Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128117
Parts Canada Superbike Championship Round 5: Mosport International Raceway Tr~ b ". .«» p~ T I'~ . . . . . By JOHN HOPKINS PHOTOS BY COLIN FRASER BOWMANVIllE, ON, CANADA, JULY 22 rank Trombino owned Mosport International Raceway at the fifth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. The 28-year-old from Kleinburg, Ontario, won his second straight Superbike event at Mosport, decimating the field in the 16-lap feature after starting from pole on his Yamaha YZF-R1. He backed that up with the victory in the 12-lap International Motorcycle Supershow Open Sport Bike feature, his third win in the class in five races this year. Suzuki's Francis Martin took his GSX-RI000 to a narrow second-place finish over Kawasaki ZX- 7RR rider Owen Weichel in the Superbike race. Parts Canada Superbike points leader Steve Crevier was fourth on his Honda RCSI and maintained a comfortable cushion in the standings with just two races remaining. With the venerable 2.45-mile Mosport track now completely repaved, Crevier's lap record of 1 :23.877 was not expected to hold up. Indeed, 18 minutes into Friday's opening qualifying session, Trombino recorded a 1:23.730 on his YZF-Rl and followed that up with a 1:23.044. When the Dunlop Starting Lights switched to green at the start of Sunday's race, Trombino got away in the lead but almost threw it all away when he hit a turtle in turn one and briefly lost control of his R1. Trombino recovered still in the lead but repeated his mistake in the turn-five hairpin that leads onto the back straight, again without losing his advantage. "I just turned in too early," Trombino admitted. "After that, I just settled down and rode my race." Crevier completed the opening lap in second, with Martin third and Weichel fourth. Martin got around Crevier for second on lap two and Weichel passed the Honda on the following lap. Crevier was on his 2000-spec back-up RCSI after his team was F (Above IefQ Frank Trombino was In devastating fonn at Mosport International Raceway, consistently tumlng laps a second fa-.. than anyone .... In the Supertllke race. (Above right) Steve Crevier's fourth 800cc Sport Bike win of the year came in dramatic fashion in Bowmanville, Ontario, as he snatched the lead from JeanFrancois Cyr In the final tum on the last lap. unable to cure a vibration with his primary bike. By lap two, Trombino was already pulling away on his own, and soon after the lap times started tumbling. His best was a I :22.140 on lap nine, by which point his lead was up to almost nine seconds. No one else had been able to put in a lap time below the 1:23 barrier. "I knew I had to get the holeshot and stay out front," said Trombino, whose final margin of victory was 14.616 seconds. "I just ran my own race and kept a comfortable pace." Weichel shadowed Martin from lap three on but didn't make his move for second until the final lap, passing the Suzuki in turn three. Martin came right back in the next corner. Weichel then tried going under Martin in turn five, but Martin refused to give in and led the Kawasaki onto the long back straight for the final time. "I was a little stronger down into turn two and three and I knew I could play my card there," Weichel said, "but he motored me on the outside into turn four. He startled me. In turn five, between the two apexes, we were side by side, but he stayed on line. He was 'Rock Forest' steady. And it was no contest on the back straight." staged a good fight for third. Trombino's win gave him a solid 43-point lead over Martin in the championship, 242-199, with Williams just three points further back in third. Mosport served up another dramatic Yoshimura 600 Sport Bike feature, with Crevier quite simply stealing the win from Jean-Francois Cyr on the final lap. Cyr had his Yamaha YZF-R6 in front as they started the final lap. but Crevier dived to the inside in the last turn to snatch his fourth win of the year on his Honda CBR600F4i. The frustrated Cyr settled for second just .030 seconds behind, while Clint McBain was third on a Suzuki GSX-R600 and Kevin Lacombe completed the lead group in fourth on another R6. Crevier has all but clinched the 600cc Sport Bike title with a commanding 8S-point lead over Cyr, 271186, with only two rounds remaining and a maximum of 60 points available at each round. CN The finishing order had added significance, as Martin moved three points ahead of Weichel into second place in the Superbike standings, behind Crevier. Crevier ran a lonely race to fourth to improve his points total to 252, 42 more than Martin at 210, with Weichel now on 207. After dropping to eighth in the first corner, front-row qualifier Jeff Williams moved back up to fifth by lap five and was actually closing on Crevier before his rear tire started to blister and he settled for a fifth-place finish on his Honda CBR929RR. Benoit Pilon was sixth on a Yamaha YZF-RI, ahead of frustrated RC51 pilot Michael Taylor, whose engine was running lean due to an ECU problem. The first half of the Open Sport Bike race looked promising, as no fewer than six bikes made up the lead pack, with Martin showing the way on his GSX-RIOOO. However, on lap seven, Trombino moved to the front and once again performed his disappearing act, stretching his margin to just over five seconds by the finish and recording lap times in the low I :23 range. Martin took second, ahead of Pilon and Williams, who Mosport Intematlonal I18ceway Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada Results: July 22. 2001 (Round 51 PRO SIBK: 1. Frank Trombino (Yamt,2. Francis MlIrt.in ~sUZI; 3. Ow~n Weichel (Kaw ; 4. Steve Crevier Ho~; 5. Jeff Willillms (Han); 6. noit Pilon (Yam); . Michael Taylor (Han); 8. Oreg Boki (Yam); 9. Jezm·Francois eyr (Yam): 16. Martin Hamel (Kew). PRO 60~ SPT/BK: 1. Steve Crevier (Honl: 2. Jea':l-Francols Cyr (Yam); 3. Clint McBein (Suz : 4. Kt:v!n Lacombe (Yam); S. Greg Boki (Yem): 6. Jeff Williams (Hon): 7. Michael Leon (Hon): 8. Andrew Nelson (Kaw); 9. Denis Richard (Hon): 10. Joel McDonald (Yam). PRO. OPEN SPT/BK: I. Fronk Trombino (Yom); 2.. F!"enclS Martin (Suz): 3. Benoit Pilon (Yem): 4. Jeff Williams (Hon); 5. <:ireg Boki (Yem); 6. Micheel Taylo~ (Hon): 1. Jean-Frencois eyr (Yam): 8. Clint MeBllln (Suz): 9. Kevin Lecombe (Yem): 10. Mortin Hamel (Ka'O). (Left) Cyr (4) and Clint McBain (g) traded the 600cc Sport Bike lead for most of the race at round five of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship before points leader Crevier got into the act. (Right) Yamaha's Benoit Pilon had one of his best weekends of the 2001 season, placing third in Open Sport Bike and sixth in Superbike. cue I e n e _ S • AUGUST 15. 2001 41