ProStar and Christie split; Taylor on 1000?

By John Hopkins

Jodi Christie competed in last weekend's third round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship in Calgary without the support of Ben Gartner and his ProStar Motorsports concern.

The two parties split, apparently amicably, following round two of the series at Circuit ICAR and Christie will now continue the season competing under his family's Roz-Gar Racing banner, which guided him to the Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike title last year. He is still sponsored by the Honda Powerhouse Dealers of Ontario.

With the severing of his ties with ProStar, the 17-year-old from Keene, ON will now be limited to running Honda CBR600RR equipment. The CBR1000RR he sampled at the first two Parts Canada Superbike rounds belongs to Gartner.

Latest rumours suggest Gartner's Port Perry, ON-based racing team will put two-time Canadian Superbike champion Michael Taylor on the Honda for the upcoming national doubleheader at Mosport International Raceway July 17-19. Taylor raced ProStar's Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a seventh-place finish in last September's Parts Canada Superbike season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park in a one-off appearance.

Christie, meanwhile, raced to a ninth place finish in the Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike feature at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park last weekend and was 12th in the Superbike class. He is now eighth and 10th in points in the two respective categories, and second in the chase for the HJC Pro Rookie of the Year award.