Matechuk takes Amateur Sport Bike title

By John Hopkins

SHANNONVILLE, ON -- Cody Matechuk of Cochrane, AB locked up the Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike Championship with a second place finish at Shannonville Motorsport Park on his Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 on Sunday.

The race was won by his nearest title challenger, Sebastien Tremblay of Longueuil, QC on the A. Perusse Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-6R, who finished 7.955 secs. clear of Matechuk. Tremblay picked up the Tirox Won Bigtime Award for having the largest winning advantage of the day.

Matechuk finished the season 41 points clear of Tremblay in the standings.

After Efram Ellenbogen led the opening lap of the 14-lap race on his BnE Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 Matechuk took over the top spot on lap 2.

"I thought I would go out and lead the first few laps and see how it went, but I wasn't comfortable running those times," said the 15-year-old Matechuk.

Tremblay moved into second on lap 6 and stayed close to Matechuk, taking over the lead as the pair was negotiating lapped traffic on lap 9. From there Tremblay pulled clear for his second win of the season.

"I never got good starts this year but I always turned consistent lap times, and that's what got me the win today," Tremblay said. "I didn't stop pushing, except for maybe the last lap a bit."

Jeffrey Dion of Granby, QC held off fellow Kawasaki rider Vicki Schouten for the final spot on the podium. The Robitaille Racing rider survived a big moment exiting the final corner on the last lap to hold off the Kahuna Powersports ZX-6R by less than a second at the line.

"We had some suspension problems this weekend but we tried a softer spring in the back and it was much better today," Dion said.

Schouten's fourth place combined with a DNF for early leader Ellenbogen allowed Schouten to snatch third in the final point standings from the Yamaha rider while Dion moved up to fifth in the rankings with his third podium of the year.

Raphael Archambault of St-Colomban, QC clinched the Suzuki SV650 Cup title by just a single point after a 12th place finish at Shannonville on Sunday.

His nearest threat, Brantford, ON’s Rob Busby won the race and led the most laps to claim maximum points for the weekend but still ended up with 294 points to the 295 of Archambault.

"I feel like I did what I had to do," said Busby, who missed the third round of the series at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park. "I'm kind of sad I didn't go to Calgary, or didn't qualify a little better for a couple of those races that would have gotten me an extra point or two."

Archambault had a rough day at Shannonville. The winner of four straight races this year looked to have the title in the bag but suffered a morning warm-up crash and then was penalized for a jump start in the race. He ran around at the back of the field and only secured the 12th place he needed four laps from the end.

Philippe Masse of St-Dominique, QC finished less than a second behind Busby after nearly missing the start of the race while Granby, QC's Jeremie Hade Precourt survived a jump start penalty and a near highside in the hairpin two laps from the end to complete the podium.

Steven Nickerson of Hamilton, ON took home the Honda CBR125R Challenge title thanks to a runner-up finish in the season finale. His main rival, Bodhi Edie of Warman, SK won the race but ended the season 15 points behind in second place.

Nickerson and Edie battled for the top spot through the early stages of the eight-lap race before the points leader thought better of it and settled into a safe second spot.

Quesnel, BC's Ryan Appenrodt made his return to the series after starring at Mosport and completed the podium, edging Samuel Proulx, Ryan Roche and Loic Viscasillas to the line after a dramatic race.

Amateur Sport Bike Race Results (Top 15)
1. Sebastien Tremblay, Longueuil, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 14 laps  
2. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB, Suzuki GSX-R600, +7.955
3. Jeffery Dion, Granby, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +20.773   
4. Vicki Schouten, Richmond, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +21.752       
5. Joey McRae, Orangeville, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, +30.687 
6. Stephane Beaupre, Quebec, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, +37.999
7. Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, ON, Triumph Daytona, +40.171*
8. Jason Thoms, Manotick, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +42.050  
9. Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, +42.390       
10. Richard A. Have, Hawkestone, ON, Suzuki, GSX-R600, +44.369 
11. Alain Lefebvre, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, +46.733
12. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, +48.784   
13. Dominic Dupont, Laval, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +53.255 
14. Etienne Giguere, Levis, QC, Honda CBR600RR, +56.891
15. Ted Kuehn, Kingston, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +57.608   
* -- Penalized five seconds for jump start
Fastest Lap: 1:07.285 by Efram Ellenbogen on lap 3

