MONT-TREMBLANT, Que. -- Jordan Szoke claimed his third consecutive win in the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant on Sunday and in the process moved closer to clinching an unprecedented eighth national title.

The Brantford, Ont. racer took the lead on lap four of the 12-lap race on his Waznie Racing / Parts Canada / BMW Motorrad Canada BMW S1000RR and hung on to claim a 1.748-sec. victory over the Riders Choice BMW S1000RR of Matt McBride.

The race started on a wet track that dried steadily throughout and like most of the field Szoke used Pirelli rain tires.

“The bike was phenomenal and the set-up felt very comfortable,” Szoke said. “I’m pretty impressed with how well the tires held up as the track dried. I could really hammer out a fast lap if I needed to.”

Szoke completed the 12 laps around the 4.26km (2.65-mile) circuit in 21 minutes, 31.852 seconds for an average speed of 142.456km/h (88.617 mph).

Keene, Ont.’s Jodi Christie completed the podium after a spectacular performance on his Jodi Christie Racing / Accelerated Technologies Honda CBR1000RR. Christie elected to use a slick rear tire on his bike and he moved from 10th at the end of the opening lap to snatch third from Kevin Lacombe at the final corner.

Szoke’s win gives him a commanding 66-point lead in the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship standings heading into the season-ending doubleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on August 24-26. A race win is worth 50 points and there will be two full points races on the last weekend.

Christie moved up from fourth to second in the standings with 141 points to Szoke’s 207. Andrew Nelson, who finished ninth on Sunday aboard the Nelson Racing / Endras Motorrad / mcn.tv BMW S1000RR is now third in points with 140.

McBride grabbed the holeshot at the start of the race with Lacombe tucking into second on his Team Couturier BMW S1000RR and Szoke third. Szoke took second spot on lap two and then got around McBride two laps later.

“I could have had the holeshot but I was thinking of the championship and I wanted Matt and Lacombe to get in front and hopefully drag me away from the rest,” said Szoke after his fourth career win at Mont-Tremblant and his 40th national Superbike triumph. “I saw Matt was getting away from Lacombe so I thought I’d better go, and I felt pretty comfortable with the pace so I decided it would be good to get him too.”

McBride stayed on Szoke’s tail but was never able to make it back ahead.

“I think I could gain a lot on the brakes but the tires were a bit squirmy at the end and anything up the inside would have been a tight pass,” admitted the Mississauga, Ont. racer after his second runner-up finish of the year. “The last lap I knew I had a bit of a gap behind but I had a couple of slides early on and I wanted to bring it home in one piece.”

Christie made a last minute decision to use a slick Pirelli rear tire and while it cost him time in the damp early laps he was easily the fastest rider on the track as the race progressed. His fastest lap of the race, a 1:46.637 on the 11th lap, was almost a second and a half better than anyone else could manage.

“When we did our warm-up I could see a few small sections of the track were dry and I could tell it would be mostly dry by the end of the race,” said Christie of his gamble. “Off the start it was really slippery but I wanted to make sure I stayed up.”

Christie caught the lead trio at the start of the final lap and made his pass of Lacombe after they exited the Namerow hairpin. The move earned him the KICKER Kick Ass Pass of the Race Award.
St-Cesaire, Que.’s Lacombe had to settle for fourth while his rookie Pro teammate Samuel Proulx of Magog, Que. claimed a career-high fifth place finish, less than two tenths of a second ahead of Warman, Sask.’s Bodhi Edie on the Edie Racing / Blue Streak / Fast Company BMW S1000RR.

Uxbridge, Ont.’s Alex Welsh had actually crossed the line fifth on the AW7R / Kenwood Electronics Canada Suzuki GSX-R1000, but he was penalized five seconds for cutting the chicane on three occasions and wound up seventh.

In other action at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Christie took a decisive step toward his second straight K&N Performance Filters Pro Sport Bike title by claiming his third victory of the season on Sunday. The Keene, Ont. racer overcame an early challenge from Raphael Archambault to take a 2.605-sec. victory on his Honda CBR600RR.

