McCormick takes ICAR Superbike win

By John Hopkins

MIRABEL, QC – Saskatoon’s Brett McCormick completed a dominant weekend at Circuit ICAR with victory in Sunday’s second round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship.
       
The 17-year-old started from pole and led 15 of the 16 laps around the 2.81km (1.74-mile) 14-turn circuit on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing / Suzuki GSX-R1000 to score his second career national Superbike win and take over the lead of the Parts Canada Superbike series standings.
       
Three-time defending series champion and opening round winner Jordan Szoke of Brantford, ON placed second on his Canadian Kawasaki Motors / Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2.218 secs. behind McCormick. Andrew Nelson of Kars, ON was third riding the Nelson Racing / Yamaha YZF-R1.

“This is a huge win for me. I’m really at a loss for words,” said McCormick, who earned his first Superbike national win at last year’s season finale. “It’s not like last year at the last round, where Jordan was riding for a championship. He gave me a fight today.”

McCormick was third off the start behind the Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF / Yamaha YZF-R1 of Kevin Lacombe and Szoke. But Lacombe crashed on lap two and McCormick was able to get around Szoke at the same time.

Szoke managed to close back in on the Suzuki in the closing stages of the race but was delayed while working through lapped traffic on the penultimate lap.

“I settled into a nice pace and I didn’t have to work too hard for a while,” said McCormick, who set the race’s fastest lap at one minute, 25.337 seconds on lap three. “My front tire was going off a bit near the end but the bike was set-up well enough so I could get around it.”

McCormick had opted for a softer Pirelli front tire while Szoke had used a harder compound.

With his perfect weekend of claiming pole position, leading the most laps and earning the race win McCormick leads the Parts Canada Superbike Championship standings for the first time in his career with 104 points to the 98 of Szoke.

“I made a mistake when Kevin crashed,” Szoke said. “I did a double downshift and went into first gear instead of second and Brett was by both of us. I got a gift from Kevin but I couldn’t take advantage.

“We’ve won a lot of championships though and we’re not done yet.”

Nelson moved into third when Lacombe fell and stayed there the rest of the way to score his first career national Superbike podium. He had used the softest Pirelli tires front and rear and found them fading early in the surprisingly hot race conditions.

“By lap five my tires went off and I was just trying to be careful the rest of the way,” the 26-year-old said. “But I’m stoked with my first podium and hopefully it’s the first of many more.”

Six-time Canadian Superbike champion Steve Crevier of Maple Ridge, BC finished fourth on his Deeley Racing Powered By Buell / Buell 1125R after passing Clint McBain just two laps from the finish.

"I was charging pretty hard at the end," remarked the evergreen 43-year-old after his second best finish over the past two years with the distinctive Buell twin. "We'd been dealing with tire issues all weekend but we went with the harder SC2s front and rear and finally I was able to get really comfortable."

McBain, from Cochrane, AB, settled for fifth on his Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing / Suzuki GSX-R1000. He had gone with a softer tire combination and found himself struggling in the closing stages. The team had also been battling suspension issues all weekend as they tried new Race Tech equipment before finally settling on Ohlins product by Saturday.

Sixth placed went to the second of the Canadian Kawasaki Motors / Kawasaki ZX-10Rs of Uxbridge, ON’s Alex Welsh, who held off a race-long challenge from 14-year-old Royce McLean of Coaldale, AB. Welsh was feeling the effects of a Saturday tumble and struggled with tire issues, while McLean was the top finishing rookie on his Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF / Yamaha YZF-R6.

Karl Daigle had been part of this battle but the Granby, QC racer dropped back in the closing stages to an eighth place finish aboard the A. Perusse Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Ste-Adele, QC’s Jean-Francois Cyr was ninth on the CyrRacing / Honda CBR600RR after passing the Blackfoot / Canadian Kawasaki Motors / Kawasaki ZX-10R of Calgary’s Dave Stokowski two laps from the end. Stokowski rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Superbike Race Results
1. Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, Sask., 16, Suzuki GSX-R1000
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., 16, Kawasaki ZX-10R
3. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont., 16, Yamaha YZF-R1
4. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, B.C., 16, Buell 1125R
5. Clint McBain, Cochrane, Alta., 16, Suzuki GSX-R1000
6. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont., 16, Kawasaki ZX-10R
7. Royce McLean, Coaldale, Alta., 16, Yamaha YZF-R6
8. Karl Daigle, Roxton Pond, Que., 16, Kawasaki ZX-6R
9. J. F. Cyr, Ste Adele, Que., 16, Honda CBR600RR
10. Dave Stokowski, Calgary, Alta., 16, Kawasaki ZX-10R
11. Martin Grande, Montreal, Que., 16, Suzuki GSX-R600
12. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont., 16, Suzuki GSX-R1000
13. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., 16, Honda CBR600RR
14. Erick Beausejour, Val D'Or, Que., 16, Suzuki GSX-R1000
15. Martin Ricard, Montreal, Que., 16, Kawasaki ZX-10R
16. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que., 15, Honda CBR1000RR
17. Alain Campagna, Mascouche, Que., 15, Yamaha YZF-R6
Did Not Finish
Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont., 14, Suzuki GSX-R1000
Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, Que., 13, Kawasaki ZX-10R
Kevin Lacombe, Granby, Que., 2, Yamaha YZF-R1
Did Not Start
Dave Estok, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Buell 1125R
Darren James, North Vancouver, B.C., Buell 1125R
Elie Daccache, Ottawa, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-6R
Todd Scott, Bedford, N.S., Honda CRB600RR
Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6
Jean Paquet, Chambly, Que., Honda CBR600RR
Tony Kasper, Becker, Minn., Yamaha YZF-R6
Genevieve Lesieur, Quebec, Que., Suzuki GSX-R600
Margin of Victory: 2.218 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:25.337 by Brett McCormick on lap 3

Superbike Point Standings
1. Brett McCormick, 104
2. Jordan Szoke, 98
3. Andrew Nelson, 62
4. Clint McBain, 61
5. Steve Crevier, 57
6. Alex Welsh, 54
7. Karl Daigle, 44
8. Royce McLean, 42
9. Kevin Lacombe, 41
10. Frank Trombino, 29
11. Erick Beausejour, 27
12. Jodi Christie, 26
13. Jean-Francois Cyr, 21
14. Marie-Josee Boucher, 20
15. Dave Stokowski, 20
16. Matt McBride, 19
17. Martin Grande, 17
18. Ross Millson, 15
19. Sean Huffman, 10
20. Martin Ricard, 10
21. Elie Daccache, 8
22. Chris Murray-Audain, 6
23. Alain Campagna, 6
24. Terry Steeves, 4
25. Dean Plater, 2