CSBK - Five Key Take-Aways from Autodrome St-Eustache

Five Key Take-Aways from Autodrome St-Eustache

Details: Category: CSBK News; Published on Friday, July 13, 2018 07:51 EDT

Meet the New Boss

With three weekends down and two to go, Jordan Szoke is in his usual spot in the standings for the Mopar CSBK National Championship Series. Mopar Express Lane/Motovan backed Szoke, now 39, stands atop the points table, with just over half a race in hand (167 to 135 Pts) over chief rival, and fellow BMW S1000RR pilot, Ben Young.

At the most recent round at Autodrome St-Eustache at the start of July, extreme heat meant that there were many concerns heading into the 22 lap final. Young led initially aboard his Scot Build/ACF-50 backed BeeMm, Szoke looking for a way past while Jeff Williams jumped up to third from fifth on the grid on his Professional Custom Installations BMW.

Williams was making the most of his time spent at the RACE SuperSeries Regional at Shannonville the week before St-Eustache with American BMW Expert Steve Weir, who was detailing the various electronic rider aids available with the BMW design. Weir works for Young at the CSBK rounds, and has offered assistance to a variety of BMW-mounted competitors.

Eventually Szoke found a way past Young, and while Young stayed close, there would be no repeat of the last lap fight from Grand Bend when Szoke passed Young with two turns to go and won by just .17 of a second. Szoke was careful in the notoriously tricky traffic of tight St-Eustache, and defeated Young by just over six seconds.

The fight for the final podium spot turned into a great dice between Trevor Daley on the One Speed/Rockstar/Shoei Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja and the Neuroperforma/The Pharmacist BMW of Samuel Trepanier. Penalized because of Dyno issues following Dalton Timmis Insurance SuperPole, Trepanier was moved to the back of the top ten, and mounted a serious charge to get back into contention. Trepanier was also looking for venue validation, since the Autodrome has so far been a circuit where he has struggled to find race pace.

Daley held third for much of the race as Trepanier tried to make a pass work, eventually pushing past in the middle of the oval and then blocking Daley’s immediate re-pass attempt. Trepanier netted third, his second podium of the season, while steadily-progressing Daley has now gone 4/5/4, and is way overdue for a return to the box.

These two are also close in points, fighting for third overall, with Trepanier slightly ahead, 105 to 95. Williams is next, in fifth, with 79. With two Double Header weekends left to run, there is still time for major adjustments among the Mopar CSBK Feature class front runners.

Casas in Control?

Last season, “TV Tommy” Casas had a season-long fight for the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike Championship with Mitch Card, and there was little to choose between the two young gun Yamaha YZF-R6 pilots in terms of absolute pace. So far this season, Teen-aged Casas has two wins to Card’s solo success at Grand Bend, but St-Eustache may have been the event where the series points order became established.

At the tight Quebec Autodrome, Peterborough Cycle/Parts Canada supported Casas ran away for an impressive win, while Fast Company/Shoei backed Card struggled due to injuries to his foot suffered in a fall the day before. Card netted third, but with Casas seeming to have made another step, the points standings are starting to open up, up front.

Tomas Casas now leads the standings with 156 points, Card second at 138, heading into Atlantic Motorsport Park. Card will need to be close to one hundred percent healthy around the demanding up-and-down “Shubie” track, and there is a problem – others are now managing to stay with Card and Casas.

When Sebastien Tremblay announced his plan to race in Pro Sport Bike on a DB Moto/Moto Nation Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, everyone expected him to do well in middleweight. After a crash from near the front at the SMP opener, Tremblay was just off the Podium at Grand Bend, but in fine form at St-Eustache, netting second.

Also in the dispute for podium placings was NGK/Gulf Honda CBR600RR-mounted Louie Raffa, who is certainly overdue for some good luck. While he ran wide at St-Eustache, Raffa is third overall in the standings after three races.

Top rookie Pro Samuel Desmarais and Grand Bend-almost winner David McKay, both Kawasaki Ninja mounted, also ran up front, and it will be interesting to see who can maintain race pace at the next two races on the roller coaster ‘round Shubenacadie.

In the Brooklin Cycle Pro Rookie of the Year Championship, calculated from Pro Superbike Feature race results, Desmarais leads, 47 points to 44, against the Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Jean-Francois Aubin. Both riders have scored in all three rounds. No one else is close, so the championship is likely to be decided between these two at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August.

