Szoke is Sport Bike king again

By John Hopkins

SHANNONVILLE, ON – Jordan Szoke clinched his fourth straight Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike Championship with a runner-up finish to Brett McCormick in the 15-lap  season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Sunday.

In a race very similar to the Superbike event later in the day, McCormick took the lead on lap three on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 and eased clear to a 5.993-sec. victory over the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6R of Szoke. Szoke finished the season with 345 points to the 340 of McCormick.

"This has been one of the most exciting years in my career, and one of the toughest years," said the 30-year-old Szoke. "I thought I raised my game in the off-season but Brett did not let up. He's a heck of a rider and having that much competition makes this even sweeter."

Alex Welsh completed the podium finishers on another Canadian Kawasaki Motors ZX-6R. Despite struggling with a broken pelvis suffered in the previous round of the series at Atlantic Motorsport Park, the Uxbridge, ON rider played a key role in helping Szoke secure the title, leading the opening two laps of the race and then covering Szoke's back in third spot.

"I have the best teammate in the world," Szoke said. "I was happy he got out front because I knew Brett was coming. Alex was battling for me back there."

The Kawasakis ran 1-2 for the first lap before McCormick got around Szoke heading into the hairpin on lap 2 and then grabbed the lead from Welsh in Allen's Corner a lap later. He then eased away from the green bikes, lapping about half a second faster than anyone else in the race.

"I didn't get the start I was looking for and wound up fourth heading into turn 1," said the 18-year-old McCormick. "I knew the Kawis weren't going to make it easy for me, but I didn't want to play that game of bunching up the field. I wanted to prove we had the best bike out there."

After ceding second spot to Szoke, Welsh provided a rear guard support, holding off a pack that included Kevin Lacombe, Andrew Nelson, Steve Crevier, Jodi Christie and Karl Daigle.

"I didn't want to interfere too much with the championship battle," Wesh acknowledged. "I probably didn't have the pace of Jordan or Brett. The pace we were running wasn't easy by any means. It was comfortable, but fast."

McCormick had the race's fastest lap at 1:05.031.

Lacombe settled for fourth on the Team Toyota Yamaha / OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R6 and was third in the final Pro Sport Bike standings with 238 points.

Steve Crevier on the Deeley Racing Powered By Buell / Buell 1125R passed Nelson's Nelson Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 two laps from the end to take fifth.

Christie was seventh on the Powerhouse Honda Dealers of Ontario / Roz-Gar Racing Honda CBR600RR and Daigle settled for eighth riding the A. Perusse Kawasaki / Chaine Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R.

The race was stopped three laps from the end of its scheduled 18-lap distance for a crash involving factory Buell rider Darren James in turn two. The North Vancouver racer was not badly hurt, and returned to compete in the Superbike feature later in the day.

Race Results
1. Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, SK, Suzuki GSX-R600, 15 laps
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +5.993
3. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +7.219
4. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, +8.084
5. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Buell 1125R, +9.819
6. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, +10.319
7. Jodi Christie, Keene, ON, Honda CBR600RR, +10.473
8. Karl Daigle, Roxton Pond, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +16.660
9. Dave Estok, New Smyrna Beach, FL, Buell 1125R, +18.895
10. Matt McBride, Mississauga, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600, +25.339
11. Elie Daccache, Ottawa, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +32.714
12. Tony Kasper, Becker, MN, Yamaha YZF-R6, +34.086
13. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, QC, Honda CBR600RR, +38.788
14. Michael Ferreira, Mississauga, ON, BMW HP2, +41.354
15. Martin Grande, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, +46.025**
16. Alain Campagna, Mascouche, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, +1:04.801
17. Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, 14 laps
18. Olivier Spilborghs, White Rock, BC, Buell 1125R, 14
19. Darren James, North Vancouver, BC Buell 1125R, 15*
Did Not Finish
Zenon Nelson, Bowmanville, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600, 8 laps
* -- Put to back of finishing order for causing red flag
** -- Penalized five seconds for jump start
Fastest Lap: 1:05.031 by Brett McCormick on lap 4

Final Point Standings
1. Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) 345
2. Brett McCormick (Suzuki) 340
3. Kevin Lacombe (Yamaha) 238
4. Alex Welsh (Kawasaki) 216
5. Steve Crevier (Buell) 204
6. Andrew Nelson (Yamaha) 196
7. Jodi Christie (Honda) 159
8. Dave Estok (Buell) 126
9. Royce McLean (Yamaha) 124
10. Karl Daigle (Kawasaki) 99
11. Darren James (Buell) 93
12. Tony Kasper (Yamaha) 68
13. Matt McBride (Suzuki) 67
14. Michael Ferreira (BMW) 67
15. Martin Grande (Suzuki) 66
16. Francis Martin (BMW) 65
17. Brian Blaauwendraat (Honda) 64
18. Marie-Josee Boucher (Honda) 60
19. Elie Daccache (Kawasaki) 30
20. Jean-Francois Cyr (Honda) 21
21. Frank Trombino (Suzuki) 15
22. James Collins (Yamaha) 15
23. Louie Raffa (Yamaha) 14
24. Rob Darlington (Yamaha) 13
25. Matt Schmidt (Suzuki) 12
26. Matthew Leahey (Honda) 12
27. Scott Rupert (Suzuki) 12
28. Jeff O'Leary (Kawasaki) 10
29. Alain Campagna (Yamaha) 10
30. Andrew Dunlap (Kawasaki) 8
31. Rob Busby (Kawasaki) 6
32. Matthew Elder (Suzuki) 6
33. Olivier Spilborghs (Suzuki) 5
34. Dan Henri (Yamaha) 4
35. Todd Scott (Honda) 4
36. Chad Swain (Kawasaki) 4
37. Jesse Sherstan (Yamaha) 2
38. Zenon Nelson (Suzuki) 1