Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Parts Canada Superbike Championship Round 6 : Shannonville Motorsport Park o f the eig ht- lap ra ce , but Cr e vi er re to o k it just b e fo re th e e nd of la p seve n . At t he s t a rt of t he final lap, We ic he l p a s s e d Cre vier agai n , and the y ra ced s ide by s ide , with We ichel ma in ta in ing t he lead . Cr e vier took I one la s t s h ot at th e win exi ting the final corner bu t c a me up less tha n a b ike length s hort, giving Weic he l his first-ever Nation a l t itle . Sz oke was a d is tan t th ird , h a vi ng pa sse d F ran k Wilson ju s t a fe w c o rne rs fro m the finish. The 6 00 c c Sport Bik e rac e was th e end of la p four and set the ra c e 's fa s te st lap - 1:4 4 .7 19 - o n lap five . Instead , Tay lor was hound ed b y C re v ier and Yl F - R 1 p ilot F rank T ro m bi no . Cr e vier regain ed second o n lap ei g ht. Strugglin g with fading bra kes , Ta ylor cha ng ed ta cti c s and reg a ined s econd on lap 13 , but o n the final la p , the Ka wa s a ki started sound ing ro ug h. Cre vier repassed Ta ylor. Trombino s natche d the final pod ium spot. Ta y lor stru ggled across the line in fourth and sett led for third in the fina l po int standings with 260 p oi nts. Willia m s , ba ttling he adshak e wit h his lX · 7RR , ran fifth a ll th e wa y. He was ca ug ht ne ar th e e nd by defe n d in g Part s C an a d a Superbike champ Francis Mar - By J OH N H O PK IN S Phot os By Colin Fraser SHANNONVILLE. ON, CANADA, SEPT. 3 o rd a n S zo k e s c or ed his fo u rth Pa rts Ca na da S uperbike Cha m p ion sh ip win of th e seaso n a t Shan nonv ille Moto rs po rt Park, bu t it wa s n o t e nough t o ke ep St e v e Cr ev ie r fr om c la im ing hi s fif th C ana di an Nati on a l ro ad racing title . With a se c ond -pla c e finis h in the sea son fina le , th e 35-ye a r-o ld Hon da ride r e xte nded h is re c o rd o f C a nad ia n S up e rb ik e cr o wns an d e nde d nin e yea rs of Ka wa s aki d ominatio n of th e fe atu re class. Iron ic all y , it wa s Crevier h im s elf wh o starte d th e Kawasaki string of s uccess , winn ing the first of thre e s tra ight title s o n a lX-7 R in 1991. "I've wo n c ha m p io ns hips in th ree d e c a d e s n o w , t ha t m a k e s m e feel k ind of date d : s a id Cre vier , who first wo n the Can a d ian Su pe rb ike Champion sh ip in 1989 . "I'm so stoked. I'm k ind of on t o p of the wor ld r ig h t now .. . I felt t he p ressure a little b it this weekend ." S zo ke , also rid ing an RC5 1, to o k th e le a d from Cre vier th ree la ps into t he 14 - lap ra c e . Th e B ran tford , Onta rio , ride r pulled clea r to a 9.49 8 s e c ond victory for h is fo urt h win in sev e n ra c es. He finis he d the year sec ond ove rall , with 289 poi nts to Crevie r's 311. "I' m n ot tr y ing to brag , but t h a t wa s a n easy ra c e ," Szok e said. "We had suc h a good se tup, I did n't ha ve to ride too har d . I wa nte d to ge t aw a y a nd pro ve I'm the num ber -one racer. You c a n be cons iste nt a nd finish , bu t I won the most ra c e s ." Sz o k e a nd Kaw a s aki 's Mich a e l T a ylo r ca me to Sh ann on ville with a J de la yed b y no few e r th an thre e re d fla gs for c ra s he s. In th e most se rio us inci d e n t , Yam aha r ide r s Mic he l La v all e e , Chri s Ol s on a n d Andr ew Nelso n we n t d o wn tog e th e r o n th e fro nt stra ight at the e nd of the opening la p . Lav all e e s uffered two sku ll frac tu re s in t he fall and wa s t ra n s ported to the ho s p ital , where he was be ing ke pt in a n induc ed coma . Nei· ther Olso n o r Nels on was hurt in the incide nt. Trom bino ca me to Sh annon ville in contro l o f the Inte rn a tiona l Moto rc y· c1e S upers how Open Spor tbi k e t itle c ha se, a ltho ugh Taylor was in striking dista nce . Ho we ve r , T a y lo r mad e a po o r s ta rt and then was invo lve d in (A bo ve) Parts Canada Superbike Championship runner-up Jordan Szoke, en route to h is f o u rth w in of