Welcome to the final round of the Parts Canada Canadian Superbike Series. Shannonville Motorsport Park is the home of Motorcycle Racing in the Province of Ontario. SMP is known for its excellent sightlines and flatness, along with difficult off camber and decreasing radius corners. The track is tight and demanding, yet their is plenty of runoff in all corners except the final turn, which is accompanied by a solid concrete wall, protected by haybales. Shannonville is a 15 turn 2.6 mile course that 
incorporates a dragstrip along the back straight where the horsepower of the superbikes can be unleashed. Shannonville provides many challenges for motorcycle racers and allows pushing to the maximum limits with the least amount of probability for excessive injuries should an error be made. Shannonville could be considered the best track to contest the final round, 
because the racers can let it all hang out and the best racers should prevail.

That said, lets get on with the show.

Who are the contenders for the final round of the Canadian Superbike Championship.

Steve Crevier (Honda RC51): He is a 4 time Canadian Superbike Champion. He won in 1989 on Yamaha equipment. He won from 1991 to 1993 on Kawasaki Equipment. He set numerous lap records in many classes in the late 80s and early 90s that still stand today. He was the 1998 AMA 600 Supersport Champion on Suzuki equipment. He was sacked by Yoshimura Suzuki in 1999 
after a less than stellar year. The older and wiser Steve Crevier returned to Canada to race for the Factory Honda team on RC51 equipment over 10 years after his 1st Championship. He may have had reservations, but I am certain he didn't expect to find himself fighting in a manufacturers war in which Kawasaki was defending their 9 years of championships, and Yamaha and 
Suzuki had the same idea as Honda. Lets put this string of Superbike Championships to an end, and lets do it NOW!!! What occurred was a season of vicious battles with as many as 6 Superbikes fighting tooth and nail for the win. All in all their were plenty of casualties in the short 7 race series. But Steve Crevier, whom left Canada as a Superbike Champion in 1993 had one goal. Return as a Superbike Champion. Steve Crevier heads to the Shannonville final as the points leader with a 36 point lead over rival Honda Racer Jordan Szoke. Steve Crevier has been not only one of the fastest racers at any given track, he has managed to stay out of trouble, unlike ALL of this other competitors. Steve has one win to his credit going into the final, but perhaps more telling was the save he made at Mosport, where he was able to use up all available runoff (and their isn't much), 
and kept his motorcycle upright during an off track excursion that followed the crash collecting action of Jeff Williams and Linnley Clark. Steve Crevier is the only top podium finisher this year that never had a crash in the feature race.

Jordan Szoke (Honda RC51): Jordan was the title leader going into round #4 at Atlantic Motorsport Park. He was the youngest Canadian Superbike champion in the series 21 year history. He won his 1st and only Superbike championship in 1998 during his 1st year on a Superbike riding Kawasaki equipment. That year Jordan did not crash and won 2 races. In 1999 Jordan switched to Honda. With 3 race wins and one crash, Jordan came up short. For 2000 Jordan appears to be adopting the title as fastest racer in Canada. He comes into the Shannonville final with more wins than any other Superbike racer in the 2000 series (Steve Crevier leads the all time win list). After his crash at AMP, Jordan went on to win the next round at the Autodrome in St. Felicien. Down 36 points, Szoke is going to have to let it all hang out in both the qualifier and the race to win the Championship.

Michael Taylor (Kawasaki ZX9R): He has been known as the fastest man in Canada. He is a two time Canadian Superbike Champion for Kawasaki. He sits 3rd in the points and has a shot at the title. Perhaps more surprising this year is that Michael Taylor has yet to win a superbike race. However this is not new for Taylor, who won his 1st championship without a victory in 
1994 and went without a win during his 1999 injury plagued season, until the Shannonville Final when he gave all the fast guys a Superbike lesson and proceeded to destroy the field at a new lap record pace. Never count out Michael Taylor when the flag drops. Taylor title shot was hampered by two incidents. The first was a highside crash at Race City Speedway during the 2nd race. The 2nd was when his motorcycle was taken out by the falling Szoke at Atlantic Motorsport Park and he had to begin the restart at the back of the grid for the 8 lap dash. Michael Taylor is a warrior. He will be in the battle for the Shannonville Final, and if he doesn't win the title, he may just win the race as he did last year. Michael Taylor is Kawasakis only mathematical contender for the title to keep their 9 year winning streak in tact.

