Sean Allen
BRANT NEWS

Brantford’s Jordan Szoke cemented his status on the weekend as one of the best Canadian superbike riders of all time.

The 33-year-old motorcycle racer clinched his eighth Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship with a second-place finish on Saturday in the first of two season-ending races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“What an honour it is to win this trophy again,” Szoke said to CSBK as he was presented with the Canada Cup. “Sometimes I feel like I want it more than anybody. I’ve been so much more involved with everything this year, running my own team, that I think this one is extra special.”

Szoke came into the finale with a 66-point lead in the standings through the first four races of the season.

He finished just 0.118 seconds back of Kevin Lacombe on Saturday and only half a second in front of Alex Welsh.

He said he was racing with the battle in the standings in the back of his mind.

“I was being so careful,” Szoke said. “I thought I would let (Lacombe) do some work early on and hope he pulled us away from the pack. But then when (Welsh) got up there I didn’t want to get pushed too far back, so that forced me to ride hard the whole race.”

The second-place finish pushed Szoke’s lead over Lacombe in the standings to 59 points.

With only 52 maximum points available in Sunday’s final, Szoke had clinched the championship.

But that didn’t stop Szoke from coming out and helping to deliver a thrilling finale for the fans on Sunday.

Szoke and Lacombe changed leads several times on the final lap, before Welsh passed them on the inside on the final turn for the victory.

It was the first time since 2007 that Szoke didn’t claim a victory at either of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park races.

“Coming out of here without a win is pretty heartbreaking, but we did the big job by getting the championship (Saturday),” Szoke said.

Szoke’s Waznie Racing crew also picked up the Inside Motorcycles Team of the Year Award.