MAY 2004 NEWS ARCHIVE
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| News articles from May 2004 are archived below, latest nearest the top of the page. Click "back" on your web browser to return to previous page. |
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| 30th May 2004 |
| LAST PRE-SEASON PRACTICE |
| Fine weather produced a moderate turnout of riders at Paris today for the last pre-season practice. Most impressive on the day was undoubtedly Rob Dixon, who's previous days experience at the Belleville half mile made the small Paris track "seem slow". |
| Whilst speaking of Belleville, bad news about Drew Kehoe who had a very hard crash. Latest news is he has a badly broken leg which required surgery. This almost certainly puts pay to his season. Get well soon Drew. |
| We now look forward to the first meeting of the season at Paris, this coming Friday. Let's hope for good weather! |
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| 30th May 2004 |
| KYLE LEGAULT UPDATE |
| Seems my last weeks report on Kyle's fantastic result in Poland was prematurely optimistic. Yes, his efforts and tie for fourth place were excellent. However, due to a change in the U-21 World Championship format since last year, only the top three from each quarter final go through to the semis. Kyle can be included only as a reserve for the semi finals and would have to rely on a seeded rider not being able to compete to allow for his inclusion. |
| I'm sorry if I built up anyones hopes. However, we as Canadians can still be very proud and thankful to Kyle for his superb efforts.
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| 23rd May 2004 |
| KYLE'S GREAT RESULT! |
| Big, big news for Canadian Speedway today as news of our very own Kyle Legault's tremendous success in his Under 21 World Championship Qualifier in Rawicz, Poland filters through. |
| Kyle, the latest Canadian Speedway sensation who will be 19 years old next week, finished in an excellent tie for fourth place with a credible 11 points. Unfortunately a fall and resultant exclusion from his semi-final race in this meeting prevented even further success. |
| Nevertheless, the result seems easily good enough to progress Kyle through to the semi-final rounds of the competition to be held in either Austria or Sweden, unfortunately clashing with the Canadian National Championships at Welland on July 24th. I am still awaiting official confirmation of his progression at the time of writing this article, but if he is to be included in the Semi's then he will be sorely missed at our own "big event" of the year and will miss his chance to defend the crown he took in 2003. Understandably, the importance of international world class racing will likely be his choice. |
| May I take this opportunity to publicly congratulate Kyle and his team on their success this weekend. It is truly a momentous day for Canadian Speedway racing and we as Canadians owe a huge "thank you" to Kyle for putting us firmly back on the speedway map. Many thanks on behalf of all of us Kyle, and congratulations once again! |
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| Kyle Legault |
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| 18th May 2004 |
| PARIS FAIRBOARD |
| Last night (Monday) I joined Dave Havill for the first time at the monthly meeting of the Paris Fairboard. Dave had previously mentioned to the board that an additional Fairboard/Speedway liason person would be joining as a Paris Fairboard member. So last night, Dave kindly introduced me to the board and the members present. I was made very welcome with a nice round of applause from everyone. |
| I will be attending these meetings on a regular monthly basis and in doing so, hopefully building a relationship and a level of trust with the Paris Fairboard. As I have mentioned before, for Paris Speedway to be able to continue in the long term, it is essential that this contact person be in place and have a full understanding of the Speedway track operation and Fairboard protocol. Dave has already been kindly helping me to understand some first steps. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Dave Havill and members of the Paris Fairboard for having made me so welcome. |
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| 18th May 2004 |
| GREAT PRACTICE! |
| At last a decent Sunday, with early morning cloud cover giving way to glorious, day-long sunshine without being too hot. A huge rider turnout (22 bikes) enjoyed the best practice so far this year, with riders showing signs of getting back in the groove. |
| Tracktime was at a premium with so many riders out there, so it was not unusual to see five bikes out together. Showing particularly impressive form was Rob Dixon, smoother and faster than ever, along with Joe Heye, another regular division one starter. Gary "The Hit Man" Hesmer looked better than he was at any time last season. With much improved equipment for this season, expect to see him battling with the quickest once again.
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| Michael Small got some great experience being in and around other bikes and made his first practice starts with two other bikes on the line. Tentative early on, but enjoying the experience by the end of the day, this surely has to send out a warning to other division three riders! |
| Mark Priebe's relative speedway inexperience didn't show as he looked both controlled and fast enough to be close to division 2 standard. I think he will move to the top division very quickly indeed. Corrine Franic too looked much improved, sliding beautiful controlled full turns at a pace which must stand her in good stead for division three honours this year. |
| Graham Wale and myself both tested the turn two fencing to it's limits, both suffering fairly heavy crashes in almost an identical spot. My mishap came as a result of the over-enthusiasm and surprise to find myself leading Rob Dixon for one whole lap. Alas, it was not to last as I cracked under the pressure, parked it mid-turn, hooked up and launched myself at the plywood. Full credit goes out to Mark Priebe who's immense motorcycling experience enabled him to miss me by a hair. Thanks Buddy! Fortunately, no serious problems as far as I'm concerned. I didn't get to see Graham after his altercation, but I hope you're OK too! Many thanks once again to Dave Havill for a great track and a great day. |
| No practice next weekend as Dave and Carol Havill are off to find some even warmer sun. Hopefully see you all the following week! |
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| 14th May 2004 |
| BIKE COVERS COMPLETE! |
| Hi all! I picked up my bike covers from the graphics guy yesterday with my sponsors names printed on them. I am very pleased with the results and have been given the thumbs up to go public by my two sponsors, NBL Consultant Services and JIT Shop Supplies. Once again, many thanks to both of my sponsors. |
| Just a last minute reminder, this Sunday is our biggest "pre-season practice event" incorporating a CSRA members meeting, a great barbecue and the opportunity to bring motorcycle related articles for sale. Please, see you all at Paris Speedway, start time 12:00 noon. |
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| 10th May 2004 |
| WE'RE OFF! |
| A miracle break in the seemigly endless deluge of rain and thunderstorms Sunday morning allowed the first "real" practice session of the season at Paris speedway. The rain relented at about 6:00 am for a twelve hour period. |
| Surprisingly, a good rider turnout met with a not surprisingly tricky track which was all but unrideable at the start of the session. By about 3:00pm however the surface had received enough of a churning, airing and grading to allow most riders to get some near normal laps in. Thanks go out to Dave Havill and Alex who worked hard all day to improve matters.
