Christie on pole for Mopar Canadian Superbike opener

CALABOGIE, Ont. (June 13, 2015) – Jodi Christie began the defence of his Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship in style on Saturday by claiming pole position for this weekend’s opening round, presented by MV Agusta, at Calabogie MotorSports Park.

The 22-year-old from Keene, Ont. turned a lap at two minutes, 0.584 seconds on his new Accelerated Technologies / Honda Canada Honda CBR1000RR around the sinuous 5.05km (3.14-mile) 20-turn track for an average speed of 150.766km/h (90.460 mph) during the Magneti Marelli SuperPole session.

He narrowly missed breaking the Superbike lap record set of 2:00.251 set by Brett McCormick in 2009.

The result gave Christie four points toward the Canadian Superbike standings.

“The bike feels comfortable and we’re really just taking time to work on the little details,” said Christie, who won two races last year in taking his first career national Superbike crown. “This new bike has a stronger engine than last year’s. That was one of our focuses during the off-season and [crew chief] John [Sharrard] has done a good job of taking care of that. The soft Dunlop tire gave great grip during qualifying as well.”

Nine-time Mopar Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke of Brantford, Ont. was second fastest and earned three Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship points with a time of 2:00.790 aboard the BMW Motorrad / Mopar Express Lane BMW S1000RR.

Two more BMWs complete the front row for Sunday’s 12-lap race. Kemptville, Ont.’s Sean Huffman was third fastest at 2:04.245 on the Endras BMW / Pro 6 Cycle / Forsaken Motorsports S1000RR and Michael Leon of Beaconsfield, Que. was fourth at 2:04.498 riding the Royal Distributing / Multi-Tact S1000RR.

Huffman and Leon picked up two points and one point, respectively, toward the 2015 series standings.

Christie raced as an Amateur when the Canadian series visited Calabogie in 2008, finishing second in the Amateur Sport Bike class, and ran in Pro Sport Bike the following year, placing ninth. He is coming off a preseason dirt bike injury that limited his preseason testing time.

“So far I’m feeling fine; no big issues,” he said. “I’ve been working on my riding around here, trying to carry as much corner speed as possible.”

Szoke missed pole position by just 0.206 secs. And was disappointed not to claim the top spot.

“I’m really happy with what we’ve been doing so far this weekend but a bit ticked off to have made the progress we have and not get the pole,” said the two-time Calabogie Superbike winner, adding that he was stuck behind a slower bike for part of his fastest lap. “But congrats to Jodi.

“We have an issue that we can’t see all the data from the bike, particularly with what is happening with the traction control, so that’s been a problem. We’re still learning the bike and we have a lot of changes for tomorrow, focussed on the chassis side.”

Local hero Huffman led a tight group of five riders covered by just over a second to take third place on the grid for Sunday’s race with a lap at 2:04.245.

“That was better than expected,” admitted Huffman, who has experience as a rider coach and Track Day participant at Calabogie. “The bike is pretty stock, but it’s good. I’ve done a lot of laps here but at a slower pace, so I’m not used to going quite this fast and we’ve been making a lot of suspension adjustments, particularly to get the rear a lot firmer.”

Leon found the performance of his new BMW improved after some consultation with suspension ace Jon Cornwell and set a time of 2:04.498.

“He suggested a softer spring at the rear which made things a lot better,” said Leon, who like Huffman will be making his first career Canadian Superbike front row start on Sunday. “This bike is pretty much stock but the traction control is amazing – not intrusive at all. We just have to work on some front end chatter issues for tomorrow.”

After setting the fastest time in Friday’s wet practice conditions Ross Millson of Hamilton qualified fifth on Saturday with his Motovan / RMP Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000, turning a lap at 2:04.858.

Joining him on the second row of the grid will be Longueuil, Que.’s Sebastien Tremblay and Stephane Houle of Gatineau, Que, both on Kawasaki ZX-10Rs.

Tremblay had been fourth fastest in the pre-qualifiying session that established the top 10 for Magneti Marelli SuperPole, but had his rear wheel turn on the rim during SuperPole and the MotoNation-sponsored rider managed a lap at 2:05.126. Houle’s best was a 2:05.294.

