Szoke perfect at Mosport

By John Hopkins

BOWMANVILLE, ON – Jordan Szoke edged closer to an unprecedented seventh Canadian Superbike title and a perfect season with a victory in Sunday's fifth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Mosport International Raceway.
       
In his most convincing performance of the year, the Brantford, ON racer led all the way from pole position on his Waznie Racing / BMC Ciclo Werks / DeWildt Honda CBR1000RR and crossed the line 6.357 secs. ahead of Francis Martin on the radX HD / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR.
       
Frank Trombino completed the podium riding the ProStar Motorsports / Sturgess Cycle Honda CBR1000RR.
       
Szoke completed the 20 laps around the 3.957 km (2.459-mile) Mosport circuit in 27 minutes, 18.682 seconds for an average speed of 173.862 km/h (108.043 mph).
       
"I think I got one of the best starts of my career," said Szoke after his all-time leading 34th career national Superbike win and his ninth at Mosport International Raceway. "That's what I wanted. I knew there would be some strong racing behind me and that allowed me to open a gap early."
       
Szoke turned the fastest lap of the race, a 1:21.084 on lap three and was five seconds clear of Martin before the race was five laps old. He held that margin the rest of the way to pick up his fifth Parts Canada Superbike win in a row, tying a series record.
       
The triumph completed a sweep of Superbike wins for Szoke at Mosport after he also captured the victory on Saturday despite battling a leaking radiator.
       
"We made some big suspension changes for today and we nailed the set up," he said. "I just tried to maintain my pace and played it cautious with traffic. I could have gone into the [one minute] 20s if I had to."
       
Szoke heads into the season ending doubleheader at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, N.S. Aug. 6-8 with a 74-point lead over Martin, 268- 194. A win is worth 50 points.
       
"I've won five in a row three times now in my career and I want to win those last two," said Szoke, who also picked up five victories in 2002 and 2006. "I'm going to do my best to do that. I want a perfect season and put my name up there."
       
Martin was third off the start and spent two laps trying to get around the Competition Systems Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki ZX-10R of Alex Welsh. He picked up his second straight runner-up finish of the weekend and his third in a row.
       
"I tried very hard to pass Alex and we had a big fight, we passéd back and forth two or three times I think," said the two-time Canadian Superbike champion from Sherbrooke, QC. "I tried very hard to catch Jordan but I couldn't quite do it."

Martin had an anxious moment less than two laps from the finish when he caught a neutral and nearly went off in turn nine.

"It pushed me wide and I was very happy to save it there," Martin grinned sheepishly.
       
Trombino got caught up in a battle for third with the BMW S1000RRs of Mike Ferreira and Andrew Nelson. The Kleinburg, ON racer got the spot for good on lap 11 and pulled clear for his best finish of the season.
     
Trombino had crossed the line second on Saturday after a spirited race but was disqualified when his bike was unable to complete post race technical inspection. Third place on Sunday represented his best Superbike finish of the year.
       
"I definitely had to work for it," said Trombino, a two-time Superbike race winner at Mosport. "Once I finally got away from those guys I just put my head down and tried to catch Francis, but he was too far away."
       
Ferreira crossed the line fourth on the second of the radX HD / BMW Motorrad Canada entries but the Mississauga, ON rider was penalized five seconds for a jump start and dropped to fifth in the results.
       
That moved Nelson up to fourth on the Orion Motorsports / BMW Motorrad Canada S1000RR, and the Kars, ON rider maintains third place in the Parts Canada Superbike standings with 157 points.

Nelson felt his bike was more consistent than it had been on Saturday, when he placed third, but admitted he was struggling a little for grip.
       
After a great start got him into second off the line Uxbridge, ON's Welsh slipped back to sixth in the final results and Jodi Christie of Keene, ON placed seventh on the Jodi Christie Racing / Durham Honda Powerhouse Honda CBR600RR.

Matt McBride and Chris Murray-Audain spent the second half of the race battling over eighth, with the spot going to the Kawasaki ZX-10R rider from Scarborough, Ont. McBride had to settle for ninth on the Budds' Motorrad / Riders Choice BMW S1000RR, a disappointing result after the team thought it had remedied some handling problems following Saturday's fourth place finish on the brand new bike.

Cochrane, AB's Cody Matechuk held off a pack of three riders on his Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 all race, but was penalized five seconds for a jump start and dropped from 10th to 12th in the official results.

As a result, Scott Rupert completed the top 10 on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Following Saturday's attrition filled race Sunday's event proved to be relatively uneventful, with only two retirements and no crashes.

Race Results
1. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON (Honda CBR1000RR) 20 laps
2. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, QC (BMW S1000RR) 20
3. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON (Honda CBR1000RR) 20
4. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20
5. Michael Ferreira, Mississauga, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20*
6. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, ON (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
7. Jodi Christie, Keene, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 20
8. Chris Murray-Audain, Scarborough, ON (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
9. Matthew McBride, Mississauga, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20
10. Scott Rupert, Gadshill, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 20
11. Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, QC (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
12. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB (Suzuki GSX-R600) 20*
13. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 20*
14. David Young, Woodstock, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 20
15. Dave Stokowski, Calgary, AB (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 19
16. Terry Steeves, Dartmouth, NS (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 19
17. Steve Walker, Carleton Place, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 19
18. Dean Plater, Ottawa, ON (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 19*
* -- penalized five seconds for jump start
Did Not Finish
Greg White, Raleigh, NC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 11
Stephane Chabot, Oshawa, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 9
Did Not Start
Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, ON (Triumph Daytona 675)
Adam Roberts, Milford, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, QC (Honda CBR1000RR)
Dan Henri, Ottawa, ON (BMW S1000RR)
Andrew Dunlap, Truro, NS (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Martin Ricard, Montreal, QC (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Elie Daccache, Ottawa, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Matthew Leahey, Halifax, NS (Honda CBR600RR)
Jean-Francois Cyr, Ste-Adele, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600)

Time of Race: 27:18.682 (173.862 km/h)
Margin of Victory: 6.357 secs.
Fastest Lap: 1:21.084 by Jordan Szoke on lap 3
Lap Leaders: Jordan Szoke 1-20

Point Standings
1.Jordan Szoke, 268
2. Francis Martin, 194
3. Andrew Nelson, 157
4. Jodi Christie, 135
5. Cody Matechuk, 130
6. Mike Ferreira, 112
7. Alex Welsh, 106
8. Kevin Lacombe, 82
9. Scott Rupert, 71
10. Franklyn Dominguez, 70
11. Frank Trombino, 69
11. Dave Stokowski, 69
13. Matt McBride, 53
14. Chris Murray-Audain, 52
15. Steve Crevier, 46
16. Dave Young, 33
17. Justin Knapik, 27
18. Terry Steeves, 23
19. Mike Zottmann, 21
20. Jean-Francois Cyr, 19
21. Steve Walker, 18
22. Kenny Riedmann, 17
22. Dean Plater, 17
24. Marie-Josee Boucher, 15
25. Peter Meier, 13
25. Sean Huffman, 13
25. Ross Millson, 13
25. Greg White, 13