Appenrodt clinches CBR title

By John Hopkins

SHUBENACADIE, NS -- Ryan Appenrodt locked up the Honda CBR125R Challenge in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship with a sixth place finish in the season finale at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Sunday.

The Quesnel, BC rider's only challenger for the crown, Loic Viscasillas, took seventh in the red flag shortened four laps race and ended the season 41 points behind Appenrodt in the standings.

For the second day in a row Will Hornblower won the Honda CBR125R Challenge race in impressive fashion. The Sarnia, ON concluded the year third in points.

Appenrodt came into the doubleheader weekend with a 55-point advantage over Viscasillas, but a crash in Saturday's race, combined with a fifth place finish from the Laval, QC rider, narrowed the gap to 39 points and kept the title race open for the final day.

"Yesterday was pretty worrying," admitted Appenrodt, who won six of the season's 10 races. "But I talked to my Dad over the phone last night and he calmed me down. I knew if I could keep it up and stay out of trouble I'd be OK. But it seemed like those last four laps just went on and on!"

Appenrodt had a close call before the red flag came out. He was battling for sixth with Cedric Martineau when Martineau had a nasty highside coming onto the front straight, which caused the race to be stopped. Appenrodt was fortunate not to be collected in the incident.

Martineau was treated at the track and released.

Appenrodt was presented with the Honda CBR Challenge trophy by last year's class champion, Steven Nickerson following the race.

Hornblower dominated the first part of the race. As on Saturday he charged into the lead and was already a second clear of the field after one lap.

His getaway wasn't so good on the restart and he fell behind Cody Conrad and Ian McWhirter as he wheelied off the line. He got back ahead of both riders before the end of the lap and was able to hang on for a 0.991-sec. victory over Conrad, with McWhirter third. A missed shift by Conrad exiting turn two on the final lap allowed Hornblower to get a bit of breathing room.

Calgary riders Conrad, McWhirter and Samantha McManus staged a great duel for second spot. The tiny Conrad took advantage of his small size to use the draft on the backstraight to good effect. McManus held third at the start of the final lap but McWhirter, who was celebrating his birthday, snuck underneath her into turn one to get the final podium spot.

Conrad and McWhirter placed fourth and fifth in the final point standings, respectively.

Local ace Austin Shaw-O'Leary battled with 'guest' rider Steve Crevier (yes, that Steve Crevier) for fifth, although Crevier was ineligible for classification in the final results.

It was back to business as usual for Raphael Archambault in the Amateur Sport Bike class, as the 2010 champion picked up his sixth win of the season in dominant fashion. After a crash took his out of Saturday's race, the St-Colomban, QC rider led all 14 laps from pole on Sunday aboard the Centre Hamel Honda CBR600RR. Kinsac, NS's Charlie Legere was second for the second day in a row on the Walter Chappell Well Drilling Honda and another local star, Bobby Baldwin of Franklin, NS completed the podium riding the Babins Racing Suzuki GSX-R600.

"I got a good start and when I saw the other guys far away and tried not to make any mistakes and be consistent," said the 16-year-old Archambault, who was philosophical about his crash the previous day. "I'm young and I have a lot of things still to learn. It's all experience and that's part of racing. I'll remember that crash."

A slip while exiting turn two on lap three dropped Legere back to fourth but he worked his way up to second by lap seven. He was the only rider besides Archambault to lap in the 1:10 range, but even he was half a second off the remarkable Archambault's best lap of 1:10.213.

There was a sense of poetic justice in Baldwin making the podium. He had been involved in the crash with Archambault on Saturday but became something of a hero for trying to help the champion get back into the race. He was reluctant to compete on Sunday but was convinced by friends to give it another shot.

After a DNF on Saturday St-Dominique, QC's Philippe Masse finished fourth on the Pete's Superbike / FC51Custom.com Kawasaki ZX-6R ahead of the Suzuki GSX-R600 of the very consistent Aubrey Bailey.

Both had finished behind Steven Nickerson and Bill McKay on the track, but Nickerson and McKay were among the five riders penalized for jump start penalties, moving them down to sixth and seventh in the results.

Nickerson still took third in the Amateur Sport Bike point standings.

Saturday's race winner Jeremie Hade Precourt crashed out of third place on lap eight but was still second in the final standings.

