Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Round#1 Wiesner Insurance Ontario Cross Country Championship
May 5th marked the beginning of the 2013 Wiesner Insurance Ontario Cross Country Championship at the storied Motopark race facility. A beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid 20s greeted riders along with a course that many riders said was the best ever at this location.
There were a lot of new faces at this event with a number coming from the motocross world and some that were regulars in other off-road series. Regardless of where they came from, there was a strong turnout and some serious competition began early. As per Motopark guidelines and out of respect for local residents, racing never begins before 9AM but as soon as the gate dropped in the Pee Wee race, it was gloves off bar to bar action.
Pee Wee sensation Connor Taplay led from start to finish but close behind was a great battle between four determined riders. The Pee Wee racers loved the new extended course and the new up hill and down hill section was the scene of a lot of back and forth of these youngsters.
The morning schedule ran like clockwork and the Mini Junior / Mini Senior race went off the line at 9:45AM. Mini Junior was a repeat of last year’s overall with Christian Wiesner in first place followed by Ryan O’Neil in second. Third went to series newcomer and experienced motocrosser Hunter Scott.
Mini Senior saw a fantastic high speed race featuring the top two motocrossers in the province, Yamaha mounted Sam Gaynor and KTM Canada sponsored Jamie Baskerville out to challenge series regular Wolfgang Wiesner on his Kawasaki Canada/Two Wheel Motorsports sponsored Team Green KX100. A blistering pace was set from the onset with Jamie and Sam taking turns leading. Wolfgang rode on their back fender waiting for a mistake. As the race wore on, Sam pulled a lead when the other two took a tumble. In the end, Sam Gaynor took the win with Jamie Baskerville second. Wolfgang Wiesner posted faster lap times on the last three laps but not enough to make up lost ground after a fall. He settled for Third place by a mere four seconds. With new motocross speed in the class also coming from Kyle Porter and Domenic Borg as well as the experienced Tyler Wicks, this will be a class worth watching throughout the year.
The Morning race program continued the high speed action with big excitement in the Beginner class. Chosen as the class for the Inglis Cycle $100 Amateur Holeshot Award, Adam Dickie rocketed out of the gate on his Husky 144 to take the early lead and the $100. Still on the first lap, Mike Bulgarelli passed for the lead and kept it to the end taking the win in the class. Adam settled for third after battling back and forth with a few hot shots along the way. 2012 Mini Senior Provincial Champion Michael McLennan shocked all by taking second place on his first outing on the full size bike and racing for two hours. It’s a great accomplishment especially on a course as challenging as Motopark.
Michael Toneguzzo stole the show in Vet Junior with Scott Merritt a lap down in second. Jose Noriega Rivas took the final spot on the podium who humbly accepted and credited his position on the fact that Tyler Scott was on the sidelines recovering from an off season injury and not racing.
In Vet Senior we saw motocrosser Jim Scott convincingly took the win over Georgetown’s finest Jim Crawford in second place on his fancy new KTM 250 XCFW. Mark Zimny didn’t surprise anyone by registering in the wrong class and coming in third. Who knows the damage he would have done to his competition if he registered for the right class?
The Super Senior podium had to be a collection of the classiest guys in the sport. All top notch racers and all around great guys. In third spot was perennial favourite Jeff Golden who has shown that he has the hang of his beastly new KTM four stroke. A big round of applause was given when Brian West accepted his second place trophy after a long absence after a serious injury. We are all glad to see Mr West back on the race circuit showing all what determination is. First place went to none other than series regular Bryan Hill who held his Gas Gas 300 open long enough to have a 30 second lead at the end of the race.
In the Women’s class we saw Chloe Boone take third with some challenges along the way but we were all happy to see her on the podium. Everyone’s favourite photographer and off-road personality Alex Franklin opted to put her camera down for a couple of hours and lay it on the line. She put in an inspiring performance and the end finished second to Elizabeth Holloway. That in itself is a serious accomplishment as Elizabeth is an incredible rider with tons of experience. The Holloway family name is synonymous with fast racers and Elizabeth has no problem living up to that legacy.
The afternoon program features Junior, Intermediate, Vet Master and Pro classes. At some events the course is expanded feature some more difficult obstacles for these riders but the organizers at this event used the same course for the afternoon program.
Junior class saw all three podium finishers take turns leading the race. Lap times were very close and nobody knew who was going to be up front as they came in each lap. In the end, Tanner Lay edged out Nathan Bottema and Stephen Tew.
Intermediate was a who’s who list of up and coming future Pros. It was great to see the return of some great riders like Tyler Maenz, Clark Roylance and Mackenzie Holloway into the series all putting in stellar performances. The podium however was made up of Motocross ace Matt McGuire taking a convincing win over Andrew Millson and the “can’t miss” Suzuki of Jason Kleingeld.
Vet Master was chosen as the recipient of the Wiesner Insurance $100 Fastest Lap award and the big cheque went to none other than Keith Billings. His third lap of 10:31 was enough to collect the money but unfortunately for him it was not enough to hold off fellow seasoned racer Robb Hewitt. Keith had to not only settle for second, but be challenged all the way by his brother Barry who ended up taking third. Just edged off the podium was Oleh Petraszko in a welcomed cameo appearance in the series.
When the top off-road Pros in the province all blasted off the line in hopes of grabbing the $100 Wiesner Insurance Pro Holeshot Award, Adam Millson nearly took out team mate Brian Wojnarowski in the process. Brian came out unscathed with a $100 to show for his efforts. Josh Long had a hic up on the line when it took two stabs to get his KTM firing causing him to ride at a frenzied pace to catch up to the front where he was determined to be. It took only two laps for Josh to pass Brian for the lead passing some very quick riders like Kevin Cockayne, Jason Griffith and number One plate holder Steve Bond in the process.
Josh held that lead for 12 laps with Brian not far behind and closing in. With four laps to go Josh had to pull off into the service lane with a mishap involving a strap on his hydration system cutting his neck severely. Brian took advantage and pulled a significant gap. Brian noted on the podium that it was a very challenging course and a tough way to start the season but a great race nonetheless. Josh was noticeably unhappy with a second place which is not surprising as he is a very focused racer always determined to win. Adam “Cheesburger” Millson credited his exacting training regimen for his excellent third place finish.
With the intense action in round one of the series everyone is pumped for round two in Wingham June 23rd. The Wingham venue is very different from Motopark’s rocky course. Riders will look forward to steep hills, perfect dirt and fast motocross sections.
Watch www.worldendurocanada.com for updates on all upcoming rounds of this series.
