Szoke wins to clinch title

By John Hopkins

SHUBENACADIE, NS – Jordan Szoke clinched his fifth straight Parts Canada Superbike Championship and seventh career national title in style with a victory in the penultimate round of the series at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Saturday.
       
Starting from pole position on the Waznie Racing / BMC Ciclo Werks / DeWildt Honda Powerhouse Honda CBR1000RR Szoke led all 20 laps of the red- flag shortened race around the 2.56km (1.6-mile) AMP circuit, finishing 2.817 seconds ahead of Andrew Nelson on the Orion Motorsports / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR.
       
Szoke completed the distance in 22 minutes, 54.474 seconds for an average speed of 134.102 km/h (83.814 mph).
       
The win was Szoke’s sixth of the season and he can complete an unprecedented perfect year with a victory in Sunday’s season finale.
       
Szoke’s closest challenger for the championship coming into the weekend, Francis Martin of Sherbrooke, Que. was involved in the crash that brought out the red flag and was classified 13th in the results.
       
Szoke now has 324 points in the standings to the 207 of Martin.
       
“It’s been a dream come true this season with the success I’ve had,” said the 31-year-old Szoke, from Brantford, Ont. “We’ve got one more race tomorrow and I want to win that one bad. The pressure’s off now and we’re going to do everything we can.”
       
For the first half of the race Szoke led a four-rider battle for first place that included Martin’s radX HD / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR, Nelson and Frank Trombino on the ProStar Motorsports / Sturgess Cycle Honda CBR1000RR.

Martin made a superb start from the second row to grab third off the line and then passed Alex Welsh neatly in turn 11 to complete the opening lap in second. He hounded Szoke until lap 11, when the points leader started pulling away. On lap 13 Martin was passed by Trombino and a lap later Nelson got ahead. Nelson then got up to second on lap 18, passing Trombino in the Roller Coaster section of the track. He was unable to challenge Szoke over the remaining laps however, and the Honda rider locked up his seventh Canadian Superbike title with his 35th class win.

“I had a good start and I wanted to try to win,” explained Szoke, who turned the race’s fastest lap of 1:08.176 on lap five. “But I didn’t want to fall and lose the championship. I slowed down mid race and Frank was able to catch up, and I had to wick it up again.”
       
Nelson had qualified second but was fourth into the first turn. He worked his way up, however, to claim his best career national Superbike finish.
       
“I had the worst start I think I’ve ever had,” admitted the 25-year-old Nelson, who closed to within five points of Martin for second in the Parts Canada Superbike standings heading into Sunday’s season finale. “I should have tried to pass Francis a few laps earlier. I had a few opportunities in turn three.”

Nelson was fastest in testing on Thursday and his fastest race lap, a 1:08.251 was within a tenth of a second of Szoke.

"I proved I can run a strong pace the whole race," he added. "We'll make some changes for tomorrow for sure, but not very many. We didn't have the tire warmers on long enough before the race, and we messed up on the pressures."

Trombino was running third on lap 21 but struggling with a throttle issue that forced him to slow suddenly on the back straight, and he was hit by Martin. The resulting accident caused the race to be red flagged two laps before the scheduled completion. Both riders were transported to hospital in Halifax with leg injuries.

At one point Trombino looked set to grab the lead from Szoke, and the Kleinburg, Ont. rider turned the race's second fastest lap, a 1:08.189 on lap nine.

The crash moved Martin’s team-mate Michael Ferreira up to third place in the final results on his radX HD / BMW Motorrad Canada S1000RR.
     
“It’s unfortunate the way I got here but that’s part of racing,” said the Mississauga, Ont. rider after his first career Superbike podium result. “It was a long race, very physical. We had a bit of a tire issue in the later part of the race so I really put my head down the last couple of laps.”
     
Ferreira was almost caught in the closing laps by Welsh on the Competition Systems Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki ZX-6R and Jodi Christie’s Jodi Christie Racing / Durham Honda Powerhouse Honda CBR600RR. After running second off the start Uxbridge, Ont.’s Welsh finished fourth while Christie, from Keene, Ont. took fifth. These two had run in close company from the early laps.
     
Top rookie Cody Matechuk of Cochrane, Alta. completed the top six finishers on his Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600. The 16-year-old had only started 11th but was up to eighth after the first lap and battled with Jean-Francois Cyr before pulling away in the late going. Cyr placed seventh on the CyRacing Suzuki GSX-R600.

Kenny Riedmann of Belfountain, Ont. was eighth after a lonely race on the Compulsion Racing / Pro 6 Cycle Triumph 675 Daytona and Montreal's Franklyn Dominguez won a racelong three-way battle for ninth on the Seamont Brokerage Kawasaki ZX-10R. The former Caribbean Superbike champion passed the Fundy Powersports Kawasaki ZX-10R of Andrew Dunlap and narrowly beat the Truro, N.S. rider in the final results. Todd Scott of Bedford, N.S. had also been part of this battle on the ProDev Racing Honda CBR600RR.

Superbike Race Results
1. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON (Honda CBR1000RR) 20
2. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20
3. Michael Ferreira, Mississauga, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20
4. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 20
5. Jodi Christie, Keene, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 20
6. Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB (Suzuki GSX-R600) 20
7. Jean-Francois Cyr, Ste-Adele, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) 20
8. Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, ON (Triumph Daytona 675) 20
9. Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, QC (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
10. Andrew Dunlap, Truro, NS (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
11. Todd Scott, Bedford, NS (Honda CBR600RR) 20
12. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON (Honda CBR1000RR) 20
13. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, QC (BMW S1000RR) 20
14. David Young, Woodstock, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 19
15. Ron Munroe, Beaver Bank, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 19
16. Matthew Leahey, Halifax, NS (Honda CBR600RR) 19
Did Not Finish
Scott Rupert, Gadshill, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 6
Did Not Start
Dave Estok, New Smyrna Beach, FL (Buell 1125R)
Billy Shields, Unionville, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Time of Race: 22:54.474
Average Speed: 134.102 km/h
Lap Leaders: Jordan Szoke, 1-20
Fastest Lap: 1:08.176 by Jordan Szoke on lap five

Superbike Point Standings
1. Jordan Szoke, 324
2. Francis Martin, 207
3. Andrew Nelson, 202
4. Jodi Christie, 165
5. Cody Matechuk, 157
6. Mike Ferreira, 149
7. Alex Welsh, 138
8. Franklyn Dominguez, 91
9. Frank Trombino, 86
10. Kevin Lacombe, 82
11. Scott Rupert, 71
12. Dave Stokowski, 69
13. Matt McBride, 53
14. Chris Murray-Audain, 52
15. Steve Crevier, 46
16. Dave Young, 45
17. Jean-Francois Cyr, 44
18. Kenny Riedmann, 40
19. Justin Knapik, 27
20. Terry Steeves, 23
21. Mike Zottmann, 21
22. Andrew Dunlap, 19
23. Steve Walker, 18
24. Todd Scott, 17
24. Dean Plater, 17
26. Marie-Josee Boucher, 15
27. Peter Meier, 13
27. Sean Huffman, 13
27. Ross Millson, 13
27. Greg White, 13
31. Ron Munroe, 11
32. Matthew Leahey, 8