Riding with a number one mounted on his Buell XB12R, Brantford, ON's Rob Busby completed a weekend sweep of the K&N Filters Sport Twins class. The Suzuki SV650s of Brent Strong and Stuart Pilkington placed second and third, respectively.

Archambault also won the Pro Cycle ARL Amateur Superbike race on Sunday, with Legere second and Bailey third.

Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
(All riding Honda CBR125Rs)
1. Will Hornblower, Sarnia, ON 4 Laps
2. Cody Conrad, Calgary, AB +0.991
3. Ian McWhirter, Calgary, AB +1.233
4. Sam McManus, Calgary, AB +1.606
5. Austin Shaw-O'Leary, Falmouth, NS +4.835
6. Ryan R. Appenrodt Quesnel, BC +9.116
7. Loic Viscasillas, Laval, QC +13.802
8. Scott Lingelbach, Wellesly, ON +13.813
9. Milan Jablan, Saskatoon, SK +14.270
10. Robert Haynes, Calgary, AB +14.313
11. Young Jae Kim, Mississauga, ON +14.635
12. Ryan McCormick, St-Lazare, QC +16.080
13. Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON +16.404
14. Nicole Pilkington, Blackstock, ON +16.807
15. Eric Green, Richmond, ON +17.067
16. Rheanna Christie, Keene, ON +23.561
17. Goran Jablan, Saskatoon, SK +26.341
18. Stacey Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC +35.548
19. Connor Warnell, Dartmouth, NS +35.726
20. Toni Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC +35.777
21. Ellen Warnell, Dartmouth, NS +36.103
22. Allyssa Fox, Calgary, AB +1:24.294
Did Not Start
Cedric Martineau, Ste-Catherine, QC
Time of Race: 5:58.334
Fastest Lap: 1:29.426 by Sam McManus on lap 2

Honda CBR125R Challenge Final Standings
1. Ryan Appenrodt, 398
2. Loic Viscasillas, 357
3. Will Hornblower, 334
4. Cody Conrad, 302
5. Ian McWhirter, 243
6. Scott Lingelbach, 215
7. Milan Jablan, 207
8. Sam McManus, 196
9. Robert Haynes, 181
10. Cedric Martineau, 153
11. Austin Shaw-O'Leary, 141
12. Chris Wilson, 135
13. Nicole Pilkington, 120
14. Young Jae Kim, 119
15. Ryan McCormick, 117
16. Eric Green, 112
17. Leah Vignale, 105
18. Stacey Nesbitt, 95
19. Rheanna Christie, 87
20. Ben Puky, 86
21. Karolina Pelc, 31
21. Jacob Snell, 31
23. Jordon Aylen, 30
24. Dana Wrigley, 26
25. Toni Nesbitt, 23
26. Seth Van Dongen, 21
27. Craig Poirier, 18
27. Allyssa Fox, 18
29. Vincent Tighe, 16
30. Kelsey Giacchetta, 14
30. Shay Gauthier, 14
32. Goran Jablan, 12
33. Daniel Pelletier, 8
34. Pierre Pelletier, 6
35. Jay Fox, 4
36. Connor Warnell, 2
37. Ellen Warnell, 1

Amateur Sport Bike Race Results
1. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC (Honda CBR600RR) 14 Laps
2. Charlie Legere, Kinsac, NS (Honda CBR600RR) +13.427
3. Bobby Baldwin, Frankville, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +15.218
4. Philippe Masse, St-Dominique, QC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +21.670
5. Aubrey Bailey, Parry Sound, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +21.838
6. Steven Nickerson, Hamilton, ON (Honda CBR600RR) +22.794*
7. Bill McKay, Tavistock, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +23.831*
8. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK (Honda CBR600RR) +25.892
9. Lee Kuhn, Hamilton, ON (Triumph 675 Daytona) +34.191*
10. Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) +34.560*
11. Natalie Catherine Provost, Laval, QC (Honda CBR600RR) +35.026*
12. Mark Goodwin, Williamswood, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6RR) +48.127
13. Stephen Clark, Hampton, NB (Honda CBR600RR) +55.516
14. Amy Szoke, Brantford, ON (Honda CBR600RR) +56.355
15. Paul Whitehead, Baddeck, NS (Honda CBR600RR) +1:06.057
16. Matthew Raymond, Digby, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +1:06.203
17. Geoff Cole, Elmsdale, NS (Yamaha YZF-R6) +2 Laps
Did Not Finish
Jeremie Hade Precourt, Granby, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) 7 laps
Did Not Start
Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, Montreal, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600)
David Tremblay, Longueuil, QC (Honda CBR600RR)
Time of Race: 16:28.932
Fastest Lap: 1:10.213 by Raphael Archambault on lap 5
* -- Jump Start - 5 Second Penalty

