Team Suzuki's Clint McBain and Chris Peris both scored wins at the weekend's Parts Canada Superbike Championship fifth and sixth round at Atlantic Motorsport Park, just outside of Shubenacadia, Nova Scotia.
Superbike action on Saturday saw a fierce battle between McBain on his Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 and current champion Jordon Szoke. With leads changes throughout the 22 lap race, McBain scored a close second place finish as Szoke crossed the line just 0.055 seconds ahead of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 pilot. Completing the podium in third spot was Team Suzuki rider Chris Peris on his Team Suzuki, Blackfoot Direct, Picotte Performance GSX-R750. Knowing that handling and agility can be a bigger factor than all out horsepower at the AMP circuit, the Team thought the GSX-R750 might be the right weapon to use at 'Shubie'. A third-place finish in its first outing showed that the GSX-R750 has a lot of potential at this circuit.
Sunday's Superbike race was all McBain and his Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000. Taking the holeshot and leading every lap, McBain was not to be denied victory after having to settle for second in Saturday's race. With a 6.2 second margin of victory, McBain leaves Shubenacadia holding onto second place in the championship standings. Peris & Matt McBride brought their GSX-Rs home in fourth and fifth spots respectively putting three Suzuki GSX-Rs in the top 5.
The Yoshimura Pro600 race on Saturday saw Peris crash out of race while in the lead. He had taken the holeshot and led every lap before he crashed and handed the victory to Andrew Nelson. A bit of irony took place in Sunday's Yoshimura Pro600 race when Nelson crashed out of the lead and handed the victory to Peris on his GSX-R600. Peris made no mistakes this time and took his GSX-R600 to a 7.4 second margin of victory over Brett McCormick. Peris' team mate McBride, brought his GSX-R600 home in fifth position.
Patrick Marques of Calgary Alberta scored his first National victory on his Suzuki GSX-R600 with a win in the Armour Bodies Amateur National Championship on Saturday. Proving that the podium is where Marques likes to stand, he backed up Saturday's victory with a second-place finish on Sunday. Joining Marques on the podium after Sunday's amateur race was 2007 Suzuki SV Cup Champion Martin Grande. Grande put in an inspired race on Sunday but was penalised for a jump start which put him third in the final results.
The Suzuki SV Cup races at Atlantic Motorsport Park belonged to Cody Matechuk. The 14 year-old from Calgary lead both races from start to finish setting new lap records for the class in the process. With Matechuk firmly in control of the lead, one of the bigger battles on the track was between the point's leader John Jarvie and SV Cup veteran Rob Busby.
Jarvie needed to score second place finishes if he was to maintain the points lead heading to the final round at Shannonville but Busby wasn't about to make it easy for Jarvie. In both SV Cup finals, Jarvie and Busby had intense battles throughout the races with Jarvie coming out on top both times.
Going to the final round, Jarvie holds a slim two-point lead over Matechuk for the SV Cup Championship.