Frank Trombino (Yamaha R1): Well, what can we say about the talented Frank Trombino and his legion of fans. Well, female fans that is. Frank Trombino put forth a shocking win at Mosport after the restart. His motorcycle is a weapon and Trombino knows how to race it. He is the former 1998 RACE Regional Champion (Shannonvilles own Series), so he has as much claim to 
the home track dominance as anyone else. Frank has no chance to win the title for Yamaha but he could score the win. Franks championship shot was put in jeopardy at Race City, when during a 4 bike battle with Crevier, Taylor and Szoke, Frank was taken out by the fallen bike of Taylor.

Linnley Clarke (Suzuki GSXR): Linnley Clarkes Season was picking up steam as the season progressed. By Mosport, Clarke and the team looked ready to get down to business. Honda sent a message at Calgary and Kawasaki answered at St. Eustache. Mosport was up for grabs and it looked like Yamaha or Suzuki where going to put up or shut up. Clark was the man to beat in the race as 4 different racers had a look at him while Szoke followed the action. Clarkes Suzuki motorcycle was able to out power the 170hp monsters of Taylor and Trombino along Mosports long Andretti Straight. But it was here that the Suzuki program got derailed. As seemed to happen all year, the racing was so close that no one top superbike racer could crash without taking out another. Clarkes best chance for a victory vaporised at Mosports Notorious Turn #2 when Jeff Williams and his Kawasaki found 
themselves on a mission to lead the race, only to catch a bump, crash and leave Clarke with nowhere to go. Just as amazing was that both of these racers where able to walk away from the accident. Since then Linnley had been recovering from injuries received to his ribs, where Canada's bumpy tracks don't offer much sympathy. Shannonville is also Linnley Stomping ground, but whether the extreme Horsepower of the GSXR900 Suzuki can be used to an advantage remains to be seen. At the previous round, a 2000 GSXR superbike was unveiled.

Neil Jenkins (Kawasaki ZX7RR): Neil has been consistent all year. Unfortunately he hasn't been on the podium. He is sitting 6th in points and is the 2nd best placed Kawasaki Superbike Racer.

Jeff Williams (Kawasaki ZX7RR): Who knows which Jeff Williams will show up. Jeff Williams has no wins this year, but he has been a contender all season. He has had moments of brilliance and incredibly bold riding. At the same time, too much aggression has cost him some finishes, such as his crash at Mosport. It is possible for Jeff to step it up at Shannonville one 
more time.

Francis Martin (Kawasaki ZX7RR): Not bad for a racer missing 3 rounds of a 7 race series. #1 Plate holder Francis Martin sits 8th in the points. He has returned to the last round of the series to help Kawasaki win the title. He is racing with a still broken ankle, received during a test session at Mosport prior to the Superbike Weekend held there. Francis is the forgotten man. He scored 2 fourth place finishes at Calgary before crushing the entire Superbike field at St. Eustache. He is still the #1 plate holder and broken ankle or not, when the flag drops, Racers Race.

Surprises: Well, Clint McBain and J.F. Cyr both race on Open Class CBR929 Hondas. But both racers have been on a terror of late and are capable of challenging the Superbikes if not set a lap record pace. Csaba Werner who has not had a spectacular set of results has been able to catch the back of the factory superbike field with his Mike Rush tuned CBR900 motorcycle. Csaba is the RACE regional champion #1 plate holder at Shannonville and this might be the track where he puts his mark on the series.

Qualifying:
The front row became a Green and Red Affair. Jordan Szoke set a new lap record on Friday and sat on it until Mike Taylor stole the pole with only minutes to go in the Saturday Qualifier. Szoke then went out and lowered the record even more. Steve Crevier, Crashed his RC51 on Friday trying to take the pole away from Szoke. The bike was badly damaged and Crevier finished qualifying on the Shared backup bike of the rival Honda teams. At the end of Saturday Qualifying it was Szoke on pole with Taylor, Crevier and Williams filling out the front row for Honda and Kawasaki. Crevier once again crashed in qualifying, showing just how hard the series points leader was trying. Flying Frank Trombino and his Yamaha began on the 2nd row, with it being no secret, that he believed they found the right set up come race day. Linnley Clarke found himself starting on the 3rd row and stated that, "we may not win the championship this year, but we have a 5 year plan".

