Schouten completes Women's Cup sweep

By John Hopkins

BOWMANVILLE, ON – Vicki Schouten of Richmond, ON won her second Pro Honda Oils Women’s Cup feature in two days at Mosport International Raceway on Sunday.

Despite running third off the start Schouten was able to get into the lead by lap two of the eight-lap race and pull clear to a 6.682-sec. victory on the Kahuna Powersports Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Early race leader Amy Karthaus of Brantford, ON was second on the Waznie Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R and Quebec City's Genevieve Lesieur completed the podium aboard her Chaine Performance Suzuki GSX-R600.

"My start was a bit off today and I was worried about Amy and Gigi getting away," said Schouten, who had led flag to flag in Saturday's opening race of the doubleheader. "The bike's got a lot of power and this is one of my favourite tracks. Once I got to the front I didn't want to push too hard, since the track was a little bit colder than yesterday."

Schouten's fastest lap, a 1:28.279 on the fourth tour, was almost a second better than the next best effort from Karthaus and was quicker than her pole qualifying effort on Friday. It did not, however, top her fastest lap from Saturday's race, a 1:27.998.

Karthaus took a couple of shots at regaining the top spot in turn five but couldn't pull off the pass and eventually settled into a safe second place to follow up a fourth on Saturday.

"I had a couple of chances into Moss's [turn five] but it ruined my drive out [onto the backstraight]," she explained. "One time I almost went right through it. But this is virtually my first time here so I'm pretty happy with the result."

Karthaus just recently moved to Brantford from Calgary, and in 2007 travelled to Mosport to compete in the Amateur Sport Bike class. She only managed a few laps of practice before blowing an engine on that occasion, however.

For the second day in a row Lesieur was bothered by a slight oil leak that made it tricky for her to put down the power and she finished 11.174 secs. behind Schouten.

Laval, QC's Natalie Catherine Provost was fourth on the Les Souers en Vrac Honda CBR600RR and Ottawa's Roxanne Gravelle completed the top five on the Gym-Max/Hybrid Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 after Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez was penalized five seconds and dropped to sixth in the results.

Schouten's weekend sweep unofficially puts her into a solid lead of the Women's Cup standings with 98 points to the 80 of Provost and the 73 of Gareau-Dominguez, the points leader coming into Mosport.

Action resumes at the Labour Day Weekend Parts Canada Superbike round at Shannonville Motorsport Park Sept. 4-6.

Race Results
1. Vicki Schouten, Richmond, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R 8 laps
2. Amy Karthaus, Brantford, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R +6.682
3. Genevieve Lesieur, Quebec, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600 +11.174
4. Natalie Catherine Provost, Laval, QC, Honda CBR600RR +17.676
5. Roxanne Gravelle, Gatineau, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6 +25.544
6. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600 +29.132*
7. Josee Bouchard, Ottawa, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +33.840*
8. Nadine Lajoie, Ile-Perrot, QC, Honda CBR600RR +56.742
9. Kana Matsumoto, Aurora, ON, Suzuki SV650 +1:09.650
10. Samantha Goyer, Ottawa, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:11.388
* -- Penalized five seconds for jump start
Fastest Lap: 1:28.279 by Vicki Schouten on lap 4

Unofficial Point Standings (top five, after 5 of 8 rounds)
1. Vicki Schouten (Kawasaki) 98
2. Natalie Catherine Provost (Honda) 80
3. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez (Suzuki) 73
4. Josee Bouchard (Yamaha) 60
4. Genevieve Lesieur (Suzuki) 60