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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J ordan Szoke has taken an incredible 14 Canadian Superbike Championship titles and there's no better a man to comment on the progress of the series. How have you seen the series changed from when you started to now? Our series a little bit follows suit to the American series. Meaning, when they're doing good, we're doing good. Also, because the manufacturers are the same manufacturers, if they're allowed to spend some money on racing, then we're allowed to spend some money on racing. And if they're not racing, well, then, we're kind of not allowed to race. But in the '90s, and then into the 2000s, it started to make money here. I was in the U.S. on the Corona team, finishing top five in superbike races. I actually got lured back to Canada to make more money. And it was really good up until 2009. Then I think it was 2009 or 2008, Kawasaki pulled the plug on AMA Superbike. I was in negotiations with them to be the second rider alongside Roger Hayden. When the recession hit, it fell right out. We went from having World Superbike techs here running the Pirelli-spec tire program, and having 10 transport trucks in the paddock, making great money and having a lot of fun, to nothing. And then it started to climb up again. And we ended up with Mopar as the title spon- sor of the series. I ended up getting them as a title sponsor as well. And that was kind of off-setting my losses, because now I went from riding to managing, building the bikes, doing the whole thing. I'm super lucky I have that ability to wrench. A lot of riders don't. That's what saved me being able to ride. Then as soon as Covid hit, we lost Mopar. So, we're kind of back down again. We're see- ing the fans come back, which makes the sponsors happy and interested. We still need the manufacturers to spend a little more money and take a little more interest. Sport bike sales in Canada have really plummeted due to really high insurance. Brett McCormick was telling me about the insur- ance. I couldn't believe how much it costs! Exactly. That really hurt the sport bike sales. We had a huge boom in dual sport sales in Canada. All those guys in their 50s buying new adven- ture bikes. So I think if the manufacturers can get a little more involved and be a little more sustainable... It'll never be what it was, and it'll never be the U.S., but you have got to remember, we can't ride here in the winter because there's snow. So, we're lucky to have what we have. But in the U.S., they're struggling to get the manufacturers involved, too. It's frustrating to watch, honestly. We can see people trying. It is working, but only at a snail's pace, in comparison to what it should be, at least. What are your thoughts on the current generation of Canadian riders? The problem is that we don't have that step like, "Oh, I can move up to superbike. I can get support. My dealer's going to be involved. The manufacturer is going to sup- port. Then maybe if I'm really good, I can go to the U.S." There's no progression. So, the riders get discouraged. I say it all the time. Everybody thinks I'm making all this money. They see this and I try to tell them, listen man, keep riding because you love it and maybe it'll come around. But unfortunately, there is no money. So, I think a lot of the good riders we had coming up got discouraged and left. Brett VOLUME 59 ISSUE 48 NOVEMBER 29, 2022 P72 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> THE ALL-TIME CHAMPION Injury has put Jordan Szoke on the sidelines, but there's hardly a rider on earth with more national championship wins than him. Szoke's style was certainly unique.