The Race Report:
Jordan Szoke Wins on the RC51 and Steve Crevier is the 2000 Canadian Superbike Champion. Hondas 1st Championship in over a decade. Honda Racers Szoke and Crevier finished 1st and 2nd in the race and 1st in 2nd in the championship, dethroning the Green Machine and ending a 9 year reign of Superbike Championships. Jordans pole position and race win was all he could do in order to win the championship, but it wasn't enough. In the end, the Honda RC51 won 5 of 7 races and Szoke had 4 of the 5 Honda victories. Steve Crevier finished 2nd in the race after a 14 lap battle with his brother in law, Mike Taylor on his ZX9R. Taylor pressured Crevier a number of times and twice got by the new champion, only to have a mechanical failure during the last lap of the race. Taylor nursed the Kawasaki home in 4th, while Yamaha Racer Frank Trombino took advantage of the situation to score the final podium spot. However, Jordan Szoke, simply stomped all over the competition and won the race with a healthy 9 second margin of victory. Szoke put every lap under the previous lap record and didn't slow down once past Crevier for the lead.

Top 3 Superbike finishers
1) Jordan Szoke (Honda RC51)
2) Steve Crevier (Honda RC51)
3) Frank Trombino (Yamaha R1)

Top 3 Superbike Championship Points
1) Steve Crevier (Honda RC 51) New Superbike Champion
2) Jordan Szoke (Honda RC 51)
3) Mike Taylor (Kawasaki ZX9R)

Quotes:
Jordan Szoke: "I think I proved I was the faster racer all year long, and I won races. I don't mean to brag, but the race was easy and I could have went faster, my team had the bike set up perfectly. This is the best team I have ever had. I know Mike didn't win the race, but he should be happy with a 1:44 time because he has been trying to beat that record of Pascal Picottes for years."

Steve Crevier: "Man this season was tough. I was trying hard all year. I got off to a great start, and then Jordan put a wheel in, and I decided, that's all you got to do and let him by and off he went. Then Mike was on me, and well, I married his sister and don't treat her right, so I let him through, and then he had tire trouble or something and Frank Trombino was behind, so, I had to go faster and went past Mike, and near the end of the race, I was thinking Championship, and let Mike past, only then he had some mechanical trouble so I went by him again, and stuck with 2nd. I am sorry not to see Mike on the box, he raced well enough to be up here. Not that Frank didn't, he raced hard too.

After a season of barn burners, and 6 bike battles the superbike race for the championship title lacked a little action. However, the speeds at Shannonville where incredible, and like was predicted by Mike Taylor at the previous round that the Lap record is going to be shattered, it was.

Yoshimura 600 Race Report
The title was up for grabs and it was going to either Owen Weichel, Steve Crevier or possibly Jordan Szoke. Unlike the Superbike features, the 600 class not only had 6 to 8 bike battles in the lead group, they also managed to avoid the numerous crashes that occurred in the Superbike races. None of the top 9 600 racers failed to score in the 600 class. Linnley Clark on the Suzuki had an outside chance of overcoming a 27 point deficit to retain his #1 plate.

The 600 race got off to an excellent start, and the racers were nose to tail on the 1st lap as far back as 20th place. All the racers were pushing the action, pushing very, very hard. Then as the 1st lap was being completed, a huge accident occurred involving Michel Lavallee, rookie Andrew Nelson, and rookie Chris Olson. John Hunter made an excellent manoeuvre to avoid any wreckage and break the chain reaction style collision. Lavalle went hard into the concrete wall at the exit of turn 15 onto the start finish straight located directly infront of the grandstand. Youngster Andrew Nelsons bike was spinning in the middle of the track, and collected Chris Olson, whom nearly saved his motorcycle, carving a line into the infield onto the grass only carry too much momentum into the unprotected armco barrier, pinching his right leg. Nelson and Olson were "unhurt" yet Lavalle required medical attention. He was helicoptered to a nearby hospital.

The 600 race was then restarted after a long delay. Again, the bikes launched off the start finish line, and again, their wasn't much separating the lead 20 bikes. Rookie Pro John Hunter was in the pits in between restarts and began the 600 race from pit lane. Olson and Nelson were unable to restart.

Nose to tail intense dicing was seen throughout all the participants. You could see that many racers were giving it their all in order to impress sponsors, factories and friends, as well as securing and maintaining their rides. On top of this there was a championship to be determined. Again with only one lap complete, heading into the fast sweeping turn #1, the fastest 
at Shannonville, Cycle Canada Magazine Racer, Paul Penzo, racing the project Kawasaki ZX6R went hard into the wall at the entrance into the turn. Once again for the 3rd time the race was to be restarted. Each delay seemed to increase the tension. This was a break for John Hunter who would now restart from the main grid. Nelson and Olson, once again could not make 
the restart.

On the 3rd Restart, unbelievably, heading into turn #1, the motorcycles of Chris Duff and Daniel Leblanc became entangled, and they rode off the track side by side. Both racers headed for the guardrail protected by a tyre wall. The impact was hard and the tires dislodged as the bikes hit the armco itself. The red flag came out for the 3rd and final time. Almost immediately the race director postponed the 600 race, and allowed support races to follow, and then go directly to the Superbike race.

