Maple Ridge, British Columbia’s Steve Crevier scooped up his second straight win in the 2013 Canadian Harley-Davidson® XR1200® Cup Series at the Autodrome in St-Eustache, QC on Sunday. Riding for the MotoSport Plus team based out of Kingston, Ontario, the two-time defending class champion led all 16 laps of the round sponsored by Harley-Davidson® Laval and finished 2.814 seconds clear of Ruthless Racing’s John Ross MacRae from Calgary, Alberta. MacRae’s teammate Darren James of North Vancouver completed the podium.
“I got a good launch, but I was distracted because JR and Darren were having some problems off the line,” Crevier said. “After that it was just a matter of putting in some nice clean laps.”
The win was the second straight for Crevier this year and gives him 111 points in the Canadian Harley‑Davidson® XR1200® Cup Series standings after two of six events. James is second with 78 points, and Newcastle, Ontario’s Elie Daccache, who finished fourth at St-Eustache, sits in third with 65 points.
Michael Taylor had claimed the Tactical Products Canada LUMINOX Pole Award in qualifying on Saturday, but just before the start of the race, the Toronto veteran was sidelined with a broken clutch.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t put on a show for everybody today,” said the rider backed by Mackie Harley-Davidson®.
“I was ready for Steve, and I think we could have put on a good race. Unfortunately I burned my clutch when I was practicing starts this morning.”
Off the line, Crevier launched into the lead, with MacRae giving chase and James left struggling with a couple of wheelies from his XR1200® bike. James completed the opening lap in fourth spot behind Crevier, MacRae, and the Harley-Davidson® de l’Outaouais/Freedom Harley-Davidson® of Ottawa bike being ridden by Daccache.
Crevier turned in consistent lap times that were in the low 50-second range, as he tried to get clear of MacRae. By the halfway mark, he had opened up a 2.9 second margin.
“I tried sticking with Steve and keeping him in sight,” MacRae said. “But I was also watching Darren’s progress. And once he was in front of Elie, and I knew we both could finish on the box, I was satisfied. I’d rather that than one of us go down and there are still races left in the season.”
MacRae rebounded nicely from a crash in qualifying on Saturday that had left him fourth on the grid behind Taylor, Crevier, and James.
James got around Daccache on lap six and finished less than half a second behind MacRae, having turned in the fastest lap of the race at 50.161 seconds on the penultimate tour.
“I feel bad for all the guys on the Ruthless crew because they put a great bike under me,” James said from the podium. “I just got a brutal start and that cost us the race.”
Blaise Fougere of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia was a steady fifth on his Atlantic Harley-Davidson® Retailers entry, and sixth place went to local hero Jean-Pascal Schroeder of Montréal, who was backed by Moto International and Harley-Davidson® Montreal.
The Canadian Harley-Davidson® XR1200® Cup Series resumes in three weeks’ time at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, on July 26-28.
— From Deeley Harley-Davidson
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