By John Hopkins / Photo by Bob Szoke
SHUBENACADIE, NS -- Amzy Nawaz admitted to being "pleasantly surprised" to find himself on pole position for both of Sunday's Amateur national events for the Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada weekend at Atlantic Motorsport Park.
Despite this being his first visit to AMP, the Thornton, ON teenager rode his Velocity Sportsgear Kawasaki ZX-6R to a time of 1:10.542 to claim the top starting spot for the Inside Motorcycles Amateur Sport Bike class. Later in the day he qualified the ZX-6R on pole for the K&N Performance Filters Amateur Superbike event with a time of 1:10.211 around the 2.56km AMP circuit.
"I'm still not that comfortable with the track; I'm getting used to it," Nawaz admitted. "But it's fun to ride. The first three corners are the toughest for me but I feel I'm strong through the last part."
Nawaz's only hiccup came in the Amateur Superbike session, when he suffered a minor crash in turn three that resulted in some bodywork and lever damage.
Nawaz got an added boost in the Amateur Sport Bike class by gaining four points on series leader Kristopher Garvie. The Caledon, ON racer had qualified third on his Tracksport Technologies / Kahuna Powersports Kawasaki ZX-6R but was docked two places for exceeding the class horsepower limit in post qualifying tech. So instead of getting two points he was shut out and saw his point total stay at 181 while Nawaz improved to 152 with his four points for pole and closed the gap to 29 points.
Garvie also got pushed back to the second row of the grid on a track that is notoriously difficult to pass on.
Samuel Proulx of Magog, QC will start second on Sunday's race grid after turning a lap at 1:10.739 on the Sherbrooke Harley-Davidson Suzuki GSX-R600 and Burlington, ON's Jody Greening qualified third with a time of 1:11.511 aboard the BFE / ProStar / Sturgess Cycle Honda CBR600RR.
The front row is completed by Toronto's Riley Gage Dawe on the Hill Gage Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, who recorded a lap at 1:12.665.
In Amateur Superbike Garvie turned the second best time of 1:10.899 and class leader Greening was third with a 1:11.485. Local racer Richard Thompson of Milford, NS completes the front row for Sunday's race after recording a 1:12.611 on a Suzuki GSX-R600.
Greening leads the Superbike standings with 158 points heading into Sunday's race. Nawaz is second with 136 and Garvie third on 133.
Amateur Sport Bike Qualifying Results
1. Amzy Nawaz, Thornton, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:10.542
2. Samuel Proulx, Magog, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:10.739
3. Jody Greening, Burlington, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 1:11.511
4. Riley Gage Dawe, Toronto, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:12.665
5. Kristopher Garvie, Caledon, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:11.102*
6. Richard Thompson, Milford, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:12.753
7. Edward Rudkowski, Toronto, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:13.150
8. Caleb Noiles, Upper Cloverdale, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:13.160
9. Dominic Dupont, Laval, QC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:13.285
10. Paul Whitehead, Baddeck, NS (Honda CBR600RR) 1:14.004
11. Luke Bauer, Breslau, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:14.084
12. Dominic Mongeon, St-Andre-Auellin, QC (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:14.683
13. Robert Blickstead, Alexandria, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 1:16.294
14. Geoff Cole, Elmsdale, NS (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:16.462
* -- penalized two positions for exceeding class horsepower limit
Amateur Superbike Qualifying Results
1. Amzy Nawaz, Thornton, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:10.211
2. Kristopher Garvie, Caledon, ON (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:10.899
3. Jody Greening, Burlington, ON (Honda CBR600RR) 1:11.485
4. Richard Thompson, Milford, NS (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:12.611
5. Mario Dumouchel, Ottawa, ON (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:12.687
6. Caleb Noiles, Upper Cloverdale, NS (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:12.845
7. Edward Rudkowski, Toronto, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:12.925
8. Riley Gage Dawe, Toronto, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:13.067
9. Dominic Dupont, Laval, QC (Kawasaki ZX-6R) 1:13.299
10. Luke Bauer, Breslau, ON (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:13.316
11. Paul Whitehead, Baddeck, NS (Honda CBR600RR) 1:13.358
12. Dominic Mongeon, St-Andre-Auellin, QC (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:14.662
13. Nicolas Hurley, Marystown, NL (Suzuki GSX-R750) 1:15.796
14. Geoff Cole, Elmsdale, NS (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:17.023