Terrebonne, Que.’s Archambault finished second on the Team Archambault Racing / Picotte Motorsports / G Suspension Suzuki GSX-R600 and Kenny Riedmann of Belfountain, Ont. placed third riding the Riedmann Racing / Sturgess Cycle Triumph 675.

Christie now has 216 points in the Pro Sport Bike standings to the 142 of Frank Trombino, who missed this weekend’s event.

Steve Crevier extended his lead in the Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada XR1200 Cup standings by taking a narrow win over Darren James in the six-lap race on Sunday. Riding his Ruthless Racing / Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada entry, James passed Crevier entering the Namerow hairpin near the end of the final lap but Crevier was able to put his MotoSport Plus / Dominion Lending-backed bike back underneath exiting the corner and hang on for a 0.199-sec. win.

The Maple Ridge, B.C. rider now has 223 points heading into the season finale doubleheader to the 166 of Deep Cove, B.C.’s James, who moved into second place ahead of Michael Taylor in the standings. Taylor was forced to miss the race after suffering a fall in the morning warm-up.

In another exciting fight to the finish, John Ross MacRae of Calgary, on the second Ruthless Racing entry, edged the Harley-Davidson de l’Outaouais bike of Newcastle, Ont.’s Elie Daccache for third place by just 0.296 secs.

Tim Robinson of Gatineau, Que. claimed his first victory of the year in the Bazzaz Amateur Superbike division on the Robinson Racing / Gym-Max BMW S1000RR. With the victory he picked up the DUA Motorsports $1000 contingency payback and a special award from national series title sponsor Mopar.

Championship leader Trevor Daley of Mississauga, Ont. placed second aboard the OneSpeed / Riders Choice Suzuki GSX-R1000 and now has a 74-point lead over Robinson in the standings.
Alex Coelho of Longueuil, Que. rode his Black Sheep Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R to the victory in a wet Inside Motorcycles Amateur Sport Bike race.

Despite two crashes Philippe Masse of St-Hyacinthe, Que. salvaged a seventh-place finish on the racingphil.com / Pete’s Superbike Kawasaki ZX-6R and extended his lead in the standings. He now has 180 points to the 137 of Sarnia, Ont.’s Will Hornblower, who placed ninth on Sunday aboard the Hornblower Racing / Blue Streak / ProPulsion Yamaha YZF-R6.

Coelho was named the Performance Under Gear Performer of the Race for his impressive ride in difficult conditions.

Tomas Casas took his second straight win in the Honda CBR250R National Race Series on Sunday while Stacey Nesbitt took over the points lead with a second place finish. Riding for the Peterborough Cycle Salvage team, Peterborough, Ont.’s Casas finished just 0.284 secs.

ahead of Nesbitt’s Powersports Canada entry, while Baillie Ives of Halifax was third for the Pro Cycle team after Ryan Roche was penalized 10 seconds.

St-Lazare, Que.’s Nesbitt now leads the CBR250R standings with 260 points to the 356 of Pickering, Ont. racer Roche heading to the Mosport season finale.

Costa Mouzouris of Montreal took his sixth win of the year in the CBR250R Media Challenge to stretch his lead in that division.

Since 2006 Pirelli has been the spec tire supplier to the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship. The series has been used as a development platform for the company’s products, and competitors in the K&N Performance Filter Pro Sport Bike, Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada XR1200 Cup, and Inside Motorcycles Amateur Sport Bike classes run on the same Diablo Super Corsa DOT racing tires used in the World Supersport Championship.

Pirelli is currently developing 17-inch slick tires for use in the World Superbike Championship in 2013, and these will also make their way to the Canadian Championship in the future.

The Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship concludes with a doubleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. August 24-26. Tickets are available by calling 1-800-866-1072 or 905-983-9141, or by visiting www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com.