Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Parts Canada Superbike Championship Round 6 : Atlantic M otorspor t Par k GIE OlE JIIHIE !LONE IfZEPIEAllEI , (L eftl Pascal Pi c o tte edged c loser to t h e H indle Exhaust Pro 6 00cc Sportblk e crow n w ith h is second win of th e season at round six of the Pa rts Ca nada Su p e rblk e Champi onship in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia , Canada. B Y J OH N H OP K INS PH OTO S C OU RTESY O F CDNSU PERBI K E .COM SHUBENACADlE, NS, CANADA, AUG. 10 R e v e n g e was sweet for Pascal Picotte at A t l a n t i c Motorspo rt Park. After sufferi ng a c rash during q ua lifying and seei ng his Parts Ca nada Supe rb ike t itle chances dented by a penal ty related to the inc iden t , th e Pi c o tt e R ac i ng Ya ma ha rider re b o un de d t he f oll o win g d ay b y c la im ing vi c t o r y in th e 22- lap rac e and regaining th e series points lead wi th two races left . Rid ing his Yamaha YZF- R I , the St -Cec il e de Milton , Qu ebec , rider held off the Di abl o Perfor mance Su zuk i GS X - R 10 00 o f St ev e Cr ev i er b y 0 .495 seco nds in ano ther thrill ing Parts Canada Superbi ke ro und. "I guess I had a lot of aggress iveness myself," smiled Picotte after his eighth career National Superb ike win . "After yesterday , my team t o t a ll y rebui lt my bike, and this morning I couldn 't put a n y laps together beca use we had a mecha nical problem. I norm a ll y l ik e to c arry a lo t of comer spee d , bu t t oda y I co ul d n't do that. I j us t was as slow as po ssibl e a n d t ried t o k e e p the gu y s beh ind m e." Th e w in was Pi c otte 's seco n d o f th e yea r a n d m a d e h im t he fir st repeat winner in six rac es this seaso n . More sig nific antly , Pic otte now has 231 po ints in the Superb ike stand ing s t o Cr evier 's 223 . Fran ci s Martin, th e po ints lead er com in g int o th is race, slipped to thi rd with 220 after fi nish ing fifth at AMP o n h is Coo rs Li g ht Raci ng/ Blackfo ot Suzu ki GSX-R 1000. T h i ng s weren't looking quite so rosy for Picotte on Saturd ay evening, however. In Superbike qualify ing, he suffered a fall on th e exit of turn on e. Picotte rem o un t ed hi s R1 and rod e it " c o u nt e r- rac e" bac k to the p its - a violation of series rules. Pic ot t e said a co u rse work er had ins tructed him to tak e that route, but th e former AMA st a r, who had qualified third , was do ck ed four grid pos it ions and lost th e tw o c h a m p i o n s h i p points he would hav e earned for grabbing the number -three qualifying slot. Being bumped back to the second row of the grid seemed to have little effect on Picotte. By the time the field reached tu rn three on the first lap , he was in the lea d. Frank Trombino ran (Be l ow, from l eft t o right) Third-place finisher J ean-Franc o is Cyr, w inner Pascal Picotte and runner-u p Steve Crevier celebrate o n the AMP Su perbi k e podium. second on the Brooklin Cycl e Yama ha YZF·R I , bu t Crev ier ca m e blazi ng pas t o n the back stra ight. A t t h e sta rt of lap two , Crevi er t oo k cha rge , but o n th e third lap he slowed suddenly on the back straight as a p iece of h is a irbox fell off th e bike. Both Picotte and Trombin o were able to get around h im , and th e Ma ple Rid ge, Brit ish Co lumbia , rider got back up to speed in thi rd. "T he fa iri ng br ac k et br ok e: Crev i er expla ined. "T hat so rt of th in g can ha ppen o n a bumpy tra ck like t hi s. T he air box snorkel ja mme d i n t he hand leb ar, and I pretty much had to sit up o n th e back straig ht and pull it off. " Cr ev ier was fo rced to do th e same w ith th e sno rkel o n the other side on la p seve n , wh ich dro ppe d