Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/564551
IN THE WIND P42 SZOKE TO RACE MOTOAMERICA FINALE W ith his 10th Canadian Super- bike title already in the bag, Jordan Szoke looks to a new chal- lenge—MotoAmerica. The dominant Canadian Superbike rider will head south to New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, to challenge the MotoAmerica AMA/ FIM North America Championship regulars at the season finale on Sep- tember 11-13. The 36-year-old Canadian will race his BMW S 1000 RR in the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 class as he tries to pad a gap of 40 points between himself and German Super- bike Champion Markus Reiterberger in the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy—a BMW contingency Cup program that pays BMW racers points in their respective series all over the world in Superstock 1000 racing. Those points add up to money at the end of the season and Szoke is confident of being able to put his BMW in the top three at NJMP to gain more points on Reiter- berger. Szoke last raced a full season in the U.S. in 2003 when he was a part of the Corona Suzuki team, but he has competed in a few one-off events in the years since. "I haven't been down there in a few years so I'm pretty excited about it," he said. "I've wanted to come down there, but since I've been running my own team we haven't had the budget, and with the different tires, limited track time, etc., that was the struggle. Now that we're all on the Dunlops, and we have a handle on them, and have lots of track time, it's a pretty easy transition. And we're also leading the BMW Cup points, which would be a huge accomplishment to win for a North American rider, and financially it's a nice bonus." BMW stepped up to help Szoke win his 2015 Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship and the com- pany is also assisting with his one-off trip to compete at the MotoAmerica season finale. It will be his Szokes' first out- ing at the 2.25-mile New Jersey road course, but that doesn't phase the Canadian champ. "My goal is to be on the Superstock podium," Szoke said. "I know how well Jody [Christie] did last year. He had some mixed results, but he was very competitive and for the most part he's follow- ing me up here because I'm usually the fastest guy. We're battling it out, but I'm the bar that's set—like Josh Hayes is the bar that's set down there." The Canadian champ also looks forward to the competition. "For me to have some guys to chase, which I'm not used to, I feel I can raise my game a little bit higher," he said. "I look at how Jody [Christie] was doing and will try to elevate that a little bit more. My goal is top three Superstock for sure and to be as high up overall as I can." CN The 10-time Canadian Superbike champ will have a go at MotoAmerica series regulars at the season finale in New Jersey. PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTOAMERICA