Edie Ends Szoke Streak in Grand Bend

GRAND BEND, ON (June 11, 2017) – Bodhi Edie (Warman, SK) became the man to finally break Jordan Szoke’s undefeated streak in Pro Superbike when he nabbed the win during round 2 of the five-round Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship at Grand Bend Motorplex (Grand Bend, ON). Series veteran Frank Trombino (Etobicoke, ON) made his return to the National Series a triumphant one with the win in the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike support round.

The Superbike Feature race, scheduled for 20 laps, featured an intense battle up front for most of the race. Defending champion Szoke (Lynden, ON) established an early gap out front on his Mopar Express Lane BMW S1000RR, but he was passed before the midway mark by both Ben Young (Collingwood, ON) and Edie.

With three laps to go in a barnburner of a race, Edie made a bold move going onto the front straight to take the lead from Young. Two turns later, in the middle of the track’s technical section, Young high-sided his Scot-Build Developments BMW while almost side-by-side with Edie’s Z1/Parts Canada Yamaha YZF-R1. This incident caused a red flag to tend to the motionless Young.

At that point the Feature race was considered complete, giving Edie his second career win. Incidentally, Edie’s only other Pro Superbike win, in 2013, also came under a red flag.

By virtue of causing the red flag, Young’s finishing position placed him at the back of the lead lap, leaving him in 15th position. Szoke claimed third, while Kenny Riedmann took the final podium spot on his Sturgess Cycle Kawasaki ZX-10R.

“It sucks to have it end,” said Szoke about his 15-race win streak, which dated back to early 2015. “But I was the quickest rider (this weekend), and we’re still there, we got second place. We were on pole, we led the most laps, and it’s about the championship for us.

“I want to congratulate Bodhi,” concluded the 37-year-old. “He ran extremely well, and I knew once they got a good bike under him he’d be up there. We’ll look forward to the next one.”

Edie, age 21, was thrilled to stand at the top of the box for the first time in nearly four years. “Right off the start I didn’t quite have the pace, but I just stayed calm, stayed patient,” said the 2011 Brooklin Cycle Racing Pro Rookie of the Year.

“Ben was putting in a really hot race, and he kinda helped me get my pace up and get my comfort there. Jordan got into a bit of trouble and we were able to catch up with him, and right away we made a few passes stick, and kept the pace going.”

Young, who eventually walked away from the scene of his crash after initially being unresponsive, was understandably disappointed. “I’m honestly fine, I’m just so frustrated,” he said. “There’s no one that wanted to win that race more than myself. I wanted to be the guy that beat Jordan. Of course, I’m happy for Bodhi and the team, but that’s not the way I wanted it to go. I wanted to be the one on top.”

Former National Pro Sport Bike champion Trombino was thrilled with his success upon returning to the National Series after a two-year break. The 2000 Open Sport Bike champion opened up a significant early gap and cruised to victory, crossing his ProStar/Hindle Honda CBR600RR over the line 4.216 seconds ahead of runner-up Mitch Card (Kitchener, ON). Rounding out the top three was opener victor Tomas Casas (Peterborough, ON), who rebounded from a crash late in Saturday qualifying to earn the final spot on the podium.

“It’s good to be back. It was a good race,” said the 44-year-old Trombino, who first became a CSBK series front runner in 1998. “To the fans, I know it was hot today, so thank so much for coming out to watch the show,” he acknowledged to the enthusiastic first-time crowd at Grand Bend. “That’s the most important thing – making you guys happy.”

Card’s experience with the regional SOAR series at Grand Bend helped him catapult from seventh in qualifying to second on race day. “What can I say; I wasn’t going as fast as I wanted to the past few days,” said Card, who sits second in Pro Sport Bike points after two races. “But today I put my head down, I got a nice start and I was really able to launch up to the front on those Dunlop slicks, and I was able to manoeuvre my way slowly into the second position.”

The winner of the Magneti Marelli Amateur Super Bike class was Yamaha mounted Ernest Bernhard (Ste-Brigide, QC), who assumes the points lead going into the third round at Autodrome St-Eustache in two weeks. Shoei Helmets Amateur Sport Bike was won by Jean-Francois Aubin (St-Gerome, QC), who edged out fellow Suzuki racer Kyle Newman (Oakville, ON) by 1.281 seconds.

Additional winners on Sunday at Grand Bend included Xavier Paradis (Shannon, QC) in Kawasaki Ninja 300 Race Series action, Nicolas Meunier (Verdun, QC) in RACE Mopar Express Lane Lightweight, Tim Ruhl on a mighty Suzuki Katana (Hillsburg, ON) in Goderich Toyota and Goderich Honda Heavyweight Vintage.

The Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship heads east to Autodrome St-Eustache near Montreal for round 3 on June 23-25.

For detailed race results, event photo galleries and additional series information, visit www.csbk.ca.