St-Eusatche, QC (june 27, 2017)- The looming sky gave an ominous feeling to the feature event of the Canadian Superbike Championship this past weekend at Autodrome St Eustache, located just outside of La Belle Province’s city of Montreal.
Szoke, starting from pole position, launched his Mopar Express Lane backed BMW1000RR off the line cleanly to settle into second spot. Szoke reclaimed the lead early and pulled clear of the field for the 22-lap feature, claiming the checkered 6.203 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
“The bike was fantastic all weekend, right out of the box,” said Szoke on the podium after his 61st Canadian Superbike victory. “We have a great setup here, and this is my strongest track. Our bike’s running amazing, and we had it dialled for the race. We ran into a bobble in the last corner which we determined was a fuel pump. I’m not sure that could have happened at a more convenient time.”
Szoke was sniffing at his lap record during qualifying on Saturday which he set in July of 2015 at a 44.813 sec around the 1.93 km / 1.2 miles (10 Turns) circuit. Szoke claimed the Dalton Timmins Pole Position award posting the quickest lap at a 0:44.921 on Saturday afternoon, just a tenth shy of the record he was hoping for.
“We have a great setup and the Dunlop tire wear is fantastic. I have the lap record here at a 44.8, and I felt we could beat that today. I tried to do it at the end of the SuperPole session, but I had a little bobble—just pushing too hard.”
Catch coverage of Mopar Canadian Superbike Round Three of the Canadian Superbike Championship by tuning into TSN Canada’s Sports Leader.
Szoke takes his 33 point lead to the next Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship Double Header event held at Atlantic Motorsports Park in Shubenacadie Nova Scotia.
Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship Round 4
July 14-16
Atlantic Motorsport Park – Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
266 Race Track Rd
Mill Village, NS B0N 2H0
Fast Facts:
The last time the Canadian Superbike Championship has not run at Atlantic Motorsports Park, affectionally called the roller coaster by locals, was 1998. AMP is one of Szoke’s most successful tracks, having started his “real Superbike” debut on an ex-lobby decoration 1993 model ZX-7RR model in 1997. Last season Szoke claimed maximum points with pole position and both race wins during this Superbike Doubleheader.
Track Length: 2.56 km / 1.6 miles (11 Turns)
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