McCormick earns Shannonville sweep

By John Hopkins

SHANNONVILLE, ON – Brett McCormick completed a perfect weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Sunday by winning the third round of the Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada.

Riding the BMW Motorrad Canada / radX BMW S1000RR the 19-year-old grabbed the lead early on the opening lap and pulled clear to an 11.894-sec. victory over the Competition Systems Race Team Kawasaki ZX-10R of Brantford, Ont.’s Jordan Szoke. Alex Welsh of Uxbridge, Ont. finished third on the Z1 CycleTech / Kenwood Suzuki GSX-R1000.

McCormick completed 20 laps around the 2.4km (1.5-mile) Shannonville ‘Pro’ track in 21 minutes, 31.612 seconds for an average speed of 133.786 km/h (83.616 mph).

The Saskatoon racer won Saturday’s Superbike feature from pole position in similar fashion, leading every lap and pulling away.

“They made me work for it off the start,” said McCormick, who was beaten into the first turn by Welsh. “But I got a good drive out of turn two and was able to get up the inside of Alex in turn three.

“We made some changes last night to help make the suspension last but Jordan put in a good ride. He was going quite a bit quicker today.”

McCormick is perfect through the first three rounds of the Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada. He has qualified on pole, led every lap and won each race to give him a total of 164 points as the seven-race season nears its midpoint. Szoke is second with 127 and Andrew Nelson of Kars, Ont. sits third with 110 points after a fourth place finish on Sunday.

The victory was also McCormick’s fourth straight at Shannonville. He scored his first career national Superbike win at the track in 2008 and was also victorious in 2009. The series didn’t visit Shannonville last summer.

“This started out being my worst track until I got my first Superbike win here,” he said. “This is a really technical track and you can’t be lazy. I seem to get on well with it here.”

Szoke was into second place by the end of the opening lap but the seven-time Canadian Superbike champion had no answer for McCormick, who turned the race’s fastest lap of 1:03.945 on his second tour.

“We had a better motorcycle today and I think I should have done better with the package I had,” said Szoke, who is going for his sixth straight national title. “But I don’t get discouraged, I get mad and I bounce back. We made a big step forward this weekend and there’s a lot of racing left this season.”

Welsh was able to hang onto Szoke for a couple of laps before he lost a contact lens and was forced to back off.

“After that I really just wanted to bring it home,” said Welsh, who was forced to drop out of Saturday’s race. “We’ve still only had three or four days to work with this bike so it’s not quite where we want it.”

Riding the Nelson Racing / GymMax / Monette Sports BMW S1000RR Nelson enjoyed a great scrap for fourth with the second BMW Motorrad Canada / radX BMW of Mississauga, Ont.’s Michael Ferreira.

Nelson had a rough getaway and completed the opening lap in sixth behind McCormick, Szoke, Welsh, Francis Martin on the Couturier Racing /ProPulsion BMW S1000RR and Ferreira. He moved up to fifth when Martin ran off at the end of the backstraight on lap two and then passed Ferreira on lap eight, only to have the factory bike get back around him on lap 13. The Kars, Ont. rider finally took the spot with a bold outside move in turn three four laps from the finish.

"I was trying to adjust the shock during the race and I kind of shut her down for a lap or two," Nelson said. "Then I got my rhythm back and stepped up the pace again. I knew the pace I could do the last few laps and I thought if I could just get around Mike I could open a gap."

Ferreira said a front end slide in the hairpin convinced him to ease his pace in the final few laps.

"We tried a different set-up for today but it forced the front end quite a bit more," he explained.

In another good race-long fight Frank Trombino on the Suzuki Canada / Hindle / Sturgess Cycle Suzuki GSX-R600 passed the Jodi Christie Racing / Cameron Cycle / Blue Streak Honda CBR600RR entering the hairpin on the final lap to snatch sixth.

"I was following him all race, trying to keep up a steady pace and see where I might have an advantage," said Trombino. "When I got around Jodi he couldn't get a drive onto the front straight and that allowed me to open a bit of a gap."

Matt McBride and Rob Busby had run with this pair early in the race but dropped back as the laps wound down. McBride settled for eighth on the BMW Toronto Motorrad / Riders Choice BMW S1000RR and Busby was ninth on his Wolf BMW-backed S1000RR.

Martin recovered from his off-course excursion to take 10th.

The teams have only a few days to recharge before the series resumes at Autodrome St-Eustache next weekend, July 8-10. This will be the national tour's first visit to the track since 2003.

Race Results
1.Brett McCormick, Saskatoon, Sask. (BMW S1000RR) 20 (133.786km/h)
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 20
3. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 20
4. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 20
5. Michael Ferreira, Mississauga, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 20
6. Frank Trombino, Woodbridge, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R600) 20
7. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont. (Honda CBR600RR) 20
8. Matt McBride, Mississauga, ON (BMW S1000RR) 20
9. Rob Busby, Brantford, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 20
10. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, Que. (BMW S1000RR) 20
11. Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, Que. (Honda CBR600RR) 19
12. Franklyn Dominguez, Hudson, Que. (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 19
13. Steve Walker, Carleton Place, Ont. (BMW S1000RR) 19
Did Not Start
Kenny Reidman, Belfountain, Ont. (Triumph 675)
Bill McKay, Tavistock, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Bodhi Edie, Warman, Sask. (Honda CBR600RR)
Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont. (Suzuki GSX-R1000)
Billy Shields, Unionville, Ont. (Yamaha YZF-R1)
Vicki Schouten, Ottawa, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Dean Plater, Cumberland, Ont. (Kawasaki ZX-10R)
Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban, Que. (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Time of Race: 21:31.612
Margin of Victory: 11.894 secs.
Lap Leaders: Brett McCormick 1-20

Point Standings
1.Brett McCormick, 164
2. Jordan Szoke, 127
3. Andrew Nelson, 110
4. Michael Ferreira, 96
5. Jodi Christie, 77
6. Alex Welsh, 70
7. Marie Josee-Boucher, 55
8. Rob Busby, 54
9. Frank Trombino, 52
10. Matt McBride, 50
11. Franklyn Dominguez, 49
12. Francis Martin, 46
13. Steve Walker, 45
14. Jean-Francois Cyr, 25
15. Sylvain Dery, 21
16. Sebastien Tremblay, 19
17. Ross Millson, 10
18. Sean Huffman, 8
19. Billy Shields, 6