| 3rd July 2006 |
| Phil Benefits From Low Rider Turnouts! |
| With the first of the three rounds of the Canadian Short Track Speedway Championships scheduled for Michel Lemay's St. Alex track in Quebec this past weekend, the rider turnouts for both the Friday Paris and Saturday Welland events were low. |
| Unfortunately, for the many that made the long trip to Quebec, it turned out to be a dreadful waste of time, effort and money as the event was cancelled due to a waterlogged track. The fine weather in contrast was sat firmly over South Western Ontario, and although the Saturday Welland meeting was threatened by a sticky track and spots of rain, both Friday and Saturday meetings were held successfully. |
| The lower than usual rider turnout gave me a realistic opportunity both nights to make the Main Event. Indeed Friday I was able to push my Weslake hard and found myself in my first Division 1 Final of the 2006 season. |
| My joy was unfortunately short lived, as whilst in the first turn, the old Weslake uncharacteristically let me down. I think I've lost the spark from the ignition box but I have not had time to investigate further at this point in time. |
| Nevertheless, fourth place in Division 1 is always satisfying for me! |
| Having made plenty of noise during the off season to the Welland County Motorcycle Club in suggesting they re-structure their payout scheme for speedway and pay further down the finishing order, I am overjoyed and thankful that they decided to follow through with this policy. Now paying down to eigth place on a regular Saturday night, I have been happier to attend there this season, and I plan to do a couple more. |
| So Saturday I made the long trip to the Niagara peninsula to once again compete on their ultra-fast quarter mile. I took Michael's GM laydown with me for obvious reasons! Again, I found myself in the Main Event, the first time ever for me at Welland. I was overjoyed with my fifth place finish and I have to say, I'm really starting to enjoy the larger Welland track. |
| However, once again my joy was tainted with mechanical woes, as on the last two laps my bike was making some horrible noises and I had to back off the gas to nurse her home. Again, with no time for investigation at the time of writing, I am currently stranded with two defunct speedway bikes. |
| Let's hope it's not too serious with either bike. It's unlikely Team Small will be racing at all this coming weekend as family committments make the scheduling almost impossible. This will give me time to sort out both bikes so hopefully we'll be back up to speed in the very near future! |
| Talk again soon, |
| Phil #21 & Michael #2 |