Kipp Fastest In Friday Canadian Superbike Practice At Calgary

Kipp Fastest In Friday Canadian Superbike Practice At Calgary

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CALGARY, AB Tom Kipp saved his best for last on the opening day of action at round 3 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park. The Chardon, OH native turned a lap of one minute, 16.699 seconds (151.1 km/h) around the 3.9km Race City road course on his final lap of practice to end the day with the fastest time. Kipp’s effort on the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R was just enough to edge his teammate and Parts Canada Superbike points leader Jordan Szoke for the best time of the day. Szoke turned a 1:16.736 on the other factory Kawasaki early in the hour-long afternoon practice session. Kevin Lacombe of Granby, QC was third with a best time of 1:16.864 aboard the Picotte Performance / Yamaha Canada / Toyota Yamaha YZF-R1 and Calgary’s Clint McBain placed fourth at 1:17.108 riding the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000. “We had some chatter in the high speed corners so we changed the dampening and that seemed to help,” said Kipp. “We have a great race bike. It’s set up well for a bunch of laps. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into tomorrow.” Qualifying for Sunday’s 20-lap feature race will take place Saturday afternoon. Szoke has won the first two races of the 2006 Parts Canada Superbike season and enjoys a solid 26-point lead over defending champion Francis Martin in the series standings. “Everything went well,” said Szoke, who only completed five laps in the afternoon session after setting his quick time. “We made some changes to the bike that might be for the better. I think we could get into the low 16s tomorrow. Saturday afternoon’s the real ticket.” McBain delighted the hometown crowd last season by winning both Superbike races at Race City, his first career victories in the national series. “We’re getting there,” he said after practice on Friday. “We’re still working on the set-up a bit. We’re working on a couple of key things in a couple of key spots. We’re getting a lot closer now.” McBain’s teammate Martin was fifth fastest for the day. In other action at Race City, Szoke was fastest in practice for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike competitors with a time of 1:18.424 on his Kawasaki ZX-6RR. Teammate Kipp was second at 1:18.677 and Lacombe set the third best time of 1:18.869 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Calgary rookie Guy Tomlinson placed eighth in Pro 600 Sport Bike with a 1:20.912 on his Suzuki GSX-R600. Fourteen-year-old Saskatoon rider Brett McCormick dominated practice in the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class with a time of 1:21.309 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Granby rider Karl Daigle was his nearest challenger, more than two and a half seconds behind on his Honda CBR600RR at 1:23.819, and Toronto’s Craig Atkinson placed third on another Yamaha. McCormick was also fastest in Thunder practice on his Buell with a time of 1:23.795, just edging the Ducati ridden by Calgary’s Chad Pasowisty. Hamilton’s Ross Millson led Suzuki SV650 National Cup on Friday with a time of 1:28.498. Qualifying for all five national classes will take place Saturday, with feature races set to go Sunday.

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