Return of the King

This past Sunday the third round of the CMA Hare Scramble series was held at Burnt River. A place known for lots of rocks, logs and water, Connie and RJ had their work cut out for them controlling the beavers that kept damning culverts, flooding large sections of the track. The weather was much better than last year, with a cold snap killing some of the bugs and the rain holding off for the weekend.
Youth Junior was won by local racer Tyler Greenlaw. Yes, that’s Greenlaw as in Connie. Momma was proud to hand her son the first place trophy, that’s for sure. Points leader Jordan Fischer took home the second place spot and Braden Butcher of Barrie, Ontario finished the top three with ten points.
Youth Senior was a much bigger class, with Cody Curran of Port Perry taking home the top spot. Connor Brogan, son of injured Vet Expert Wayne Brogan, took home second, breaking his two race win streak. Mister consistant, Tyler Maenz, of Thorton, Ontario, took home his third third place trophy of the year.
Kate Knight took her first podium at Burnt River, with the top spot, none the less. She beat out Melissa Head, who finished second, and Ainsley Farr, for the honour.
Novice A saw Jesse Grummett doing more of the same, taking home his third first place finish of the year, extending his lead over Chris Culbert-Castelo to 23 points. Culbert-Castelo took home second and Jed Franko, of Caledon, Ontario, took home third place.
Jim Clayton was the top finishing Veteran, followed by the #928 bike of Guido Knieling, second fastest man in the morning at the Barrie round. Waclaw Palider, of Mississauga finished in third aboard his #935 Yamaha.
Super Vet was another slaughter by John Nelson. Bruce Moffat, of Caledon and Lance Matthews, of North Caledon, fought hard, but couldn’t keep up with Nelson’s speed. After two wins, Nelson has two points of Matthews, and eight over Moffat. Elmo Rutnik, last year’s champion, won at Port Colborne, but hasn’t scored a point since, and as such is sitting back in 7th place.
Roger Messier, of Paris, put that big, black KTM back in front for a third time in the Vet Expert class, followed by Dwayne Soper of London in second and Dave Nelson of Drumbo in third.
Another three for three, Greg Filer took home his third win aboard his #177 KTM. He pushed his way into the Expert class for his victory against fellow Milgrove native Eric Langford aboard the #155. Dmitry Tsvetkov, of Concord, Ontario, made it an all orange podium in the Intermediate class.
Expert rider, Michael Jonker, had a great start to the day. Having celebrated his 19th birthday on the Friday, Jonker held off celebrations until he took home a win. He led most of the race, but suffered a harsh crash, which allowed the #77 of Adam Millson to get out in front. Payton Gagnier, of Windsor, made his debuted in second place, with Jason Griffeth taking home third. When the dust settled, the birthday boy was back in forth, finishing just outside the podium.
Now, I called this update return of the King, and there’s a reason for that. Just before noon, as the morning riders were wrapping up, Jake Stapleton, the #1 rider from last year, who won all but two rounds of the ten round series, his bikes wrapped up. Confusing many with his #17 WEC plate, Stapleton went for a ride while Chris van Hove and Wojo battled it out for second place. The race started with an almost hole shot by Aaron Wilkins, the #6 bike falling just short of Wojo’s big, blue #2. Wojo led for a while, but by the time we caught back up with the Pros, Jake had taken over and Wojo was fighting with Van Hove for second place. When the mud dried, and believe me, there was plenty of mud, Jake took the top spot on the podium, Van Hove took second (and the points lead) and Wojo took the last podium spot.

Mike Vandenhoek finished out of points, but gets big style points for keeping those fresh white boots, just that, white. Riding with his feet up over the rad shrouds made not only for pretty white boots, but was a stunt enjoyed by those watching the water “crossing.” It takes a lot of skill to turn a bike in water over the hubs, with your feet up on the shrouds.

The next round, should the weather hold off, will happen next Sunday at Vienna. It is the last chance to see big name riders such as Wojo, Chris Van Hove and Tyler Linton before they head off to the WEC for two weeks. It’s also a brand new course. This is the first time they’re running this course, so come on out and have some fun in the mud.
If the course is rained out, perhaps you’d be interested in heading out to Gopher Dunes to watch Jake Stapleton take on some of the best Ontario has to offer through the CMRC Provincials.
As usual, photos are available here. If you want photo CDs drop me a line at showie@mail.com.
See you in the woods!
- Suzie