Lacombe takes Mosport pole

From Professional Motorsports Productions

BOWMANVILLE, ON – Granby, QC’s Kevin Lacombe will start from pole position in this weekend’s third and fourth rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Mosport International Raceway after recording the fastest time in Friday’s Pirelli SuperPole qualifying session.

The rider of the Team Toyota Yamaha / Fast Company Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 toured the 3.9km (2.459-mile) Mosport road course in one minute, 21.707 seconds to pick up his second pole of the 2008 season.

“Since we got here we’ve been pretty much the fastest ones every session,” said the 25-year-old Lacombe, who was the last rider to take to the track in the single-bike SuperPole session. “I made a little mistake on my lap and the track was a little greasy, but I knew I had the best bike out there and I just tried to be smooth.”

In addition to earning the $500 Inside Motorcycles Pole Position Award Lacombe picked up four points toward the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and closed to within 13 points of series leader Jordan Szoke, who qualified second for this weekend’s two races.

Szoke, from Brantford, ON, managed a lap time of 1:21.945 on his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R. Mississauga, ON’s Matt McBride qualified third at 1:22.096 on the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Clint McBain of Cochrane, AB completes the Superbike front row after turning a 1:22.154 on the Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Szoke is trying to win his third straight Canadian Superbike title and won this year’s season opener at Calabogie Motorsport Park.

“I braked a little too early going into turn eight and I think that lost it for me,” said Szoke, who goes into this weekend’s races with 102 points to the 89 of Lacombe. “But we only lost one point to Kevin. We’ve been doing a lot of laps and we’ve been very consistent. I think we’re still the guys to beat.”

Szoke’s Canadian Kawasaki Motors teammate Brett McCormick of Saskatoon set the fifth fastest time of 1:22.212 on his Kawasaki ZX-10R. He will be joined on the second row of the grid by the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Sherbrooke, QC’s Francis Martin and Scarborough, ON racer Chris Murray-Audain aboard the One Stop Dealer Services Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Csaba Werner of North York, ON had the eighth fastest qualifying time on his Werner Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000. Calgary’s Chris Peris placed ninth after suffering an engine problem on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing Suzuki and Matt Cooper of Guelph, ON was classified 10th after crashing his Pro 6 Cycle Yamaha YZF-R1 during the pre-qualifying warm-up session.

In other action at Mosport, Peris established a new class record to grab pole for the pair of Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike races on Saturday and Sunday. The Calgary rider turned a lap at 1:23.130 on his Suzuki GSX-R600.

Lacombe was second fastest with a 1:23.208 on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Brett McCormick of Saskatoon was third at 1:23.250 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Series points leader Szoke will start fourth on Saturday and Sunday after recording a best time of 1:23.712 on his Kawasaki.

Points leader Andrew Nelson of Kars, ON qualified on pole for this weekend’s pair of the Canadian Thunder races with a class record time of 1:25.207 on his NCR-Ducati 848. New Smyrna Beach, FL’s Dave Estok qualified second at 1:26.045 aboard the Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada / Ruthless Racing Buell 1125R and Nelson’s teammate Valter Bartolini of Bologna, Italy took third with a 1:26.674.

The Canadian Sport Twins class was paced by the Buell XB12R of series leader Jim Proulx of Ottawa with a time of 1:31.606.

Championship leader John Jarvie of Burlington, ON claimed pole position for this weekend’s pair of races in the Suzuki SV650 National Cup with a time of 1:33.006.

Keene, ON’s Jodi Christie paced practice for the Armour Bodies Amateur 600 Sport Bike competitors with a time of 1:26.999 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. The Amateur 600 Sport Bike racers will qualify for their lone race this weekend on Saturday afternoon.

At Mosport’s “Rider Development” Track, Raphael Archambault of St-Colonban, QC scored his second straight victory in the Honda CBR125R Challenge, beating Hamilton’s Lee Kuhn and Parry Sound, ON rider Aubrey Bailey.

Feature events for the Parts Canada Superbike, Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike, Canadian Thunder, Canadian Sport Twins and Suzuki SV650 Cup classes will run both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Action on Saturday gets underway with practice at 9:00 a.m., with the first race set to go at 1:15 p.m.

This weekend’s races will be shown on TSN HD and TSN in two separate programs. The first premiers on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 1:00 p.m. and repeats on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 4:00 a.m. The second episode will premier Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1:00 p.m. and repeat on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 4:00 a.m.