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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128233
Parts Canada Super bike Championship Round 8 : Shannonville M otorsport Park . ~ .. c Go ing Int o the fi rst tU !1'l of the Pans Canada Superbike rac e at Shannonville Motorsp~rtPartc; Steve Crevier (1 4) le ad s a f ast starting Tom K ipp (5) , Francis Martin (16) and Pascal Picotte (21 ). By Cana da f in a l e in im p ress iv e st yl e, setting a new la p rec o rd of 1:45 .850 th at was a full second and a ha lf bet ter tha n the sec o nd- fastest qu alifier, Clint McBa in . How ever , whe n the race got under w a y , Cre v i er j u m ped into th e lea d fro m the o uts ide of th e fro nt row , and Picotte w as slotted bac k to th ird by Tom Kipp , wh o got a br illi ant laun ch fr om th e th ird row. The n Picotte suffe red a near d isaster on la p two , w hen he tuck ed the front end heading into A ll en 's Corner. He re -joined the rac e in 22nd , and suddenly Cr evier was in a pos ition to capture hi s record-extending sev enth Canad ian Supe rbike title. Wh il e Crevi er held a narrow lead ove r Kipp , Ma rt in an d Frank Tr ombi no 's Brook lin Cycl e Yam ah a YZF- RI, J O HN H O PK INS P HOTO S C O URT ESY OF CDN SU PERBIK E .C OM SHANNONVIUE, ONTARIO, CANADA, AUG. 31 ascal Pic otte won his first Canadi a n Su p er b ik e t itl e i n the mos t dram at i c f ash ion poss ible at S ha nnonv ill e M otorsp ort Par k . Th e 33yea r -o ld Q uebec ri der cha rg ed back fro m a fa ll on the second lap to finish sixth in the Par t s Canada Su per bike Cha m p io nshi p seaso n finale on h is Picotte Racing Yamaha YZF-R I and edge longtime rival Steve Crevier fo r the crown by five po int s, 308-303. Crevier finis hed second on his Dia bl o Performan ce Su zuki GSX - RI OOO after lead ing th e first six laps of th e 14 -la p ra ce . P Eventual winner Pascal Picotte (2 1) leads Frank Trombino (3 1) d uring their battle for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600cc win. Nursl ~g injuries suffered at Mont-Tremblant, Tr!»mb ino p ut in a gutsy, h er oi c ride at the f inalro'und i n Shannonville. Picotte started chargi ng back throug h the pa ck , g ett ing all th e way up t o 12th by lap five . However , w ith Cr evi er leading , Picotte would need a podi um fin ish to take the Superbik e title. On l a p si x , M a rt i n fi n a ll y go t a ro u n d K ip p ' s f ad in g C a nad ian Kaw asa ki Mot o rs K awasak i ZX 7 RR, and a lap lat er he passed Crevier fo r the lead . In th e battle for th e title, the ba lan c e s w u ng b a c k i n Pi cott e 's fa v o r , a lt ho ugh o nly j us t : If Pic otte fin ished lo we r th an I I th and Cr evi er slippe d ba ck to fourth , Mart in would snatch th e crown . Fra ncis Mart in scored th e rac e win abo ard the Coors Li gh t Rac ing/Black foot Suzuki GSX -R I 00 0 and fin ished thi rd in the f inal s t a n di n g s , j u s t another fo ur po ints ba ck of Crevier, w ith 299 . "T hi s is reall y emotio nal." Pic otte said . "Wh en I stop ped o n the infie ld an d the marsh al le t m e kn ow I wo n th e c hampio ns h ip , the re wer e so me tears." Picotte ca me int o th e rac e with a soli d 20-poi nt lead ove r Crevier in th e sta nd ings and in a co nfident fram e o f m ind. He cl a imed pole fo r the Parts 56 S EPTEM BER 24 , 2003· eye I e n e vv s Pic otte, how eve r , wa s o n a m i s sio n. On lap ei g ht , he shattered hi s one -day -old la p record with a to ur of 1:4 5. 