A Long Season

Sunday September 6, 2009 saw the final round of the CMA National Hare Scramble series held at Wilberforce, hosted by the OCMC and headed up by young Nick Barker. Barker, an enthusiastic off road rider from the Intermediate class, has organized the OCMC club race at Wilberforce for the last two years, to great successes. This was his first time running a national, and in spite of some small bobbles, the event was a huge success, with riders ready and eager to come back again next September. The long weekend format made the whole event much more relaxed, as no one was rushing to get home from the small pit section for work on Monday. Many riders took the opportunity to camp out Sunday night and enjoy a few beers and stories around the campfire. It just goes to show that when the racing is done, these riders who might battle bitterly on the track, that is where it is left.

But that was Sunday night... Sunday morning, the races were on and several championships and many plates in the Pro class hung in the balance.

Jordan Fischer, the eventual winner and champion in the Mini Junior class, had another solid race. Out of the five rounds he scored points at, it was a podium finish each time. His win at Wilberforce put him out in front of second overall, and third place at Wilberforce, Braden Butcher. It was a Team Green podium and over all with Porsche Reynolds, of Cookstown, Ontario, taking the second place finish at Wilberforce and the third overall. Fischer finished the season with 67 points, followed by Butcher with 42 and Reynolds with 32. Falling just outside of the top three, Honda rider Miquel Renaud-Nolte finished fourth over all with 27 points and Tyler Wicks, of Waterloo, picked up 20 points on his KTM for a fifth over all.

Ryder Heacock, son of Pro #13 Dustin Heacock, did his father proud taking home his first #1 finish, and third podium, of the year. Heacock is one of only two Mini Senior riders to have scored points in all eight rounds of the series. With his #1 finish at Wilberforce, the young Suzuki rider finished third over all. The other rider to score points at all eight rounds, Tyler Maenz of Thorton, finished second both at Wilberforce and overall in the class. Third place went to Tyler's little brother, Ryan, who finished fifth over all. Connor Brogan, son of Vet Ex rider Wayne Brogan, finished five of the first six rounds on the top spot of the box, with one second place in Burnt River. This streak won him the overall championship; even though he scored no points in the last two rounds, Brogan had the necessary points to keep in front of second place. He took the championship with 87 points, followed by T. Maenz with 80 and Heacock with 69. Nathan Playford of Elmira finished fourth overall with 63 points, followed by R. Maenz with 55.

For the second year in a row, Ainsley Farr is your Women's Hare Scramble Champ! The only Women's rider to score points at every round, Farr finished second behind the young Emily Head at Wilberforce. Jessica Cannell, of Toronto, was a surprise third place finisher aboard her Green Machine. The overalls for the Women's class have Farr out front with a commanding 95 points, followed by the elder Head sister, Melissa with 50, younger sister Emily with 45, Kate Knight with 43 and Rachael Comiskey with 49.

David Cockayne, proud father of Pro rider Kevin Cockayne, was not only the #1 Legends finisher at Wilberforce, but the class Champion as well. His #612 KTM finished on the top spot of the box six out of eight rounds, earning him a dominating 90 points. Following Cockayne both in his finish and overall standings is Corrunna native and Honda rider Brad Kitto. Kitto finished with 75 points accumulated from a win and five second places. Third overall went to Rick Day of Milton, who had a win in Burnt River for 15 points.
The Super Vets, for those big bad boys 49+, saw a new champion in the way of Parry Sound's own Brian Holloway. The #617 Suzuki rider had a consistent season, scoring points at all but the last round, including a three race win streak. The overall winner at Wilberforce was Machine Racing's John Nelson, keeping his win streak alive. While Nelson only raced three rounds (Barrie, Burnt River and Wilberforce) he won every round he entered. Second place went to Caledon's Bruce Moffatt aboard the #302 Yamaha. Third place at the event went to Steven Hart of Bond Head on the #616 Yamaha. The overall in the class went to Holloway with 76 points, followed by Greg Bradnam with 66, Steven Hart with 47, John Nelson with 45 and Keith Billings with 35. Billings narrowly beat out Moffat and Lance Matthews, who each had 34 points, for the final top five spot.

The Vet class saw German born Guido Kneilling take home the overall and the win at Wilberforce, narrowly beating out Jim Clayton for the champion spot. Kneilling will contest the Vet Ex class in 2010, as per the progressive class structure. Second place at Wilberforce went to Brad Brown, of Iona, Ontario, while Clayton finished third. It was truly a battle between the two KTM riders, with the #928 of Kneilling taking the overall championship from Clayton's #929 by a single point: 91 to 90. Third place went to Steven Kelly of Oakville with 30 points, followed by Barry Billings of Cambridge with 29 and Dennis Imeson, of Bell River, with 26.

