Matechuk wins again at AMP

By John Hopkins

SHUBENACADIE, NS – Cody Matechuk of Cochrane, AB took his fourth win in five races in the Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Sunday and all but clinched the title.

Riding the Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 Matechuk finished 2.473 secs. ahead of his closest title rival, Sebastien Tremblay on the A. Perusse Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-6R. He leads the Longueuil, QC racer by 44 points, 263-219 heading into the season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park Sept, 4-6.

After qualifying on pole with a time that would have got him into the Parts Canada Superbike SuperPole qualifying session, Matechuk led all nine laps of the race, which was shortened from a scheduled 14 laps due to a red flag for a crash involving Marcel Irnie.

"We came here for the regional last weekend and it paid off for us, we had the bike set up well for qualifying," Matechuk said. "I tried to push and push in the race, but I think the track was a little greasier than yesterday and I almost crashed, so I decided to take it easy."

After trailing Irnie for three laps Tremblay moved up to second with a pass of the Irnieracing.com Kawasaki rider in turn three on lap four. From there he was able to hold the gap to Matechuk steady before the red flag came out. It was an impressive performance from Tremblay, who had crashed on Friday and badly damaged his ZX-6R.

"I need to thank Kawasaki for helping me out and getting me some parts," the runner-up finisher said. "I tried hard but I don't know if I had much more for Cody."

Irnie was alone in third when he highsided in the Carousel, but he was not seriously hurt. Billy Shields was behind him on the road, but the BnE Racing Yamaha rider was hit for a jump start and dropped to fifth in the results.

That moved Granby, QC's Jeffrey Dion up to the final podium place on the Robitaille Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R. Dion had made a sensational start from eighth on the grid to run fifth by the end of the opening lap.

"I've got a couple of tricks [for the start]," said Dion after his second podium finish of the year. "I was really fast in turns seven and eight and into the Carousel, very good on the brakes."

Efram Ellenbogen of Belleville, ON claimed fourth on his BnE Yamaha.

Local favourite Ron Munroe qualified fifth and was running sixth on the second lap when he crashed his Honda CBR600RR while trying to take fifth from Dion into the Carousel. The Beaver Bank, NS rider suffered a suspected broken collarbone in the crash.

St-Colomban, QC’s Raphael Archambault scored his fourth straight Suzuki SV650 National Cup victory and heads to the season finale 42 points clear of his nearest rival in the championship, Brantford, ON’s Rob Busby. Archambault edged Busby by 0.197 secs. for the win at AMP on Sunday.

In another tight battle polesitter Jeremie Hade Precourt edged Phiippe Masse for the final podium spot and moved a point ahead of Masse into third spot in the series standings.

The Honda CBR125R Challenge race saw a spectacular three-way scrap between Bodhi Edie, Karl Robitaille and Steven Nickerson. Edie took the win with a bold double draft move on the back straight and held off Robitaille and Nickerson at the line. The three were covered by 0.168 secs.

Hamilton, ON’s Nickerson now leads Edie, from Warman, SK by 26 points in the class standings, 359-333 heading to the final round.

The lead trio ran three abreast on the backstraight on the final two laps. Nickerson grabbed the lead on the penultimate tour and looked like he might break away from Robitaille and Edie, but the pair reeled him in and on the final lap Edie duplicated Nickerson's move from third to first.

Robitaille jumped into third in the class point standings ahead of Ryan Roche, who took fourth on Sunday.