Amateur Sport Bike Final Point Standings (Top 20)
1. Cody Matechuk (Suzuki) 311
2. Sebastien Tremblay (Kawasaki) 270
3. Vicki Schouten (Kawasaki) 159
4. Efram Ellenbogen (Yamaha) 153
5. Jeffrey Dion (Kawasaki) 134
6. Billy Shields (Yamaha) 122
7. Joey McRae (Yamaha) 113
8. Kenny Riedmann (Triumph) 79
9. Stephane Beaupre (Yamaha) 71
10. Alain Lefebvre (Suzuki) 69
11. Jason Thoms (Kawasaki) 65
12. Marcel Irnie (Kawasaki) 62
13. Clarke La Prairie (Kawasaki) 61
14. Christian LaBrecque (Yamaha) 47
15. Etienne Giguere (Honda) 44
16. Amy Karthaus (Kawasaki) 41
17. Aubrey Bailey (Honda) 38
18. Dominic Dupont (Kawasaki) 30
19. Trevor Berhardt (Suzuki) 29
20. Thomas Bodrovics (Suzuki) 29
21. Richard A. Have (Suzuki) 29

Suzuki SV650 National Cup Race Results
1. Rob Busby, Brantford, ON 14 laps    
2. Philippe Masse, St Dominique, QC, +0.761
3. Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC, +9.116*
4. Brent Strong, Mississauga, ON, +19.823
5. Dan Henri, Ottawa, ON, +22.800
6. Michel Sabourin, Brampton, ON, +23.419
7. Lee Kuhn, Hamilton, ON, +26.921
8. Chris Dopke, Cambridge, ON, +30.061
9. David Mongrain, St-Jerome, QC, +30.329
10. Kana Matsumoto, Aurora, ON, +57.975
11. Philippe Bonin, St-Colomban, QC, +1:01.330
12. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC, +1:09.648*
13. Joe Rodrigues, Weston, ON, +1:11.316
Did Not Finish
Francois Chartrand, Repentigny, QC, 8 laps
Martin Chartrand, Montreal, QC, 6 laps
Tyler Reid, Toronto, ON, 3 laps
* -- Penalized five seconds for jump start
Fastest Lap: 1:10.409 by Philippe Masse on lap 7

Suzuki SV650 National Cup Point Standings (Top 15)
1. Raphael Archambault 295
2. Rob Busby 294
3. Philippe Masse 232
4. Jeremie Hade Precourt 227
5. Dan Henri 148
6. Brent Strong 121
7. Jody Greening 105
8. Lee Kuhn 103
9. Chris Dopke 100
10. Joe Rodrigues 82
11. David Mongrain 71
12. Steve Grujic 69
13. Kana Matsumoto 64
14. Francois Chartrand 59
15. Michel Sabourin 50

Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
1. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK, 8 laps      
2. Steven Nickerson, Hamilton, ON, +3.099
3. Ryan R. Appenrodt, Quesnel, BC, +8.165
4. Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC, +8.280
5. Ryan Roche, Pickering, ON, +8.863
6. Loic Viscasillas, Laval, QC, +8.924
7. Stavros Grekos, Toronto, ON, +25.584
8. Nicole Pilkington, Blackstock, ON, +26.936
9. Karl Robitaille, Ste-Julie, QC, +32.434
10. Pascal Bastien, Laval, QC, +34.420
11. Young Jae Kim, Mississauga, ON, +35.227
12. Daniel Corbett, Ottawa, ON, +46.544
13. Toni Nesbitt, Saint-Lazare, QC, +47.746
14. Steve Walker, Carleton Place, ON, +48.520
15. Jessie Parks-Hamer, Barrie, ON, +56.442
Fastest Lap: 1:06.420 by Bodhi Edie on lap 8

Honda CBR125R Challenge Final Point Standings (Top 15)
1. Steven Nickerson 403
2. Bodhi Edie 388
3. Ryan Roche 268
4. Karl Robitaille 267
5. Leah Vignale 187
6. Ryan R. Appenrodt 180
7. Young Jae Kim 145
8. Nicole Pilkington 143
9. Geoffrey Gerbrandt 102
10. Samuel Proulx 90
11. Toni Nesbitt 90
12. Loic Viscasillas 81
13. Dylan Jones 53
14. Emil Peev 46
15. Cody Conrad 44
16. Robert Haynes 44