Round #1 Novice, 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.

Novice Qualifying

Second year WCC competitor Anissa Burachynsky (#416) had a great start to her season turning in a best time of 2:06.316 in the two morning sessions on her Kawasaki ZX6RR earning her the pole for Sunday's Novice final. Three of the four rookie racers had solid practice sessions. Sara-Clode Carriere (#70) on a Yamaha YZFR6 clocked a 2:09.968, good enough for second on the grid. Kana Matsumoto (#107), turned in a 2:09.773 lap in her WCC debut on her Suzuki SV650 for third spot. A 2:12.08 for Suzuki GSX600R mounted Michelle Dagenais earned her fourth. Unfortunately, Maude Labrosse-Legris (#96) missed Saturday practice as she and her crew repaired her bike from a minor fall and thus putting her at the back of the Novice grid. Second year Novice Kristy Hall (#38, Yamaha YZFR6) turned in a 2:15.049 putting her first on the second row, fifth overall. Manon Lemire (#145, Yamaha YZFR6) earned 6th with a 2:18.772.

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.

Novice Final

It was a tough day for two rookie riders Maude Labrosse-Legris and Sara-Clode Carriere suffered falls in their Novice 600 final and were unable to take the starting grid for the WCC final. Maude was the luckier of the two suffering a shoulder injury, while Sara took a harder tumble and was diagnosed with a fractured C3 vertebrae.  Luckily, Sara suffered no nerve damage but spent Sunday night in the Belleville hospital under observation and was released Monday with a neck brace and doctor’s orders to stay off her bike for 2 months. She is a fighter and vows to return as soon as doctors (and her father) allow.

So, 5 novices took the grid with Kana Matsumoto taking the early lead in the rainy conditions. Anissa Burachynsky held a strong second with Kristy Hall third while Michelle Dagenais and Manon Lemire held fourth and fifth respectively. Lap two saw the top two positions unchanged while Michelle Dagenais managed a pass on Kristy Hall to take over third. Kristy lost traction through the esses and her and her bike took a hard tumble. Initially winded and bruised Kristy was attended to quickly by R.A.C.E. 's Chris Chappelle and he ordered her to wait for the ambulance to arrive. This brought out the red flag and a stop to the race. Luckily Kristy suffered only some bruising and some banged up fingers, but was unable to take the grid for the restart. With the race halted before all riders could complete the required half distance a full restart was ordered from original grid positions. In a repeat of the first start Matsumoto took the early lead with Burachynski second, Dagenais third and Lemire fourth. Under increasingly wet conditions the SV650 mounted Matsumoto held the lead and the rest of the Novice field held their positions. On the third and final lap Burachynski passed Matsumoto on the back straight to take the lead heading into the final section of the last lap. But it was Matsumoto who turned the tables and put a classic "Allen's Corner" pass on Burachynsky on the final tour and held onto the lead for the win in her debut race. Burachynski finished a close second with Dagenais taking the final podium spot and Lemire fourth.

Click Here to view Novice Race Results and Points

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