Nickerson and Archambault take Mosport wins

By John Hopkins

BOWMANVILLE, ON – Steven Nickerson of Hamilton, ON took over the lead of the Honda CBR125R Challenge with a win at Mosport International Raceway on Sunday while his closest rival, Bodhi Edie crashed out of the lead battle.

Nickerson finished 5.854 secs. ahead of Quesnel, BC’s Ryan Appenrodt while Karl Robitaille of Ste-Julie, QC placed third.

In a reprise of their sensational duel on Saturday, which Edie won in a photo finish, the top two riders in the title chase were again dicing at the front of Sunday's race, which was held on a wet track. Edie went down when he lost the front in turn nine in the tricky conditions.

"I was taking my own line and then the front end was gone; I just lost it," said the 13-year-old Warman, SK rider, who was unhurt in the incident. "I'm fine with sliding but I'm not a big fan of the sliding on the ground thing."

With Edie gone Nickerson enjoyed a 2.5-sec. lead over Appenrodt and set his fastest lap of the race, a 2:18.176 on the fifth tour.

"At the beginning of the race I was a little scared to go fast but it was OK in the middle," said the 14-year-old Nickerson after his third win of the season. "I was a little worried when I heard Bodhi had crashed. I'm glad to see he's OK."

Nickerson now leads Edie by 39 points in the Honda CBR125R Challenge standings, 318-279 heading into the penultimate round at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS Aug. 7-9.

After an early dice with Robitaille, Appenrodt pulled clear to claim his second podium finish of an impressive weekend for the 15-year-old, who was making his first visit to Mosport as part of a contingent brought in by Jay Fox and his Alberta Mini Roadracing Association.

"It was pretty tricky, especially when the sun came out there for a bit," said Appenrodt, who set the race's fastest lap, a 2:17.485 on his fourth tour. "Karl was tricky to pass and once I got by him Steven was gone."

There are plans afoot to try to get the promising Appenrodt to Nova Scotia for the next event.

Robitaille lost touch with Appenrodt when Samuel Proulx fell in front of him on lap four. Proulx charged back from eighth to pass Ryan Roche for fourth at the line.

Raphael Archambault of St-Colomban, QC completed a weekend sweep of the Suzuki SV650 National Cup races at Mosport and opened up a 33-point lead in the standings over Brantford, ON’s Rob Busby, who finished third. Jeremie Hade Precourt of Granby, QC took second in the dramatic race, with the top three covered by 0.099 secs. at the line and just half a second between the top five.

Positions among this group changed constantly through the 10-lap race, although Archambault was credited with leading nine laps and picked up the two-point bonus.

Polesitter Hade Precourt, who had crashed out of Saturday's race, moved from fourth to second on the final lap to deny Busby a second straight runner-up finish.

With his third straight victory of the year Archambault now has 226 points to Busby's 193 with two rounds to go.

Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
1. Steven Nickerson, Hamilton, ON 8 laps
2. Ryan R. Appenrodt, Quesnel, BC, +5.854
3. Karl Robitaille, Ste-Julie, QC +17.398
4. Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC +23.341
5. Ryan Roche, Pickering, ON +23.411
6. Jay Fox, Calgary, AB +39.151*
7. Cody Conrad, Calgary, AB +52.349
8. Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON +54.245
9. Robert Haynes, Calgary, AB, +1:03.503
10. Nicole Pilkington, Blackstock, ON +1:21.251
11. Toni Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC +2:24.404
Did Not Finish
Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK 4 laps
Lexi Pechout, Calgary, AB 3 laps
Geoffrey Gerbrandt, Martensville, SK 3 laps
Kim Young Jae, Mississauga, ON 2 laps
Loic Viscasillas, Laval, QC, 0 laps
* -- Inelgigible for series points
Fastest Lap: 2:17.485 by Ryan Appenrodt on lap 4

CBR125R Challenge Standings (after 7 of 9 rounds)
1. Steven Nickerson 318
2. Bodhi Edie 279
3. Ryan Roche 206
4. Karl Robitaille 197
5. Leah Vignale 158
6. Ryan R. Appenrodt 143
7. Nicole Pilkington 120
8. Geoffrey Gerbrandt 102
9. Kim Young Jae 101
10. Samuel Proulx 57
11. Loic Viscasillas 54
12. Dylan Jones 53
13. Emil Peev 46
14. Toni Nesbitt 44
15. Robert Haynes 44
16. Cody Conrad 44
17. Chris Wilson 42
18. Christopher Mah 24
19. Kelsey Giachetta 17
20. Samantha McManus 13
21. Lexi Pechout 12

Suzuki SV650 Cup Race Results
1. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC 10 laps
2. Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC, +0.031
3. Rob Busby, Brantford, ON +0.099
4. Jody Greening, Burlington, ON +0.294
5. Philippe Masse, St-Dominique, QC +0.534
6. Dan Henri, Ottawa, ON, +24.609
7. David Mongrain, St-Jerome, QC +27.782
8. Steve Grujic, Cambridge, ON +28.159
9. Stuart Pilkington, Blackstock, ON +28.694
10. Joe Rodrigues, Weston, ON +29.405
11. Brent Strong, Mississauga, ON +38.085
12. Kana Matsumoto, Aurora, ON +48.604
13. Michel Sabourin, Brampton, ON +50.273
14. Chris Dopke, Cambridge, ON +51.037
15. Martin Chartrand, Montreal, QC +53.602
16. Lee Kuhn, Hamilton, ON +1:16.380
17. Edward Beck, Bowmanville, ON +1:33.411
18. Philippe Bonin, St-Colomban, QC +1:33.531
19. Rob Cousineau, Aurora, ON 9 laps
Did Not Finish
Francois Chartrand, Repentigny, QC 5 laps
Fastest Lap: 1:32.036 by Rob Busby on lap 9

Suzuki SV650 Cup Point Standings (after 5 of 7 rounds)
1. Raphael Archambault 226
2. Rob Busby 193
3. Philippe Masse 154
4. Jeremie Hade Precourt 147
5. Dan Henri 119
6. Jody Greening 105
7. Brent Strong 88
8. Steve Grujic 69
9. Francois Chartrand 59
10. Chris Dopke 52
11. David Mongrain 50
12. Lee Kuhn 49
13. Steve Greene 46
14. Kana Matsumoto 45
15. Joe Rodrigues 42
16. Stuart Pilkington 42
17. Martin Chartrand 41
18. Kurtis Joki 33
19. Philippe Bonin 29
20. Emerson Lefurgey 27
21. Michel Sabourin 23
22. Nicky Poon 19
23. Edward Beck 12
24. Rob Cousineau 4