My story

Humble Beginnings

My love for motorcycles and racing all stems from my father. From as early as I can remember we had Ducati branded mugs, hats, shirts and figurines around the house. My dad would often slip away to the basement after dinner to watch MotoGP or WorldSBK with a beer. Sometimes, I'd join him in watching the races, it always seemed to intrigue me. We also enjoyed playing one of the earlier MotoGP video games together.

When I was very young, my dad used to race at Race City Speedway in Calgary, Alberta. He had dropped by in 2009 to learn about the sport, and gotten hooked. This was the peak of a passion that my dad had held for some 30 years, starting with the purchase of his first motorcycle in the UK in 1978.

His scarlet red Ducati Sport 1000S was his pride and joy. He would often be out to ride on the street in the summer, and would meticulously maintain his machines. During the long Canadian winters, he would sit in the garage simply to be with his motorcycles.

My childhood rolled on with this slight intrigue for motorcycles and racing in the background, until my dad took me to the Calgary motorcycle show in 2017, when I was 9. Yamaha had set up a demo booth with motocross gear, pw50s governed to a top speed of about 10km/h, and a small oval with hay bales on either side. I thought I'd give it a shot, and we put my name on the waiting list. I enjoyed the experience, but didn't think much of it. This was around the time that I started watching MotoGP religiously with my dad.

One day in the spring of 2017 my dad put me in the car and didn't tell me where we were going, but told me that I'd love it. He took me to a small kart track in Strathmore, Alberta, where the Alberta Mini Road-racing Association was hosting a test and tune. They geared me up, put me on a Suzuki DR-70, and let me go.

I fractured my wrist a few trackdays later, but was eager to come back and race for what was left of the season.

I returned a bit later in the season as a consistent "best of the rest" finisher. This was also around the time I began to do parking lot training with my dad, which helped me grow my skills significantly. I took my first win in the 2017 JR Macrae Fall Memorial Endurance Race.

Minibike Days

I trained hard with my dad over the 2017-18 off season, with the goal of ousting the reigning youth class champion and claiming a national mini-roadracing title. We were out in the parking lot as soon as the weather allowed, and studying from the best in MotoGP. The season came and the training had paid-off, as I was comfortably the fastest rider in the field.

I went on to win the National Mini-Roadracing title for Youth class that year, as well as the provincial titles for both Alberta and Saskatchewan, winning all but 3 races.

Come the end of the season, I stepped up to larger minibikes, and learned how to ride with a clutch.

We got out on the ice for the first time over the 2018-19 offseason, something that became a crucial part of my physical and bike control training over subsequent offseasons.

I tripped out of the gate at the beginning of the 2019 season, spraining my wrist before the first national round of the season. I rode through it, but at a hindered level. Still learning both my NSR50 and RM65, I didn't begin to hit my stride until the end of the season.

I had a few good results, dicing with some local fast guys, and ended the season with a new resolve to go faster.

In 2020, during the Covid-19 quarantine school was out. My dad got in contact with Torin Collins and his dad Rupert, and we trained tirelessly in the parking lot every day for months. This was one of the most crucial moments for me as a rider, as Torin's expertise and constant presence transformed my riding. This is when I truly began to take racing seriously.

The 2020 season was unfortunately shortened, but we still had some fun and won some races. We also made our first trip out to the Pacific Coast Mini Roadracing Club in BC, which would become our home for racing for the next 2 years.

In 2021 we continued to work hard in the parking lot, and won some more races in minis, which gave me a hunger for stronger competition and greater opportunity.

Move to Big Bikes & NATC

Over the 2021-22 off season my dad informed me of the massive opportunity that had been presented to me, I was to ride in the 2022 North America Talent Cup with the opening round at Circuit of The Americas during the MotoGP weekend. I would be riding at a level new to me, against some of the top prospects in North America. NATC Alumni have gone on to win multiple Motoamerica championships, race in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, finish top 10 in Motoamerica Supersport, and appear in World Championship races.

This was a huge step up for a kid who stepped on to a bike with a clutch just 2 and a half years ago, and was a monumental challenge for me. We set a goal of finishing top 10 overall, which we achieved. Over the season, I had a best result of 6th at the Ridge Motorsports Park, and a handful of other top 10 results.

The experience taught me just how much I had to learn, and pushed me to a new level.

We planned to race in NATC for 2023, but the series was cancelled mere weeks before the first race in April of 2023, which lead me to the next chapter of my career.

Amateur Year of CSBK

With very little time left in the 2022-2023 off-season, and my back against the wall, my dad scrambled to find me a ride in any series for the 2023 season. We found a ride in the amateur ranks of the Canadian Superbike Championship, riding an R6 sponsored by Eurorace. This opportunity was out east, thousands of kilometers from home.

In the last weeks before the opening round at Shannonville Motorsport Park, we found an R6 for me to ride back home, to adjust to riding Middleweight machinery.

It was very much a learning year, as I was a consistent top 5 finisher behind some of the most promising amateurs in the country, on high level machinery. I notched my first podium in the second round at Grand Bend in the wet.

We didn't make it to the 3rd round at Shubenacadie, after bike transport issues.

For the 4th round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, we ran our own machine, a 2014 Kawasaki 636, painted with bright yellow spray paint from home depot. Running our own program involved making a 40 hour road trip with a trailer out east for every single round, which was a significant undertaking. The weekend at CTMP was a struggle, with many factors outside my control such as weather and cancellation of sessions culminated in a very poor weekend, however we would soon bounce back.

The final weekend of racing at Shannonville Motorsport Park, this time on the long track configuration, I notched 3 podiums in the first 3 races, and scored my first amateur national win at the last time of asking, which gave us great hope going in to the off season.

First year of Pro National Racing

The bike was in the shop from a few weeks after we got home from Shannonville, until the last few weeks before the start of the season. I had been significantly down on power for most of my amateur year, save for an ECU flash on the Kawasaki before the last race at Shannonville. With upgraded suspension, clutch, engine, and weight-saving parts I was ready to dice it up with some of the best riders in the country. I had also been focusing hard on physical training throughout the off-season, which would serve me throughout the season.

We packed up the van, and headed out east for the first round at Shannonville. As a rookie and underdog, expectations weren't high. I finished 7th and 4th in my first 2 pro races, including a daring last lap pass for P4. It was a highlight weekend of my season.

A forgettable weekend at Grand Bend that ended in a crash was an example of the growing pains to racing at a higher level I was experiencing.

I had a resurgent home weekend at RAD Torque Raceway, in Edmonton, finishing 4th and 6th, tying my best finish of the season. This was a special race for me, as my family and friends were able to come see me, and we didn't have to drive so far.

We ended up putting our stuff in a series trailer and flying to Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie.

I once again finished 4th and 6th at Shubenacadie, taking full advantage of my fitness to make up ground throughout the middle and closing stages of the race.

The next round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was a complete disaster. We had clutch issues in practice, but fixed them before a wet qualifying session, where I qualified 6th. In the middle stages of the race I came up on a lapped rider with another rider I was battling with, he took the inside and I took the outside, the lapper ended up getting spooked and pushing me wide, and forcing me in to avoiding action, which ended in me tucking the front end at over 180km/h, totaling the bike. Luckily I was okay, but absolutely gutted. Thanks to my competitor Mack Weil's incredible generosity and kindness, I was able to finish the last race of the weekend on his machinery.

We made the final weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park, just barely. Dad worked himself to the bone, putting in 8 hour days in the garage to rebuild the bike.

The weekend was marked by average results, and mechanical issues as a result of complications with the rebuild of the bike, and a big high side crash in the wet.