Jodi too good for Canada

Christie leading Trombino in Pro 600. Photo: Rob MacLennan

Jodi Christie really needs to get the
hell out of Canada to show his stuff.

The teenager from Keene,
Ontario, once again amazed onlookers by a virtuoso display on
Shannonville’s Long Track last weekend, beating veteran racer and
Shannonville specialist Frank Trombino by a heartbeat in the Parts
Canada Pro 600 race. Third went to another impressive teenager, Kenny
Riedmann on a Triumph 675.

Christie backed up the 600 result by
taking his CBR600RR to third in the Pro 6 Cycle/Dunlop Superbike race
behind the 1,000 cc bikes of Trombino (Prostar Honda) and Andrew
Nelson’s Orion Motorsports BMW S1000RR. Riedmann had another good
result in this one, taking fourth.

Considering the hot, sultry weather
(compounded by occasional high winds and cloudbursts) the track
speeds were amazing, with several new lap records being set. Rob
Busby took his Buell XB-9 to a new air-cooled Thunder record, Will
Hornblower broke his own record in the CBR125 class, John Savoy set a
new fastest time in the Masters Heavyweight class, and
Natalie-Catherine Provost shocked herself by breaking Marie-Josée
Boucher’s Women’s Open record on her way to a win in that race.

There was also an encouraging revival
of interest in two-stroke GP bikes. Chris Chapelle, whose Quinte Home
Maintenance company sponsors the 125 GP class, made his own RS125
available and Nicole Pilkington, another quick teen who’s a CBR125
racer and also runs in the Lightweight Sportsman and Vintage
divisions, took advantage of the chance to try a "real"
race bike.

She loved it, and all the other CBR
kids were consumed with envy to the point that several parents
immediately started looking around for 125 GP bikes that might be
available for sale or lease. RACE’s Ninja 250 class, created to
provide a step up for the CBR kids, hasn’t taken off yet, but maybe
the 125s will provide that next move.