| Written by Larry Tate on Monday, 09 August 2010 |
Alex Welsh leads Szoke and Christie.
The Jordan Szoke steamroller finally completely crushed the
opposition in the final two races of the Parts Canada Superbike series at
Atlantic Motorsport Park at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia this weekend. Szoke and
his Scott Miller/Fast Company-prepared Honda CBR1000RR took two dominating
victories, winning by more than two seconds in Saturday's race to clinch the
title, then by more than nine seconds for the gravy win in Sunday's contest.
That gives Szoke an unprecedented perfect season in the
premier class, winning every single race in 2010. His win on Saturday also gave
him his fifth consecutive Canadian title, a record-setting seven overall.
Andrew Nelson of Kars, Ontario was second in both
Shubenacadie events on his Orion Motorsports/BMW Motorrad-sponsored BMW S1000RR
(giving him second place in the series, his best finish ever), while Mike
Ferreira got two thirds on his BMW Motorrad S1000RR. The other top contestants
had lots of problems: once again Kevin Lacombe didn't show, probably due to
money issues; Ferreira's team-mate Francis Martin crashed out of the first race
but managed a fourth on Sunday despite riding with a sprained ankle; and Frank
Trombino was out for the weekend on his Prostar Hondas after going down in the
same incident that claimed Martin, breaking bones in a hand and foot.
Final tallies for the season show Szoke with 376 points,
followed by Nelson with 244, Martin in third with 234, Jodi Christie fourth
with 197 (Christie riding a 600 cc machine to the others' full litre-bikes),
and Ferreira fifth.
Szoke also claimed a fifth consecutive 600 cc Sport Bike
series victory, but missed out on a perfect season by crashing on the last lap
of Saturday's race trying to pass Alex Welsh on the Competition Systems'
Kawasaki. Szoke restarted to finish fourth to get the title, and took a
relatively easy win in Sunday's event. At least, it looked easy from the gap;
Szoke said "It's been hard work ... these guys have kept me honest all
season."
In the support classes, Raphael Archambault of St-Columban,
Quebec, won the Amateur Sport Bike title, Quesnel, B.C.'s Ryan Appenrodt
wrapped up the Honda CBR125 Challenge title, and Rob Busby of Brantford,
Ontario got the Sport Twins title on his Buell XB12R. Cody Matechuk, from
Cochrane, Alberta, took the HJC Pro Rookie of the Year award, and Szoke's
Waznie Racing / BMC Ciclo Werks / DeWildt Honda Powerhouse took the Inside
Motorcycles Team of the Year award.
Several of the fields were pretty sparse, and have been
light all year. The fact that this year the series didn't have enough money for
a year-end points prize payout probably didn't help that, as a lot of racers
need that money to help offset the immense costs of travelling across Canada,
not to mention lost wages and the like.
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