The 4th restart for the 600 race, possibly a 1st in Canadian Racing, was a clean affair, with the usual amount of dicing and falling, but no more serious accidents occurred.

Quickly Owen Weichel now racing for Kawasaki after stints with Honda and Yamaha for the 1st three rounds, broke away with Crevier on his Honda and Jeff Williams on his Kawasaki. Szoke Honda, Clark Suzuki and 4&6 Yamaha racer Joe Gill made up the 2nd pack then followed by all the others. Williams tossed his Kawasaki in the hairpin, and Weichel chased after Crevier. Clark fell of the pace, and Frank Wilson fought his way through the pack to catch the 2nd group of Szoke and Gill. Remembering the words of Steve Crevier with regard to Weichels racing, "Bring it on Fat boy", the two racers locked into a battle which spared no quarter. Hammering on each other lap after lap, Weichel and Crevier were to swap positions corner for corner, straight for straight, brakes on brakes, right up until the final turn of the race. With the superbike action out of the way, the 5 Time 
Superbike Champion, gave it all and went full bore after the 600 crown.  On the last lap heading into to turn #14 Weichel the lead under severe pressure from Crevier. Weichel had thrown a 600 titles at least 2 times in this corner alone on the final lap of a race. Crevier pressed deep into the turn vs trying to run up the inside of Weichel, a traditional move for this turn. Weichel went in deeper, choosing not to block the entrance, as he had done in the past. Then Weichel got a big slide, and the front end came loose, he gathered it up, and Crevier went for the good drive between turn #14 and #15, but Weichel held the edge and Crevier tried to push Owen off the line by forcing his way into the inside. In the ensuing drag race to the finish line, it was Weichel by 3 bike lengths, to earn his 1st ever National Title. Meanwhile Frank Wilson had been running in 3rd when Szoke 
went past to reclaim the position, as Frank fought back on the front straight, something went on the bike heading to the finish line, and American Joe Gill got his best finish of the year, right on the heels of 3rd place Szoke.


Yoshimura 600 Race Results
1) Owen Weichel (Kawasaki)
2) Steve Crevier (Honda)
3) Jordan Szoke (Honda)

600 Sportbike Points
1) Owen Weichel (Honda/Yamaha/Kawasaki) National #1 Plate Holder
2) Steve Crevier (Honda)
3) Jordan Szoke (Honda)

Quotes:
Weichel (Kawasaki): Man, I have finished 2nd in this series 5 times to Linnley, Don Munroe, wow (near tears)..... I started this season on the Kyle racing Honda, and then 4&6 gave me the opportunity to continue the series, and then Kawasaki, came to my aid...... I have raced them all, I can say for certain, This Motorcycle IS the best.

Crevier (Honda): No he earned it, but I raced one motorcycle all year. I didn't switch around. No its really tough out there. Don't think it isn't. I gave it everything I had, and so did Owen. I thought he was going to do what he always does, and throw it away in Allens corner. Well he almost did too.

Szoke (Honda): Well, two Hondas on the box, and Owen deserved the title. I raced for a podium and thats not bad to have these guys in front of you. Considering where we were early Friday with the set up of this bike and where we finished, I am quite happy. (Jordan used his Superbike practice to set up his 600 Honda as well as qualifying)

International Motorcycle Supershow Open SportBike.
Frank Trombino Won the Pro Open Sportbike Title and the final race at Shannonville with a convincing win over all other contenders. Mike Taylor, the only possible title challenger, was taken in in turn #4 on the 1st lap when a very aggressive Joe Gill, who had been barging through traffic like it didn't exist, collided with Taylor and both racers went down along with Taylors title hopes. Clint McBain, put in a brilliant ride, on his CBR929 aggressively passing rival Honda Racer Jean Francios Cyr on his CBR929 for the 2nd spot on the podium. Clint was chasing down leader Trombino on his R1 grabbing large chunks of realestate. At the finishline McBain was on the rear wheel of Trombino who had created a large gap on the field early in the race. Cyr filled out the podium in the 3rd spot.

IMS Open Sportbike Race Results
1) Frank Trombino (Yamaha R1)
2) Clint McBain (Honda 929)
3) Jean Francios Cyr (Honda 929)

IMS Open Sportbike Championship
1) Frank Trombino (Yamaha R1) National #1 Plate Holder
2) Michael Taylor (Kawasaki ZX9R)
3) Jean Francios Cyr (Honda 929)