Canadian Superbike This Weekend At Calabogie

SZOKE LOOKING FOR FAST START

CALABOGIE, Ont. (May 20) – For the past three years Jordan Szoke has used
victory in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship season opener as a
springboard to the title. He will be hoping for more of the same when the
2009 season kicks off at Calabogie Motorsports Park this weekend.

The 30-year-old from Brantford, Ont. will try to become the first
racer to win four straight Canadian Superbike national crowns this year, and
equal Steve Crevier’s all-time mark of six career titles.

Szoke is back with the Canadian Kawasaki Motors factory squad and
will be riding the same ZX-10R that took him to last year’s championship.
This may prove a key advantage in his bid to come out of the blocks fast, as
a number of his key series rivals have made changes during the off-season.

Szoke’s former teammate in the Kawasaki squad, Saskatoon’s Brett
McCormick is now the sole rider for Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte
Motorsports and will debut the latest version of the Suzuki GSX-R1000
Superbike this weekend at Calabogie.

The 17-year-old McCormick battled injuries to finish fifth in last
year’s title chase but ended the season on a high with his first career
Superbike win at Shannonville Motorsport Park in the season finale.

Granby, Que.’s Kevin Lacombe is back on Yamaha equipment, but with a
new team around him as the OTSFF squad takes over the Team Toyota Yamaha
factory program. The third place finisher in last year’s Superbike
standings, the 26-year-old Lacombe is also breaking in a new machine, as
Yamaha has come out with a new edition of the YZF-R1 for 2009.

One rider who will be in familiar surroundings this weekend will be
Cochrane, Alta.’s Clint McBain, who finished runner-up to Szoke in last
year’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship and equaled his mark of three
wins. The 36-year-old McBain is back with his Suzuki Dealers Acceleration
Racing team and the Suzuki GSX-R1000 he used to such good effect last year.

Also not to be underestimated is six-time Superbike champion
Crevier. The venerable 43-year-old from Maple Ridge, B.C. was the sensation
of Calabogie last May when he finished third in the debut of his Buell 1125R
Superbike. Crevier returns with the bike, and the Deeley Racing powered by
Buell factory team is hoping to unlock more magic this weekend.

Local hopes will rest with Andrew Nelson of Kars, Ont., who will
ride a Yamaha YZF-R1 for his Nelson Racing Yamaha team.

A young gun worth watching will be Szoke’s new partner on the
Canadian Kawasaki Motors factory team, Alex Welsh. The 21-year-old from
Uxbridge, Ont. was last year’s HJC Pro Rookie of the Year winner.

This weekend’s action at Calabogie Motorsports Park also includes
the opening rounds for the Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike, Armour Bodies Amateur
Sport Bike, Suzuki SV650 Cup and Honda CBR125R Challenge support classes.

Szoke is also looking for a fourth straight title in the Pro Sport
Bike class and he was the winner of this race at Calabogie last year. He
will have a new ZX-6R from the Kawasaki team, and the bike has shown
excellent form in preseason testing. His teammate Welsh will also be aboard
one of the new Kawasakis.

McCormick will race a GSX-R600 for Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte
Motorsports and Lacombe will be outfitted with the Team Toyota Yamaha /
OTSFF YZF-R6. The Yamaha factory squad also includes 27-year-old Tony Kasper
from Becker, Minn. and promising 14-year-old Royce McLean of Coaldale, Alta.

Nelson will also be among the challengers with his Nelson Racing YZF-
R6.

Many eyes will be on 16-year-old Jodi Christie of Keene, Ont. last
year’s Amateur Sport Bike champion, Christie makes his national Pro debut
this weekend riding a Honda CBR600RR for the Honda Powerhouse Dealers of
Ontario / ProStar Motorsports team.

This season the rules in the Sport Bike classes have been modified
to embrace the big twin cylinder motorcycles from Buell and BMW. So Crevier,
Darren James of North Vancouver and New Smyrna Beach, Fla.’s Dave Estok will
be racing 1125Rs for the Deeley Racing powered by Buell team. Crevier is a
four-time national Sport Bike champion while James won the now defunct
Canadian Thunder championship twice.

