This information is then analysed by Mike, Paul and I to determine the causes of any problem, which in turn points us to solutions. And it worked, as we never went to wrong way over the whole weekend. We were starting to communicate better and better, and that gave Brett and I more time and mental energy to work on race strategy and riding technique."

McCormick in full attack mode at ICAR, with a great effort to place his weight, check the head, as low as possible.

Passing bikes for position and riding through lappers is difficult on a tight track like ICAR. The race strategy thus became one of leading from the front. If Brett could get the lead early in the race, he would try to run off and hide, then hang on at the end. And as Pascal observed, "The kid did exactly that. He adapted his riding to the strategy, made no real mistakes, kept his concentration, and really sliced through traffic like it was not there. He got the win in both classes, and I'm impressed, more and more so."

Calgary - And more new things to learn
Race City Calgary is a bumpy old track, with a long straight, tight corners and high walls in key places - not an easy place to race. Picotte and the team developed new baseline settings in early practice, and continued work at improving the bike over the weekend. But things were not perfect according to the boss. "We were a tick slower than Szoke until Sunday, and we needed something special to win. We all agreed that it would be better to follow Szoke until he made an error, or set up for a last lap pass.

This is where fate intervened on race day, as McCormick followed Szoke before diving inside him for the lead on the last corner of the morning Sport Bike 600 race. He went in too hard and was carried past him towards the outside of the track, allowing Szoke to cut back under him and win the race. The mistake was not lost on Picotte, who saw what happened and had a word with his rider. "I told him to avoid passing too fast in tight corners, but rather get even or just a wheel ahead, then use up a lot of space on exit, taking away the good line from the other guy."

McCormick was very unhappy with second place at Calabogie, after leading most of the way. His team were happier with the result, and team morale took a great boost after that weekend.