Schouten perseveres at Shannonville

By John Hopkins

Shannonville, ON -- Vicki Schouten must have thought someone was out to get her.

After qualifying fastest for the sixth round of the Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday she was penalized five starting spots for exceeding the class hosepower limit. Then she was handed a five-second penalty for jumping the start of Sunday's race.

But the Richmond, ON racer persevered and came through it all to claim her third straight win of the season and edge closer to taking the 2009 series title.

Riding her Kahuna Powersports Kawasaki ZX-6R Schouten finished the eight-lap race around the 2.45km (1.53-mile) Shannonville 'Pro' track 4.966 secs. ahead of Genevieve Lesieur's Chaine Performance Suzuki GSX-R600, with her time penalty included.

Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez completed the podium in third place aboard the Seamont Brokerage Suzuki GSX-R600.

"It's been an interesting weekend," said Schouten after her victory. "I guess my Kahuna Kawasaki was working a little too good yesterday and my mechanic, Jim Brooks spent all morning trying to dial it back. I just rode hard the whole race, there was no resting."

Schouten had turned a lap in 1:09.307 in qualifying to grab the pole by almost exactly one second (0.999 secs.) over Lesieur.

But her Kawasaki recorded 119.04 on the Dynojet Dyno used for post-qualifying inspection, just over the 118 hp class limit. That not only cost Schouten a place on the front row, but also three championship points.

Lesieur made a great start from pole position in the race and led at the end of the first lap, with Schouten, Gareau-Dominguez and Natalie Catherine Provost (Les Souers en Vrac Honda CBR600RR) in tow.

That's when the other shoe dropped. Schouten was judged to have made a little too good of a start and would now have five seconds added on to her race time.

"I didn't know I had jumped the start and so when I saw the crew signalling my gap I thought it was pretty strange," she said. "Eventually I figured it out."

Schouten took the lead from Lesieur on lap two and then set about trying to open up a gap of more than five seconds. She finally did it on lap five, and continued to pull away. She turned the fastest lap of the race on her fifth tour, 1:08.500.

Lesieur settled for a comfortable second place. The Quebec City rider had been struggling through practice and elected to race her 'B' bike.

"I'm really happy," she said. "I didn't reach my lap times from last year, but this bike is pretty much stock. We were doing a lot of set-up work still this morning so I'm pretty proud of what we did."

Gareau-Dominguez was delighted with third place on her Suzuki. The Montrealer had injured her hand and leg when she got caught up in an incident during Amateur Sport Bike qualifying the previous day.

"This has been a long time coming," she said. "I've done well in the regionals but this is my best ride in the nationals. Franklyn [Dominguez, her husband and Pro Superbike racer] has been working his ass off for me. I'm having a great time; I don't want the season to end."

Provost finished fourth after a race-long battle with the Waznie Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R of Amy Karthaus, which took fifth.

Roxanne Gravelle was sixth on the Gym-Max/Hybrid Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.

Schouten stretched her lead to 29 points unofficially heading to the seventh round of the season back at Shannonville Sept. 25-27. She now has 123 points to the 94 of Provost, but Gareau-Dominguez picked up ground on the Honda rider and is now a close third with 91.

Race Results
1. Vicki Schouten, Richmond, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 8 laps
2. Genevieve Lesieur, Quebec, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600), +4.966
3. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) +8.993
4. Natalie Catherine Provost, Laval, QC (Honda CBR600RR) +12.180
5. Amy Karthaus, Brantford, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +14.076
6. Roxanne Gravelle, Gatineau, QC (Yamaha YZF-R6) +37.902
7. Kana Matsumoto, Aurora, ON (Suzuki SV650) +41.741
8. Samantha Goyer, Ottawa, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6 +41.979
9. Sara-Clode Carrier, Gatineau, QC (Suzuki SV650) +45.071
10. Michelle Tennier, Trenton, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) 7 laps

Unofficial Point Standings (Top 5)
1. Vicki Schouten 123
2. Natalie Catherine Provost 94
3. Vanessa Gareau Dominguez 91
4. Genevieve Lesieur 83
5. Roxanne Gravelle 66