By John Hopkins / Photo by Bob Szoke
SHUBENACADIE, NS -- Stacey Nesbitt and Lee Kuhn Jr. took the first two race wins of the Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada weekend at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Saturday.
St-Lazare, QC's Nesbitt (316 in photo) made a last lap pass to take a dramatic 0.208-sec. win over Austin Shaw-O'Leary in the first of two races for the Honda CBR125R Challenge this weekend.
Kuhn, meanwhile, rode the Jacox Harley-Davidson-backed Harley-Davidson XR1200 to a solid 6.977-sec. victory in the ARL Thunder Invitational event.
The Honda CBR125R Challenge race was a typically dramatic battle with five bikes in the thick of the action through the 10 laps around AMP's 2.56km track. Local hero Shaw-O'Leary, from Falmouth, NS, led the most laps and at one point had an advantage of about three seconds before Nesbitt, polesitter Leah Vignale (33 in photo) and Eric Green worked together to draft back up to him in the closing laps.
Nesbitt grabbed the lead near the end of the backstraight and hung on to take her second win of the season.
"I could see we were gaining on Austin and I just focused on going faster in the corners and braking later," Nesbitt explained.
The win narrowed Shaw-O'Leary's lead in the class standings to just 10 points over Nesbitt, 273-263 heading into Sunday's race.
Poor Shaw-O'Leary led eight of the 10 laps and could practically taste his first career victory, but instead had to settle for his third runner-up finish of the season and his sixth podium result in seven races.
Kemptville, ON's Vignale completed the podium for her best career finish in the class. It marked the first time in Canadian national road racing history that two women had stood on a race podium and Nesbitt became the first woman to win two road race nationals in a single season.
Green settled for fourth, just 1.089 secs. behind the winner, and Scott Lingelbach completed the top five after sticking with the leaders most of the way.
In the ARL Thunder invitational Kuhn led all the way in the 12-lap race, getting a big break when John Ross McRae muffed his start and joined the back of the field.
"I knew I had to get a good start," admitted Kuhn, who set the race's fastest lap at 1:14.996. "There were a couple of scary moments -- we were running with old tires. But I had a lot of fun."
Andrew Murray of Dartmouth, NS placed second on his Ducati 1098 and McRae recovered from his poor start to finish third on a Harley-Davidson XR1200.
Honda CBR125R Challenge Race Results
1. Stacey Nesbitt, St-Lazare, QC 10 laps in 15:01.659
2. Austin Shaw-O'Leary, Falmouth, NS +0.208
3. Leah Vignale, Kemptville, ON +1.045
4. Eric Green, Richmond, ON +1.089
5. Scott Lingelbach, Wellesley, ON +3.491
6. Connor Warnell, Dartmouth, NS +30.539
7. Karolina Pelc, Guelph, ON +30.566
8. Lauren Hill, Halifax, NS +37.734
9. Philip Warnell, Dartmouth, NS +1:07.941**
10. Leah MacInnis, Charlottetown, PEI +1:20.018
11. Matt Chandler, Richmond Hill, ON +1:20.018
12. Malcolm MacKay, Dartmouth, NS +1:24.301**
Fastest Lap: 1:29.431 by Scott Lingelbach on lap 8
* -- All riders aboard Honda CBR125R motorcycles
** -- ineligible for series points
Honda CBR125R Standings
1. Austin Shaw-O'Leary 273
2. Stacey Nesbitt 263
3. Scott Lingelbach 220
4. Eric Green 195
5. Shay Gauthier 162
6. Leah Vignale 151
7. Lauren Hill 145
8. David MacKay 144
9. Karolina Pelc 119
10. Cedric Martineau 114
11. Matt Chandler 111
12. Seth Van Dongen 94
13. Timothy Kennedy 68
14. Brian Alexander 59
15. Sean Smith 36
16. Kyle Mistibachner 29
17. Sam McManus 27
18. Connor Warnell 27
19. Leah MacInnis 21
ARL Thunder Invitational Results
1. Lee Kuhn Jr., Hamilton, ON (Harley-Davidson XR1200) 12 laps in 14:30.392
2. Andrew Murray, Dartmouth, NS (Ducati 1098) +6.977
3. John Ross McRae, Calgary, AB (Harley-Davidson XR1200) +21.925
4. Roddy MacDonald, York, PEI (Ducati 745) +21.999
5. Rob Forsyth, Dartmouth, NS (Husaberg FS570) +27.808
Did Not Finish
Steve Hoffarth, Orangeville, ON (Harley-Davidson XR1200) 3 laps
Did Not Start
Cody Matechuk, Cochrane, AB (Harley-Davidson XR1200)
Justin Ford, Charlottetown, PEI (Ducati 848)
Jim Dickenson, Courtland, ON (Harley-Davidson XR1200)
Fastest Lap: 1:14.996 by Lee Kuhn Jr. on lap 6
