JENNINGS, Fla. (April 28) Brett McCormick fired the first shot of the 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship season by recording the fastest time on the opening morning of the two-day official Pirelli test at JenningsGP in Jennings, Fla. on Tuesday. The 17-year-old from Saskatoon set a time of one minute, 15.639 seconds around the 3.219km (2.0-mile) road course on his Team Suzuki /Blackfoot / Picotte Motorsport Suzuki GSX-R600. That was over a second quicker than his former team-mate Jordan Szoke, who turned a 1:16.660 on his new Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6R. “I have no complaints,” said McCormick, who won the final round of last year’s Parts Canada Superbike Championship. “This is my first time on the 600 and it’s an awesome bike, easy to adapt to. I’m a second faster than I’ve gone here before. We’re just fine tuning the bike, making it more consistent.” Most of the riders chose to focus on their Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike class machines in the three-hour morning session. Szoke, from Brantford, Ont., is the two-time defending champion in the class and also the Parts Canada Superbike champ the past two seasons. Granby, Que.’s Kevin Lacombe was third fastest on his Yamaha Canada / OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R6 with a time of 1:16.963. Next up were a pair of young guns. Szoke’s new team-mate, Alex Welsh of Uxbridge, Ont. turned the fourth fastest time of 1:18.516 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R in his debut with the Canadian Kawasaki Motors factory team. Becker, Minn. rider Tony Kasper was fifth with a 1:18.784 aboard the second Yamaha Canada / OTSFF YZF-R6. Next up was Francis Martin of Sherbrooke, Que., who turned a 1:20.444 on the BMW Motorrad Canada BMW HP2. The bike is making its debut in the Sport Bike ranks. Seventh fastest was defending Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike champ Jodi Christie with a 1:23.469 on his first outing with the Honda Powerhouse Dealers of Ontario / ProStar Motorsports Honda CBR600RR. Rounding out the Pro Sport Bike runners was Elie Daccache of Ottawa, who turned a 1:26.632 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R. Erick Beausejour of Val d’Or, Que. ran a Suzuki GSX-R1000 he recently purchased from Picotte Motorsports and turned a fastest lap of 1:19.729. Amateur Sport Bike competitor Brett Birnie of Ottawa recorded a best of 1:26.045 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Action at JenningsGP will continue with another test session Tuesday afternoon and a full day of track activity on Wednesday. The 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship opens at Calabogie Motorsports Park, near Ottawa on May 21-24. More, from another press release issued by Parts Canada Superbike Championship organizers: SZOKE LEADS AT END OF FIRST DAY JENNINGS, Fla. (April 28) Two-time defending Parts Canada Superbike champion Jordan Szoke underlined his status as the king of Canadian road racing with an impressive performance to conclude the opening day of the official Pirelli test at JenningsGP in Jennings, Fla. The Brantford, Ont. racer rode his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R to the fastest overall time on Tuesday with a one minute, 14.600 second lap around the 3.219km (2.0-mile) JenningsGP circuit. He backed that up with the second best overall time, and the top Yoshimura Sport Bike lap at 1:15.132 aboard the brand new Kawasaki ZX-6R. “It felt good,” said Szoke of his Superbike lap, which was just shy of the track record of 1:14.51. “On my second lap on that tire I actually got through turns one and two better, but I ran into trouble later on the lap. But it’s so hot right now; I think if it was a little cooler we could run into the 13s.” Szoke’s closest challenger was Saskatoon’s Brett McCormick. After turning the fastest time of the morning on his Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600, McCormick switched to his new GSX-R1000 Superbike for the afternoon and managed a 1:15.444, the third best time overall. “We’ve been making progress with both bikes,” said the 17-year-old McCormick. “This afternoon I got my first few laps on the Superbike and it’s awesome. We’re already setting quick times on it.” Kevin Lacombe rolled out the new Yamaha Motor Canada / OTSFF Yamaha YZF-R1 and got down to the third best Superbike time of the afternoon, and fourth overall with a 1:16.462. The Granby, Que. rider also had the second fastest Sport Bike time of 1:16.702 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Szoke’s Canadian Kawasaki Motors team-mate Alex Welsh spent time on both his Kawasaki ZX-10R and ZX-6R. The defending HJC Pro Rookie of the Year turned a lap at 1:17.962 on the ZX-6R and a best of 1:18.641 in his first experience of the Superbike. Becker, Minn. rookie Tony Kasper recorded a lap at 1:18.394 on the second of the Yamaha Motor Canada / OTSFF YZF-R6 machines, and defending Armour Bodies Amateur Sport Bike champ Jodi Christie of Keene, Ont. was next up with a 1:19.225, despite a light crash late in the day. Sherbrooke, Que.’s Francis Martin made steady progress in his first experience of the BMW Motorrad Canada BMW HP2 and worked his time down to a 1:19.762. Action at JenningsGP will continue with a full day of testing on Wednesday. The 2009 Parts Canada Superbike Championship opens at Calabogie Motorsports Park, near Ottawa on May 21-24.