From a press release concerning last weekend:
Shannonville, Ontario Canada
American Baghdoian takes Championship Canadians take Team Challenge
The 10 lap final round of the SilkolineStore.com Can-Am125GP Challenge concluded today (September 3) in front of 25,000 people during the final round of the Parts Canada Superbike finale at the 4.03km (2.5 mile) Shannonville Motorsports Park.
The front grandstands were jammed packed and spectators lined up all around the track to cheer on as Canadian Young Gun Matt Binns edged out a win over Americans Jeff Chen and Mitch Baghdoian.
Qualifying occurred on Saturday during a six lap heat race. Binns had qualified on pole with championship points leader Mitch Baghdoian second, Dave Thompson, who was third in points, was on the third spot and Corey Sherman rounded out the first row. Usual front runner Mark Gonyou was qualified but well back as he was still recovering from surgery to repair a broken collarbone.
For the race, it was Binns Thompson and Corey Sherman who got out front early. Binns was pushing Thompson when Sherman came by both of them. Close behind the lead trio were Baghdoian and Chen. While Thompson and Sherman faded, Chen was on the move. After a bad start Chen had put his head down and was charging. Chen reset the 125 lap record twice while chasing down Binns, with Binns taking the lap record back on the final lap as he fought to stay in front of Chen. Binns now owns the lap record at a 1:51.8.
Baghdoian had a good dice with Corey Sherman for third the entire race, finally getting him on the last lap and take the final podium spot. Baghdoian’s third place gave him points to take the championship.
There was a six bike freight train that battled the entire ten lap race for fifth through eleventh place. Several times there were drafts and double drafts pulled to gain positions. Mark Gonyou who was in the midst of this pack before he pulled out with engine problems said, “It was crazy out there. There were some passes going on out there that I just couldn’t believe. The crowd got their moneys worth there, that’s what 125 racing is all about.” Darren Womack was in the middle of this epic battle finally finishing seventh and giving him the Amateur Championship for 2001.
Overall the inaugural season was deemed an unqualified success. Outside the industry sponsors are stepping up to be involved for next year with substantial cash sponsorships. The Mosport track in Canada is also very interested in host a round of next year’s series. More details will be available shortly.
The Organizers of the series would like to thank the companies that were involved this year and helped to put on this successful series, SilkolineStore.com, Moto Liberty, Rising Sun Cycles, SlideWoman.com, Tsubaki USA, Bedrosian.com. Bickle Racing, Catalyst Web Productions, Hjelm Rearsets and RumbleStrip.net
Baghdoian: “It was a blast out there. Corey and I were going back and forth for 3rd, it was all I could do to just keep up with him. On the last lap I got a little bit better drive out of 8 and passed him into 9, from there on out I was trying to make the bike as wide as possible. Chen and Binns just checked out, they were flying. It was great, I can’t wait till next year to run with these guys again. I have to thank my sponors for helping out throughout the season: Sevice Honda, Reish.net, SilklineStore.com, Rising Sun Cycles and Bickle Tire Warmers.”
Chen: “Matt was really flying out there today, I was closing the gap really slowly on him, but I just ran out of laps. Matt rode a hell of a race out there. He got a big break at the start, he and Corey were going at it. It was a really fun race, I just wish it was about five laps longer though. I’d like to thank my fellow US riders that made the trip up here, they helped to make it a real good time and I hope that next year we can get 40 riders up here on the grid.
Binns: “It was great. I didn’t get that great of a start. I got held up by Dave Thompson for a while. I saw Corey come by pretty fast, so I made a move to get around Dave and chase down Corey, who I got pretty quick as well. I had a clear track ahead, so when I looked at my pit board and saw +1, I looked back and saw Jeff right there and just kept going as hard as I
could. I tried to put the check out move on him, but it just didn’t work. I have to thank my tuner, the bike was a rocket out there, also McBride Cycles, Dunlop, and Yamaha.”
Race Results:
Matt Binns
Jeff Chen
Mitch Baghdoian
Corey Sherman
David Wright
John Dempsey
Darren Womack
Dave Thompson
Phillip Unhola
Piero Zambotti
Logan Meyers
Matt Dennie
Ed Kopeschny
Angela Hiba
Ken Morrison
Rob Rawlins
Doug Brown
Rick Bulmann
Mark White
Jesse Herrera
Steve Bailey
John Bickle
Saba Nassiri
Chad Peters
Don Murfin
Thong Tong
The Duke
David Monahan
Richard Italia
Don MacPhail
DNF Mark Gonyou
FINAL POINTS:
1. Baghdoian, 149
2. Womack, 123
3. Thompson, 119
4. Binns, 116
5. Chen, 102
6. Dennie, 78
7. Sherman, 72
8. Rawlins, 66
9. Morrison, 58
10. Dempsey, 52
TEAM CHALLENGE POINTS:
Canada, 491
US, 414
Full points results for riders and the team challenge can be found on the website www.can-am125gp.com