2008 Youth Champion Jesse Grummett took home the 2009 Novice A championship, with a big enough lead that he opted to run the Intermediate class in Wilberforce. The win at Wilberforce went to #426 Suzuki rider Jacob Faber. Finishing second both in the day and overall was Chris Culbert-Castello of Uxbridge. Third at Wilberforce was Mitchell Lawson, of Woodville, Ontario. The overall for the class had Grummett with 87 points, Jed Franko of Caledon with 65 (the only Novice A to attend every, and score points, at every round), Culbert-Castelo with 43, Brett McBain of St. Thomas with 38 and Andrew Powell of St. Catherines with 36.

Culbert-Castelo will most likely move up, along with Champion Grummet and Jed Franko, to the Intermediate class. These two riders, if you remember, were promoted together from the Youth class at the end of last year. They're shaping up to be quite a pair, with memories of Tony Boerkamp and Chris Van Hove written on this new generation. They are definitely riders to watch, as I don't imagine either will take too long to get to Expert, and it's only a matter of time before they're jockeying for that #1 plate.

Roger Messier had the championship locked up going into Wilberforce, but that didn't stop the former Pro from taking another victory, his first since Vienna. The big bad black KTM rider had an amazing ride, keeping up with Adam Millson and Michael Jonker of the Expert class. Behind Messier was Paul Andratis and Dave Nelson (second and third respectively). The overall for the class had Messier with an absolutely astonishing 114 points, Andratis in second with 90, followed by Nelson with 44. Randy Zuest of Rockwood had 39 points and Stephen Tustin narrowly edged out Dwayne Soper for the final top five spot with 36 points.

2009 Intermediate Champion Greg Filer was busy studying and getting ready for school, but had the championship wrapped up, with an untouchable 97 points in the biggest class. Finishing first in Wilberforce was Christian Birker, of Stoufville. Birker came out to only a few rounds, but was sure to support his friend, Barker, in his first attempt at running a national. Second lace went to Eric Langford of Millgrove, while Steven Bond took home third. The overalls had Filer in first, as already said, followed by Bond with 67 points, Dmitry Tsvetkov with 66 points, Steven Shaw with 44 points and Eric Langford with a tight 43 points.

New comer to the series Adam Millson surprised everyone when he came out of the gate ready to dominate, putting down some impressive battles with Michael Jonker. The double digit boys took commanding control of the class, often finishing first and second place throughout the season. Millson's gap, however, over Jonker allowed him the comfort to move up to the Pro class for Wilberforce and try his hand at the class he will move to in 2010. Jason Griffeth, of Bowmanville, took home the win, after finishing behind Millson and Jonker at five out of the remaining seven rounds. Torin Linton, younger brother of Pro rider Tyler Linton, finished second, followed by Jonker, who suffered mechanical trouble. The overalls have Millson up front with 102 points, followed by Jonker's 89, Griffeth with 71, Frank Cantin with 52 and Drew Slikker with 28, narrowly edging out 2008 third place finisher Lee Hill.

And then there were the Pros...

At St. Thomas, Brian “Wojo” Wojnarowski finally claimed the #1 plate, after chasing it for three years, finishing runner up twice in a row (once to the young Van Hove and once to Toyota-Yamaha teammate Jake Stapleton). With another win in front of a very proud family including his grandfather, father, wife and son, Wojo became the 2010 CMA National Hare Scramble Pro Champion.

It was a tight race, with a restart in the afternoon class due to some miscommunication. After organizer Nick Barker finished fixing the problem, the race was restarted. Wojo's first start had him out front, but the second start saw Chris “Hooter” Van Hove, Wojo's biggest competitor throughout the season, out ahead. Local boy Aaron Wilkins pushed hard too; he was in a solid second place position but wanted to make sure he kept that #2 Wojo was so sick of. Wojo, never one to sit back on his laurels, was hot on their heels and fought long and hard until a mechanical failure forced Hooter to back off the throttle and limp through the finish for a second place over all.

Unaware of the situation, Wojo continued to ride hard, losing his seat part way through the last lap, not that it really mattered, as Wojo rarely sits down.

When it was all over, the Wojo mojo worked and Mister Brian Wojnarowski was the new champion of the Pro class. Good friend and fellow Pro class rider Dustin Heacock presented him with a #1 plate. Wojo was happy with the way he rode and proud of his competitors.

All of the riders were satisfied with the challenging course that Barker had laid out and while it was difficult for some riders, they are all ready and rearing to go for next year. With the Labour Day long weekend format, it made for a hell of a pit party afterwards.

It’s the off season now, but we’ll be back soon enough. May is only eight months away!

Pro class calendars are available for $25, as are photo CDs (contact for pricing). Email me at showie@mail.com for more information.

As always, photos are available here.