Crevier turns tables on Matechuk

By John Hopkins

SHANNONVILLE, ON -- The veteran took the young gun to school in round two of the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Cup at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday.

Maple Ridge, BC's Steve Crevier edged Cody Matechuk of Cochrane, AB for the win by just 0.184 secs. as the pair reprised their battle from the opening round of the national series at Circuit ICAR on May 29. That one went to Matechuk by a whisker.

The two traded the lead and fast laps throughout the 14-lap race around Shannonville's 2.4km 'Pro' track. Matechuk led the first four laps before polesitter Crevier asserted himself at the front on lap five. The six-time Canadian Superbike champ even opened up a slight gap before Matechuk reeled him back in but Crevier held on to give himself national wins in four decades.

"I got kind of lucky today," said the MotoSport Plus of Kingston rider. "I knew Cody would jump out at the start and I wanted to settle in behind him and take things easy. Cody was like a pit bull, he just didn't let go."

Matechuk made an impressive bounce back from a practice crash, which left the Privateers Harley-Davidson of Halifax-backed team trying to track down shifting issues before the race.

"In the beginning I made a few mistakes but I calmed myself down and managed to catch back up to Steve," said the 17-year-old Matechuk. "He's a great competitor and we always have a lot of fun."

For most of the race the two leaders were joined by Amateur hotshot Samuel Proulx on the Sherbrooke Harley-Davidson-backed entry, but the Magog, QC racer faded in the closing laps to settle for a safe third.

"It was great racing with Cody and Steve," Proulx said, "but I made a decision to back off and hold my spot and bring the bike home."

Darren James of North Vancouver put in a gutsy ride to finish fourth on his Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada / Ruthless Racing XR1200 after damaging ligaments in his right thumb and suffering other assorted bumps and bruises in a nasty qualifying crash on Friday. His teammate Olivier Spilborghs of White Rock, BC emerged from a busy mid-pack dice to claim fifth and Chris Harmon of Bracebridge, ON took sixth on the Vision Harley-Davidson entry.

Steven Nickerson of Hamilton had made a good charge from ninth to sixth on his Freedom Harley-Davidson bike and looked set to move into fifth when he crashed at the end of the back straight on lap nine.

Matechuk now leads Crevier by a single point in the XR1200 Cup standings, 101-100 heading in Sunday's third round of the series. James is a point ahead of Proulx for third.

David MacKay of Stoney Creek, ON took his first career victory in the third round of the Honda CBR125R Challenge at Shannonville on Saturday. MacKay edged Eric Green of Richmond, ON by just 0.284 secs., with Austin Shaw-O'Leary of Falmouth, NS in third.

"It was a lot of work but a great race," MacKay said. "I could see tires coming up on me all the time and the last lap scared me to death."

With his win MacKay took over the lead of the Honda CBR125R standings with 111 points heading into Sunday morning's fourth round of the series. Shaw O'Leary is second with 107 and Green third on 98.

XR1200 Cup Results
1.Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC 18:57.752
2.Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB +0.184
3.Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC +8.366
4.Darren James, North Vancouver, BC     +23.311
5.Olivier Spilborghs, White Rock, BC +37.285
6.Chris Harmon, Bracebridge, ON +40.003
7.Elie Daccache, Ottawa, ON +45.450
8.John Ross MacRae, Calgary, AB +46.244
9.Steve Hoffarth, Orangeville, ON +1:06.400
10.Lee Kuhn Jr, Hamilton, ON +1 Lap
11.Dan Thomson, Carleton Place, ON +1 Lap**
12.Uwe Wachtendorf, Toronto, ON +1 Lap
13. Gump Harrison, Ailsa Craig, ON +2 Laps
Did Not Finish
Steve Nickerson, Hamilton, ON, 8 Laps
Did Not Start
Tim Clarkson, Bowmanville, ON
Fastest Lap: 1:10.733 by Steve Crevier on lap 13
* -- All riders on Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles
** -- penalized five seconds for jump start

XR1200 Cup Point Standings
1.Cody Matechuk 101
2.Steve Crevier 100
3.Darren James 73
4.Samuel Proulx 72
5.Chris Harmon 56
6.Olivier Spilborghs 56
7.John Ross MacRae 48
8.Elie Daccache 44
9.Lee Kuhn Jr. 40
10.Steve Hoffarth 36
11.Dan Thomson 34
12.Gump Harrison 26
13.Costa Mouzouris 23
14.Uwe Wachtendorf 15

Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
1.David MacKay, Stoney Creek, ON 15:03.634
2.Eric Green, Richmond, ON +0.284
3.Austin Shaw-O'Leary, Falmouth, NS +4.473
4.Scott Lingelbach, Wellesley, ON +18.411
5.Seth Van Dongen, Belle River, ON +20.927
6.Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON +25.321
7.Brian Alexander, Peterbrough, ON +36.468
8.Karolina Pelc, Guelph, ON +1:09.300
9.Lauren Hill, Halifax, NS +1:10.300
10.Shay Gauthier, Ottawa, ON +1 Lap
11.Matt Chandler, Richmond Hill, ON +1 Lap
12.Stacey Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC +1 Lap
13.Timothy Kennedy, Richmond Hill, ON +1 Lap
14.Kyle Mistibachner, Markdale, ON +1 Lap
Fastest Lap: 1:28.812 by Shay Gauthier on lap 9
* -- All riders aboard Honda CBR125R motorcycles

Honda CBR125R Challenge Point Stanindgs
1.David MacKay 111
2.Austin Shaw-O'Leary 107
3.Eric Green 98
4.Stacey Nesbitt 96
5.Scott Lingelbach 96
6.Seth Van Dongen 94
7.Leah Vignale 81
8.Cedric Martineau 62
9.Lauren Hill 57
10.Timothy Kennedy 49
11.Matt Chandler 46
12.Karolina Pelc 44
13.Sean Smith 36
14.Sam McManus 27
15.Brian Alexander 27
16.Shay Gauthier 19
17.Kyle Mistibachner 12