From Frontline CSBK Inc.
BOWMANVILLE, Ont. (August 24, 2012) – Kevin Lacombe ended Jordan Szoke’s run of qualifying perfection at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Friday.
The St-Cesaire, Que. racer claimed pole position for this weekend’s final two rounds of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship by turning a time of one minute, 21.716 seconds (171.815km/h) in Pirelli SuperPole qualifying on his Team Couturier Racing BMW S1000RR.
Lacombe’s effort was over half a second quicker than Szoke, who had to settle for second fastest with a 1:22.225 aboard the Waznie Racing / Parts Canada / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR. Szoke had qualified on pole for the four previous rounds of the season.
“I knew it would be hard but I love to ride here and I felt really comfortable on the bike,” said Lacombe, who is making his return to racing this year after missing most of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. “All year I’ve been trying to get used to the bike and we’ve made a lot of changes for this weekend.”
Pole position gave Lacombe four more points in the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship standings and moved him into a tie for second with Jodi Christie at 141 points heading into this weekend’s pair of 20-lap races.
Szoke added three points for setting the second quickest qualifying time and continues to enjoy a healthy 69-point lead at the top of the championship rankings with 210 points. A race win is worth 50 points.
Matt McBride of Mississauga, Ont. qualified third with a time of 1:22.518 on the Riders Choice BMW S1000RR and rookie Pro Sebastien Tremblay of Longueuil, Que. completes the front row for this weekend’s races after recording a 1:22.683 with the MotoNation BMW S1000RR.
Lacombe had put in the fastest qualifying time early in the 15-minute Pirelli SuperPole shootout. Szoke briefly got ahead with a lap at 1:22.474 with just a few minutes remaining, but almost immediately Lacombe replied with his 1:21.716 to lock down the top spot.
“We’ll make some changes tonight,” Lacombe said. “We need to find a little more traction; the bike’s sliding all over the place. But we have a good shot at winning the races.”
Szoke put in his two fastest laps right at the end of the SuperPole session as he gradually found more speed out of his BMW.
“We’ve been working away at it and the speed is coming,” said the Brantford, Ont. rider, who is trying to clinch an unprecedented eighth Canadian Superbike title. “The bike feels pretty good and maybe I’m being a little more careful with the championship at stake. But at the end of the day we’re where we need to be and don’t count me out. I’ll be looking for the wins.”
Szoke has won six of the last eight Superbike nationals at CTMP.
McBride continued to display his good form at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He finished second here in last year’s season finale and already has two runner-up finishes in this summer’s Superbike tour.
“I think our chances are good,” he said. “I know this track well. We’re working on the front end; it’s doing a couple of weird things and we’re fine tuning things. We’ll figure it out and I know we’ll be up there.”
Tremblay produced a career-high qualifying result in the SuperPole session.
“I didn’t think I would be on the front row but this has always been my favourite track and I seem to shine more here,” he said. “We will try a couple of changes for tomorrow because you are always trying to go faster, but the bike feels great so far.”
A couple of riders in the thick of the battle for second in the point standings lead off the second row of this weekend’s Superbike grids. Andrew Nelson of Kars, Ont. was fifth in qualifying riding the Nelson Racing / Endras Motorrad / mcn.tv BMW S1000RR with a time of 1:22.753 and Keene, Ont.’s Christie was sixth with a 1:23.180 on the Jodi Christie Racing / Accelerated Technologies BMW S1000RR.
Nelson, the winner of the opening round of the season at Shannonville Motorsport Park, sits fourth in points with 140, just one behind Lacombe and Christie.
Warman, Sask.’s Bodhi Edie completes the second row after recording a time of 1:23.871 aboard the Edie Racing / Blue Streak / Fast Company BMW S1000RR.
The top 10 qualifiers in Pirelli SuperPole are rounded out by Uxbridge, Ont.’s Alex Welsh on the AW7R / Kenwood Electronics Canada Suzuki GSX-R1000, who missed half the session with engine problems, St-Raymond, Que.’s Francois Dumas on the Team Dumas Superbike / boulangeriedumas.com BMW S1000RR, and Marcel Irnie of Kelowna, B.C. riding the Irnie Racing / Amsoil BMW S1000RR.
Qualifying Results
1. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, Que., BMW S1000RR, 1:21.716 (171.815km/h)
2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 1:22.225
3. Matthew McBride, Mississauga, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 1:22.518
4. Sebastien Tremblay, Longueuil, Que., BMW S1000RR, 1:22.683
5. Andrew Nelson, Kars, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 1:22.753
6. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 1:23.180
7. Bodhi Edie, Warman, Sask., BMW S1000RR, 1:23.871
8. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:23.918
9. Francois Dumas, St-Raymond, Que., BMW S1000RR, 1:23.997
10. Marcel Irnie, Kelowna, B.C., BMW S1000RR, 1:24.809
11. Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:25.355
12. Martin Hamel, Drummondville, Que., BMW S1000RR, 1:25.378
13. Scott Rupert, Gadshill, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.477
14. Michael Leon, Beaconsfield, Que., Honda CBR600RR, 1:26.666
15. Mike Bevan, Amherstburg, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:27.580
16. Raphael Archambault, Terrebonne, Que., Suzuki GSX-R600, No Time
17. Kristopher Garvie, Caledon, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-10R, No Time
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