Archambault takes second Amateur triumph

By John Hopkins

CALGARY, AB – Raphael Archambault of St-Colomban, QC scored his second straight win in the national Amateur Sport Bike class at Race City Motorsport Park on Saturday, taking his Archambault Racing / Centre Hamel Honda-sponsored Honda CBR600RR to a 10.056-sec. win over the Kawasaki ZX-6R of Tavistock, ON’s Bill McKay.
     
Kelowna, BC’s Marcel Irnie overcame a jump start penalty to finish third on his Kawasaki.

Archambault started fourth on the grid but was into the lead by the end of the opening lap and was not challenged the rest of the way.

"My strategy was to get a great start and just try as hard as I could," said the 16-year-old. "This is a rough track for me. I'm little, I'm not a man like the other guys and it was a lot of work."

The win gives Archambault a commanding lead in the Amateur Sport Bike standings heading into Sunday's third round. He has 109 points to the 76 of Jeremie Hade Precourt, who finished fourth on Saturday.

Irnie emerged from a fraught battle behind Archambault to cross the line second, but he was penalized five seconds for a jump start and lost the runner-up spot by less than a tenth of a second. Irnie moved up from sixth on the opening lap, emerging clear in second by lap six of the 14-lap race. His passes included a very tight move on Hade Precourt coming onto the front straight that could be considered overly aggressive.

"I figured I had a jump start, and that just screwed up my start even worse," Irnie said. "I qualified sixth and I was a little disappointed, but these kids are fast."

McKay finished the opening lap in seventh but also worked his way through to the front, passing Hade Precourt for third on lap 12.

"I thought I had a good start but by the time we got into turn one I was stuck in the pack," he said.

Hade Precourt settled for fourth on his JHP Racing / Picotte Performance Suzuki GSX-R600 and Ryan Middleton of Calgary completed the top five on his aging Skylark Cylinder Yamaha YZF-R6.

Polesitter Bodhi Edie took sixth after a rough outing. The Warman, SK racer also jumped the start and was in the midst of the battle for second before he missed the Bus Stop chicane on lap 11 and dropped out of contention.

An impressive run early on came from Samuel Proulx of Magog, QC, who worked his way up from fifth to second by lap three and was eating into Archambault's lead when he fell on lap five. The Sherbrooke Harley-Davidson / Motovan Suzuki GSX-R600 rider did have the distinction of setting the fastest lap of the race.

Laval, QC’s Loic Viscasillas picked up his first career Honda CBR125R Challenge win after Ryan Appenrodt was disqualified for a technical infraction. Saskatoon racer Milan Jablan moved up to second and Calgary’s Cody Conrad was third.

Appenrodt was in command of the race when it was red flagged on lap seven of 10 for a crash involving Ryan McCormick and Jacob Snell in the Bus Stop. But in post race technical inspection it was found that the air filter had been removed from Appenrodt's Honda.

Viscasillas took over the points lead with the win, and now has 140 points to Appenrodt's 111.

The Honda CBR125R Challenge competitors have a race on Sunday and a round on Monday on the Varsity Chrysler Speedpark next door to Race City.

Riding a Suzuki SV650, Geoff Gerbrandt of Martensville, SK edged the Buell XB12R of Brantford, ON’s Robert Busby for the win in the K&N Filters Sport Twins race. Calgary rider Emerson Lefurgey placed third on another Suzuki.

Gerbrandt started from pole and finished just 0.604 secs. ahead of Busby after 14 laps. Busby enjoys a commanding lead in the standings, however, with 100 points to the 68 of Olivier Spilborghs, who finished fifth on Saturday.

National Amateur Sport Bike Race Results
1. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC, Honda CBR600RR 19:11.537       
2. Bill McKay, Tavistock, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +10.056   
3. Marcel Irnie, Kelowna, BC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +10.135*
4. Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, +11.566  
5. Ryan Middleton, Calgary, AB, Yamaha YZF-R6, +12.500  
6. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK, Honda CBR600RR, +19.167*
7. Joey McRae, Orangeville, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, +20.848  
8. Todd Starchuk, Calgary, AB, Yamaha YZF-R6, +27.738   
9. Emerson Lefurgey, Calgary, AB, Kawasaki ZX-6R, +27.789       
10. Steven Nickerson, Hamilton, ON, Honda CBR600RR, +28.238     
11. Amy Szoke, Brantford, ON, Honda CBR600RR, +45.814   
12. Aubrey Bailey, Parry Sound, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600, +46.574    
13. Craig Hubley, Calgary, AB, Honda CBR600RR, +53.422  
14. Alexandria Cohen, Calgary, AB, Suzuki GSX-R600, +1 Lap      
15. Tanner Willcocks, Calgary, AB, Yamaha YZF-R6, +1 Lap        
16. Claude Bergeron, Calgary, AB, Honda CBR600RR, +1 Lap        
17. Steve Kozicki, Calgary, AB, Honda CBR600RR, +1 Lap  
Did Not Finish
Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600
Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600

Time of Race: 19:11.537
Margin of Victory: 10.056 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:20.155 by Samuel Proulx on lap 3

