OTTAWA — Just as he did a
year ago, Jordan Szoke of Brantford,_Ont., won both of his
motorcycle races at the season-opening Parts Canada
Superbike Championship at Calabogie Motorsports Park on
Sunday.
In a dramatic finish, Szoke
passed former teammate Brett McCormick of Saskatoon in the
last lap of the headline race, the 1,000-cubic-centimetre
Pro Superbike class at the event about 100 kilometres west
of Ottawa.
McCormick, dubbed “The
Kid” because he’s only 17, had led for 14 laps.
However, on a turn on the
backside of the track, out of view of spectators, the
30-year-old, three-time defending champion Szoke, riding a
Kawasaki ZX-10, twice passed McCormick on his Suzuki
GSX-R1000.
Racing fans will have to
wait until June 16, when the race will be televised on TSN,
to see exactly what happened at Turn 10.
“This will be one of the
best races to watch on TV,” said Kevin Lacombe of Granby,
Que., who finished third, just behind McCormick.
While last year’s event
was held on the shorter “stadium track,” this year the
riders took advantage of Calabogie Motorsport Park’s five-kilometre,
20-turn full circuit.
“This is probably the
best track in Canada,” Szoke said.
In the Pro Sport Bike class
for 600-cubic-centimetre middleweight motorcycles,
three-time champion Szoke won the 12-lap race by three
seconds, and that was after he was assessed a five-second
penalty for a false start. He led the race from start to
finish, while McCormick and Lacombe battled for second
place, with McCormick prevailing.
Round 2 of the Parts Canada
Superbike championship will be held June 12-14 at Circuit
ICAR on the grounds of Mirabel Airport in suburban Montreal.
