McCormick on ICAR Superbike pole

By John Hopkins

MIRABEL, QC – Saskatoon’s Brett McCormick claimed the top starting spot for the opening round of the 2011 Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada season at Circuit ICAR with a dominant performance in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Riding the radX / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR the 19-year-old scorched around the 2.8km (1.68-mile) circuit in a time of one minute, 22.221 seconds for an average speed of 122.596km/h (73.558 mph) and claimed the $500 Kawasaki S4-R Competition Lubricants Pole Award.

McCormick also earned four points toward the Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada standings.

Seven-time and defending Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke was second quickest but 1.237 secs. behind with a 1:23.458 on his Competition Systems Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki ZX-10R and Andrew Nelson placed third with a 1:23.595 riding the Nelson Racing / GymMax / Monette Sport BMW S1000RR.

“It was tough getting down to business because we’ve had some delays with the weather over the past couple of days,” said McCormick, who was at the top of the time sheets virtually throughout the 45-minute qualifying session. “But we came here with a pretty solid base set-up and we were able to get down to competitive times quickly.”

McCormick was the race winner when the Canadian Superbike Championship made its first visit to Circuit ICAR in 2009 but missed last year’s event because he was competing in the United States.

Rain essentially washed out Friday’s scheduled practice sessions and Saturday morning’s track time, meaning qualifying was the first opportunity competitors had to prepare for Sunday’s 20-lap feature race. Instead of the traditional Pirelli SuperPole top 10 qualifying run-off the Superbike competitors ran together in a 45-minute session.

Szoke was third in the running order late in the qualifying period but snuck ahead of Nelson with just over a minute remaining.

“We’ve got a brand new motorcycle this year and we were counting on getting a couple of days of track time with it, but obviously didn’t have a chance,” explained the Brantford, Ont. racer, who won last year’s Superbike event at Circuit ICAR. “I think we were getting closer toward the end of the session and we’ll have a good race pace.”

This marks the third straight year Nelson has qualified on the Superbike front row at Circuit ICAR and the Kars, Ont. racer finished on the podium in 2009.

“This is a tricky track to get used to and sometimes it’s just a case of holding on tight and getting it done, and I seem to be pretty good at that,” Nelson said. “We put on a new rear tire right at the end of the session and that seemed to help the rear grip.”

Michael Ferreira of Mississauga, Ont. made a late charge to snatch the final spot on the front row aboard the second radX / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR with a time of 1:23.914. That pushed Uxbridge, Ont.’s Alex Welsh to fifth spot on the Z1 CycleTech Suzuki GSX-R600 with a 1:24.150.

Welsh will be joined on the second row for Sunday’s race by Sherbrooke, Que.’s Francis Martin (Couturier Racing BMW S1000RR), who recorded a 1:24.672, and Keene, Ont. racer Jodi Christie (Jodi Christie Racing Honda CBR600RR), who turned a lap at 1:25.045.

The Superbikes were given a fitting prelude to their qualifying battle with a 10-minute display by the Snowbirds Air Demonstration team immediately before the start of their session.

The Kawasaki S4-R Competition Lubricants Pole Award was not decided in the Pirelli Pro Sport Bike class as that qualifying session was cancelled due to poor weather. A starting line-up for the race will be established on Sunday morning.

Superbike Qualifying Results
1.Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, Sask. (BMW S1000RR) 1:22.221 (122.596km/h)
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:23.458
3. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 1:23.595
4. Michael Ferreira, Mississauga, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 1:23.914
5. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:24.150
6. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, Que. (BMW S1000RR) 1:24.672
7. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont. (Honda CBR600RR) 1:25.045
8. Jean-Francois Cyr, Mascouche, Que. (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:25.140
9. Frank Trombino, Woodbridge, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:26.210
10. Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban, Que. (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:26.599
11. Franklyn Dominguez, Hudson, Que. (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:27.518
12. Sebastien Tremblay, Sherbrooke, Que. (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:27.773
13. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que. (Honda CBR600RR) 1:27.804
14. Billy Shields, Unionville, Ont. (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:28.467
15. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:29.075
16. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:29.666
17. Steve Walker, Carleton Place, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 1:30.073
18. Rob Busby, Brantford, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 1:30.128