him all the way b ac k to six th . T hi s left Pi c otte a nd T romb in o t o d i sput e the lead , altho ug h t hey weren't o n thei r o wn . At ha lf-dista nce, the top 10 were run ning nose to tail , with just under fou r seconds covering them. By lap 12, Cre vier had fo ug ht h is way ba ck up t o sec on d, and by lap 18 he a nd Pic otte had pulled aw ay fr om Tromb in o . Crev ie r aga in took the lead on th e back stra ight o n lap 19 , but at the en d of l ap 20 Picotte cha rge d u nderne ath him in th e fin al turn . C rev ier had o ve r worked h i s Du n l op tires i n h i s c harge back from six th and had nothing left for Picott e. " It wa s a g reat r a c e , " Picotte said . "Steve is a clea n race r, and he gave me eno ugh room all the time ." J ean -Fra ncois Cyr also kept him self in the titl e hunt w ith a third-p lace f i nis h o n hi s CyrR a c in g /Mi ch eli n Yama h a YZF ·R 1. D esp it e losing h is shi fter k n o b earl y in t h e r ac e , th e J o l i ett e , Qu ebec, r id e r m o v ed up fro m 10th o n th e op ening lap , pass ing Trom bino, Martin and Tom Kipp o n lap 20 to sett le in th ird. Wi t h th e fin ish , C y r m o v ed into fo urth in the Supe rbi ke stand ing s w ith 202 , 18 beh ind Ma rtin . Trom bin o set tl ed fo r fourth in th e rac e. Two seconds back ca me Ma rtin, wh o j us t held off th e C a n a d i a n Ka wasak i Motors Kawas aki ZX -7RR m ou nted K ipp, Coors Li ght Racing / Black foo t Suzuki GSX -R 1000-mounted Clint McBa in, and front-row starter J eff Williams, on another Diablo Performan c e GSX -R 1000. Picotte a l so ed g ed c lo se r to the Hindle Exhau st Pro 600cc Sportbike ti tle , le ading all 16 lap s fro m pol e to sc ore his secon d victo ry of th e yea r o n his YZF-R 6. Crev i er w as secon d on th e Diab l o GSX -R600 afte r ba t tl ing fo r most of t h e rac e with th e Brooklin R6 of Tro mbin o , who settled for third . Picotte now has 250 point s t o th e 172 o f Tr omb in o w ith tw o rac es left . Th e I ntern ati ona l M o t or c ycl e Supers how Amateur 600cc Sp ortbik e sta nd ings got a m aj o r sha k e - up as serie s lea der J er em y Led uc c ras hed h is Yama ha YZF -R6 ea rl y on . Leduc's fall allowed local sta r Fred Silver to sco re an emotional cl ass- d ebut wi n o n his Kawasa k i ZX -6RR , while Derek Bowker was th ird on hi s Yamaha and closed to wit hin 1 1 poi nts of Led uc in the sta ndings. Dan Henri was fifth in the r ace a nd i s just a nothe r p o int beh ind. CN Atblntic Motorsport Park Shubenacadie. Nova Scotia. Canada Results: August 10. 2003 [ Round 61 PRO S /B K : 1. Pasca l Picott e (ve rn ): 2. St e ve Cre vie r (Suz) ; 3 . .Jee n -Fren ccis Cyr (Yem]: 4 . Frank Trom bino (Y am): 5 . Fr an c is MZHtin (S uz); 6 . T o m Kipp (Ka W') ; 7. Clin t McBain (Suz); 8. Jeff Wlllie ms (Suz); 9. Kev in Lacom be (Hon) ; to. Michael Taylor (Hon) . PRO 600 SPT/ B K: 1. Pascal Picott e (Yam) ; 2. Steve Crevie r (Suz); 3. Frank T rombino (Yam) ; 4 . Clint McBain (Suz); 5 . .Jeen-Frencols Cyr (Yam ); 6. Robb ie Bai rd (Ha n) ; 7 . Kevin La combe (Han) ; 8. Fra nci s Marti n (Suz) ; 9 . J eff Wi lliams ( Suz); 10. Michael Taylor (Hon ). A M 60 0 SPT /BK : 1. Fr ed Silver (Kaw); 2. Mike Mac Clu ske y ( Yam) ; 3. Der ek Bo w k er ( Yam ); 4 . Yani ck Beaur egard (Suz) ; 5 . Dan Henr i (Ya m ); 6 . Mi c he l Gr enier (Suz ) ; 7. Bi ll Card (Ho n ); 8 . Terry Steeves (Yam) ; 9. Eric Levole (Suz); 10. Paul Dionne (Yom) . Steve Crevier (14) leads Diablo Suzuki teammate Jeff Williams (7), who j o in ed Crevier on the front row of the Superbike grid and finished eighth at Atlantic Motorsport Park. cue I e n e VIl's S EPTEM BER 3 , 2 0 0 3 43

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