Amateur Sport Bike Point Standings
1. Raphael Archambault, 321
2. Jeremie Hade Precourt, 213
3. Steven Nickerson, 206
4. Bill McKay, 182
5. Bodhi Edie, 159
6. Aubrey Bailey, 155
7. Marcel Irnie, 141
8. Philippe Masse, 135
9. Amy Szoke, 99
10. Samuel Proulx, 91
11. Charlie Legere, 87
12. Joey McRae, 80
12. Lee Kuhn, 80
14. Jody Greening, 74
15. Natalie Catherine Provost, 69
16. Todd Starchuk, 44
16. Marco Sousa, 44
18. Dominic Dupont, 42
19. Emerson Lefurgey, 38
20. Bobby Baldwin, 37
21. Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez, 35
22. Mark Goodwin, 34
23. Simon Proteau, 33
24. Ryan Middleton, 31
24. Alain Lefebvre, 31
26. Sylvain Dery, 29
27. Jeff Fenwick, 27
28. Stephen Clark, 26
28. Craig Hubley, 26
30. Matthew Raymond, 25
31. Marco Dias, 24
32. Alexandria Cohen, 22
33. Etienne Giguere, 19
34. Tanner Willcocks, 18
34. Geoff Cole, 18
36. Calude Bergeron, 12
36. James Peterson, 12
38. Paul Whitehead, 10
39. Steve Kozicki, 8
40. Martin Gosselin, 6
41. Pedro Sousa, 3
42. Alex Coelho, 2
43. Ted Kuehn, 1

K&N Filters' Sport Twins Race Results
1. Robert Busby, Brantford, ON (Buell XB12R) 12 Laps
2. Brent Strong, Mississauga, ON (Suzuki SV650) +5.703
3. Stuart Pilkington, Blackstock, ON (Suzuki SV650) +17.733
4. Craig Atkinson, Toronto, ON (Suzuki SV650) +36.788
5. Guy Lagace, Levis, QC (Suzuki SV650) +46.277
Did Not Finish
Olivier Spilborghs, White Rock, BC (Buell XB9R) 11 Laps
Time of Race: 14:41.108
Fastest Lap: 1:13.015 by Robert Busby on lap 8

K&N Filters' Sport Twins Point Standings
1. Robert Busby, 363
2. Olivier Spilborghs, 230
3. Brent Strong, 191
4. Stuart Pilkington, 147
5. Guy Lagace, 146
6. Craig Atkinson, 105
7. Geoff Gerbrandt, 98
8. Emerson Lefurgey, 70
9. Laurent Feuiltault, 69
10. Dan Henri, 62
11. Kurtis Joki, 61
12. Philippe Bonin, 58
13. Tiberius Trifu, 53
14. Chris Dopke, 40
14. Kana Matsumoto, 40
14. Darren James, 40
17. Ian McQueen, 24
18. Stephane Leduc, 23
19. David McKiver, 20

Pro Cycle ARL AM Superbike Results
1. Raphael Archambault, St-Colomban, QC (Honda CBR600RR) 12 laps
2. Charlie Legere, Kinsac, NS (Honda CBR600RR) +4.268
3. Aubrey Bailey, Parry Sound, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +14.571
4. Bobby Baldwin, Frankville, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +24.420 
5. Mark Goodwin, Williamswood, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6R) +35.234
6. Marty Fogarty, Windsor, NS (Suzuki GSX-R1000) +36.175
7. Stephen Clark, Hampton, NB (Honda CBR600RR) +44.850
8. Paul Whitehead, Baddeck, NS (Honda CBR600RR) +48.091
9. Matthew Raymond, Digby, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) +53.982
10. Amy Szoke, Brantford, ON (Honda CBR600RR) +54.054
11. Bill McKay, Tavistock, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 11 Laps
Did Not Finish
Geoff Cole, Elmsdale, NS (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1 Lap
Did Not Start
Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK (Honda CBR600RR)
Time of Race: 14:10.102
Fastest Lap: 1:10.384 by Raphael Archambault on lap 9