2005 Canadian National Championship

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Congratulations to Nick Fafard on his 2005 Championship win.

 

Report from the Canadian speedway Racing Association.

 

NICK FAFARD IS THE NEW CANADIAN CHAMPION

 

With Kyle Legault racing professionally in the UK and unable to defend his title, it meant that at the end of the night there would be a new Canadian Champion. The big question was whether either of the past champions, John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz, could win another title or would a new name be added to the trophy. By the end of the night a new name was added to the list of champions as Nick Fafard rose to the occasion, got stronger as the meeting progressed and finished a comfortable winner. Afterwards, a very happy Fafard explained why being the first rider from Quebec to become the National champion meant so much to him. Not only was it a personal triumph but he felt that his win was also a tribute to all the good riders from that province that had tried so hard for many years to win the title. Quite a night for this young man whose parents were on hand to see him win.

 

With the event also being a round of the Blendzall sponsored East Coast Speedway series, it attracted a strong contingent of American riders. The result was not only the largest field of riders (28) for several years but one that was also deeper in quality riders than last year. Add in perfect track conditions and the stage was set for a great night’s racing and the large crowd was certainly not disappointed.

 

Despite the riders being seeded in the first round there was plenty of entertaining racing in it. Drew Kehoe got things going right from the start when he led Aaron Hesmer for a lap before having to settle for second. Then Rob Dixon provided the first highlight of the night when he dented the hopes of one of the pre-meeting favorites, Jeremy Parsons, by coming from behind to take a very impressive win. Nick Fafard won the next heat that had a dramatic finish when Merle Craven went wide on the final turn and just managed to hold off a final burst from Joe Heye by half a wheel. More action in the next race as Alex Heath fell and John Bennett paid a visit to the hay bales while avoiding him. On the restart Heath caught the eye with a third place finish from the penalty line while Jeff Orosz ended the round with a win from a hard charging Adam Mittl.

 

The best race in the second round saw the second place finishers battling one another to stay in contention for a chance at the title. Parsons grabbed the early lead from Brian Hollenbeck with Mittl in third but it was Mittl who was ahead at the flag as he first powered around Hollenbeck and then a lap later switched to the inside line to pass Parsons with a fine effort. The first two turns were critical in the ‘Top Scorers’ race with Orosz getting the lead from Fafard, John Kehoe, Hesmer and Dixon. Four fast laps later that was also the finishing order and local favorite Orosz had the early points lead.

 

Round three saw 15-year-old visitor Katalin Davis delight the crowd by beating the boys fair and square in her race. Then it was Hesmer and Dixon finishing 1-2 to get back into the ‘Top Scorers’ race in the next round, although for the second time Heye supplied the excitement as he almost caught up to Dixon as they crossed the line. The fast guys then served up another cracker. This time it was Mittl who emerged from turn two with the lead which he maintained all the way to the flag to establish his credentials as a possible winner. Behind him the other four were bunched close together for all four laps but there were no changes in the order and Kehoe took second from Fafard, Parsons and Orosz who simply couldn’t find any space to move up. So half-way through the meeting only two points separated the top five with Mittl, Kehoe and Fafard on 15, Orosz on 14 and Hesmer on 13.

 

With the pressure now on for a top ten finish, Merle Craven won his heat to clinch his spot. The remaining three contenders were out in the next heat and Heye was the unfortunate one not to make it as he slid out and down while chasing Orosz. An unfortunate end to a night in which he deserved a better result for his determined efforts. That race also ended Orosz’s title challenge as he could do no better than third behind Parsons and Hollenbeck. In the ‘Top Scorers’ race Hesmer had the lead for the first lap but Fafard showed impressive speed as he drove around him in the second lap and increased his lead as the race went on. Behind him Hesmer held onto second ahead of Kehoe and Dixon while Mittl ‘s challenge faded as his bike was misfiring. This meant that it was now a three man race for the title with Fafard two ahead of Kehoe and Hesmer a point further back.

 

In the first semi Parsons had his best race of the night and led it from start to finish. Behind him Hesmer went wide on turn four in the second lap and dropped back from second to fourth but charged back to first pass Dixon and then power his around the final two turns to overtake Kehoe for a vital second place. In the next semi it was Orosz who won the charge to the first turn and had the lead before Fafard again showed that extra speed by going around him on the second lap to take the win with Mittl finishing third. That effort all but clinched the title for Fafard as it gave him a four-point lead over both Kehoe and Hesmer with only one race to go.

 

Behind them Orosz, Parsons and Mittl were tied on points so a run-off was needed to decide the remaining two places in the final. With the pressure on the riders moved into the tapes before they went up. Although Parsons argued strongly that he was not at fault and was drawn into the tapes after Orosz moved, the referees decided that both Orosz and Parsons had to go to the penalty line. From there Orosz got the better of the restart and eventually caught and passed Mittl but Parsons was eliminated.

 

Although Fafard only needed a fourth place finish to take the title he didn’t settle for this. Instead he confirmed that he was indeed the best rider on the night by powering his way past first Orosz and then Hesmer to take another convincing win. Orosz then got past Hesmer to finish second while Kehoe had a good scrap with Mittl before finishing fourth.

 

So in the end Fafard was champion and Hesmer’s strong performance in the second half of the program earned a second place finish while Orosz just edged out Kehoe for third via the tiebreaker route. Adam Mittl’s fifth place was particularly impressive as thi s was his first time on the Welland track and combined with his victory at St-Alex confirmed his place as one of the rising stars south of the border.

 

Although Jeremy Parsons didn’t quite match his performance last year he came close to reaching the final for the second year in a row and provided plenty of entertainment. Other Americans to catch the eye included Alex Heath, two falls and a win in his first three heats, Katalin Davis who rode well and would have had a second win but for an engine failure and Merle Craven who was much improved from his previous visit.

 

Amongst the Canadians Rob Dixon has improved steadily year by year and is now firmly established as one of the top riders on large tracks and can beat the best of them in any race. I doubt if Joe Heye has ever contributed so much entertainment to a meeting with so little reward for his efforts. Hopefully the fates will be much kinder to him next year. Despite it being his first outing of the year, veteran Fred Legault is another who could have made the semis were it not for an engine failure that cost him the points he needed while John Perry will likely be pleased with his performance that included a couple of wins.

 

RESULTS:

NICK FAFARD 34, AARON HESMER 28, JEFF OROSZ 27, JOHN KEHOE 27, ADAM MITTL 24, JEREMY PARSONS 22, ROB DIXON 18, MERLE CRAVEN 12, MARC GAUTHIER 12, BRIAN HOLLENBECK 11, JOE HEYE 9, DREW KEHOE 9, FRED LEGAULT 8, JOHN PERRY 7, STEVE GLASGOW 6, PHIL SMALL 5, ALEX HEATH 5, SHAWN MORRISON 5, CHRIS HOUTBY 4, KATALIN DAVIS 2, JOHN BENNETT 2, MARK ENGEL 1, DOUG BEAUMONT 1, TIM MURRAY 1, MARK PRIEBE 0, ANDY CRAWFORD 0, BOB MOSQUERA 0, ALAN CHISHOLM 0.

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Report was posted some days ago here