By John Hopkins
SHANNONVILLE, Ont. – Ryan Roche held off Tomas Casas by just 0.050 secs. to win a dramatic opening round of the Honda CBR250R National Race Series at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday.
The Pickering, Ont. rider grabbed the lead with a bold move down the inside of Allen’s Corner on the final lap and then held on to win the inaugural race for the new class. Casas made a strong run out of the final turn but came up just short of the line. After leading early on, last year’s Honda CBR125R Challenge champion Stacey Nesbitt settled for third, 5.915 secs. back at the finish.
“It was close all the way,” said Roche, a former CBR125R Challenge frontrunner. “I was hoping for a draft past him on the last lap but that didn’t work. So I set up the block pass at the end.”
Casas had taken the lead on lap seven of the 10-lap race and held it until the final tour. Roche got alongside on the backstraight but couldn’t pull off the pass before making his move on the Peterborough, Ont. rider near the end of the lap.
“I should have taken away the line,” admitted the 13-year-old native of Columbia, who was competing in his first national event. “But it was a great race.”
Nesbitt had led off the start but lost the draft from the top two a few laps from the end.
“They broke the draft and I just couldn’t get it back,” explained the St-Lazare, Que. native. “But I got to watch a really good show ahead of me.”
Fourth place overall and winner of the Media Challenge was Inside Motorcycles’ Costa Mouzouris. David Booth of the National Post was second in class and Cycle Canada editor Neil Graham third after a racelong dice.
Round two of the Honda CBR250R National Race Series goes Sunday.
In other action at Shannonville, Jean-Francois Aubin of St-Jerome, Que. claimed pole for the Inside Motorcycles Amateur Sport Bike class with a time of 1:08.938 on his Suzuki GSX-R600. Philippe Masse of St-Hyacinthe, Que. was next up with a 1:08.960 and Toronto rider Riley Dawe qualified third at 1:09.226 aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Tim Robinson of Gatineau, Que. qualified fastest in the Bazzaz Amateur Superbike class with a time of 1:08.148 on the Robinson Racing / Gym-Max BMW S1000RR. Next up was Mississauga, Ont.’s Trevor Daley on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a time of 1:08.241 and Simon Hamel of Rosemere, Que. set the third best time of 1:08.903 on his BMW S1000RR.
Feature races in both classes go Sunday afternoon.
Honda CBR250R Race Results
1.Ryan Roche, Pickering, ON, 10 laps
2. Tomas Casas, Peterborough, ON, +0.050
3. Stacey Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC, +5.915
4. Costa Mouzouris, Montreal, QC, +15.365*
5. David Booth, Toronto, ON, +35.090*
6. Neil Graham, Toronto, ON, +35.273*
7. Sean Smith, Calgary, AB, +35.861
8. Derreck Roemer, Toronto, ON, +1:00.010*
9. Alex Cookes, Toronto, ON, +1 lap*
Time of Race: 13:40.904
Fastest Lap: 1:21.120 by Ryan Roche on lap 10
*–Media Challenge
All riders aboard Honda CBR250R motorcycles
Amateur Sport Bike Qualifying Results
1.Jean-Francois Aubin, St-Jerome, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:08.938
2. Philippe Masse, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:08.960
3. Riley Dawe, Toronto, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:09.226
4. Austin Shaw-O’Leary, Falmouth, NS, Honda CBR600RR, 1:09.471
5. Hugo Fournier, St-Eugene de Lamartine, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:10.163
6. David Tremblay, Longueuil, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:11.106
7. Simon Hamel, Rosemere, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:11.210
8. Luc Labranche, Mirabel, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:11.229
9. Glenn Cauley, Kemptville, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:11.262
10. Nuno Almeida, Newcastle, ON, Triumph Daytona 675, 1:11.382
11. Eric Fiset, St-Constant, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:11.748
12. Chris Fehr, Kingston, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.055
13. Will Hornblower, Sarnia, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.158
14. Chris Dopke, Cambridge, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:12.696
15. Reiner Griese, Marmora, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.041
16. John Parkin, Kitchener, ON, Triumph Daytona 675, 1:13.052
17. Brian Madeley, Kingston, ON, Ducati 748, 1:13.427
18. Jean-Sebastien Perrault, Beaconcour, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:13.455
19. Joe Rodrigues, Weston, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:13.805
20. Jamie Young, North York, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:13.890
21. Pierre Patenaude, Vaudreuil, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:14.228
22. David Buckland, London, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:15.849
23. Jon C. Waggoner, Ann Arbour, MI, Honda CBR600RR, 1:19.034
24. Paul Hollister, Windsor, ON, Honda CBR600RR, No Times*
*–Times removed for using access road
Amateur Superbike Qualifying Results
1.Tim Robinson, Gatineau, QC, BMW S1000RR, 1:08.148
2. Trevor Daley, Mississauga, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.241
3. Simon Hamel, Rosemere, QC, BMW S1000RR, 1:08.903
4. Austin Shaw-O’Leary, Falmouth, NS, Honda CBR600RR, 1:09.041
5. Hugo Fournier, St-Eugene de Lamartine, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:09.302
6. Brian Kamp, Woodstock, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:09.375
7. Philippe Masse, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:09.412
8. Riley Dawe, Toronto, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:09.550
9. Jean-Francois Aubin, St-Jerome, QC, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:09.775
10. Steve Hoffarth, Orangeville, ON, BMW S1000RR, 1:10.087
11. Alain Lefebvre, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:10.315
12. Will Hornblower, Sarnia, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:10.483
13. Luc Labranche, Mirabel, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:11.315
14. Glenn Cauley, Kemptville, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:11.377
15. Nuno Almeida, Newcastle, ON, Triumph Daytona 675, 1:11.649
16. John Parkin, Kitchener, ON, Triumph Daytona 675, 1:11.763
17. Chris Fehr, Kingston, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.504
18. Reiner Griese, Marmora, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.009
19. Jamie Young, North York, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:13.108
20. Jean-Sebastien Perrault, Beaconcour, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:13.668
21. Paul Hollister, Windsor, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:13.824
22. Pierre Patenaude, Vaudreuil, QC, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:14.478
23. David Buckland, London, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:15.832
24. Jon C. Waggoner, Ann Arbour, MI, Honda CBR600RR, 1:17.673
<
