Christie gets first Pro win

By John Hopkins

SHANNONVILLE, ON – Keene, ON’s Jodi Christie bounced back from just missing the win in Saturday’s Pirelli Pro Sport Bike race to take his first career Pro victory in Sunday’s round at Shannonville Motorsport Park, beating Frank Trombino by 3.334 secs.

Riding the Jodi Christie Racing / Cameron Cycle / Blue Streak Honda CBR600RR, Christie took the lead on lap six of the 18-lap race when Alex Welsh dropped back with a quickshifter problem. From there Christie survived mid race pressure from Trombino's Suzuki Canada / Hindle / Sturgess Cycle Suzuki GSX-R600 for the win.

Andrew Nelson placed third on the ProStar Adventures / Fast Company / K-tech Suspension Yamaha YZF-R6 and Saturday winner Welsh struggled to fourth aboard the Z1 CycleTech / Kenwood Suzuki.

"I worked hard to get here and it feels great to get that monkey off my back," Christie said. "Over the last few laps I wasn't too worried. I took a peek behind me a couple of times but I knew if I kept my pace up I'd be OK."

Welsh surged into the lead from pole position at the start of the race with Trombino getting ahead of Christie off the start. Welsh was able to open a bit of a lead while Christie worked to find a way around the other Suzuki, finally passing Trombino at the end of the backstraight on lap four.

By then Welsh was 1.67 secs. to the good, but on lap six he slowed suddenly and came past the pits in third place, then lost two more spots the next lap.

Trombino closed in on Christie through the middle of the race but faded back over the last five laps. His team had spent the weekend chasing an engine mapping problem that had forced him out of Saturday's event, and the bike still wasn't running trouble-free on Sunday.

Through the early stages of the race Nelson was battling with the Triumph 675 of Kenny Reidman, but on lap nine Reidman crashed in turn one, leaving the Yamaha rider alone to take his second consecutive third place finish.

"I had a reasonably good start and I thought I would take it easy and see what the race would bring us," Nelson said. "I felt like we had more power than we have all weekend and I'm sure if we had more time with the bike we'd be able to run with these guys at the front."

Behind Welsh in fourth, Bodhi Edie of Warman, SK came out on top of a good battle with fellow rookie Pro Raphael Archambault to claim fifth spot. Riding the Edie Racing / Acceleration Racing / Honda Canada Honda CBR600RR, Edie passed the Archambault Suzuki / Parts Canada Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 of Terrebonne, QC's Archambault five laps from the end.

Christie now leads Welsh by nine points, 137-128 in the class standings heading into round four at Autodrome St-Eustache this weekend.

Race Results
1. Jodi Christie, Keene, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 19:57.352
2. Frank Trombino, Woodbridge, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +3.334
3. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) +13.474
4. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +23.676
5. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK (Honda CBR600RR) +27.108
6. Raphael Archambault, Terrebonne, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) +27.672
7. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, ON (Honda CBR600RR) +30.443
8. Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban (Yamaha YZF-R6) +42.788
9. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, QC (Honda CBR600RR) +1:08.473
10. Vicki Schouten, Ottawa, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +1 Lap
11. Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) +1 Lap
Did Not Finish
Kenny Reidman, Belfountain, ON (Triumph 675) 8 Laps
Did Not Start
Bill McKay, Tavistock, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Joey McRae, Orangeville, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Darren James, North Vancouver, BC (Buell 1125R)
Fastest Lap: 1:05.766 by Alex Welsh on lap 2

Point Standings
1.Jodi Christie (Honda) 137
2.Alex Welsh (Suzuki) 128
3.Bodhi Edie (Honda) 98
4.Raphael Archambault (Suzuki) 94
5.Sean Huffman (Honda) 90
6.Marie-Josee Boucher (Honda) 84
7.Sylvain Dery (Yamaha) 84
8.Frank Trombino (Suzuki) 83
9.Jeremie Hade Precourt (Suzuki) 76
10.Andrew Nelson (Yamaha) 76
11.Darren James (Buell) 40
12.Martin Grande (Yamaha) 40
13.Joey McRae (Yamaha) 40
14.Vicki Schouten (Kawasaki) 36
15.Kenny Riedman (Triumph) 32