SHANNONVILLE, Ont. – Jodi Christie held off Frank Trombino for an exciting win in the feature event of the third round of the RACE Super Series at a very hot and humid Shannonville Motorsport Park on Sunday.
Riding the Jodi Christie Racing / Honda Canada / Accelerated Technologies Honda CBR1000RR, Christie took the lead from Trombino for good on lap seven of the 10-lap Pro Superbike race and held on for a 0.600-sec. victory over the Trombino Racing / Royal Plumbing Aprilia RSV1000.
Jim Proulx placed third riding a Yamaha YZF-R1.
“It was definitely hot and the track was the most slippery it’s been all weekend,” said Christie, who also claimed the Pro 6 Cycle Pro 600 race earlier in the day.
The event was the second part of a joint venture between the Shannonville-based RACE organization and the SOAR group from western Ontario, and attracted competitors from both series. The feature also counted toward the SOAR Expert Superbike championship.
Starting from pole position Christie grabbed the holeshot at the start of the Superbike race and by the end of the opening lap of the ‘Long Track’ he was already a second ahead of Proulx, with Trombino in third.
But on lap two Trombino outbraked Proulx at the end of the backstraight and then closed in on Christie, passing the Keene, Ont. racer in turn four on lap six. Christie replied a lap later in the hairpin, and managed to stay in front of the Kleinburg, Ont. veteran the rest of the way.
“I wanted to pass him back immediately otherwise I thought he would slow me down,” Christie said. “I figured he would come back at me on the last lap. I tried to attack at the points where I knew I was strong and block the line where I was weaker. I made a mistake in turn four and I thought it would cost me.”
Trombino had only arrived at the track Sunday morning and started at the back of the 14-bike field as he had missed Saturday qualifying. Undaunted, he was up to third place by the end of the opening lap and did have the consolation of setting the race’s fastest lap, a 1:45.290.
“I didn’t want to lay it down at the end,” admitted the Aprilia rider. “Jodi was going deeper into the corners and I just decided to ride safe.”
Proulx took a quiet yet impressive third on his aging R1, just over 11 seconds behind the winner but well clear of a ferocious dice for fourth. In that duel, Caldeon, Ont.’s Kristopher Garvie just held off Trevor Daley and Franklyn Dominguez. Garvie and Dominguez were embroiled in a fight from the start, but the Honda Canada / Fast Company Honda CBR1000RR rider managed to stay in front all the way. Daley, meanwhile, fought his way up from 10th on the opening lap on the OneSpeedChopShop / ProStar Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000 to catch this pair two laps from the end and took fifth from the OCM Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-10R of Dominguez in Allen’s Corner on the final lap.
SOAR Superbike champ Scott Rupert finished seventh on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 and fellow SOAR star Andrew Westbrook was eighth. Michael Leon completed the finishers on his Royal Distributing MV Agusta F3.
Christie had an easier time of things in the Pro 600 / SOAR Expert 600 Extreme race on his Honda CBR600RR, grabbing the holeshot and opening up a seven-second lead over the pack within the first three laps of the 10-lap race.
Garvie initially held second on his Honda CBR600RR with five riders nipping at his heels. On lap four Will Hornblower moved into the runner-up spot on his Hornblower Racing / Blue Streak Yamaha YZF-R6 and the Sarnia, Ont. racer pulled clear, but was unable to make any impression on Christie.
On lap seven both Elie Daccache and Amzy Nawaz also got around Garvie, and Nawaz passed Daccache for third a lap later. The SOAR ace quickly closed on Hornblower but had to settle for third on his Kawasaki ZX-6R, with the Suzuki GSX-R600 of Daccache fourth and Garvie fifth.
Stacey Nesbitt swept both Amateur races at Shannonville on Sunday. The St-Lazare, Que. teenager led all eight laps of the RACE AM Superbike / SOAR Novice Superbike race on her OCM Racing / FTR / Honda Canada Honda CBR600RR, finishing clear of the Kawasaki ZX-6R of Anthony Scavone and OCM Racing teammate Tomas Casas.
In the RACE Orillia Motor Sports AM 600 / SOAR Novice 600 Extreme feature, Nesbitt battled for the lead with Scavone until the Kawasaki rider fell in the hairpin, leaving Nesbitt to pick up the win from Casas, while Scavone fought back to grab third from the ProStar Honda CBR600RR of Tony Lanni two laps from the end.
Michael Hood led all the way to win the RACE Novice 600 / SOAR Rookie Challenge, with Brad Goodbody taking second just ahead of Robert Waddell.
Other winners at Shannonville on Sunday included Steve Walker, who picked up both Sportsman Middleweight and the combined RACE Middleweight Masters / SOAR BoTT Lightweight features on his BMW. Tyler Brewer won both Sportsman Lightweight and Heavyweight, and set a class lap record of 1:56.557 in the former event.
A lap record also went to Brent Strong, who turned a 1:52.182 on his way to victory in the RACE Masters Heavyweight / SOAR Old Boys feature on his Yamaha YZF-R6.
Proulx won RACE Open Masters / SOAR BoTT Heavyweight, Doug Colter took Novice Open Sprint, Vanessa Gareau-Dominguez won Formula Femme on her Suzuki GSX-R600, Cameron Walker was first in 250 Production aboard a Honda CBR250R, and Piston Broke won Saturday’s three-hour endurance race.
–By John Hopkins
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