But, to the topic at hand: Vienna. The Vienna round of the CMA Hare Scramble series was originally scheduled for June 21, but due to rainy conditions and a new, unbeaten track, the race was cancelled. The rescheduled event took place last weekend, July 19, in Vienna on an entirely new course. The territory was virgin for both morning and afternoon riders, as the Intermediate, Vet Ex, Experts and Pros ran several sections of trail reserved specifically for them, with only a single or double set of tire treads from when the course was cut.
The loop was much shorter than the previous week’s event in Moorefield. The Ant Hill Classic, always a long loop, was somewhere in the 20+ kilometer range, while the Vienna loop was just short of 8 kilometers. This led to short lap times and lots of chance for the many spectators who gathered on the many elevation changes to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders, or for families stuck in the pits to cheer on their brothers, sons, friends and fathers.
In the morning, the youth classes ran a slightly s shorter version of the course. Mini Junior winner Miguel Renaud-Nolte, of Kitchener, Ontario, was the sole rider in his class, getting to the top spot after a second place in Moorefield. The #571 Honda is now in second place behind Jordan Fischer’s #566 Kawasaki.
Mini Senior, always the larger of the two classes, saw Connor Brogan do his father proud by adding another win notch to the bar pad. Connor has won every round except Burnt River, where he came in second to Port Perry’s Cody Curran. Following Brogan’s #598 KTM was Nathan Playford of Elmira, Ontario, who has been consistently improving his finishes since his debut at Burnt River. Finishing third, but standing second overall in the points standings, was Tyler Maenz, on the #594 Kawasaki hailing from Thorton, Ontario.
These tough mini riders will most likely be making the move to the Novice A class in 2010, looking to mimic the domination showed by Jesse Grummett, last year’s Youth Champion.
And what can be said about Mister Grummett, except that he is one fast kid! That #410 Yamaha flies through the woods with shades of Wojo written all over it. Jesse took home his fourth win in four races (he was absent at the previous round in Moorfield). This kid flies! By the end of the first lap, despite having taken off in the dead middle of the five lines, Grummett had worked his way into the Super Vets (who had taken off first).
Following Grummett on the podium was Jed Franko, of Caledon, Ontario and Andrew Powell of St. Catherines on a pair of KTMs. The #443 of Franko and the #398 of Powell offered a challenge for Grummett, but in the end Grummett proved to be more determined.
Representing her gender, Ainsley Farr was the only lady to who raced the Vienna loop. The tough as nails far has finished first on podium every round except Port Colborne where she fell to fifth place. She currently sits ahead of second place Kate Knight and is anticipating another #1 finish to go with the Championship plaque from 2008.
The Legends class raced again, with David Cockayne, of Kevin Cockayne relation, took home a third win and Brad Kitto, of Corunna, Ontario, took home second place.
Super Vet Brian Holloway took that #617 Suzuki right to the top of the podium at Veinna, roading past second place Greg Bradnam (Husaberg) and third place Frank Sutton (Husquavarna). For a bunch of old guys, the Super Vets are a class of gentlemen and fast riders, proving that blind stupidity and throttle twisting are nothing when compared to years of experience and a proven technique… Unless of course, you’re Bobby Prochnau (the WEC riders will understand the joke.)
Former Expert rider turned old man Lee Hill took home the top spot with the Veteran class. Retiring from the afternoon program, Hill found riding in the morning much more relaxing; a fresh, unbeaten course with fewer ruts, roots and crap to contend with. Following Hill’s freshly renumbered #970 KTM on the podium was the #911 of Jeff Stephens of Port Colborne in second and Jim Clayton in third. Clayton remains in first place overall in the points, over absentee Guido Kneiling.
Knieling is currently on vacation riding the wilds of Michigan but is expected back and better than ever for Oshweeken in August.
And that concludes the morning program.
The afternoon classes, as mentioned before, had a slightly different, but no longer, loop to run, which included to spectator accessible areas designed to encourage morning riders and their families to stay and cheer on their favorite Intermediate, Vet Ex, Expert and/or Pro.
The Intermediate class was missing several notable faces, including big brute Mark Koens and strong silent type Nick Barker. Koens was at the Gopher Dunes National, turning wrenches and changing tires, while Barker was prepping the Wilberforce loop for the newly reinstated last round. It was doubtful whether the Wilberforce round would happen, without a club or organization to back it and without adequate volunteers. OCMC stepped up, as did 20 year old Nick Barker.
Barker ran the 2008 OCMC club race at Wilberforce to great reviews and is a die hard, hard core off-road rider at heart. Much like Pro rider Chad Burford, Barker can be picked out a mile away by his vintage riding pants, and off color jersey. He proves you don’t have to match, or have a new bike, to go fast and be determined. Thank you, Nick, for making sure we get that last round in.
