Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Parts Canada Superbike Championship Round 7: La Circuit Mont-Tremblant B Y J O H N H O PKI N S Tom K ipp (5) le ad s Pascal Picotte (2 1) in their thrilling Hindle Exh aust Pro 600cc Sportbike duel at rou nd seven of the Pa rts Canada Superbike Championship. P HO T O S COURTESY OF C DN SU PE RB I K E. C O M MONT·TREMBLANT, QC, CANADA, AUG. 17 CJ"?o m K ip p beca me t h e sixth d i f lJ fe rent racer to visit Vic tory Lane i n t he 2 0 0 3 Parts C an a d a Su p er b i k e Champ i o n sh ip w hen h e wo n th e Coors Light T rembla nt Supe rbike a t L e Ci r cu i t Mo nt - T rem blant o n Augu st 17. In t he firs t visi t f or Canada's Nati on al ro ad racin g series to th e pic t u resq ue a nd c ha ll eng in g 2 .65 -mil e ven ue , K ipp o ve r ca me he avy ra in and an early push by Austr ali an ri de r Robbi e Baird to score his first Can adi an Nat ion al w in ab oard hi s Canadi an Kawasaki Mot ors- prep ared , Pirellishod Kawa saki ZX7 RR. On h i s Pi c o tte Ra c in g Yamah a YZF· R I , series points lead er Pasc al Picotte fin ished second , 13 .6 24 sec onds behind Ki pp . Steve Crevier was third o n th e D i abl o Pe rfo r m a nce Suzuki GS X- R 10 0 0 , a not h er sev en seconds back . Chard on , Oh i o ' s K ipp c redite d crew chief and suspensio n guru Dal e Rathwe ll , a M on t -Trembl ant nati ve , for the perf orm an c e of his Kawasaki in the 15 -lap race. " D a le Rathw ell d id so me mag i c ju st before th e rac e," K ipp expl ai ned. "H e lo osened th e b ik e up , and it wa s perfect in the wet ." St artin g fr om t he o ut side o f t h e front ro w , Baird led th e first five lap s on h i s Ori on M ot orsp ort H on da CBR6 00 RR befor e Kipp c harge d pa st o n th e bac k straig ht. Tw o laps later, Baird went down heavily o n the wet admitted Pic otte, w ho had earne d hi s seco nd MPM/Array Po le Award of th e seas o n . " It had di ffe ren t g eomet r y and di dn 't steer. " Picotte's performance was enoug h to allo w him to e x t en d h i s s li m Pa rt s C anada S u p e r bike Ch amp io nsh ip poin ts lead . After co ming into the M on t- Tremb l a n t w ee k end j ust ei g ht poi n t s a hea d of Cr ev ie r , t h e St -C ec il e d e M il to n , Qu eb ec , r i d er l e ft wit h a 17-po i nt a d v antag e , 2 77 · 26 0 , head in g to the season fi nal e at Shann on v ill e Motors port Park o n A ug ust 31 . A ride r c an earn a maximum of 56 po ints at ea ch Parts Canad a Sup er bik e round . " I j u st t r i e d t o fi ni sh a hea d o f St ev e," Pi c o tt e sa i d . "I w a nt ed t o Steve Crevier fi nishe d third at M ont-Tremblant on his Suz uki GSX-R1000 and stayed in the hu nt for t he Cana dian Superbike title. tr ack , altho ug h he was able to re-j oin in sixth place . Pi c otte m o ved u p to seco nd with Baird 's fall , but he was p ass ed by a flyin g Clint McB ain o n l a p nine. A l a p l at er, howev er , t h e Coors Light Racing /B lackfoot Suzuki r id er w a s a l so ca u g ht o u t by th e trick y c ondit ions . Tha t pu t Pi cott e back in sec ond for good, although he was unable to challenge Baird. " W e sw it c he d bik es , and I don 't think that wa s t h e right dec ision , " s t retc h m y le a d a b it h ead i n g t o Shan no nv ill e." Crevi e r batt l ed a p o or l y set up Su zuki t o c o m p le te the po dium f inishe rs. He held off a reco vering Baird by les s than half a sec on d t o m ak e the podium and k eep hi s hopes for a se v e n t h C a n adi an S u per b ik e t itl e alive. " A ll th e ex p er i enc e in th e wo rld d id n't m atter , " adm itted th e M apl e Rid g e , B rit i sh Co l u m bia , vetera n . 