Saturday’s weather was perfect for the Speedway
Road Racers Club (SRRC) first race of the season, and with two novice
racers making their Saratoga debut, the risk of a crash was slightly elevated.
Qualifying would see who could shake off the cobwebs after a long off-season,
and defending champion Dean Thompson of Comox proved he was still quick
around the short track, setting fast time. Campbell River’s Bruce
Moran was a close second in qualifying, followed by Courtenay racers Jerry
Sobchuk, Jeff Deis and Andy Brown. Finishing off the top 6 was Novice
racer Greg Warren from Victoria. The 4 lap trophy dash was taken by Bruce
Moran aboard a nicely prepared ex-National series Suzuki GSX-R600. The
reverse starting order of the10 lap Heat Race seen Thompson rocket off
the start from the rear of the grid on his Honda CBR600RR to take the
lead going into turn one. Moran would try several times to make a pass,
but Thompson would hold on for the win. Moran finished a close second,
followed by Sobchuk on a Yamaha YZF-R6, Deis on a Suzuki GSX-R1000, Brown
on a Suzuki GSX-R600 and Warren on a Yamaha YZF-R6.
The 12 lap Main Event was also a reverse grid order, with the fastest
riders starting from the back. Jerry Sobchuk would get the holeshot and
lead the field into the first turn, followed by Thompson, Moran, Brown,
Warren and Deis. Sobchuk was pushing hard to keep the lead and had a near
crash in the fast Dogleg section of the track, running over the inside
curbing. He managed to keep the bike up and keep the lead position. Thompson
tried every angle to get around Sobchuk but couldn’t make a pass
without risking hitting the other rider. Near the midway point of the
race, Moran snuck a pass on Thompson at the end of the straight away and
took over second place. The three riders put on an exciting display as
they were within a half a second of each other for the remainder of the
race. Sobchuk held off Moran and Thompson and took the win for the motorcycle
season opener double point’s main event. Fourth place went to Novice
Jeff Deis, followed by Novice Greg Warren and Andy Brown (who actually
finished fourth but was docked 2 positions for a jumped start). If this
is the tight racing we can expect for the 2009 season, it could prove
to be some of the closest motorcycle racing at Saratoga ever. Round 2
for the motorcycles is on Saturday May 30th.
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