Quebec’s Alex Coelho placed fourth in the Superstock 600 Last Chance Qualifier at New Jersey Motorsport Park, part of the final MotoAmerica National of 2016. This means that Coelho will compete in this afternoon’s Supersport/Superstock 23 lap race, his debut on the American tour.
The 2015 Shoei Premium Helmets Amateur Sport Bike Champion on the Mopar CSBK National Tour, Coelho placed second overall in the final points standings for the 2016 Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike Championship, earning a podium at Autodrome St-Eustache in his rookie Pro Mopar CSBK season.
Coelho had a problem-plagued trip down to New Jersey, and hadn’t ridden the venue until Friday’s practice with his regular Black Sheep Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja. Coelho qualified with a lap at 1:29.8, but in the race dropped his best tour down to 1:27.6, an encouraging sign for this afternoon’s race.
Fellow Canadian-based Kawasaki rider Jeff Sneyd, a Pro front runner on the Canadian National tour in the 1990s, continued his “unretirement” program with his third race in the past four weeks aboard his just-purchased Ninja. After returning to action at the Mopar CSBK races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August, Sneyd competed in the SOAR event at Grand Bend and then travelled to New Jersey.
In the Last Chance Qualifier, Sneyd started 11th and was running in a top spot, likely to qualify for the main race, before he ran off-track. He rejoined to charge to sixth, running a best lap of 1:28.3 – good enough to make the main if not for his problems.
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