54 e S EPTEM B ER 1 0 , 2003· cue nevvs (Fro m left to ri ghtl Runner-up Pascal Picotte, race winner Tom K ipp, and th ird-placed Steve Crevier stand atop the MontTremblant Superbike pod ium. "Th e bik e was set up too sti ff , and I cou ldn 't tu rn the th ing ." Behind Baird, Beno it Pilon was an impressive fi ft h on his Paquin Yama ha YZF -Rl. N ex t up was J ean -F ran c o i s Cyr, o n th e CyR a cin g/Mi ch elin R 1, w h o c ha rged from 26 th on th e grid after mi ssing qualifying d ue to a leg inj ury susta ined on Saturda y . Franc is Martin was sev enth on his Coors Li ght Rac in g/Bl ac kfoot Suzu k i af te r a ls o fa ll i ng afou l o f t h e w e t w eat her and lo st va lu able grou nd in t he Par ts Ca na d a Sup erbik e sta ndings. T he Rock For est , Q uebec , ra cer is thi rd w ith 24 5 po ints head ing into Sh ann on vi lle , whil e Cy r a lso ha s a sli m m at hematic al sho t at th e crow n in fourth, with 229 point s. Ki pp also beat Pic otte in th e Hin dle Ex ha ust Pro 600cc Sp ortbike feature at Ci rc ui t Mont-Trembl an t , alt ho ugh , with his second - pla ce fi ni sh , Pic otte secured the Canad ian titl e. In a race held under sunny sk ies, Ki pp led m o st o f t he way o n h i s K aw asaki ZX 6R R, al t houg h Pi c otte was nev er far away . On th e fin al lap , the Yam ah a rid er tr ied to go aro und K ipp 's Kawasak i in th e final hairp in t urn , but Kip p s li d wi d e , th e t w o touched , and Kipp got th e adva nt ag e to w in by 1.9 6 6 seco nds . B aird fin i sh ed th i rd o n th e O r ion Hond a C B R60 0 RR, a n d d ef endin g c las s c ha m p M cBa in w as fou r t h o n hi s GSX·R 60 0 . Th e resu lt s gave Pi co tt e a 104 p o int l ead o ve r M cB a in , 2 96 - 19 2, w ith on ly Shannon vill e rema in ing o n the schedul e. Frank T rombin o, Pic otte's cl o sest ti t le c h a l le n ge r h e adin g i nto t he week end, was una ble to sta rt th e Pro 600cc Spo rtb ik e final aft er suffering a heavy crash in the weekend 's op en; in g Supe rbi k e prac t ic e. T h e K le in j burg , On t ar io , ri de r wa s ho spi ta liz ed w ith tw o bro k en ribs, a bru ised li ver and a badl y cut t o ng ue. J er em y L e du c of K er em e os : Britis h Co lu m bia, ex tend ed hi s Inter natio nal Mot or cyc le Supershow Ama t e ur 600 c c S p ortb ik e points l e a d heading t o Shan no nvill e afte r winn ing h is t hird ra c e of th e season . Th e Yam aha YZF-R 6 ride r held off Hond a rider Bill Card and R6·mounted D erek Bowker after th e trio had treated th e la rge Mont -Tr embla nt c rowd to a sen sation al le ad battl e. Leduc now has 218 p o int s t o Bow k er ' s 190 . Da n He n r i le ad s C ard b y o ne p o in t fo r th ird in th e stand ings, 16 9 - 16 8 . eN le Circuit Mont·Tremblant Mont·Tremblant, Q uebec, Canada Results: August 17, 2003 [Round 71 PRO S /B K : 1. T om Ki p? ( Ka w); 2 . Pas c al Pico tte ( Yam) ; 3 . Steve Crevie r ( Suz); 4 . Robbie Baird (Han); 5 . Benoit Pilon (Yam); 6 . .Jean-Fran ccis Cyr ( Ya m ); 7 . F ra ncis M ar t in ( Suz) ; 8 . Ke vin Lacombe ( Han ); 9 . Ch ris Peris ( Ha n); 10. Matth ew. McBride (Kaw). . PRO 600 SPT/BK : I. To m K ipp ( K a w ): 2 . Pascal Picotte (Yam ); 3 . Robbie Baird (Hon); 4 . Clint M cBa in (Suz ) ; 5 . Ste ve C revie r ( Suz): 6 . Ke vin Lacom be ( Hon) ; 7. Jeff Williams (Suz); 8 . M atthew Binns (Yam) : 9. Chris Peris (Hon) ; 10 . .Jeen-Fren cois Cyr (Yam). A M 600 SPT/BK : I. J erem y Leduc ( Yam); 2. Bill Card (Hon); 3 . Derek Bowker (Yam ): 4 . J erem y French ( Hon); 5. Eric Warr en (S uz); 6 . Carol Corbeil ( Ho n) ; 7 . Darr en Ja mes (Ya m ) ; 8 . Hugo Brisson (Kaw); 9 . Fred Silver (Kaw); 10 . Dan Henri (Yam) .