BMW Motorrad Canada steps into the Pro Sport Bike class with Francis
Martin of Rock Forest, Que. and Kitchener, Ont.’s Mike Ferreira aboard the
HP2. Martin is a two-time Canadian Superbike champion while Ferreira is
among the up-and-comers.

Fans will get a chance to see the potential Pro superstars of the
future in the Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike class. Among the favourites
this weekend will be Cochrane, Alta.’s Cody Matechuk (Suzuki Dealers
Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R600), who won last season’s Suzuki SV650 Cup
national title, and Ottawa’s Efram Ellenbogen (BnE Racing Yamaha YZF-R6),
who placed sixth at Calabogie last year.

The Suzuki SV650 Cup and Honda CBR125R Challenge will also feature
some of Canada’s rising road racing talent, while the weekend is rounded out
by the second race in the Pro Honda Oils Women’s Challenge Cup.

Practice for this weekend’s season finale opens on Friday with
qualifying, including the Pirelli SuperPole for the Parts Canada Superbike
class set for Saturday. Races in all national classes will go Sunday.

For ticket information go to www.calabogiemotorsports.com.


All Time Canadian Superbike National Wins

Steve Crevier (Maple Ridge, B.C.) 26; Jordan Szoke (Brantford, Ont.) 26;
Pascal Picotte (Granby, Que.) 16; Rueben McMurter (London, Ont.) 12; Michel
Mercier (Thetford Mines, Que.) 12; Don Munroe (Halifax, N.S.) 12; Michael
Taylor (Toronto, Ont.) 10; Gary Goodfellow (Vancouver, B.C.) 8; Francis
Martin (Rock Forest, Que.) 7; Clint McBain (Cochrane, Alta.) 6; Kevin
Lacombe (Granby, Que.) 5; Miguel Duhamel (Repentigny, Que.) 4; Linnley
Clarke (Barrie, Ont.) 3; Frank Trombino (Kleinburg, Ont.) 3, etc.


Calabogie Motorsports Park Fast Facts

…Jordan Szoke has won the season opener in each of his past three Parts
Canada Superbike Championship title-winning seasons, but he did not triumph
in the first race in his other two championship years, 1998 and 2002.

…The last time the Parts Canada Superbike Championship season opener was not
won by the eventual champion was in 2004, when Steve Crevier was victorious
in round one but Pascal Picotte claimed the series crown.

…Brett McCormick is in position to win his third straight Inside Motorcycles
Pole Position Award during Saturday’s Pirelli SuperPole qualifying session
for the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. McCormick qualified fastest for
the final two rounds of 2008 at Atlantic Motorsport Park and Shannonville
Motorsport Park.


2008 Final Point Standings
Parts Canada Superbike: 1. Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) 317; 2. Cint McBain
(Suzuki) 277; 3. Kevin Lacombe (Yamaha) 250; 4. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 199; 5.
Brett McCormick (Kawasaki) 165

Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike: 1. Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) 326; 2. Kevin Lacombe
(Yamaha) 241; 3. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 230

Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike: 1. Jodi Christie (Yamaha) 262; 2. Patrick
Marques (Suzuki) 260; 3. Martin Grande (Suzuki) 193

Suzuki SV650 Nat’l Cup: 1. Cody Matechuk 333; 2. John Jarvie 320; 3. Rob
Busby 247

Honda CBR125R Challenge: 1. Raphael Archambault 272; 2. Lee Kuhn Jr. 194; 3.
Jeffrey Dion 116

Provisional Weekend Schedule
Saturday May 23
1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike Qualifying
1:45 p.m. – 2:05 p.m. – Honda CBR125R Challenge Qualifying
2:15 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. – Parts Canada Superbike Championship Pirelli
SuperPole Qualifying for the Inside Motorcycles Pole Position Award
3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. – Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike Qualifying
4:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. – Suzuki SV650 Cup Qualifying
4:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. – Pro Honda Oils Women’s Cup Qualifying
Sunday August 31
11:45 a.m. – Pro Honda Oils Women’s Cup Race (8 laps)
1:00 p.m. – Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike Race (12 laps)
Honda CBR125R Challenge Race (8 laps)
Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike Race (10 laps)
2:50 p.m. – Parts Canada Superbike Championship Race (20 laps)
Suzuki SV650 Cup Race (10 laps)

For more series information, visit www.cdnsuperbike.com