By John Hopkins / Photo by Bob Szoke
BOWMANVILLE, ON -- Alex Welsh stayed in the hunt for the Pirelli Pro Sport Bike title by taking his second win of the season aboard the Z1 CycleTech / Kenwood Suzuki GSX-R600 at Mosport International Raceway on Saturday.
The Uxbridge, ON rider finished just 0.070 secs. ahead of championship leader Jodi Christie on the Jodi Christie Racing / Cameron Cycle / Blue Streak Racing Honda CBR600RR. The Keene, ON rider will take a 17-point lead over Welsh into Sunday’s final race of the season.
Bodhi Edie of Warman, SK finished third on Saturday on his Edie Racing / Acceleration Racing / Honda Canada Honda CBR600RR.
Title rivals Welsh and Christie were part of a thrilling five-rider battle throughout the 14-lap race around Mosport's 3.957km track, with Welsh spending most of the time at the head of the field. Christie made several dive passes down the inside of the Suzuki in turn five and once coming on to the front straight, but each time Welsh was able to reply and seemed to have the legs on the Honda on the backstraight.
"The whole race I saw a '0' on my pit board and I was afraid to look back," said Welsh, who started from fourth on the grid. "I didn't know there were quite that many guys stacked up behind me. On the last lap Jodi tried a couple of times in turn five but I was expecting that. When we got onto the back straight I just sucked in as much air as possible and tried not to upset the bike.
"All we can do now [in the championship] is win some races. It's encouraging to see more people up there to mix things up at the front tomorrow."
Christie had qualified on pole and spent most of his time leading the chase of Welsh. He got shuffled back to fifth two laps from the end but made an impressive charge back up to Welsh's rear tire, passing one bike in turn three and two more in corner five.
"It was a difficult race and when I found myself in fifth I knew I had some work to do," Christie admitted. "On the last lap, in the last turn I knew there was a move there but that was a risky one. We need to work on a couple of things for tomorrow."
Edie had grabbed the holeshot and enjoyed a lap at the front before Welsh took over. From there the rookie Pro spent most of the race battling with the Riedmann Racing / Sturgess Cycle Triumph 675 of Kenny Riedmann. The pair crossed the line in a virtual dead heat for third, although Riedmann was penalized for a jump start and dropped to fifth in the final result.
"It's great to be up on the podium again," said Edie after his second straight third place finish. "I had a wicked start and it felt weird to be out front. We'll make some changes to the suspension even though the set-up is failry good right now."
Edie had an anxious morning after crashing in turn five in practice and his family-run team had to replace the windshield, ram air system, brake assembly and other bits and pieces on the Honda. The ProStar, Excel Moto and Lee Kuhn teams were among those to help with parts and labour, as well as staff from Honda Canada and Scott Miller of Fast Company.
Frank Trombino took fourth on the Suzuki Canada / Hindle / Sturgess Cycle Suzuki GSX-R600 but found himself pushed back to fourth in the Pro Sport Bike standings, five points behind Edie heading into Sunday's finale.
Race Results
1. Alex Welsh, Uxbridge, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) 14 laps in 19:42.067
2. Jodi Christie, Keene, ON (Honda CBR600RR) +0.070 secs.
3. Bodhi Edie, Warman, SK (Honda CBR600RR) +1.196
4. Frank Trombino, Woodbridge, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +1.880
5. Kenny Reidman, Belfountain, ON (Triumph 675) +6.201*
6. Raphael Archambault, Terrebonne, QC (Suzuki GSX-R600) +14.105
7. Sylvain Dery, St-Colomban, QC (Yamaha YZF-R6) +47.022
8. Jim Proulx, Ottawa, ON (Buell 1125R) +47.447
9. Zenon Nelson, Bowmanville, ON (Suzuki GSX-R600) +1:25.668
Did Not Start
Marie-Josee Boucher, Montreal, QC (Honda CBR600RR) No Time
Fastest Lap: 1:23.553 by Jodi Christie on lap 13
Point Standings
1. Jodi Christie, 283
2. Alex Welsh, 266
3. Bodhi Edie, 202
4. Frank Trombino, 197
5. Raphael Archambault, 182
6. Sylvain Dery, 161
7. Marie-Josee Boucher, 105
8. Jeremie Hade Precourt, 101
9. Sean Huffman, 90
10. Andrew Nelson, 76
11. Kenny Riedmann, 64
12. Joey McRae, 40
12. Darren James, 40
12. Martin Grande, 40
15. Vicki Schouten, 36
16. Jean Francois Cyr, 34
17. Ron Munroe, 27
18. Jim Proulx, 23
19. Zenon Nelson, 21
