Szoke wins eighth Mopar CSBK race at Atlantic Motorsport Park

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Category: CSBK News

Published on Saturday, July 16, 2016 17:50 EDT

SHUBENACADIE, N.S. – Defending Mopar Canadian Superbike champion Jordan Szoke became the all-time leader in Canadian Superbike victories at Atlantic Motorsport Park with his eighth career win at the track in Saturday’s opening race of this weekend’s doubleheader, sponsored by Honda Canada and Pro Cycle.

And the Lynden, Ont. veteran took his milestone eighth win in impressive fashion. 

After claiming the Dalton Timmis Insurance Pole Award aboard the Mopar Express Lane / Motovan / BMW Motorrad BMW S1000RR, the 37-year-old grabbed the holeshot and led all 22 laps around the 2.56km (1.6-mile) 11-turn AMP circuit. He finished 7.437 secs. ahead of the Sturgess Cycle / Liqui Moly / Joe Rocket Kawasaki ZX-10R of Kenny Riedmann while Ben Young placed third riding the Tim Horton’s / Scot-Build Developments / BMW Motorrad BMW S1000RR, a further 11.757 secs. behind.

“I don’t normally get the holeshot but I got a great launch and I thought, ‘Right on, I’ll take it,’” said Szoke, who has now won 11 straight Mopar CSBK races dating back to the start of the 2015 season. “Passing is so hard here, and you don’t get a break over 22 laps. It’s a tough, tough physically demanding track.”

Szoke completed the race distance in 25 minutes, 18.997 seconds for an average speed of 133.478km/h (80.087 mph). He set the race’s fastest lap of 1:08.052 on his third tour.

The win gave Szoke another 52 points in his bid for a second straight Mopar CSBK title, and 11th overall, putting him 45 points ahead of Riedmann, 218-173, heading into Sunday’s back-end of the doubleheader. Szoke earned 50 points for the win and a two-point bonus for leading the most laps.

“I’m sure it’ll be a little tougher tomorrow,” Szoke admitted. “These guys [Riedmann and Young] will do their homework and we have to do this all over again.”

Young initially led the chase of Szoke with Riedmann and Michael Leon in close pursuit. On lap 4 Riedmann got past Young in dramatic fashion, the pair running side-by-side through the turn 9 hairpin before the Kawasaki rider managed to edge ahead. The Belfountain, Ont. rider was unable to make an impression on the leader, however, and settled for his fourth straight runner-up finish of the season.

“Me trying to get by Ben helped Jordan get a gap,” Riedmann admitted. “I tried to get Jordan, and I thought maybe I was catching him a couple of times, but he kept upping the pace.

“We’ll work to improve the set-up for tomorrow, maybe make a change to the front-end and maybe the gearing, and hope to get a better start.”

Young held onto Riedmann for the first half of the race but eventually fell into a battle with the Royal Distributing Race Team / BMW Motorrad / Pro 6 Cycle BMW S1000RR of Leon. The Collingwood, Ont. rider was able to add to his Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year points lead and consolidate third in the overall point standings with his third straight podium finish.

“My right arm started locking up with about 10 laps to go,” Young explained after his first race at AMP. “It was a long race and I tried to stay with Jordan and then Kenny. The bike was top notch; it was just a matter of me trying to wrestle it around the track.”

Young now has 149 points in the Mopar CSBK standings.

“I was a bit surprised to find out it was Michael [Leon] behind me,” said Young of his more experienced rival. “I thought he would have to have his ‘old-man nap’ at some point during the race.

“Tomorrow, if we can keep Jordan from getting the holeshot, maybe we can keep him at our pace for a bit and not use up all our energy chasing him.”

Leon felt he never had a solid opportunity to get around Young and the Beaconsfield, Que. rider settled for his best finish of the season in fourth.

“I had a few opportunities and I was planning a bit, but they would have been pretty nasty moves,” Leon said. “With two laps to go I decided it was best to just save the bike for tomorrow.”

