Szoke edges Christie for Superbike win

By John Hopkins

MIRABEL, QC – Veteran Jordan Szoke (Waznie Racing / BMC Ciclo Werks / DeWildt Honda) held off young upstart Jodi Christie (Jodi Christie Racing / Durham Honda) to win the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Circuit ICAR near Montreal on Sunday.
       
The 31-year-old Szoke led all 18 laps of the race around the 2.8km (1.74-mile) circuit on his Honda CBR1000RR but couldn’t shake 17-year-old Christie and his Honda CBR600RR. Despite a couple of late challenges by Christie, Szoke was able to hang on to win by 0.668 secs.

Kevin Lacombe (Lacombe Racing Suzuki) completed the podium on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
       
“I get older and I keep getting these younger and younger guys chasing me,” said Szoke, who scored a perfect 56 points from the weekend by starting from pole position, leading the most laps and taking the win. “It’s a long race and I thought I might be able to break away, but Jodi stuck right there.”
       
The win was Szoke’s 30th career national Superbike triumph, the most in series history. He is trying to win his record seventh Canadian Superbike crown and fifth straight Parts Canada Superbike title.
       
“This takes a lot of weight off us,” the Brantford, Ont. rider said. “It’s a real good start for the championship, because Kevin and the rest of the guys are only going to get faster as the year goes on.”
       
Christie grabbed the holeshot off the start but Szoke was into the lead before the end of the first lap. But the Keene, Ont. racer never fell more than a second behind in his pursuit of the leader.
       
“I was trying really hard and I thought I could make a move on the last lap but I messed up the chicane,” said Christie, who won last year’s HJC Pro Rookie of the Year award. “I knew it was doable and I tried hard to stick behind him. I have to be satisfied with my weekend.”
       
Despite giving away 400cc to Szoke, Christie was able to make the CBR600RR work to his advantage on the tight and technical ICAR track, and Szoke survived a couple of moments near the end as his rear Pirelli started to show its wear.

"Superbikes will spin up and mine was spinning up a lot at the end," Szoke admitted. "You have to just trust it, but it's hard to do here and I had a few little moments. I hit a seam a couple of times and it spit me off a bit."

Lacombe was seventh at the end of the first lap and wasn’t able to work his way up to third until lap 10. By then Szoke and Christie were eight seconds ahead, and the Granby, QC rider eventually finished 14.717 secs. behind the winner.

Two-time Parts Canada Superbike champion Pascal Picotte came to the track late on Saturday to help Lacombe with the set up of his bike, which he had purchased from Picotte's dealership just a couple of weeks ago.

"Today it was like a new bike," said Lacombe, who was within two tenths of a second of Szoke in the morning warm up after qualifying seventh. “For sure I could have run with those guys [Szoke and Christie] the whole race. With the set up I had I was able to brake really deep and that’s where I made my passes.”

Frank Trombino (ProStar Motorsports / Sturgess Cycle) emerged from an exciting battle to take fourth on his Honda CBR1000RR. The Kleinburg, ON racer was as far back as seventh at half distance but worked his way forward, finally passing Francis Martin (Rush HD / BMW Motorrad Canada) four laps from the end.
       
Mississauga, ON’s Michael Ferreira (Rush HD / BMW Motorrad Canada) also got by his team-mate to take fifth on his BMW S1000RR, with Sherbrooke, Que. ace Martin settling for sixth on another BMW S1000RR. After qualifying third on Saturday Martin hit tire trouble at half distance in the race, while lying third. Shortly after Trombino passed him Martin suffered a big moment and decided discretion was the part part of valour.

"I was fighting to keep the bike on two wheels," he admitted. "I'm not sure what the problem was. We tested with the same tire the whole weekend with no problems. Maybe we got a bad tire, or it was because the weather changed a bit."
       
Alex Welsh of Uxbridge, ON's (Competition Systems Kawasaki Race Team) on a Kawasaki ZX-10R just held off the BMW S1000RR of Andrew Nelson (Orion Motorsports / BMW Motorrad Canada) for seventh.
       
Kars, ON’s Nelson had qualified second for the race but ended the first lap in fourth and was unable to threaten the frontrunners. He said a minor pre-race change had upset the handling of his BMW right off the bat.
     
In another close call at the line top rookie Cody Matechuk of Cochrane, Alta. (Acceleration Racing) finished ninth on his Suzuki GSX-R600 ahead of the GSX-R600 of Ste-Adele, Que.’s Jean-Francois Cyr (CyRacing). Cyr made an impressive recovery after crashing on lap 2 and dropping to the back of the field.

Kenny Riedmann (Compulsion Racing / Pro 6 Cycle) ran a lonely race to 11th on his Triumph 675 Daytona while Marie-Josee Boucher (Excel Moto Honda) passed Ross Millson (RMP Motorsports Suzuki) on the final lap to snatch 12th.

Scott Rupert completed the finishers on his Suzuki.

Race Results
1. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 18 laps
2. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., Honda CBR600RR, 18
3. Kevin Lacombe, St-Cesaire, Que., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 18
4. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 18
5. Mike Ferreira, Mississauga, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 18
6. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, Que., BMW S1000RR, 18
7. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 18
8. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 18
9. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, Alta., Suzuki GSX-R600, 18
10. Jean-Francois Cyr, Ste-Adele, Que., Suzuki GSX-R600, 18
11. Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, Ont., Triumph Daytona 675, 18
12. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que., Honda CBR600RR, 18
13. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 18
14. Scott Rupert, Gadshill, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 17
Did Not Finish
Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6, 13
Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2
Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1
Did Not Start
Alain Campagna, Mascouche, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6
Martin Ricard, Montreal, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R
Sebastien Tremblay, Sherbrooke, Que., Honda CBR600RR
Margin of Victory: 0.668 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:25.289 by Jordan Szoke on lap 8

Point Standings
1.Jordan Szoke, 56
2. Jodi Christie, 43
3. Kevin Lacombe, 37
4. Frank Trombino, 32
5. Francis Martin, 29
6. Mike Ferreira, 29
7. Andrew Nelson, 26
8. Alex Welsh, 25
9. Cody Matechuk, 21
10. Jean-Francois Cyr, 19
11. Kenny Riedmann, 17
12. Marie-Josee Boucher, 15
13. Ross Millson, 13
14. Scott Rupert, 12