
Sunday May 25, CBR
Race #2...Calabogie Crash Fest!!!!
Even Lee wasn't immune to the Calabogie crash bug, as the weekend
started off with a high side in the rain on Thursday morning. Thankfully the Honda CBR is virtually bulletproof
and the bike was fixed up in time for the afternoon session. Again there was rain, but Lee stayed upright and was one of the
top three in practice times all weekend.
Between Thursday and Sunday mornings practices, Lee shaved off over 10
seconds a lap as he learned the challenging layout.
Sunday's race saw Lee qualified 5th with a inside
of row 2 starting position. The bike stumbled off the line when the light went green and Lee was dropped to tenth
momentarily. He made a charge right from lap one and was gaining positions on every lap. The crowd and the announcer were
stunned when on lap 7, Lee came around the corner on the back tire of the leader in second place. Unfortunately
an over anxious back marker tried to make an impossible pass and took himself and Lee to the back of the pack. Lee made a
charge through the last few corners and managed to climb back to 6th. He vowes that he will never leave a hole open for that
to happen again.
It was very cool when Lee realized that the top six competitors went to the podium and on top
of a cool trophy and hats, Lee was interviewed by TSN Sports.
Lee wants to thank Sturgess Cycle, Spyke, Setup, Tsunamibike, Dreamsports,
Industrial Cryogenics Enterprises Ltd., Scott(his Sturgess Cycle teammate and mentor) and all his other sponsors
for making the season possible. He also sends out best wishes for a speedy recovery to the many riders who were seriously
injured throughout the weekend in the varying classes. |
Sunday May 11, Lee
Begins The Season Where He Left Off In 07, #1!
It was a perfect day at Sutton Ontario's,
3S Racing for race one of the 2008 OMMRA series.
Though Lee's new bikes had not yet arrived, he blew the dust off his
07's and proceeded to run away from the field, winning the expert open 40 class by almost an entire straightaway.
In open 50, he suffered from a tire problem and had a small low-side, but still managed to salvage third, right behind
the two lead riders.
Lee wants to extend a big thankyou to Tsunamibike, Nexo Sports, DM Telai, BZM and all his other
sponsors who are backing him in the 08 season. |
Sunday May 4th, Lee
Podiums In Inaugural CBR Challenge Race Opener
It was a wet start to the season at Shannonville,
Ontario's Nelson circuit for the inaugural CBR125R National Challenge.
Lee showed from the start of the first practice
that he would be one of the front runners. In qualifying, Lee ended up third on the grid with the first three riders all within
2 tenths of a second of each other.
Race time came Sunday with a break in the weather and the CBR race actually
ran on a fairly dry track. Lee started third, but was pushed off the track in corner three on the first lap. Somehow he stayed
upright, blasted through the mud, jumped a small drainage ditch and ended up back on track in turn four, way down in eighth
place. From there, Lee was on a mission and started to chase down the lead pack. On the last lap, Lee had made his way to
the lead pack and the first six riders were nose to tail. Coming into turn six, the first 5 riders went outside
to pass a lapped rider. Lee on the other hand, late braked, dove inside and pulling off one of the most amazing passes anyone
had ever seen and emerged out of the corner in third. He crossed the finish line beside the second place rider in the third
position.
Lee wants to thank Sturgess Cycle, PMP, Honda, RACE, Elka, Arrow, Mimic, Parts Canada, Z-1 and all others
who made the race, such a success. Lee also wants to thank John Sharrard from Accelerated Technologies, for the amazing suspension
setup.
He can't wait for the first points race at Calabogie, May 22-25th. |
Monday April
28th, RACE License Day At Lake Shannonville!
Is was a very, very wet day all over Ontario today and
that included Shannonville Motorsports Park. It was torrential rain for most of the day, but Lee Jr. and the 6 other hardy
souls who waited around and stuck it out, were awarded with a half hour of track time. There was a lot of standing water,
so the speeds had to be kept down, but Lee still had a great time out on the track. He is super excited about the race this
weekend as his bike is much quicker after finding out we are able to pull the exhaust pickle out. Too bad we didn't try this
down in Pennsylvania on the weekend.
