McCormick continues SuperPole streak

By John Hopkins

MIRABEL, QC – Saskatoon’s Brett McCormick continued his domination of Pirelli SuperPole qualifying in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Circuit ICAR on Saturday.

The 17-year-old claimed his fourth straight Inside Motorcycles Pole Position Award for the second round of the series with a time of one minute, 24.359 seconds around the 2.81km (1.74- mile), 14-turn track on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing / Suzuki GSX-R1000.

He was almost a second faster than the next best qualifier, Parts Canada Superbike Championship points leader Jordan Szoke, who turned a time of 1:25.304 aboard the Canadian Kawasaki Motors / Kawasaki ZX-10R.

McCormick earned four points for his effort to close to within four of Szoke in the series standings heading into Sunday’s 16-lap race and picked up a check for $500 from Inside Motorcycles magazine.

“The only corner I messed up was the fast sweeper before the straight,” McCormick said. “I went wide onto the bumps, left the power on and got pretty sideways. Other than that it was a pretty good lap.”

Despite crashing during the SuperPole warm-up Kevin Lacombe qualified third fastest on his Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF / Yamaha YZF-R6 with a time of 1:25.924.

Andrew Nelson completes the front row for Sunday’s race after turning a lap at 1:26.160 on his Nelson Racing / Yamaha YZF-R1.

McCormick was the last rider out in the single-bike SuperPole session after setting the pace in prequalifying Saturday morning with a time of 1:24.794.

“I knew I had it in me,” he said of his SuperPole lap. “We’re still developing this bike; it’s brand new this year. Tire choice will come into play in the race tomorrow, but with all our set-ups we’ve been able to run comfortably in the 24s.”

Szoke improved on his prequalifying time by half a second to nail down the number two qualifying spot for the second race in a row.

“I made a few little mistakes and I didn’t take full advantage of having a clear lap,” said the three-time defending Parts Canada Superbike champion from Brantford, ON. “I could have definitely got into the 24s. We’ll look at the data for tomorrow and figure some things out. The race is a different ballgame.”

Granby, QC’s Lacombe fell exiting turn six in the SuperPole warm-up on his Yamaha YZF-R1 and was forced onto his YZF-R6 back-up. It wasn't even his primary bike as that one was still in post-qualifying tech following the Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike session.

“Even with the Superbike I think I would have been second or third,” said the third-place qualifier. “We didn’t have anything for Brett. We’ll fix the R1 tonight and go after them tomorrow.”

Lacombe's time was the fastest he had managed on either of his R6s all weekend and gave the team some good set-up ideas heading into Sunday's Pro Sport Bike race.

"We had a new fork and we wanted to try some different gearing," he explained. "It worked pretty good. I can't complain."

Nelson battled poor handling with his bike on his SuperPole lap.

“The qualifying tire gave us too much traction,” said the Kars, ON racer. “Out of the tight stuff it would be wheelie-ing and for sure I lost almost a second. But I think we have a pretty good race set-up. I'm worried right now about tires. I think the last half of the race will be interesting.”

The second row of the Superbike grid will feature Cochrane, AB’s Clint McBain (Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing / Suzuki GSX-R1000), Roxton Pond, QC racer Karl Daigle (A. Perusse Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-6R) and the second Canadian Kawasaki Motors / Kawasaki ZX-10R of Uxbridge, ON’s Alex Welsh.

Six-time Canadian Superbike champion Steve Crevier of Maple Ridge, BC qualified eighth on the Deeley Racing Powered By Buell / Buell 1125R and 14-year-old Royce McLean from Coaldale, AB continued his impressive rookie season by setting the ninth best time in his first ever Pirelli SuperPole session on the Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF / Yamaha YZF-R6.

The top 10 qualifiers are completed by Jean-Francois Cyr of Ste- Adele, Que. on the CyrRacing / Honda CBR600RR. The former Superbike race winner was running a stock engine after his race motor blew up at the Calabogie Motorsports Park season opener.

Superbike Qualifying Times (Top 10 from Pirelli SuperPole)
1. Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, Sask., 1:24.359, Suzuki GSX-R1000
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., 1:25.304, Kawasaki ZX-10R
3. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, Que., 1:25.924, Yamaha YZF-R1
4. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont., 1:26.160, Yamaha YZF-R1
5. Clint McBain, Cochrane, Alta., 1:26.331, Suzuki GSX-R1000
6. Karl Daigle, Roxton Pond, Que., 1:26.772, Kawasaki ZX-6R
7. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont., 1:26.801, Kawasaki, ZX-10R
8. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, B.C., 1:27.190, Buell, 1125R
9. Royce McLean, Coaldale, Alta., 1:27.959, Yamaha, YZF-R6
10. J.F. Cyr, Ste-Adele, Que., 1:28.303, Honda CBR600RR
11. Martin Grande, Montreal, Que., 1:28.211, Suzuki GSX-R600
12. Dave Stokowski, Calgary, Alta., 1:28.367, Kawasaki, ZX-10R
13. Dave Estok, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., 1:28.458, Buell 1125R
14. Darren James, North Vancouver, B.C., 1:28.555, Buell 1125R
15. Erick Beausejour, Val D'Or, Que., 1:29.508, Suzuki GSX-R1000
16. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que., 1:29.615, Honda CBR1000RR
17. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont., 1:29.718, Suzuki GSX-R1000
18. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont., 1:29.900, Suzuki GSX-R1000
19. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., 1:30.215, Honda CBR600RR
20. Martin Ricard, Montreal, Que., 1:30.584, Kawasaki ZX-10R
21. Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, Que., 1:30.973, Kawasaki ZX-10R
22. Elie Daccache, Ottawa, Ont., 1:31.354, Kawasaki ZX-6R
23. Todd Scott, Bedford, N.S., 1:31.421, Honda CRB600RR
24. Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, Que., 1:31.698, Yamaha YZF-R6
25. Jean Paquet, Chambly, Que., 1:32.767, Honda CBR600RR
26. Alain Campagna, Mascouche, Que., 1:34.584, Yamaha, YZF-R6
27. Tony Kasper, Becker, Minn., Yamaha YZF-R6
28. Genevieve Lesieur, Quebec, Que., Suzuki, GSX-R600