Amateur Sport Bike Race Results
1. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB (Suzuki GSX-R600) 9 laps
2. Sebastien Tremblay, Longueuil, QC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +2.473   
3. Jeffery Dion, Granby, QC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +7.231    
4. Efram Ellenbogen, Belleville, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) +8.068     
5. Billy Shields, Unionville, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) +11.399*
6. Joey McRae, Orangeville, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) +18.914 
7. Vicki Schouten, Richmond, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +24.612
8. Stephane Beaupre, Quebec, QC (Yamaha YZF-R6) +24.878
9. Scott Redden, Hatchet Lake, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +29.209    
10. Clarke LaPrairie, Kanata, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +33.589*
11. Justin Ford, Oyster Bed, PEI (Yamaha YZF-R6) +40.521       
12. Matthew Raymond, Cornwallis, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +48.423  
13. Amy Karthaus, Brantford, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +50.917       
14. Charles Legere, Sackville, NS (Honda CBR600RR) +56.180*
15. Stephen Clark, Hampton, NB (Honda CBR600RR) +56.615*
16. Marcel Irnie, West Kelowna, BC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 5.316^     
Did Not Finish
Peter Hico, Halifax, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6RR) 2 laps       
Ron Munroe, Beaver Bank, NS (Honda CBR600RR) 1 lap
Did Not Start  
Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600)
* -- Penalized five seconds for jump start
^ -- Put to back of order for causing red flag
Race shortened from 14 laps due to red flag

Amateur Sport Bike Point Standings -- Top 20 (after 5 of 6 rounds)
1. Cody Matechuk (Suzuki) 263
2. Sebastien Tremblay (Kawasaki) 219
3. Efram Ellenbogen (Yamaha) 151
4. Vicki Schouten (Kawasaki) 127
5. Billy Shields (Yamaha) 122
6. Jeffrey Dion (Kawasaki) 97
7. Joey McRae (Yamaha) 84
8. Clarke La Prairie (Kawasaki) 61
9. Kenny Riedmann (Triumph) 54
10. Marcel Irnie (Kawasaki) 53
11. Alain Lefebvre (Suzuki) 52
12. Christian LaBrecque (Yamaha) 47
13. Stephane Beaupre (Yamaha) 44
14. Jason Thoms (Kawasaki) 42
15. Aubrey Bailey (Honda) 38
16. Amy Karthaus (Kawasaki) 37
17. Etienne Giguere (Honda) 32
18. Thomas Bodrovics (Suzuki) 29
19. Trevor Berhardt (Suzuki) 29
20. Guy Lagace (Honda) 23

Suzuki SV650 Cup Race Results
1. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC 12 laps
2. Rob Busby, Brantford, ON +0.197
3. Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC +12.619
4. Philippe Masse, St-Dominique, QC +12.728
5. Lee Kuhn, Hamilton, ON +37.690
6. Joe Rodrigues, Weston, ON +46.973
7. Chris Dopke, Cambridge, ON +49.050

Suzuki SV650 Cup Point Standings -- Top 15 (after 6 of 7 rounds)
1. Raphael Archambault 280
2. Rob Busby 238
3. Jeremie Hade Precourt 188
4. Philippe Masse 187
5. Dan Henri 119
6. Jody Greening 105
7. Brent Strong 88
8. Lee Kuhn 78
9. Chris Dopke 77
10. Steve Grujic 69
11. Joe Rodrigues 69
12. Francois Chartrand 59
13. David Mongrain 50
14. Steve Greene 46
15. Kana Matsumoto 45

Honda CBR125R Race Results
1. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK 10 laps      
2. Karl Robitaille, Ste-Julie, QC +0.083
3. Steven Nickerson, Hamilton, ON +0.168
4. Ryan Roche, Pickering, ON +43.631
5. Ed Sorbo, Mentone, CA +44.653*
6. Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON +1:16.3
7. Young Jae Kim, Mississauga, ON +1:18.7
8. Austin O'Leary, Falmouth, NS 9 laps
9. Toni Nesbitt, Saint-Lazare, QC 9
Did Not Finish
Veronika Larson, Halifax, NS 8 laps*
* -- ineligible for championship points

Honda CBR125R Point Standings -- Top 10 (after 8 of 9 rounds)
1. Steven Nickerson 359
2. Bodhi Edie 333
3. Karl Robitaille 242
4. Ryan Roche 239
5. Leah Vignale 187
6. Ryan R. Appenrodt 143
7. Young Jae Kim 128
8. Nicole Pilkington 120
9. Geoffrey Gerbrandt 102
10. Toni Nesbitt 77