BOWMANVILLE, ON (August 24, 2017)- Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was the final round of the 2017 Canadian Superbike Championship.
Being another double header, qualifying was again held on Friday afternoon. With the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike qualifying schedule changed to the last session, Superbike qualifying was used to get more track time.
“The wind was really strong and gusty, which pushed the bike around going into the turns. It was unpredictable going through turns 1, 2 and 4. I eventually qualified 10th with my position changing on my pit board every time I came around” said Stacey. Positions seventh to tenth were covered by 0.2 seconds
Unfortunately, Saturday morning confirmed a mechanical issue that could not be fixed at the track. Knowing there was a limited amount of time left for the engine, it was decided to only try to get through the Pro Sport bike races. Forced to skip practice, it was straight into the first race of the weekend.
A poor start in Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike race one resulted in Stacey coming around in 12th on the first lap on her BLK RDR by Motovan/FTR CBR600RR. Improving on her time from qualifying, she moved back up into the top ten to eventually finish eighth.
“It was a four way, race long battle and it was a good race with the guys. I knew they were right on my tail the whole race and pushing hard” said Stacey. “Messing up my start put me further back than I wanted so I’m focused on getting a better start in race two. The bike was definitely running hotter in the race”.
Stacey’s fastest lap in the race put her ninth on the grid for Sunday’s race.
After the race, a few suspension changes were made and the team decided to do try four laps in the Sunday morning Superbike warmup to test it.
Getting a much better launch off the start in Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike race two, Stacey moved up into seventh place, eventually managing to catch back up to the group battling for fourth spot. In the process she set a number of personal best lap times.
With three laps remaining the bike’s temperature was running very high.
“I noticed the power off the corners wasn’t the same as it had been. When I checked the temperature on the back straight and it was 114°C! It made me a little bit nervous for the remaining laps but the checkered flag came out just in time. We managed to bring it home in the end” said Stacey.
She finished eighth again, but this time the gap from fourth to eighth was covered by 3.5 seconds.
The result saw Stacey move up to seventh place in the final Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike championship standings.
“It was a very difficult start to the season but we kept plugging away and improved each round. I am satisfied with the last two rounds running closer to the front pace and setting personal best lap times in the process”.
“I have to say a big thank you to FTR (Pat) for all his hard work before and during the season. To Motovan Corporation for supporting me through their BLK RDR by Motovan program. To Corndog (Jon Cornwell) for setting up the bike, R&M Electrical, my supporters club and product support sponsors. To the CSBK staff, medical staff, volunteer corner workers and photographers. Last but not least to my Mum and Dad. Thank you all for making my 2017 season possible”.
Support for this round: BLK RDR by Motovan, FTR, R&M Electrical
Product Support: Shoei Helmets North America, TCX Focus on Boots, Five Advanced Gloves, Olympia Moto Sports, Forsaken Motorsports, SpeedAngle, Physical Park, 613 Motorsport, Powersports Canada, SBS Brakes
Thanks to: Pat Milligan, Jon Cornwell, the Stacey Nesbitt Supporters Club, Mum & Dad
To keep up to date on Stacey Nesbitt, visit her social media at:
Website: http://www.statoniracing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statoniracing/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/statoniracing_staceynesbitt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StatoniRacing
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU23ptw5sM1CEmDOJ4I9t2A
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