Szoke breaks lap record at Jennings

From Professional Motorsports Productions

JENNINGS, FL – Jordan Szoke finally cracked the outright track record at JenningsGP in the final morning of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship official Pirelli Tire Test on Wednesday.

The Brantford, ON rider turned a fastest lap of one minute, 14.421 seconds on his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R to lead all competitors on the 3.219km (2.0-mile) circuit. The previous record was a 1:14.510 set by Geoff May on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.

On Tuesday afternoon Szoke managed a 1:14.600 and had virtually equaled that mark early Wednesday morning before taking another run just before the lunch break.

“I actually had a problem coming out of turn one,” explained Szoke, winner of five Canadian Superbike titles, including the last three. “It wheelied all the way down the straight, and when I finally put it down I got a bit of a wiggle and it screwed up my entry into the kink. Fortunately I was able to clean up the rest of the lap.”

The next quickest Superbike time was a 1:15.983 set by Granby, QC’s Kevin Lacombe on the Team Toyota Yamaha OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R1, his best mark of the test.

Brett McCormick was quickest among the Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike competitors with a 1:15.052 on the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Motorsport Suzuki GSX-R600, the quickest time of the test so far. The Saskatoon rider did not ride his GSX-R1000 Superbike in the morning session.

Szoke was next up with a 1:15.425 on the new Kawasaki ZX-6R. He managed a 1:15.132 on Tuesday afternoon.

Lacombe was third best among the Sport Bike class at 1:16.103 on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Szoke’s new team-mate, Alex Welsh of Uxbridge, ON, was next up at 1:16.834 on the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Tony Kasper of Becker, Minn. rounded out the top five in Sport Bike with a 1:17.750 on his Team Toyota Yamaha OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R6.

Last year’s Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike champion Jodi Christie of Keene, ON continued to settle in with his Honda Powerhouse Dealers of Ontario / ProStar Motorsports squad and turned a best lap of 1:18.243 on the Honda CBR600RR.

Sherbrooke, QC’s Francis Martin continued to drop his times on the BMW Motorrad Canada BMW HP2 with a 1:18.580. The bike will be making its debut in the revamped Pro Sport Bike class in 2009.

Action at JenningsGP concludes with a session on Wednesday afternoon.

The 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship opens at Calabogie Motorsports Park, near Ottawa on May 21-24.