The sixth round of CMA hare scramble action landed in Oshweeken this past weekend, and so did the rain. Saturday afternoon the skies opened up and the rains came down. And down. And down. The hard pack clay of the Oshweeken club trails turned into slick goo that stuck to everything. Bikes gained weight with every spin of the tires and riders had to constantly fight the traction stealing slickness both up and down steep hills.
This mud.
Conditions in the morning went from bad to worse as the rain came back for the late morning riders, soaking the Novice and Vet classes and Ladies with another 25 mm of cold precipitation. Riders on the line waited under umbrellas held by stalwart friends and family members, huddled over gloves and goggles in a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable: a slick soaking of mud. When the board went side ways and the bikes roared to life off the line the mud flew! Even two lines back riders were catching roost of the starters. The grass on the starting line straight away didn’t last long and soon became one of the snottiest, slickest sections. By the time the afternoon classes took to the line it was a mess.
For everyone who raced that disgusting, soupy, greasy, slippery, slick, muddy day, I’m putting ALL of my photos up. That's 133 photos! I can't tag everyone, mostly because unless I know you well enough to know your gear, I probably can't tell you from anyone else with all that mud on! If you see yourself, email me (showie@mail.com) and I'll set a tag in. Whether you were first, or dead last, if I have a photo of you, it’s here! Everyone who finished that race deserves to see themselves, thick and loaded down with mud.
A special congrats goes to the Novice B rider who came out of the woods in the afternoon; you came in after time, buddy, but you finished, and that’s what really matters. You didn’t pull off and you didn’t give up.
#751 Coming out of the woods after nearly three gruelling hours on the track!
Youth phenom Jesse Grummet, who has an incredible lead on second place, stayed home for the bike wrecker of a race, leaving first place wide open for anyone who was brave enough to complete the shorter morning loop. Chris Culbert-Castelo, of Port Perry, Ontario, took the victory, pushing himself into third over all for points. Number two once again went to Caleb Bauman of Flordale aboard his Kawi. Mitchell Lawson rounded out the podium with a solid third place finish. Grummet remains untouchable, however, with a giant 13-point gap on Lawson, and an impressive record of four wins in six rounds.
When the youth classes pulled off the field, letting the boys and girls of the morning classes take over, the skies decided to open up. The rain was cold, and just hard enough to be more than annoying. It also kept me, for the most part, off the track and hiding under a pit tent.
Caleb’s older brother, Zac, took the victory out of the hands of Mark Koens and Fabio Vettorello who finished third and second respectively. The slick and muddy weather, which favours the larger, stronger, stockier riders in the novice classes, played against the points leader, Greg Filler, who’s 377 KTM finished outside of the points. Koens has closed the gap on first place to ten points; if he can steal a victory this weekend in St. Thomas and Filler finishes below sixth place, we might have a new points leader for the Novice A class!
After losing a win to friend Amanda Hutchinson, Ainsley Farr came back in the mud. Surprising that little 85 pulled through, but the small bike and rider pulled through the woods for another victory. Ainsley has walked away with the championship this year, and there’s no doubt about that! Second place went to Donna Fisher aboard her Suzuki and third belonged to Rachel Comisky. Now, of the three women, only Fisher was aboard a full size bike, so again I am amazed that these machines pulled through the mud; clearly a testament to the determination of the riders.
Elmo Rutnik puts the “Super” in Super Vet, and he showed why at Oshweeken. Of all the riders who took to the track, both morning and afternoon, Rutnik would be one of the smoothest guys out there!
Elmo "Mister Smooth" Rutnik
He certainly put his years in the sport, riding in all sorts of unseemly conditions, to good use in the slop that was Oshweeken, all but securing his place as Super Vet champion. Second place went to Brian West, of Sarnia, Ontario, while Steven Hart took home third. Hart won’t be back for St. Thomas, however, as in his battle to hold on to third in the slippery conditions, he crashed and injured his ribs. We’ll be thinking about you, and wishing you a speedy recovery!
Wayne Brogan was another Vet who put his years of nasty conditions to good use in the mud; extending his points lead over second place in the Plus 40 Vet Class. Brogan took the win over Jim Clayton, second, and Steve Young, third, thus extending his points lead by an indomitable 34 points! With just three races left, and Brogan’s impressive win record, it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to catch him.
