Motorcycle track days have become synonymous with an enjoyable, safe and controlled way of making the most of your sporting bike. For a fee, you can improve your riding skills and get a nice adrenalin rush, whether you are a raw novice or an experienced racer looking for quicker lap times. That’s the good news. The downside of this picture is that promoters need to sell enough entries to cover expenses and make a profit, thus restricting track time for individual riders, and forcing you to ride in set groups by skill level. All this means less quality time on the track, and increased risk of incident amongst too many less experienced riders riding willy-nilly on the track at once.


Paul Lacelle has been organizing motorcycle track days at the Circuit Mont- Tremblant since 2006, introducing a crowd of Ducati nutters to the joys of unbridled riding. And to help make financial ends meet, Paul also used those days to introduce new riders to track riding in the more traditional “Track Day” approach with an American partner. With more novices on track, he was then forced to discourage quicker riders from coming, as they simply scared everyone else with their speed and actually added to the danger.

Over 2008, it became apparent to Paul that there was a high end market for people with enough experience to ride by themselves safely, and that restricting track days to such a known and knowledgeable crowd made for safer, more relaxing events. “Over the years, we had created a group of people who enjoyed riding fast on an open track, were of roughly the same skill level, and actually enjoyed spending a day bench racing, working on their machines and going out from time to time for a 10-lap blast. It made sense to organize our events around that approach.”

Comes 2009 and the idea is now fact. T_SBK (Tremblant_Superbike) was created as a club whose members bring their machines for two day events at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, a world level track, and spend time away from it all. Virtually all the bikes are track-prepared, with ex-Canadian Championship rice burners in evidence, as well as collector ex-World Championship Ducati 748s, 999s and more recent models.

The formula is simple: the track is open from 9 to 12, and 1 to 5. Just go out there and play! No grouping by speed or whatever other criteria, no single files running slowly behind a teacher – just you and your bike!

T_SBK is run by Marc-Olivier Labelle, who keeps a loose eye on the relaxed goings on between rides on his 748. The blissful track time is interrupted only when someone is stranded out there and needs assistance. A full safety infrastructure is at work behind this idyllic façade, with corner workers, ambulances and constant radio communications over the whole property.