After losing time in Dalton Timmis Insurance Pole Qualifying with a fall on Friday, Mississauga, Ont.’s Trevor Daley charged through to fifth after a good battle with Sebastien Tremblay early in the race. The rider of the OneSpeed Yamaha YZF-R1 got around Tremblay after some side-by-side running through the hairpin on lap 8 and was closing steadily on Leon when the checkered flag fell.

Tremblay settled for sixth with the MotoNation / Laval Moto Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja, the Mirabel, Que. rider finding his bike unstable, particularly on the backstraight ‘Roller Coaster’.

Rookie Pro Samuel Trepanier of St-Isidore de Laprairie, Que. placed seventh on his Blysk Racing / Elle Skin BMW S1000RR while Peterborough, Ont.’s Tomas Casas took eighth riding the Peterborough Cycle Salvage / Parts Canada Yamaha YZF-R6.

Oshawa, Ont.’s Derrick Whyte finished ninth aboard the Snow City / Canadian Kawasaki / Lucas Oil Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja, holding off the similar bike ridden by Montreal’s Franklyn Dominguez.

In other action at Atlantic Motorsport Park, Riedmann won his third straight Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike race of the season aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja. Starting from pole, Riedmann shook off an early challenge from Casas and went on to beat the Yamaha rider by 8.616 secs.

Ron Munroe of Beaver Bank, N.S. moved up from fifth on the opening lap to finish third aboard his Freedom Cycle / Canadian Kawasaki / GNS Renovations Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Riedmann now has a commanding 73-point lead, 168-95, over Alex Coelho in his bid for a third straight Canadian Pro Sport Bike crown. Brossard, Que.’s Coelho placed fifth in Saturday’s race riding the Black Sheep Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R, behind Toronto’s Michael Taylor on the Triumph Canada / GP Bikes / Goderich Toyota Triumph 675.

Casas moved up to third in the standings with 88 points.

Riding a Honda CBR600RR, Falmouth, N.S.’s Jacob Shaw-O’Leary passed points leader Jean-Marc Bilger for the lead at half distance and went on to win the Magneti Marelli Amateur Superbike feature. Bilger settled for second, 9.965 secs. behind Shaw-O’Leary on his BMW S1000RR while Ottawa’s Chris Brent completed the podium riding a Honda CBR600RR.

Bilger now has a 21-point lead over Brent, 131-110, heading into Sunday’s race.

Shaw-O’Leary made a spectacular pass of Brent in the run to the line to win a dramatic Shoei Premium Helmets Amateur Sport Bike race by just 0.027 secs. Montreal’s Bilger placed third in his class debut on a Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Brent takes a 55-point lead over Shaw-O’Leary, 144-89, in the Amateur Sport Bike class into Sunday’s action.

Brandon Pemberton of Windsor, N.S. closed to within 11 points of Ile Perrot, Que.’s Eric Quintin for the lead of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 Spec National Series after scoring his second victory of the year on Saturday. Pemberton finished 11.914 secs. ahead of Dartmouth, N.S.’s Patrick Pelletier, while Quintin settled for third.

Quntin now leads Pemberton 327-316 in the Kawasaki class standings.

The Society of the Atlantic Roadracing League, which handles regional racing at AMP, is presenting a pair of regional class events in addition to the national schedule. Moncton’s Shane Scott, riding a KTM Superduke 1290, claimed the Pro Cycle / ARL Sportsman Invitational while Milford, N.S. rider Richard Thompson won the Canadian Kawasaki / ARL Lightweight Supersport Invitational on his Yamaha YZF-R3.

Action at AMP concludes on Sunday with feature races in all five national classes. Practice opens at 9:00 a.m. with the first race, for the Kawasaki Ninja 300 Spec National class, set to launch at 11:55 a.m. 

Event information is available online at www.procycleonline.com and www.csbk.ca, or by calling Pro Cycle at (902) 468-2518.