National Amateur Sport Bike Standings
1.Raphael Archambault, 109
2. Jeremie Hade Precourt, 76
3. Bill McKay, 59
4. Bodhi Edie, 58
5. Steven Nickerson, 44
6. Marcel Irnie, 37
6. Philippe Masse, 37
8. Aubrey Bailey, 36
9. Simon Proteau, 33
10. Joey McRae, 32
11. Ryan Middleton, 31
12. Sylvain Dery, 29
13. Todd Starchuk, 23
13. Alain Lefebvre, 23
15. Emerson Lefurgey, 21
15. Amy Szoke, 21
17. Etienne Giguere, 19
18. Natalie Catherine Provost, 15
19. Vanessa Gareau Dopminguez, 13
19. Craig Hubley, 13
21. Samuel Proulx, 12
21. Alexandria Cohen, 12
23. Tanner Willcocks, 10
23. Dominic Dupont, 10
25. Claude Bergeron, 8
25. Marco Dias, 8
27. Steve Kozicki, 6
27. Lee Kuhn, 6
29. Alex Coelho, 2

K&N Filters Sport Twins Race Results
1. Geoff Gerbrandt, Martensville, SK, Suzuki SV650, 19:51.003
2. Robert Busby, Brantford, ON, Buell XB12, +0.604
3. Emerson Lefurgey, Calgary, AB, Suzuki SV650, +38.591
4. Kurtis Joki, Dewinton, AB, Suzuki SV650, +44.857
5. Olivier Spilborghs, White Rock, BC, Buell XB9, +1:12.218

Time of Race: 19:51.003
Margin of Victory: 0.604 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:23.564 by Geoff Gerbrandt on lap 14

K&N Filters Sport Twins Standings
1.Robert Busby, 100
2. Olivier Spilborghs, 68
3. Geoff Gerbrandt, 56
4. Brent Strong, 46
5. Emerson Lefurgey, 38
6. Guy Lagace, 34
7. Kurtis Joki, 32
8. Philippe Bonin, 30
9. Stuart Pilkington, 27
10. Tiberius Trifu, 25
11. Stephane Leduc, 23

Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
1. Loic Viscasillas, Laval, QC, 11:23.113       
2. Milan Jablan, Saskatoon, SK, +0.333
3. Cody Conrad, Calgary, AB, +0.722
4. Scott Lingelbach, Wellesly, ON, +1.110
5. Will Hornblower, Sarnia, ON, +6.246*
6. Ian McWhirter, Calgary, AB, +8.810
7. Nicole Pilkington, Blackstock, ON, +10.525
8. Rheanna Christie, Keene, ON, +12.165
9. Sam McManus, Calgary, AB, +12.566
10. Ben Puky, Calgary, AB, +13.273
11. Chris Wilson, Airdrie, AB, +14.888
12. Stacey Nesbitt, Saint-Lazare, QC, +17.858*
13. Cedric Martineau, Ste-Catherine, QC, +18.305
14. Eric Green, Richmond, ON, +19.355
15. Kelsey Giacchetta, Calgary, AB, +22.891
16. Craig Poirier, Calgary, AB, +23.108
17. Young Jae Kim, Mississauga, ON, +24.295
18. Vincent Tighe, Calgary, AB, +33.357
19. Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON, +40.322
20. Karolina Pelc, Guelph, ON, +41.326
21. Dana Wrigley, Calgary, AB, +1:08.301
22. Seth Van Dongen, Belle River, ON, +1:14.205
23. Toni Nesbitt, Saint-Lazare, QC, +1:23.017
24. Allyssa Fox, Calgary, AB, +1 Lap
25. Ryan McCormick, St-Lazare, QC
26. Jacob Snell, Calgary, AB
27. Greg White, Raleigh, NC
28. Ed Sorbo, Mentone, CA
Did Not Finish
Jordon Aylen, Chilliwack, BC
Disqualified
Ryan R. Appenrodt, Quesnel, BC

Time of Race: 11:23.113
Margin of Victory: 0.33 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:51.787 by Loic Viscasillas on lap 3

Honda CBR125R Challenge Standings
1.Loic Viscasillas, 140
2. Ryan R. Appenrodt, 111
3. Will Hornblower, 105
4. Scott Lingelbach, 96
5. Cody Conrad, 85
6. Rheanna Christie, 69
7. Sam McManus, 69
8. Robert Haynes, 54
9. Ryan McCormick, 43
9. Cedric Martineau, 43
11. Milan Jablan, 42
12. Eric Green, 41
13. Young Jae Kim, 36
14. Stacey Nesbitt, 35
15. Leah Vignale, 32
16. Ian McWhirter, 27
17. Nicole Pilkington, 25
18. Austin Shaw-O’Leary, 23
19. Karolina Pelc, 21
19. Seth Van Dongen, 21
21. Ben Puky, 19
22. Chris Wilson, 17
23. Toni Nesbitt, 12
24. Kelsey Giacchetta, 10
25. Craig Poirier, 8
25. Allyssa Fox, 8
27. Vincent Tighe, 4
28. Jacob Snell, 1