Another Gatineau, Que. rider, Tim Robinson was eighth quickest and will lead the third row on his BMW S1000RR. The top 10 qualifiers were completed by Ottawa’s Jim Proulx on a Yamaha YZF-R1 and the One Speed / Suzuki Canada / Parts Canada Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Mississauga, Ont.’s Trevor Daley. The runner-up in last year’s Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship standings, Daley lost his chain on his first lap out in SuperPole, which punched a hole in his engine cases.

In other action at Calabogie MotorSports Park, Christie grabbed pole position for the opening round of the Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike Championship with a lap at 2:05.074 on his Honda CBR600RR.

Newcastle, Ont.’s Elie Daccache placed second with a time of 2:06.142 on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Philippe Masse of St-Hyacinthe, Que. was third fastest at 2:06.470 riding a Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Despite a crash halfway through the qualifying session, defending series champion Kenny Riedmann of Belfountain, Ont. completes the front row for Sunday’s race after turning a time of 2:06.725 on the Sturgess Cycle-backed Triumph 675.

Stephane Chimot of St-Lin Laurentides, Que. will start from pole position in Sunday’s Magneti Marelli Amateur Superbike race after turning a time of 2:06.988 on his Honda CBR1000RR.

Ottawa’s Chris Brent set the fastest time in qualifying for the Bell Helmets Amateur Sport Bike class with a time of 2:09.996 on his Honda CBR600RR.

Toronto’s Neil Graham had the fastest qualifying time for the Vintage Road Race Association Period 4 race at Calabogie with a time of 2:20.187 on his Ducati Desmo 888.

Action at Calabogie MotorSports Park concludes Sunday with feature races for all five classes. Practice begins at 9:00 a.m. with the first race, for the Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike race, set to launch at 12:30 p.m.

For ticket information call toll free (866) 669-TRAK (8725) or Calabogie’s Ottawa office at (613) 727-6252, email [email protected], or visit www.calabogiemotorsports.com or the official Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship website at www.calabogiemotorsports.com

The official Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship website, www.csbk.ca, will have full race video coverage of Sunday’s Hindle Exhaust Pro Sport Bike and Mopar Pro Superbike feature opening National events.

CALABOGIE, Ont. (June 13) – Starting line-up for Sunday’s opening round of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship at Calabogie MotorSports Park, showing starting position, rider name, hometown, type of motorcycle and qualifying time:

1. Jodi Christie, Keene, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 2:00.584 (150.766 km/h)

2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 2:00.790

3. Sean Huffman, Kemptville, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 2:04.245

4. Michael Leon, Beaconsfield, Que., BMW S1000RR, 2:04.498

5. Ross Millson, Hamilton, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:04.858

6. Sebastien Tremblay, Longueuil, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:05.126

7. Stephan Houle, Gatineau, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:05.294

8. Tim Robinson, Gatineau, Que., BMW S1000RR, 2:05.897

9. Jim Proulx, Ottawa, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:06.063

10. Trevor Daley, Mississauga, Ont., Suzuki GSX-R1000, No Time

11. Kenny Riedmann, Belfountain, Ont., Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:06.750

12. Kristopher Garvie, Caledon, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 2:08.011

13. Will Hornblower, Sarnia, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:08.113

14. Chris Murray-Audain, Scarborough, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 2:09.846

15. Louie Raffa, Ste-Marthe, Que., Honda CBR600RR, 2:13.160

16. Reiner Griese, Wellington, Ont., BMW S1000RR, 2:14.752

17. Hugo Fournier, L’Islet, Que., Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:15.403

18. Dean Plater, Cumberland, Ont., Honda CBR1000RR, 2:18.994

19. Franklyn Dominguez, Montreal, Que., Kawasaki ZX-10R, No Time

20. Caleb Noiles, Upper Cloverdale, N.B., Honda CBR600RR, No Time

21. Philippe Masse, St-Hyacinthe, Que., Kawasaki ZX-6R, No Time

22. Tomas Casas, Peterborough, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R6, No Time

23. Elie Daccache, Newcastle, Ont., Yamaha YZF-R6, No Time

24. Ricky Parker, Grand Cane, Lo., Yamaha YZF-R1, No Time

25. Stacey Nesbitt, St-Lazare, Que., Honda CBR600RR, No Time