Whatcha lookin' at?
The skies were kind enough to clear up a little for the afternoon riders, but really all that served to do was add sunlight and stickiness to the mud and muck. Deep tire ruts had formed in many places, with slide marks on either side, from where riders had put their feet down to steady themselves in corners, down slick hills or just in tight straight sections! Even Jake “the Great” Stapleton was caught with his feet down!
Brian "Swampy" Marshall, showing us how it's done.
Stapleton, doing the Swampy-Slide.
Vet Expert Dave Nelson put a victory notch in his belt, something he hasn’t been able to do since Barrie back in June! Jamie Jones, known for his bright pink pants which bring back memories of the early ‘90s, was a solid second, a nice recovery from the Ant Hill where he finished just shy of the podium in fourth. Don Given, points leader on the 323 Yamaha finished just this side of the podium cut off for a third. Of all the classes, Vet Expert is the tightest points race. One point separates first and second, with Don Given ahead of Dave Nelson 65 to 64; St. Thomas will be a deciding factor. It’s my prediction that these two phenomenal riders will be battling it out to the last lap, in the last race.
Even the mud couldn't hide Jones' bright pink pants!
Michael Jonker made it three wins in a row at Oshweeken, and four wins over all, extending his lead over second in points Christian Birker. Marcel Filion took his second second place of the year, and first podium position since the first race in Port Colborne. Steven Shaw, of Uxbridge, fell back a position from his second in Moorefield, to finish off the podium in a solid third. For his part, Birker finished within the points, collecting six for his fifth place finish. He remains in second, ten points ahead of third.
Drama in the Expert class! First ranked Expert Chad Burford threw his bike down, sick of the conditions, the dangerous hills and corners. When asked later, he commented: “It’s just not fun when it’s like this.” Burford did pick his bike up, and managed to finish second, in front of Brandon Lawson, but behind Lee Hill. With his third podium of the year, and first win, Hill must have been at least a little happy with the way things turned out.
Speaking of drama, here are the Pros! Brian Wojnarowski took his first win and broke his second place curse with a phenomenal ride in the mud! Wojo made the mud look easy with a smooth style and amazing balance. Jake was running in second behind Wojo, but due to an issue with the scorers, he was penalized and put a lap down, opening the door for Tyler Linton to make his podium debut in second place! The 12 points second place got him allowed Linton to pull away from Aaron Wilkins who was threatening the #4 plate for the front of Linton’s bike. Mike Vandenhoek made another appearance in third. Stapleton is only 9 points in front of Wojo in the points chase, with Vandenhoek 21 off that, and Linton a mere 6 points away from putting a #3 on his bike.
Aaron Wilkins, with a 1/2" extention for a shock bolt, and no rear breaks, he's STILL smiling!
Even a lap down, Jake Stapleton still managed to pick up 5 points for a sixth place finish. Stapleton, ever the even tempered gentleman, shrugged the black flag, which was apparently due to not calling his number out while going through the barrels, with that polite little smile, and even walked away from a “fan” who threw a full water bottle at him after he allegedly roosted the scoring tent. Now, I wasn’t there, but from the looks of the tent, Stapleton wasn’t the only one flinging mud. Besides, it’s a mud race, roost happens. Acting like a goon and chucking a water bottle at any rider, no less a Pro, is a disgusting show of unprofessional behaviour, regardless of who did it. It’s inexcusable. And to the fans who called the would be pitcher on his actions: Thank you!
Oshweeken was a nasty race, with nasty circumstances, nasty conditions, and clearly at least one nasty spectator. With that in mind, everyone will be looking forward to St. Thomas. The weather has been good this week, and while they’re calling for thunderstorms Sunday afternoon, we all have high hopes for one race, just one race, where there’s at least a little less mud.
See you at the races! And for everyone who entered and finished the race: Congratulations! You all deserved it, regardless of the position you finished in.
Photos. Please don't copy/distribute them without permission. I go through a lot of trouble to get these photos.
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/GrayerGray/Oshweeken/
EDIT
It has been brought to my attention that Youth rider Jesse Grummett was allegedly disqualified for cheating this round; this information comes from a participant and not a CMA representative, or representative of the Steel City Riders. I say "allegedly" because I can neither confirm or deny that Grummett actually cheated. With the poor track conditions, anything is possible.
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