They will be finishing their school on Friday, during practice for the coming weekend
of racing.
Lee wants to extend a big thank-you to Chris, Scott, James, Tina, Kevin and all the others who made the day
a great success in spite of the weather. |
Friday April
25th, Lee Rocks The Minimoto Class At Beaverun And Also Finishes Very Respectably On His CBR125R.
After a marathon session to get the bikes ready and then a 7 hour drive down to Beaverun Motorsports Park, Lee
was awarded with a first place in the Open minimoto class. In the final, he lapped the entire field other than his team mate,
9 year old Eden O'Shell who finished second.
On the CBR for the first time, Lee was quicker every session he went out.
He ended up racing against more powerful, larger cc bikes, as there was no class for the CBR to slot into on an even playing
field. He still managed a respectable 5th place finish against modded bikes that were up to 140cc. He also posted the 10th
fastest lap of the day overall, out of the 70-80 riders that were there. |
Tuesday April 22nd,
Lee's Bikes Will Feature Custom Paint From "House Of Kolor"!
Lee's newest sponsor
for the 2008 season is "House Of Kolor" paint products. They are a world leader in custom paint production
and custom paint applications. Lee can't wait to get the bike into the paint shop to get some cool hues on that
beautiful Mimic bodywork!!!! |
Monday April 14th,
The Honda CBR125R Race Kit Is Here!!!!
It was like christmas for Lee Jr. today as he rifled through
the boxes of CBR goodies that arrived at Sturgess Cycle today. All the components are top notch and the bodywork is absolutely
gorgeous and amazingly light! It even has quick release fasteners for quick removal. Paint and graphics will be going on this
weekend. |
Monday April 7th,
Lee Jr. Welcomes SPYKE Apparel To The Team!
Lee Jr. will be sporting racing leathers and boots from
SPYKE for the CBR125R National Challenge. The Italian manufacturer is one of the worlds top race suit and boot manufacturers and
Lee is very excited to have them on board for 2008.
Lee will still be sporting his awesome Nexo suits
in all his mini moto races. |
Friday April
5th, Lee Jr's 2008 Honda CBR125R Is Home!
Lee was very excited today to go for his first
ride on his 2008 Honda CBR125R from Sturgess Cycle in Hamilton. He is breaking it in for a few days(they recommend
300km) before it is torn apart in preparation for the HRC race kit, which should arrive the middle of this week.
See it here. |
March 7, 2008
- Lee Jr. lands sponsorship from Sturgess Cycle LTD., Canada's oldest Honda dealer, for the 2008 Honda CBR125R National
Challenge.
It
was confirmed today that Sturgess Cycle LTD., Canada's oldest Honda dealer, will be assisting Lee on his quest to win the
inaugural Honda CBR125R National Challenge Championship.
We would like to thank James, and welcome Sturgess onboard.
We look forward to much success together in 2008!
www.sturgessonline.com |
Lee
Jr. to race the CBR125R National Challenge with the Parts Canada Superbike Championship for 2008!!!!! The CBR125R Challenge, which has been dubbed
as the rising star road race series for young Canadians, will be part of selected rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship.
The series is envisioned as a starter class for young road racers aiming to move further up the competition ladder.
The Honda
CBR125R will run near-stock except for common aftermarket items sourced through Honda Canada. Some items
include Pirelli Spec tires, Elka rear shocks, Mimic bodywork, Z-1 frame sliders, and Parts Canada
race stands.
Events will receive TSN National television coverage.
On top of the CBR series, Lee Jr. will be running a large number of mini moto race events
across Canada and the USA. He will be racing 3 new DM Telai GP-1, Factory
"R" mini motos from Italy. They will be sporting Bizeta Motor of Italy, 620 based factory
race prepared engines. Time permitting, Lee will also be running a couple of CMRC Super Motard events, as well as
testing on both the SV 650 and the CBR600RR this year. |
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