Article by Suzanne Howie
June 5, 2013
The threat of foul weather, which was in fact made good on several times, might have kept some riders away, but for many the third round of the Off Road Ontario Cross Country Series, held at RJ’s Motorsports Park near Barrie, was an excellent event. The weather, for the most part, held off, and the course layout made great use of the facility, using both trails and the motocross track to build a loop that took riders for over 15 kilometres of trail. The early morning classes had a little bit of rain, a little bit of sunshine and just a little bit of mud. Jamie Baskerville shot out to an early lead in Mini A and kept it for the entire event, finishing over seven minutes ahead of second place’s Jordan Fisher. The eldest Marshall boy was forced off the top spot of the podium by Jack Oomen, with the brothers Marshall taking second (Curtis) and third (Devyn). Hanna Girndt had almost a three and a half minute lead over second place Suzanne Howie.
Girndt and Howie’s 125s might have been of some help in the morning, their full-sized machines and big wheels would have had better ground clearance and rolled over some of the roots and ditches that would have eaten smaller wheels, but in the Adult morning class they would be even more important.
When the full course was opened up there were more rocks, roots, ditches, logs and, most ominously, mud. Women’s A leader at the time Porche Renyolds found this out the hard time, getting stuck in a rough mud hole on her last lap. Delaney Brogan capitalized on this, having lost time on Renyolds on the first two laps and was able to take a commanding lead, finishing first by over ten minutes!
Renyolds wasn’t the only one who had a rough go. Emily Head was running in third when bike trouble took out temporarily; she eventually finished 16th, behind her sister Melissa who finished sixth.
Bruce Moffatt and Wayne Brogan had a battle in Super Vet A for the hole shot, but the slick terrain caused Moffatt to lose the rear tire, and try as he might, Brogan was unable to keep in front of Tim Hart, Elmo Rutnik and Lance Matthews. Brogan finished fifth, and Keith Billings, the last man to leave the line in the Super Vet A class, finished fourth.
Zach Lewis got his first taste of the big boy class when Long took him out in a pass. It looked like the introduction went well heeded, as Long got to add another 25 points to his total, while Wojo, who finished just over a minute behind him got 20. Lewis was over 8 minutes behind the top two riders. Jake Tustin had an amazing ride in the Expert class; battling with older brother Zach for the hole shot and eventually taking the lead, to lead the entire race. Conner Brogan had a bad start, but the 18 year old KTM rider was able to work himself back up to second place, but a lower leg injury took him out of the race. Chad Burford finished behind Tustin in his first race of the year, and Mackenzie Holloway made his first Expert Podium, finishing in third.
Next weekend riders will have back to back rounds in Lansdowne and Shannonville for the second “Two Days in June” eastern event. These are the two furthest east rounds of the series, which means there will be fast frenchies making the drive from Quebec to challenge the likes of Long and Wojo. Last year Loic Leonard came out and threw down with the big boys, and teammate Felicia Robichaud showed the Intermediate class what it means to ride like a girl.
The OCMC would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped arrow, marshal and score keep at the event. 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.
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