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| It sure felt good to be back riding again, although today my old age has once again reduced me to nothing short of a shuffling wreck! Muscles that had forgotten they might need to be used once more were stretched and torn back into action yesterday, only to go out on strike big time again today! Yes, as the saying goes, "I'm as stiff as an old horse!" |
| And for those of you that were aware of the little mishap with my "well prepared" bike near the end of the session, I can inform you that the valve cover bolts came out allowing oil to spew everywhere. After close inspection and cleaning this evening, there is thankfully no other damage. That'll teach me to bleat about "essential good preparation" on this site! Maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut in future!
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| Just a reminder, weather permitting of course, next Sunday 16th May is the annual "Swap Meet" and barbeque at the Paris track, as well as the usual practice session so do come out and make it a good show. Hope to see you all there. |
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| 10th May 2004 |
| ADDITIONAL FAIRBOARD LIASON |
| After some deliberation, I have responded to Dave Havill's suggestion that the CSRA should be represented at the Paris Fairboard meetings by an additional body. I have offered my services in this role and Dave has agreed to propose me for membership to the Fairboard at their next meeting on the 17th May. |
| With no other responses following the announcement of Dave's suggestion in the last CSRA newsletter, I saw the danger of their being no contact person between the club and the Fairboard should Dave no longer be able to continue in his present role. Of course, at present there are no immediate alarm bells ringing and we all sincerely hope Dave Havill will be continuing his sterling work for many more years to come. However, now is the time to start building a second relationship with the Paris Fairboard, so that when the time is right they will see this additional contact person as trustworthy and fit to deal with any speedway matters.
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| Paris Speedway is the ONLY track in Canada which supports a regular practice session and Division three racing. It is the ONLY place where youngsters or new riders get a chance to hone their skills and develop into regualar, competitive speedway riders. The future well being of the Paris Speedway facility is IMPERATIVE to the very survival of speedway racing in Canada. As a devout speedway fan, active CSRA club member since my arrival in 2001, alltime "average" rider and a father who is happy to allow his son to pursue speedway as a sport, I am more than happy to offer my services in this role. Please feel free to e-mail me should you have any comments or concerns.
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| I will, of course keep you all informed of the Fairboard's decision on my membership after their meeting on the 17th.
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| Dave Havill and Phil Small (photo courtesy of "Tiger" Tom Marriott) |
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| 5th May 2004 |
| FOILED AGAIN! |
| After hearing the astonishing news that riders actually practiced at Paris in the rain two weeks ago, I decided come rain or shine last Sunday I was going to load the bike up and drive to the track on the off-chance. |
| Reality was, when I got there things were even worse than the previous week and the rain was relentless! I found Dave Havill at the track not even able to get out of his truck to do anything because of the rain. Then, Rob Dixon pulled into the parking lot having driven almost two hours to get there, only to have to turn around and drive all the way back again. Seems lady luck is not shining on us. Nor is the sun! Let's try again this Sunday eh? |
| Hopefully, see you all there. |
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| 1st May 2004 |
| LET'S HOPE! |
| Us poor Canadian Speedway riders. Still waiting for our first ride of the season. Last weekend saw the first Sunday this year where Paris was open for pre-season practice. However, we all awoke to non-stop rain which lasted all day. I decided to give the drive to Paris a miss but was astonished upon reading Duncan Luke's monthly newsletter to find a handfull of riders had in fact been riding in that gloop! And what's all this then Big John? We all thought John Perry had gone into retirement. Really glad to read he was at the track and riding. Let's hope we see Big John in competitive action again this season, as racenights just wouldn't be the same without him. Definitely the fan's favourite. |
| I'm really hoping the weather forcast is wrong for this Sunday as I'm really keen to get on my bike, Christen my new leathers and have some fun. Hope to see many of you at the track tomorrow for a "methanol fix"! |
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| "Big" John Perry |
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| 1st May 2004 |
| NEW MONTH |
| Well, May is finally here. As usual, I've tidied things up and moved all the April news items to the April Archive. If you want to revisit anything from last month, then click on "News Archives" above and then "April".
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