Article by Suzanne Howie
If the weather at the Barrie round was prohibitive, the weather leading into the second annual 2 Days in June event was disastrous. Heavy rains had soaked the ground in the days leading up to the event, which leads us to the special picture in our banner (Swampy’s rig being towed by two tractors) for this week’s special double edition. So sit back, grab a drink, and let’s talk about the 2013 Edition of the 2 Days in June!
Lansdowne had a reputation after last year for being difficult, and rain did not make things any easier. Just getting into the event was a job and a half, requiring, at one point, two heavy duty farm tractors to drag rigs through the thick mud. After the fourth and final rig made it in, organizers started directing racers to park on the road, or in local farm drives. Innumerable thanks to all of the helpful hands, and tractors, involved in getting the four rigs that did make it into the pits in, out, and for digging out several brave souls who tried to make the run on their own.
But getting back to the race!
There were only ten riders who braved the short course, with Keegan Frederikse doing ten laps on the slick course to take the top spot in Mini A, while second place Cole Allison only managed 9 laps. An unknown rider, #9A who finished third in Mini A, and Suzanne Howie, first place Women’s B, managed 8 laps on the rough course. The Marshall brothers took home first (Curtis) and second (Devyn) in Mini B, and Dana Barrett finishing behind Howie for second in Women’s B.
Many of the morning classes suffered from the same lack of riders that the Mini Classes did, with the exception of Women’s A, which had eight riders, about average for that class. Many riders scrubbed out of the two hour event, with only three riders managing to do 5 laps. Lance Matthews and Wayne Brogan of the Super Vet A class and Brent Phifer of Vet B battled the course and eked out their five laps, with Matthews and Phifer getting the win in their respective classes for the effort.
In the afternoon, things didn’t get any easier. There were rocks, and mud, and Quebecois riders. “When you get guys like Legeault and Leonard in the mix, you never know what’s going to happen in the Pro Class,” said Bryan “Swampy” Marshall of the arrival of the fast French riders.
Leonard got off to a good start, but Wojo, who traditionally does well at the messy races was able to get in front of him. The final result saw Wojo finish first, just over a minute in front of Long, with Leonard in third.
When the race was done, it took another three hours, two tractors and the help of a few friendly farmers to get everyone out and back on the road, heading to the Free Flow MX Park for the Sunday event, where they’d wash bikes, rigs, gear and bodies and try to get some rest, hoping not to have mud race induced nightmares.
The Mini classes were back to their usual size, with 21 riders split between the three classes: 7 Mini A’s, 6 Mini B’s and 8 Women’s B’s. Mini A was a tight race, with just over a minute separating Allison, Frederiks and Jordan Fisher, who finished first, second and third respectively. Jack Oomen finished first and pushed the Marshall boys down a spot each. Curtis finished second and Devyn finished third. 
Elmo Rutnik lived up to his side panels as the fastest man in the morning class and the only rider to complete 7 laps. His two biggest competitors, Wayne Brogan and Lance Matthews, were forced out of the race early with bike damage, giving #649 the win, and the overall on the weekend.
The course held up better through the morning than the previous day’s track, but still, by the two hour mark things were starting to get grim. Deep ruts were starting to form and harden; mud fields were opening up in the grassy areas. Dust was even starting to rise on the motocross track.
And it was that motocross track where Pro Joshua Long made his dominance known. He finished first, Leonard second and Wojo third.
Connor Brogan, who had been upset about his loss to Tremblay the day before, came back with a vengeance and attacked the course like a man on a mission. A 2-1 beats a 1-2, and in the overall Brogan took the 2 Days win over Tremblay when he finished first on the second day.
Dave Nelson redeemed himself after Saturday’s showing, finishing first over Paul Lachance, though Lachance would take the overall on the weekend.
Sunday’s event was a different kind of hard from Saturday’s, but it was still a mud fest.
Riders will be heading to Burnt River for, you guessed it, more mud and rocks! RJ and Connie, along with Keith Bowie and his crew, always put lots of effort into making the Burnt River round a success. It’s technical, challenging but a fun course, and rumour has it for the first time ever we will be using the motocross track as part of the course. Something else that sets Burnt River apart from other courses are the many spectator points, including the Extreme Test in the afternoon; it’s central location (right next to the pits) makes it a great place to watch the action.
This event will be in conjunction with the FMSQ, the governing body of off road riding in Quebec, so it’s a safe bet to guess that even more fast French riders will be showing up. As with all FMSQ events, Saturday will host the VTTs (or ATVs for us anglos) and Sunday will be all about the two wheelers. If you’ve never seen a VTT cross country event, you’re in for something special; these guys can really haul on four wheels!
In two days, hundreds of volunteers did their best to make the best of the events. Off Road Ontario would also like to thank all of its fantastic series sponsors: KTM Canada, Yamaha Canada, Honda Canada, Machine Racing, GP Bikes, Bowie Contracting ltd, Hone Printing, Orange Motorsports, Apex Cycle, Swampy’s Racing Supplies, Woody’s Cycle, LB Graphics, Cecile Gambin Photography, Free Flow MX Park, Lachapelle Racing Products and Asselstine Country.
