The third annual Racer's Choice Motorcycle Shootout was held on Sunday, July 8 at Toronto Motorsports Park outside Cayuga, ON. Overcast skies lurked over the track, but aside from a few sprinkles before round one of eliminations the rain was a non-issue. Nonetheless, the less-than-ideal forecast kept many riders from making the trip to the remotely located track.

While the class entries were a bit low, the quality of competition was stellar. Dragbike stalwarts like Ted Glinney and Roy Portiss, the sportbike camps of RCC Turbos and Racer's Choice, and the CMDRA Destroyer East class were among the talent giving their best at TMP.

The headlining Heads-Up class (Pro Street) was dominated by the RCC Turbos crew. Michigan's Lonnie Angel was the only racer in the 7's, including a weekend-best 7.73/191 top qualifying effort. John Poretti rode Mike Mildon's RCC-powered bike to the second slot with a bike-best 8.04/187. Jeff Bloor's Cycle Max ZX-14 was third with an 8.75/166, while Craig Mark 's Racer's

Choice Bandit wrapped up the top half of the field at 8.90.

The first round of eliminations saw Mark beat #5 qualifier Paul Crane in a close one, Mark's nitrous-fed Suzuki Bandit taking the lead in the second half after giving up a tenth on the tree. His slowing 8.95/149 held off a closing 9.12/161 from Crane's sprayed Hayabusa. Poretti, Bloor and Angel also advanced to round two.

Heads-Up Winner Lonnie Angel
(GoFast photo)

Angel's semi-final 7.77/190 ousted Mark's Bandit, while Poretti took out Bloor with an 8.16/184 to an event-best 8.66/166 by Bloor.

The RCC-powered bikes squared off in the finals. Poretti held close with Angel until half-track, when a wheelie and a tank-slapper forced him to abort. Angel's fourth 'Seven', a 7.91/189, would have been hard to beat anyways.

Roy Portiss earned the victory in the Dragbike class, the consistent Suzuki racer earning the win over Rick Charters.