194. He j umped up to ei g hth o n lap 12 , took seventh from A nd re w N elson o n lap 13 , and finally overhauled Crev ier's Di ablo Suzuki tea mmate J eff W illia ms fo r six th o n th e fi nal lap . Cyr fin ish ed fou rth , and the CyR acing / M icheli n Yama ha ride r held fourth in fi na l po int s. T ro mbin o was a bra ve fift h , despite rid in g with two br oken ri bs and a b ruis ed li ver suffered in a c rash in p ractic e at Mo nt -Trem b lant two weeks earlie r. A m on g th e fa vori tes missing from th e ra c e wa s t w o -t i m e Sup erbik e c h amp M i ch a el Taylo r . T h e Hond a fac tory rid er bad ly br o k e h is pel vi s when he cras hed in the ope ning prac tice of th e weekend . Th e Su p er b i k e c ha m p io ns hi p wasn 't th e only Nationa l t itle to go do wn to th e wi re at Shannonvill e. In the Intern at io na l Moto rcyc le Sup ershow A m at eur 60 0cc Spo rt bike cl ass , Briti sh Columbia Yam aha rid er J ere my L e du c clai me d t h e c ro w n b y 12 po int s, 233 -221, ove r Ho nda rid er Bill Card after a c autio us 12th -p lace fin ish . C a r d wo n th e r a c e , w h i ch was stopped twice by red fl ag s, and h e j umped f rom t hi r d to se co n d in points. De rek Bow k er c am e into the ra ce secon d in th e sta ndi ngs and qu ali fied on p ole wi th his Yam aha bu t fell and brough t out o ne of th ose red flag s. He th en c ha r ge d f ro m th e b ack o f th e International Motorcycle Supershow Amateur 600cc Spo rtbi k e cham p io n Jeremy Leduc lI eft) celebrates w it h m entor and f ormer Canadia n Pro Steve Dick (right ). C revier, m ean whil e , f a de d b a ck fro m Ma rt in a nd ha d h is hands full w it h M cB a in , o n t he second Co o r s Li ght Racing / Bl ackfoot GSX - RI 000 , as well as J ean -Francois Cyr's Yama ha YZF -R I and T romb ino . Th e Maple Ri dge , B riti sh Col um bia , ri der hun g on fo r sec ond , but it wasn' t enoug h . " T h e st ra t eg y w as t o b r ea k o ut front early , slow th e p ac e as much as po ssibl e and hopeful ly fo rce Pasc al into a m ist ake, " Crevi er ex plai ned. "I tried t o kee p t h e lea d, but I j u st co uldn 't. We we nt with a soft tire so I wou ld be there in th e beginn ing .· Ma rt in scored his seco nd w in o f the season in co nvinci ng fash ion. "My start was not very good: the Rock Fo rest , Qu ebec, rid er expla ined. "I was beh ind Kipp for a while . On ce I got past, I ju st put m y head down and go. I' m very , ver y happ y . This is the best g ift I ca n give m y team for th e last ra ce ." Marti n 's t e a m m at e M c Bain wa s third and overt oo k K ip p for fifth in the Part s Ca na d a Su p erb ik e sta nding s. g rid to fin ish 11th in the race and sal vage thir d in points . Despi te h av ing a lready c li nche d the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 c c Sportbike title, Picotte o utdueled Tr ombin o fo r the w in at the fi nal round. Th e wi n wa s Picotte's th ird of the yea r on his Yama ha YZF -R6. O utgoing cha m pio n McBa in fin i shed th ird o n h is Suzuki GSX-R60 0 and edged T rombi no ,for se co nd in t he fi n al standi ngs, alt h o ug h he w a s a fu ll 120 p oi nts behind Picotte. eN Shan nan ville Motorspart Park Sha nna nville, Ontario, Canad a Resu lts : August 31, 2003 IRaund 8 of 8J PRO S / B K : I. F rancis M a rt in (S uz); 2 . Steve C r ev ie r (S uz ) ; 3 . Cli nt M cBai n (S uz) ; 4 . .Jeen Fra ncois Cyr (Ya m) : 5. Frank Tr ombino ( Yam ); 6. Pa scal Pic ott e (Ya m); 7 . JeH William s (S uz); 8 . Andre w Nelson (Han); 9 . Kev in Lacombe (Han); 10. Tom K ipp (Kaw) . PRO 6 00 SPT/BK : 1. Pascal Pico tte (Ya m) ; 2. Frank Trom bino (Yam ) ; 3. Clint McBain (S Ul); 4 . Robbie Baird (Hon) ; 5 . Jeff Wi lli am s (Suz) ; 6 . Ke vin Lacom be ( Hon); 7 . Franc is Marti n (S Ul); 8 . .Jeen Fra ncoi s Cyr (Yam); 9 . Matthe w McBride (Kaw ): 10 . Tom Kipp (Kaw). AM 6 0 0 SPT 16 K: 1. Bill Ca rd (Han ) ; 2 . Dan Henr i ( Yam); 3 . Cra ig D i x o n (Ya m ) ; 4 . Je remy French (Ha n ); 5 . T y le r Ke nned y (Ha n ) ; 6 . Travis Hul se (Yam ); 7 . Marco A lessand ri ni (Ya m ); 8 . E ri c War re n (SUl ) ; 9 . Robe rt Bus by ( Suz ) ; 10 . M ichel Grenier {Sua).