But, back to racing!
The Intermediate class was a battle between Dmitry Tsvetkov of Concord and Steven Bond of Kitchener. Greg Filer, who finished third overall and remains first in points, had a crash early off the start that caused him to start at the back of the field and forced him to work his way up. The short laps can be an advantage and a disadvantage in these cases. Filer had plenty of time and options to get into the more open sections of the otherwise tight course, but so did Tsvetkov and Bond.
Vet Expert was dominated, big surprise, by Roger Messier of Paris, Ontario. The black KTM flew through the short course, eating through the Expert class, passing back of the pack Pro riders and threatening the masculinity of all involved. Messier is one of only two riders to have five wins in five races this season. Last year no rider was able to have a perfect season; Messier, apparently, has taken it upon himself to correct this. Paul Andratis pushed his Husquavarna to a second place finish and Randy Zuest worked his to third.
The Expert race was another epic battle between Jonker and Milson. Despite a pretty brutal looking crash, Millson was able to bounce back (as did his front fender) to rip victory from the talons of second place. Jonker was forced to take another second place, though he traded scrapes with Millson on more than one occasion, switching back and forth for the lead. Finishing in third place was Bowmanville native Jason Griffeth on his #103 KTM. There’s got to be something about those double numbers; #77 and #88 are both on fire this season. Like Messier, Jonker and Millson fought their way into the back of the Pro ranks at Vienna.
And then there were the Pros…
At Moorefield many Pros, including front runners Brian Wojnarowski and Chris Van Hove, Mister Consistent Tyler Linton and Bryan “Swampy” Marshall, were absent, racing in Penticton at the fourth round of the World Enduro Canada CEC series. Wojo and Van Hove came back with something to prove, Linton came back with a hunger for the podium and Marshall came back with what he thought would be a new appreciation for Southern Ontario sand. But, there was no sand to speak of at Vienna, only dirt; moist, loamy, super tractiony dirt.
Without question, Aaron Wilkins proved, without a doubt, he is one of the best starters on the line, taking yet another hole shot. Mike Vandenhoek and Wojo were hot on his tail, coming through the first left hander side by side. Wilkins was gone, leaving Wojo and Mike to battle hard, until Mike went down and Wojo, rather than going down himself, was forced to rundown his fellow racer’s bike, going over the front tire. No stranger to bad luck, or unlucky circumstances, Mike knew he was done.
Vandenhoek wasn’t the only Pro to fall out of the race. Not long after Chris Van Hove, who was fighting back and forth for the lead with Wojo once they passed Wilkins, suffered a fateful and catastrophic crash. The #5 Husquavarna crashed hard and forced the break pedal into the engine case, puncturing it, thus crippling the machine and making it one very expensive piece of scrap for the time being. Van Hove had no choice but to abandon his bike against a tree while it did a Valdez and hoof it back. Upon hearing this, Vandenhoek the good Samaritan went out to get the other unlucky rider.
Further back in the pack, Tyler Linton fought hard against Kevin Cockayne for the last podium spot before finally getting in front of his old number to take the last podium position.
When the dust settled and the riders were hosed down Wojo had another victory under his belt, putting him into first place over all. Aaron Wilkins finished second, far enough in front of Linton that he couldn’t be caught, but far enough behind Wojo that he knew he wasn’t getting first. Aaron now sits in second overall for points, pushing Van Hove into third. While Tyler managed to pick up ten points and a third place trophy, while he was away Kevin Cockayne managed to usurp his position in the points standing. Tyler Linton now sits in fifth, behind Cockayne by a shy two points.
Even though he didn’t finish the race, Chris Van Hove gets the Juha Award. In 2007 our very own Kevin Cockayne was having issues getting his bike up a particularly steep section at the World Enduro Championship’s Parry Sound stop. Gio Sala took his bike and rode it up the incline. Van Hove repeated this stunt for a morning rider, getting an overheated KTM to the top, only to have the rider loose the bike at the top.
The next round is in Oshweeken, hosted by one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in Ontario, the Steel city Riders. Last year’s course was a mud hole of sludge and slime that pushed Jake Stapleton into a second place, and a black flag forced him back to sixth, effectively ruining his up-to-that-point perfect season. Anything can happen at Oshweeken, with Hungry Man banners buried deep in the woods and the unpredictable weather of Southern Ontario in the summer.
If anyone is interested in photos from this year, 2008 “yearbook” CDs or info on the 2010 CMA Hare Scramble calendar, please email me at showie@mail.com
As always, photos are available here. Please don't steal from me. I will do prints and CDs upon reqest.
See you in the woods!
- SuziQ
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