the season at Shannonvllle Motorsport Pa rk. (Ri ght) Steve Crev i e r leads Owen Weichel d urin g their figh t for the Yoshim u ra 600cc Sportbike title . c han ce of overtak ing Crevier fo r th e Superbik e title , but the ir hopes we re slim. Even if Szoke we re to cl a im th e pol e and win the fea tu re, h e woul d s ti ll need Cr e vie r to finish ne ar the back of t he t o p 10 in t h e ra c e to ove rta ke th e Po rt Coq uitlam, Britis h Columb ia, ride r in the standings. T a y· lo r, just behind Szoke in points , wa s in a similar situation. Szok e clai med po le with a re co rd la p time of 1:4 4 .3 86 late in the final qualifyi ng session . Ta ylor s ettled for seco nd o n th e g rid , while Cre v ier , who suffe re d falls in b oth d a y s of q ual ify in g , line d up thi rd . Jeff Willia m s com plet ed the front row a n his Kawa s aki l X-7 RR. Crevie r got the ho leshot, with Ta y lor a n d S zok e t u ckin g in b ehin d . Szo ke gra b bed s e c ond from T a y lo r o n la p t wo an d th en went a ro u n d Cre vie r o n la p thre e fo r the le a d . Ta ylor al so pa ssed Crevie r, but th e re was no c a tc h ing Szoke , who ha d opene d up a lead of a lm os t two seconds by a n accident with 4 £,6 Yamaha YlF · R6 rid er J o e Gill t h at put bo t h o f them o ut of the race . Tromb in o grab be d t h e ho les h ot from p ol e posi t ion an d went o n t o cla im his fou rth win of th e season , h is fi rs t -ev e r Nat ion a l Ch amp ion ship , a nd th e R1's s e cond straight Nat ion a l Open Sportb ike c rown. (Beno it Pilon won it la st ye ar. ) Clint McB a in finis he d second on a Honda CBR 929 RR, almo st c a tc h in g T ro m b in o on the fina l lap, w h il e tin , who wa s making h is re t u rn t o c o mpetition afte r bad ly bra kin g hi s a nkle in a testing fall in July. "I d idn' t wa nt to pu sh too h ard ," said Martin , who s ettled for six t h a t the fin ish . "I' ll co me ba c k healthy next yea r an d get th e nu mbe r -on e pla te ba c k ." T wo key title co nte nders battl e d for th e Yos hi m ura 600c c Spo rtbik e win - and th e c ha mpionsh ip - right down to the checkers . Owen We ic he l came to th e season finale with a narrow p o int s le a d o ve r C re v ie r an d S zok e . Defend ing c ha m p Lin n ley Clark e wa s a lso ma them a t ic all y in the hu nt. Cre vier jum pe d into th e le ad o n his Hond a C BR6 0 0 F4 , wi t h Kawasa k i l X-6 R rid e rs William s a nd We ich el behind. Williams s uffe red a big high s ide ex iting the ha irpin on th e open ing lap , and We ichel took second . He qui c k ly c a ug ht Cr e vier and t he two left th e rest beh ind . We ich e l took the lead on lap four eye. e n J e an -F ran c o is C yr c ompl et ed t he podium on an othe r CBR929RR. Cy r's resu lt br ou g ht h im le vel o n p o in t s with T a ylor fo r second in the sta ndings, although Ta ylo r go t th e position tha nks to ha ving wo n a feature , while Cyr's be st finishes th is s ea son we re a pa ir of thirds . eN Shann anvill e Matarspart Park Shann anvill e, Ontario, Canada Results: Septe mber 3, 2000 [Round H I PRO S/ B K : 1. J ordan Szoke ( Ha n ) ; 2. Steve Crevie r (Han); 3. Frank Tro m bino (Yam); 4 . Michael Ta ylor ( Kaw ) ; 5. J eff Willia ms ( Kaw); 6 . Fr an cis Mart in (Kaw); 7. Neil J enkins (Kaw); 8. Clint McBain ( Ho n); 9 . Linn ley Clarke ( Suz); 10 . Csaba Wern er (Hen). PRO 600 SPT/BK: 1. Owen Weic hel (Kaw); 2 . Steve Crev ier (Han); 3 . J or dan Szok e (Han) ; 4. Joe Gill (Yam) ; 5 . Frank Wils on (Yam); 6. Lin nle y Cla rke (Sua): 7. Greg Bok l (Yam) : 8. Scott Spicer (Hon): 9. Jo hn Sherrard (Yam) ; 10. Jim Prou lx (Yam ). PRO OPE N SPT / B K : l . Frank T rom bino (Yam ): 2 . Cli nt McBain (Han) ; 3. .Jeen-Fra ncol s Cyr (Han) ; 4 . J o hn Sherrard (Yam): 5 . Scott Spic er (Han ) ; 6 . J im Proul x (Yam) ; 7 . Zenon Nelson (Yam) ; 8 . Marti n Ham el (Kaw) ; 9 . A lai n Bla nc hard (Y am); 10. J oh n Hunter (Kaw). e _ S • S EPTEM BER 27. 2000 39

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