Round #2 Expert, Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge presented by Honda, Parts Canada, Pirelli and Yamaha Canada

Calabogie Motorsports Park, Stadium Track - Calabogie, ON

May 23-25, 2008

Friday May 23 - Practice

Cool and overcast conditions greeted the riders as they attended the PMP riders meeting Friday morning at Calabogie Motorsports Park. Round Two of the Women's Cup Challenge was being held in conjunction with the Parts Canada Superbike National, the first ever motorcycle race held at the Calabogie facility. The riders would be testing their skills on the scenic 2.81 km, Stadium track. The afternoon brought mixed conditions, the sun came out but was accompanied by light showers which kept the track cool.

Expert Practice

Marie-Josee Boucher topped the timing charts in the morning session clocking a best time of 1:15.617 on her Honda CBR600RR. Karen Grujic was solidly in second on her Kawasaki ZX6R with a time of 1:17.299. Natalie-Catherine Provost(1:17.512), Genevieve Lesieur(1:18.579) and Vicki Schouten(1:19.294) rounded out the top five with Josee Bouchard(1:22.629) and Vanessa Gareau(1:25.222) 6th and 7th respectively.

In the afternoon session Provost upped her pace to finish quickest with a 1:16.198. Closely behind was Lesieur with a 1:16.728. Kawasaki mounted Schouten dropped a second from her morning time with a solid 1:18.210. Grujic took 4th with a 1:18.799 while Bouchard(1:23.238)and Gareau(1:23.666) rounding out the top 6. Boucher opted out of the afternoon session as she logged quite a few laps in her National Pro debut in the Yoshimira Pro 600 Sportbike and Parts Canada Superbike practice during the day.

Saturday May 24 - Practice and Qualifying

Ideal conditions greeted the Women's Cup Challenge competitors with sunny skies and warm temperatures for their practice sessions on Saturday.

Final Practice

Provost looked strong as she dropped into the 15's turning in an impressive 1:15.524 on her second lap. This time held up to be the fastest of the morning session. Schouten was on form as she clocked a 1:17.040 to take second fastest and Lesieur was third with 1:17.184. Grujic (1:18.022), Bouchard (1:22.125) and Gareau (1:22.849) taking 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Boucher, logging multiple session in her Pro classes skipped the Saturday session. The stage was set for an exciting qualifying session, scheduled for late in the day.

Timed Qualifying

Lesieur and Provost battled all session with both dropping into the 14's during qualifying with Lesieur earning pole with a 1:14.397 to Provost's 1:14.752. Grujic improved her time to 1:16.062 taking third position on the grid, edging Schouten(1:16.542) who completed the front row. Bouchard improved to a 1:20.165 taking fifth with Gareau clocking a 1:21.176 for sixth. Boucher's bad luck in qualifying continued at Calabogie with her stunning 1:13.527 lap time disallowed due to inadvertently going out with a Pirelli Super Corsa SC1 rear tire instead of the WCC specified SC2.

Post Qualifying Technical Report

Round two marked the first time a Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge event would be run under Horsepower limits and the top three Expert qualifiers would be dyno tested to insure their machines did not exceed the 118 HP limit. Bike weight was recorded for data keeping purposes only as the minimum weight rules for the national classes did not apply to the WCC competitors.

Results

Sunday May 25

Excellent racing weather prevailed on Sunday with sunny skies and temperatures in the 20's.

Morning Warm-up

Boucher showed her determination, blazing to a 1:12.781 on her first of only two laps. Satisfied with her machine she took to the pits and readied herself for her National debut in the Pro600 and Superbike classes. Provost was second fastest with a 1:14.821 and Grujic (1:16.045) slotting in for third. Schouten turned in a 1:16.928 for fourth with Bouchard (1:20.971) fifth and Gareau (1:22.242) in sixth. Lesieur opted out of the morning warm up.

Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge Final

Delays in the national schedule and a strict 5PM noise curfew in place caused the scheduled 10 lap Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge final to be shortened to 8 laps after multiple red flags throughout the day. The women racers took to the track just before 5PM with PMP officals annoucing the shortened race just before pre-grid. In an unusual turn of events the race was shortened another 2 laps to 6 during the race due to the strict noise curfew.

Expert Race

Natalie-Catherine Provost took her second spot on the grid with a heavy heart as her boyfriend Joey McCrae was injured in a fall during the National AM 600 final and on his way to the hospital. The best wishes of the Women's Cup Challenge go out to Joey for a speedy and full recovery.

Showing her grit Provost took the holeshot and led the pack across the line after the first lap. Lesieur was a close second and Boucher made a strong start from the back of the grid to slot into third. Grujic held fourth with Schouten chasing her in fifth. Bouchard and Gareau rounded out the top seven. Lap two saw Boucher make her way past Lesieur to take over second with Provost still out front. Schouten passed Grujic to take over fourth with Grujic close behind in fifth. Bouchard and Gareau held their spots from lap one. Lap three saw Provost hold her lead with Boucher closing in and Lesieur close behind in third. Schouten, Grujic, Bouchard and Gareau held station in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Boucher made her move for the lead on lap four with Provost and Lesieur fighting hard for second. The battle for second was so close that Lesieur missed seeing the halfway flag and was unaware of the shortened race. This would affect her stategy adversely for the remaining laps. As she battled with Provost and looked for a way past she ran out of laps and had to settle for third. Boucher continued her dominance pulling away from the field to take the win and fastest lap with an incredible 1:12.581 on lap five. Provost fought hard with Lesieur to take second and Grujic found her way past Schouten on the final lap to finish fourth. Bouchard dropped into the 18's to take sixth with Gareau seventh at the checkers.

WCC Hot Lap Events/GoLo RACING "Hot Lapper" Award

Marie-Josee Bouchard was awarded the Hot Lap Events "Hot Lapper" of the weekend award for her stunning perfomance in the Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge. The Women's Cup Challenge would like to congratulate her on an impressive debut at the National Level qualifying 17th and finishing 15th competing against the best riders in Canada the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and qualifying 13th and finishing 13th in the Pro 600 final.

Click Here to view Expert Race Results and Points

Click Here to view Season Long Championship Points Standings after Round #2