Round #1 Expert, Pro Honda Oils Women's Cup Challenge presented by Honda, Parts Canada, Pirelli and Yamaha Canada

Shannonville Motorsports Park, Long Track - Shannonville, ON

May 16-18, 2008

Saturday May 18

Sunshine and warm temperatures greeted the 2008 Women's Cup Challenge competitors Saturday morning at Shannonville. Most of the racers attended Friday practice to set up their bikes and get some seat time on the 4.03 km, 14 turn Long track configuration at SMP. Unfortunately, the weather did not co-operate and a cold wind blew in around noon and brought with it low single digit temperatures and rain. The racers waited patiently for their 10 minute timed qualifying session scheduled for 4:35 PM. The weather took a turn for the worse around 3pm and all on track activity was cancelled due to lightening in the area. This caused the grid for Sunday's final to be set using Saturday morning’s practice times and thus no qualifying points were awarded.

Expert Qualifying

Natalie-Catherine Provost (#23) earned pole on her Honda CBR600RR with a stellar 1:54.200 in the second practice session. Looking to improve on her 3rd place in the 2007 Expert Championship, Genevieve Lesieur (#18) had 2 solid practice sessions with her well prepared Suzuki GSX600R with a best time of 1:56.450 to take second place on the starting grid. 2007 Novice Champion Karen Grujic had an excellent Expert debut with a best time of 2:00.309 good enough for 3rd place on the starting grid. Expert veterans Vanessa Gareau (#55, Suzuki GSX600R, 2:02.505), Josee Bouchard (#3, Yamaha YZFR6, 2:04.017) and Vicki Schouten (#78, Kawasaki ZX6RR, 2:06.459) rounded out the expert grid in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.  2007 Expert runner-up Marie-Josee Boucher (#83) is the first Pro ranked racer to compete in the Women’s Cup Challenge.  Boucher used the first session to do some setup work on her brand new Honda CBR1000RR Superbike and thus her fast time of 1:52.610 would not count towards WCC qualifying. A transponder malfunction on board her Honda CBR600RR would abort her second session practice times and force her to the rear of the Expert grid for Sunday's final.

Sunday May 19

In a repeat of Saturday's weather, Sunday morning started warm and sunny, but soon turned to overcast skies as cool weather rolled into Shannonville. By lunch time a few scattered showers appeared and by mid afternoon a steady rain was falling and temperatures were again in the low single digits making conditions tricky for the first final of the WCC season. The race was initially scheduled for 7 laps but delays and bad weather lead to R.A.C.E officials rescheduling to a 4 lap final. The race was stopped by a red flag thus a full restart was required as all the riders did not make the requisite half race distance. The restarted race would consist of 3 laps on the cold and wet track.

Expert Final

The experts took to the grid under rainy and cold conditions Sunday afternoon. First year Expert Karen Grujic took the hole shot and lead into turn one followed closely by Natalie-Catherine Provost and Genevieve Lesieur all with great launches from the grid. Marie-Josee Boucher moved into fourth with an excellent start from her seventh position on the grid. Vicki Schouten and Vanessa Gareau slotted in sixth and seventh respectively. Provost made a superb pass under braking into turn 11 and had cleared Grujic to take over the lead but ran slightly wide exiting the turn and struggled mightily to save the bike after a rear end slide. Despite a heroic effort to stay upright Provost was separated from her bike and slid to a stop. Surprisingly, her bike stayed upright and proceeded some distance without its rider. This allowed Grujic back into the lead with Lesieur and Boucher in second and third. Schouten and Gareau held station in fourth and fifth at the end of lap one. The running order stayed the same with Grujic putting in an excellent effort in the slippery conditions. Josee Bouchard was forced to pull in early as her face shield fogged up and poor visibility became unsafe. The race was red flagged and a complete restart was made after a quick discussion with R.A.C.E organizers in the hot pit lane. It was tense times as the riders re-gridded for an abbreviated 3 lap final. The delay gave Bouchard time to exchange face shields and rejoin the race. Also, Provost's crew made quick repairs to her bike and she was able to re-grid. When the lights went green, Grujic made another superb start and grabbed the hole shot. At the end of lap 1 Provost was in second with Boucher third, Lesieur fourth. Schouten, Bouchard and Gareau were running fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Lap two saw Boucher work her way past Provost to take over second, while Grujic continued to pull away at the front. An extremely rare miscue by Lesieur saw her lose traction as she touched the painted curb in turn 10 and slid off uninjured. This left Schouten in fourth and Bouchard and Gareau in fifth and sixth respectively. With the riders in survival mode on the third and last lap in the cold and rain, the running order stayed the same with Grujic earning a well deserved win in her debut as an Expert.

Click Here to view Expert Race Results and Points

Click Here to view Season Long Championship Points Standings after Round #1