Tight at the Top of Amateur Superbike

With three races down and three left to go in Magneti Marelli Amateur Superbike, trends are finally starting to develop atop the oh-so-close National series standings. Luc Labranche from nearby Mirabel was fifth at St-Eustache aboard his well-developed middleweight class Yamaha YZF-R6, and leads the points fight by just one, 105 to 104, from Michael Van Ek. For BMW S1000RR mounted Van Ek of Ajax, ON, seventh in Quebec was not quite up to the level of his win at the Shannonville opener.

While 600cc class riders can show well on the tighter tracks on the Mopar CSBK tour, the final double header weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August is certainly a venue that favors the 1000cc Superbikes. The format of the series would seem to favor Van Ek, but more than once the Amateur Superbike series points have turned upside down on the East Coast.

Third in the standings belongs to Yamaha YZF-R6 mounted Danny Cayer of Issoudun, QC, who has 83 points after placing eight at the last round. Guillaume Fortin of Blainville, also near St-Eustache, joined the series at round three and took victory on his BMW, moving straight to seventh in the championship.

Ivan Babic of Maple, ON, does not qualify well, but consistent results with his BMW have moved him to sixth, right behind Lynden’s Amy Szoke. Mrs. Szoke has been a consistent finisher in her first season in Amateur Superbike on a Waznie Racing BMW, but is not expected to attend the next race at Atlantic Motorsport Park.

Labranche vs Meunier in Amateur Sport Bike

Kawasaki ZX-6R pilot Christian Allard of Saint-Marc-Sur-Richelieu joined the tour on his handsome Ninja at St-Eustace, and promptly won the Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike race, jumping all the way to ninth in the points standings. A very close second in Quebec was another Kawasaki, that of Nicolas Meunier of Verdun, just ahead of third overall Labranche and his Superbike-series leading Yamaha 600, the Quebec contingent definitely in control on home ground.

In the Parts Canada Amateur Sport Bike Championship chase, Shannonville opener victor Labranche sits first, again all of one point (136 to 135) ahead of Meunier. Fourth at St-Eustache, Cayer is third overall in the standings, with 93 points. Suzuki GSX-R600 mounted Max Kathorn of Ottawa was eight in Quebec, and is tied for fourth overall in the standings with Mike Grass, who skipped the most recent round.

It is expected that some local riders will do well at Atlantic Motorsport Park on July 22, as has been the trend over the past couple of decades. So it will be important for Labranche and Meunier to limit damage out east, and get back to the final races at “old Mosport” in a position to still challenge for a National Championship. Or in the case of Labranche, maybe two!

Lightweight King LeClair Challenged

At St-Eustache, run-away Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike Championship leader Jake LeClair was finally defeated. But it was close. On Saturday, in the fifth race of the LTWT Series, LeClair battled with fellow Yamaha YZF-R3 racer Alex Berthiaume, and a last lap scramble meant Berthiaume eked out the win by just .232 of a second. Ryan White edged Johann Plancque for third, eight seconds back, both Kawasaki Ninja 300 mounted.

On Sunday, LeClair and Berthiaume again squared off, the rematch race maybe even better than the day before’s wild affair. In the sixth stop on the ten race tour, Berthiaume again went for the last lap dramatics, but this time ran off track with two turns to go.

LeClair took his fifth victory of 2018 by almost four seconds from White, Berthiaume regrouping to salvage third just ahead of Plancque. Fifth on Sunday belonged to Honda CBR250R mounted Andre Lavoie, the best result by a Honda single in the LTWT series to date.

In the championship standings, LeClair is over a race ahead, with 315 points to the 255 total of second overall Berthiaume. White is third at 220, with Plancque fourth at 206. Toni Sharpless has her Yamaha up to fifth, with 144 points to the 124 total of sixth overall, brother of the leader, Ben LeClair.

It is likely that Jake LeClair could clinch the National title as early as round eight at A.M.P., meaning he can simply race for fun, and maybe a final score of nine-out-of-ten, at C.T.M.P. However, there is a strong group of LTWT racers based on the East Coast, so the Shubenacadie races could rival St-Eustache for tight action at the front, perhaps with a wider range of racers and bikes.