By John Hopkins
Photo by Rob O'Brien
SHANNONVILLE, ON – Brett McCormick took another bite out of Jordan Szoke’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship points lead by claiming pole position for this weekend’s season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday.
The 18-year-old from Saskatoon shattered the lap record for the 2.45km (1.53-mile) ‘Pro’ track with a time of one minute, 3.795 seconds (138.256 km/h) in the Pirelli SuperPole qualifying session on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000.
That gave him the $500 Inside Motorcycles Pole Position Award and four points toward the Superbike championship. He now trails series leader Szoke by 13 points, 299-286 heading into Sunday’s feature race.
Szoke picked up three points in qualifying and will start second on Sunday after setting a time of 1:04.172 on the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R.
“It was a lot of fun,” said McCormick, who has won the Inside Motorcycles Pole Position cheque at all but one of the 2009 series rounds. “I tried not to rush into any corners and I hit all my lines. I was a little deep into the hairpin but that’s a corner that gives you a little bit of leeway.”
Matt McBride of Mississauga, ON was third fastest in the Pirelli SuperPole session at 1:04.638 aboard the Riders Choice Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Granby, QC’s Kevin Lacombe completes the front row for the race after turning a 1:04.888 aboard the Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R1.
McCormick had already reset the lap record with a time of 1:03.958 in Saturday morning’s prequalifying session, which set the field of 10 for the afternoon’s Pirelli SuperPole shootout. The old record was a 1:04.632 set by Szoke last year.
Szoke improved on his prequalifying time by almost a full second to grab the provisional top spot, putting the pressure on McCormick, the final rider in SuperPole, to duplicate or surpass his morning time to stay on pole and take another point out of Szoke’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship lead.
“We used the same set up as this morning and I didn’t feel like I was riding over my head,” McCormick said. “The tire worked awesome. All I can do tomorrow is ride my best and hopefully that will be enough to put us on top.”
Should McCormick win on Sunday and lead the most laps Szoke would need a second place finish to claim a record fourth straight Parts Canada Superbike title and sixth career crown.
“My time was a bit of a shock to me,” said the 30-year-old Szoke, from Brantford, Ont. “I left a lot on the table. I have a different pressure than normal and going into turn two I tried to take it easy and I had no corner speed. There were a few other things like that on that lap, but I knew I did the job.”
In only his third appearance of the season McBride made an improvement of three quarters of a second on his morning prequalifying time to grab a spot on the front row.
“Everyone on the team’s been working hard all weekend,” McBride said. “The bike was really hooked up and I did what I needed to do.”
Lacombe had been second to McCormick in prequalifying but was unable to improve on his time in the Pirelli SuperPole session.
“We tried some suspension set up changes but it was a little gamble that did not work,” said the two-time Shannonville Superbike race winner. “I was wide out of the hairpin and I really pushed after that, and I almost went off at Allen’s [Corner].”
Despite nursing injuries from a Friday practice fall, Clint McBain of Cochrane, AB qualified fifth fastest with a time of 1:05.336 on the Suzuki Dealers / Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000.
He will be joined on row two of the grid by Kars, Ont.’s Andrew Nelson (Nelson Racing Yamaha YZF-R1) and Alex Welsh of Uxbridge, Ont. (Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6R).
Nelson is still feeling the effects of a rotator cuff injury he suffered at Mosport International Raceway in July while Welsh was aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R instead of the ZX-10R Superbike to mitigate the discomfort of a broken pelvis suffered in the previous round at Atlantic Motorsport Park.
Both riders, however, improved their grid positions in SuperPole. Nelson went from eighth to sixth despite hitting a false neutral entering the hairpin. Welsh jumped from 10th in prequalifying to grab seventh in SuperPole.
The top 10 SuperPole qualifiers were rounded out by Keene, Ont.’s Jodi Christie on the Honda Powerhouse Dealers of Ontario / Roz-Gar Racing Honda CBR600RR and the Deeley Racing Powered By Buell duo of Dave Estok (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) and Steve Crevier (Maple Ridge, B.C.), who will start ninth and 10th respectively.
Christie had a moment in the hairpin and couldn't improve on his prequalifying time while Estok had a close call coming onto the front straight.
Crevier was forced onto his Sport Bike after a crash in turn one at the end of prequalifying damaged his Buell 1125R Superbike.
Marie-Josee Boucher completes the third row of Sunday's Superbike grid after just failing to crack the SuperPole top 10 on her Excel Moto Honda CBR600RR. The Montreal rider had been in the SuperPole zone until late in the prequalifying session.
Qualifying Results (top 10 established in SuperPole)
1. Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, Sask., Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:03.795
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:04.172
3. Matt McBride, Mississauga, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:04.638
4. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, Que., Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:04.888
5. Clint McBain, Cochrane, Alta., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:05.336
6. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:05.833
7. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:05.885
8. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., Honda CBR600RR, 1:05.984
9. Dave Estok, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Buell 1125R, 1:06.429
10. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, B.C., Buell 1125R, 1:06.687
11. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que., Honda CBR600RR, 1:06.398
12. Erick Beausejour, Val D'Or, Que., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:06.402
13. Karl Daigle, Roxton Pond, Que., Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:06.537
14. Darren James, North Vancouver, B.C., Buell 1125R, 1:07.032
15. Elie Daccache, Ottawa, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:07.035
16. Martin Grande, Montreal, Que., Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:07.148
17. Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:07.249
18. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:07.695
19. Larry Orde, Peterborough, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:08.314
20. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.347
21. Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:09.046
22. Olivier Spillborghs, White Rock, B.C., Buell 1125, 1:09.505
23. Alain Campagna, Mascouche, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:09.778
24. Tony Kasper, Becker, Minn., Yamaha YZF-R6, No Time
0 comments:
Post a Comment