Matechuk wins again at Mosport

By John Hopkins

BOWMANVILLE, ON – Cochrane, AB’s Cody Matechuk extended his lead in the Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike class to 31 points with his third win of the year on the Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 at Mosport International Raceway on Sunday.

His closest title rival, Sebastien Tremblay of Longueuil, QC took second aboard the A. Perusse Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-6R, 4.364 secs. behind after 12 laps of the 3.9km (2.459-mile) Mosport circuit and Efram Ellenbogen of Belleville, ON was a close third riding the BnE Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
       
Poor weather delayed the start of the Amateur Sport Bike race, which lost its qualifying session on Saturday due to similar circumstances. Ellenbogen led off the start but slid wide in turn two, allowing Tremblay into the lead and Matechuk up to second. The Alberta rider then grabbed the lead on lap two and stayed in front the rest of the way.

"I tried to break away right from the beginning but it wasn't working out," said Matechuk, who started from pole thanks to posting the quickest practice time on Saturday morning. "At around halfway we hit lapped traffic and I think it hurt them more than it hurt me. Then I just put my head down."

Matechuk set the race's fastest lap, a 1:25.166 on the ninth tour.

Tremblay said he made a mistake exiting turn five on lap six, which caused him to lose Matechuk's draft. He had a couple of seconds on Ellenbogen but that evaporated as the leaders hit heavy lapped traffic in the last few laps. The Yamaha rider was unable to capitalize, however.

Nevertheless, Ellenbogen was just happy to have made the race after suffering two engine failures early in the week and ultimately being forced to borrow a bike for the race.

"I'm happy to be on the podium again, finally," he said after his best finish since the Calabogie Motorsports Park season opener.

His BnE Racing Yamaha teammate Billy Shields ran a lonely race to fourth, clear of a fierce five-rider scrap for fifth. Vicki Schouten finally worked her way through the group to take the spot on the Kahuna Powersports Kawasaki ZX-6R, edging Joey McRae's Envy Rides Honda CBR600RR, Kenny Riedmann on the Triumph 675 and Jeffrey Dion's Robitaille Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Poor Aubrey Bailey had been part of this group on the H.T. Motorsports Honda CBR600RR but crashed on the final lap.

There was also heartbreak for Bill Gibson of Milton, ON, who had qualified his Yamaha fourth for his first ever road race but was unable to take the start after he arrived at pre-grid on rain tires after the race had been declared dry by series officials.

Race Results
1. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB, Suzuki GSX-R600 12 laps
2. Sebastien Tremblay, Longueuil, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R +4.364
3. Efram Ellenbogen, Belleville, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +4.987
4. Billy Shields, Unionville, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +25.672
5. Vicki Schouten, Richmond, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +32.092
6. Joey McRae, Orangeville, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +32.355
7. Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, ON, Triumph Daytona 675 +32.776
8. Jeffrey Dion, St-Cecile de Milton, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R +33.064
9. Stephane Beaupre, Quebec, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6 +33.258
10. Jason Thoms, Manotick, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +52.866
11. Marco Dias, Bradford, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:01.724
12. Clarke LaPrairie, Kanata, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +1:01.977
13. Tony Salatino, Etobicoke, ON, Honda CBR600RR +1:02.801
14. Christian LaBrecque, Quebec, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:03.891
15. Richard A. Have, Hawkestone, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600 +1:05.437
16. Martin Gosselin, Plessisville, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R +1:15.571
17. Natalie-Catherine Provost, Laval, QC, Honda CBR600RR +1:24.734
18. Ted Kuehn, Kingston, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +1:26.030
19. Ron Munroe, Beaver Bank, NS, Honda CBR600RR +1:29.778
20. Amy Karthaus, Brantford, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +1:31.316
21. Antony Lachance, Iles d'Orleans, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6 11 laps
22. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600 11 laps
23. Roxanne Gravelle, Gatineau, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6 11 laps
24. Dominic Dupont, Laval, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R 11 laps
25. Joe Schuster, Richmond, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R 11 laps
26. Guy Lagace, Levis, QC, Honda CBR600RR 11 laps
27. Josee Bouchard, Ottawa, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 11 laps
28. Brandon Smith, Milton, ON, Honda CBR600RR 11 laps
29. Nadine Lajoie, Ile-Perrot, QC, Honda CBR600RR 11 laps
30. Jose Azevedo, Bradford, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 11 laps
Did Not Finish
Aubrey Bailey, Parry Sound, ON, Honda CBR600RR 11 laps
Fastest Lap: 1:25.166 by Cody Matechuk on lap 9

Point Standings after four of six rounds
1. Cody Matechuk (Suzuki) 207
2. Sebastien Tremblay (Kawasaki) 176
3. Efram Ellenbogen (Yamaha) 119
4. Vicki Schouten (Kawasaki) 102
5. Billy Shields (Yamaha) 91
6. Jeffrey Dion (Kawasaki) 60
7. Joey McRae (Yamaha) 57
8. Kenny Riedmann (Triumph) 54
9. Alain Lefebvre (Suzuki) 52
10. Christian LaBrecque (Yamaha) 47
11. Marcel Irnie (Kawasaki) 42
12. Clarke La Prairie (Kawasaki) 42
13. Jason Thoms (Kawasaki) 42
14. Aubrey Bailey (Honda) 38
15. Etienne Giguere (Honda) 32
16. Thomas Bodrovics (Suzuki) 29
17. Trevor Berhardt (Suzuki) 29
18. Amy Karthaus (Kawasaki) 24
19. Guy Lagace (Honda) 23
20. Rahul Dua (Suzuki) 21
21. Natalie-Catherine Provost (Honda) 21
22. Stephane Beaupre (Yamaha) 21
23. Ryan Middleton (Yamaha) 19
24. Martin Gosselin (Kawasaki) 18
25. Brent Vandenbroek (Kawasaki) 17
26. Dominic Dupont (Kawasaki) 17
27. KJ Gamblin (Suzuki) 17
28. Marco Dias (Yamaha) 17
29. Colin Purcell (Honda) 15
30. Ted Keuhn (Kawasaki) 14
31. Harvey Renaud (Kawasaki) 13
32. Sylvain Dufresne (Suzuki) 13
33. Claude Bergeron (Honda) 13
34. Tony Salatino (Honda) 13
35. Daniel Ouimet (Suzuki) 12
36. Chris Crump (Buell) 12
37. David Murray (Yamaha) 10
38. Richard A. Have (Suzuki) 10
39. David Cote (Suzuki) 8
40. Alex Irving (Suzuki) 8
41. Gary Lee (Suzuki) 6
42. Dominic Goudreault (Yamaha) 4
43. Chris Trickett (Suzuki) 4
44. Jean-Sebastien Perreault (Kawasaki) 2
45. Ron Munroe (Kawasaki) 2
46. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez (Suzuki) 1