Motourage

Canadian Superbike Rookie of the Year Cody Matechuck

The Acceleration Suzuki Motovan Race Team traveled east to Nova Scotia for the final two rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship this past weekend. Often regarded as the most technical track in Canadian road racing, the twisty elevated roadway of Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia provided locals with some of the most spirited racing of the season. Cody Matechuk looked to secure his lead in the Pro Rookie of the Year standings as well as lock a top-three ranking in the Pro 600 Class, a first by any rookie in the Canadian series.

Thursday and Friday provided little opportunity for teams to negotiate power and handling setup as rain crashed the paddocks throughout the early hours Friday. By lunch however, the sun had track conditions back to dry and qualifying ran as scheduled. Using every minute from the Qualifiers, the Acceleration crew consistently whittled away at the lap times. Although coming short of Matechuk’s personal goal of low 109′s. The hard work did put the red and black GSX-R on the inside of the second row for the start of the Pro 600 race and inside on the third row for the Superbike Feature.

The Pro 600 race was first up both days. Saturday’s action saw some steady, level-headed racing result in the 16-year-old’s fourth visit to the pro podium this year. Matechuk challenged veteran racer J.F. Cyr for most of the 18-lap race in what looked to be the final podium position. Just four corners from the finish, a crash by current points leader Jordan Szoke graduated both warriors to the podium. Sunday’s rematch saw a less dramatic conclusion. Matechuk pushed hard throughout the event running his fastest time of the weekend to overcome Cyr midway through the race. The combined points accumulation not only locked up the Pro Rookie of the Year title, it left the young Cochrane teen with a top-three finish overall in the 2010 Pro 600 standings.
“It’s been an amazing year”, said team owner, Clint McBain.  “We didn’t expect any podiums, but the kid took four. We hoped for a top-five finish; he ends up third and he’s the top Pro Rookie. That’s quite the first year.”
Matechuk later added, “I think it was an awesome season, and as a small team we did so well. I can’t believe how much I learned this season; how different it is at this level. We were so fortunate to have the Sponsors we did and I can’t thank them enough for believing in us.”

For the 22-lap featured Superbike race, the Acceleration team was looking for a strong showing inside the top ten even with the lower power of the smaller GSXR600. Saturday’s penultimate round challenged Matechuk to better his 11th-place grid position against the larger horsepower of his opponents. A phenomenal launch and scrappy racing effort moved the young rookie’s GSX-R into eighth position before a few anxious mistakes from those around him started to thin the field. Two more racers crashing out promoted Matechuk to an impressive sixth-place finish.

The follow-up event on Sunday played out similarly with the exception of fewer crashes. Winding through the field, Matechuk again rode his fastest pace of the weekend to claim a seventh-place finish in the final Superbike round adding valuable overall points. Getting slightly edged out by Factory BMW racer Michael Ferreria, Matechuk ended up sixth overall in the Superbike standings.
“It was the fastest we ran all weekend”, smiled a content Matechuk. “You know it’s a great weekend when you finish that way. Our Race Tech set up just got better every day as Clint & I worked on lines and technique. He’s a great coach and I understand much better how fast and how good a racer he really is.”

The stellar 2010 season performance earned the Pro Rookie of the Year Title, coupled with an unprecedented four podium visits from the teenage rookie and third-place finish in the Pro 600 class. Overwhelmed with the success and accomplishments this year McBain shared, “It’s phenomenal to see someone so young achieve so much in their rookie year. Before McCormack it had been a long time since the series had produced any young promising talent.  Now with Cody progressing at this rate and more kids coming behind, it’s a very exciting time for racing in Canada.”