Szoke leads at end of first day

From Professional Motorsports Productions

JENNINGS, FL – Two-time defending Parts Canada Superbike champion Jordan Szoke underlined his status as the king of Canadian road racing with an impressive performance to conclude the opening day of the official Pirelli test at JenningsGP in Jennings, FL.

The Brantford, ON racer rode his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R to the fastest overall time on Tuesday with a one minute, 14.600 second lap around the 3.219km (2.0-mile) JenningsGP circuit.

He backed that up with the second best overall time, and the top Yoshimura Sport Bike lap at 1:15.132 aboard the brand new Kawasaki ZX-6R.

“It felt good,” said Szoke of his Superbike lap, which was just shy of the track record of 1:14.51. “On my second lap on that tire I actually got through turns one and two better, but I ran into trouble later on the lap. But it’s so hot right now; I think if it was a little cooler we could run into the 13s.”

Szoke’s closest challenger was Saskatoon’s Brett McCormick. After turning the fastest time of the morning on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600, McCormick switched to his new GSX-R1000 Superbike for the afternoon and managed a 1:15.444, the third best time overall.

“We’ve been making progress with both bikes,” said the 17-year-old McCormick. “This afternoon I got my first few laps on the Superbike and it’s awesome. We’re already setting quick times on it.”

Kevin Lacombe rolled out the new Yamaha Motor Canada / OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R1 and got down to the third best Superbike time of the afternoon, and fourth overall with a 1:16.462.  The Granby, QC rider also had the second fastest Sport Bike time of 1:16.702 on his Yamaha YZF-R6.

Szoke’s Canadian Kawasaki Motors team-mate Alex Welsh spent time on both his Kawasaki ZX-10R and ZX-6R. The defending HJC Pro Rookie of the Year turned a lap at 1:17.962 on the ZX-6R and a best of 1:18.641 in his first experience of the Superbike.

Becker, MN rookie Tony Kasper recorded a lap at 1:18.394 on the second of the Yamaha Motor Canada / OTSFF YZF-R6 machines, and defending Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike champ Jodi Christie of Keene, Ont. was next up with a 1:19.225, despite a light crash late in the day on his Powerhouse Honda Dealers of Ontario / ProStar Motorsports Honda CBR600RR.

Sherbrooke, QC’s Francis Martin made steady progress in his first experience of the BMW Motorrad Canada BMW HP2 and worked his time down to a 1:19.762.

Action at JenningsGP will continue with a full day of testing on Wednesday.

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