It might have been a fresh start to a new CSBK season, but Sunday was the same story seen for the past few years in Canadian Superbike action; throughout the whole Pro Superbike race, the battle for the front was between Jodi Christie and Jordan Szoke. This time, Jordan Szoke prevailed.
Christie opened the racing Sunday in pole position, but was passed by Szoke on the first lap. For the rest of the 14-lap opener, Christie tried to regain his lead, succeeding briefly but then losing it again to Szoke. He almost made the pass on Turn 14 on the final lap, but wasn’t able to get by Szoke.
Szoke said he’d had to work especially hard for the win, as his bike’s electronics shut down on the third lap.
“There was no traction control and no quick shifter, so I had to ride it old school,” Szoke said. He sounded properly chuffed over the win, his first since the St-Eustache round last July. He missed the last two rounds of action in 2014 after breaking his thumb in a trials riding accident.
Of all the frontrunners, Szoke has had more experience than most at Calabogie, which probably played to his advantage.
Christie was also happy with his results; he’d been injured early in the spring on a motocross bike while training. He managed to not only grab pole in Superbike and finish second (his Honda CBR1000RR only 0.255 seconds behind Szoke’s BMW S1000RR), but also took pole in the Pro Sport Bike race and then won on his CBR600RR.
On Facebook, Christie said he was “Really happy with those results considering two months ago I was laying in a hospital wondering if I would even be able to race this weekend!”
Third place in Pro Superbike went to Sebastien Tremblay, on his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Michael Leon was fourth on a BMW S1000RR, and Sean Huffman, also on a Beemer, took fifth.
Kenny Riedmann was pegged to place highly in Pro Superbike, but ended in sixth. He fared better in Pro Sport Bike, taking his Triumph 675 to second place.
Stacey Nesbitt ran her first pro races on the weekend; she was ninth in Pro Sport Bike on her CBR600RR, and 14th in Pro Superbike. She suffered a crash in practice that cost her precious track time before the races.
Former teammate (and also a former CBR250 series champ) Tomas Casas finished 11th in Pro Superbike and seventh in Pro Sport Bike. In Superbike, he finished right behind Franklyn Dominguez, and in Sport Bike, Casas finished one step ahead of him. Considering Dominguez’s history (four-time Dominican SBK champ and Pan American champ), Casas should be pleased with those results.
The top five in Pro Sport Bike after Christie and Riedmann were rounded out by Philippe Masse (Kawasaki), veteran Darren James (Yamaha) and Elie Daccache (Yamaha).
Stephane Chimot (Honda) won Amateur Superbike, followed by Jason Thoms (BMW), Derrick Whyte (Kawasaki), Alex Coelho (Kawasaki) and Chris Gray (Suzuki).
Alex Coelho (Kawasaki) won Amateur Sport Bike, followed by Chris Brent (Honda), Martin Cote (Honda), Alexandre Cleary (Suzuki) and Phillip Leckie (Suzuki).
The next race will be June 28 at Autodrome St-Eustache.
CSBK Pro Superbike Standings after Round 1
1.Jordan Szoke, 55
2. Jodi Christie, 46
3. Sebastien Tremblay, 37
4. Michael Leon, 33
5. Sean Huffman, 31
6. Kenny Riedmann, 27
7. Ross Millson, 25
8. Jim Proulx, 23
9. Chris Murray-Audain, 21
10. Franklyn Dominguez, 19
11. Tomas Casas, 17
12. Trevor Daley, 15
13. Reiner Griese, 13
14. Stacey Nesbitt, 12
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