McCormick fastest at Race City

From Professional Motorsports Productions

CALGARY, AB – Sixteen-year-old Brett McCormick set the pace on the opening day of practice for the second round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship, sponsored by Blackfoot Suzuki, at Race City Motorsports Park on Friday.

The Saskatoon rider turned a fastest time of one minute, 16.546 seconds on his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R around the 3.2km (2.0-mile) road course.

“We’ve been trying to figure out a race set-up,” said McCormick, the 2007 HJC Pro Rookie of the Year in the national series. “We’ll be working hard tonight trying to figure stuff out. We changed the springs from this morning to give ourselves a little bit more to play with.”

Kevin Lacombe of Granby, QC was second fastest at 1:16.768 on his Team Toyota Yamaha/Fast Company Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 and McCormick’s Kawasaki teammate Jordan Szoke was third with a 1:16.840.

Lacombe said his team made a big improvement between Friday’s morning practice session and the afternoon.

“We sorted some things out and we were able to do some good lap times at the end with used tires,” said Lacombe, who qualified on pole for the season opener at Calabogie Motorsports Park in Calabogie, ON and finished second in the race. “We have a lot of work to do tonight but I’m sure we’ll be there in qualifying and I’ll try to go for two poles in a row.”

Szoke, the two-time defending Parts Canada Superbike champion, won the opening round of the 2008 season and leads the point standings. He won both ends of a doubleheader at Race City last year.

“Here it’s all about getting a good, comfortable set-up,” the Brantford, ON rider said. “You don’t need to worry about the fast times as much as being consistent. Qualifying is always close but in the race you’ll see a couple of guys break away.”

Cochrane, AB’s Clint McBain was fourth fastest on his Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a time of 1:17.077 and Matt McBride of Mississauga, ON was fifth with a 1:17.200 on the Team Suzuki/Blackfoot/Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Action at Race City resumes on Saturday morning with official pre-qualifying for the Parts Canada Superbike Championship competitors, which will lock in the top 10 for the afternoon’s Pirelli SuperPole session.

Qualifying for all national classes will be held Saturday afternoon, with racing set for Sunday.