SEPTEMBER 2004 NEWS ARCHIVE

News articles from September 2004 are archived below, latest nearest the top of the page. Click "back" on your web browser to return to previous page.

24th September 2004

CSRA MEETING

Just a reminder that the CSRA meeting will be taking place tomorrow evening Saturday, 25th September at 7:30. Location: Aaron Hesmer's shop in Brantford. This is an important meeting as we are close to having to confirm numbers to the German Club in Brantford for our upcoming Awards Night and Banquet.

Needless to say if you have not yet purchased your tickets for this annual event then please show up tomorrow night and part with your hard earned cash!

Look forward to seeing you all there!

16th September 2004

FRAME DIAMOND

Well, with want ads out all over the place for well over a week now and still no response regarding a replacement frame diamond, it's looking more and more likely that I'll have to bite the bullett and purchase a new one.

This couldn't have come at a worse time for me as we are in the throws of preparing for a house move in less than a month. This unfortunately means it's looking like Michael and I will miss the Fall Sunday practice sessions at the Paris track. We are both bitterly dissapointed but there's just too much to do. Can you imagine trying to convince your better half that fixing the speedway bike when there is no competitive racing is more important than moving? It just wouldn't fly!

Especially considering I will be trying to somehow accquire a second machine over the winter months so Michael and I don't have to share next season!

So it's looking like the next time we'll be on the track is the spring pre-season practices next year. C'est la vie!

It was good to see the pictures of Andy Harris enjoying a few laps at Paris last week. Let's just hope the bug doesn't bite too deep and he can continue to be satisfied with doing it for fun! Good on yer "Iceman"!

I'll keep you updated with things as they happen.

Phil #21

7th September 2004

INTUITION? SUPERSTITION?

Having spent all day Monday and most of today wrestling with my decision to withdraw early from the Sunday's Division 1 Championship meeting, I found something tonight truly amazing.

Cleaning the bike revealed a huge crack in a most critical area of the frame. I firmly believe had I carried on riding on the rough surface on Sunday, it would have let go completely. The true outcome we will fortunately never know.

In my last article explaining my early exit I mentioned having a "bad feeling...Intuition, superstition? Call it what you will". I find this whole episode astonishing!

I am in no way trying to justify my poor sportsmanship on Sunday. I have felt disapointed in myself ever since and I reiterate my apologies. However, this goes some way to confirm my strong belief in fate. It was just "meant to be".

Click on the thumbnails below to see the severity of the damage. You'll have to click "back" on your web browser to return to this page. The pics are not completely clear but basically the seperation goes right from one side of the engine plate tube, right through the visible weld (you can see the rusty crack) and almost through to the other side at the top.

My frame diamond is now at the point where this is the second stress fracture that I have encountered, this one serious. I am therefore in the market for a good used Jawa laydown frame diamond. If anyone has a spare they wish to sell, please e-mail me.

6th September 2004

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND UPDATE

Paris Speedway's annual Labour Day CSRA Championship weekend was fortunately graced with excellent hot late summer weather, huge crowds and superb rider turnouts for both the Saturday and Sunday.

This event, which is also sponsored and run by the Paris Fairboard as part of the annual fall fair, always provides an exciting culmination to the season's racing at Paris.

DIVISIONS 2 & 3, SATURDAY 4th SEPTEMBER

Saturday saw the CSRA Division 2 and 3 championships. The riders were met with an uncharacteristic choppy race surface, which any amount of track grading could not seem to improve. This made for unpredicatable if not exciting racing from both divisions.

Division 2 saw #30 Aaron "Ace" DeVeau take the coveted title with a superb and mature display of riding. Smoothness seems to be his strongpoint and on a tricky race surface, smoothness will often be the key to success. Congratulations to Aaron, a well deserved win in my opinion.

Division 3 honours went to Doug Beaumont. Doug put in solid performances in each of his heat races, and in an event which is won on total points accumulated during the evening, finishing every heat is the name of the game. Congratulations Doug!

Perhaps the greatest story from the Division 3 contingent was veteran Graham Wale's third place overrall finish. An excellent performance by Paris Speedway's "most mature" rider. Good job Graham!

Our very own Michael Small fell victim to the "one non-finish and you're done" total points system. As mentioned above, it is imperative to finish all of your heat races to be in with a shout at the end of the evening. In his first heat, he was on the outside of another rider challenging for the lead when the first placed guy straightened up in turn two, leaving Michael nowhere to go but into the infamous Paris woodwork. Michael could not remount and finish the race hence one DNF on his scorecard right off the bat.

Michael's winning of every race after that could not even buy him enough points to make the final, such was the consistent strength of points scoring by his competition.

His winning of the consolation final was just that. Consolation for a good effort marred by one unfortunate incident. Michael has to remain in division 3 for next season as the CMA rulings depict no-one under the age of 15 can move up to D2. Watch for a successful season from "Small Junior" next year!

Aaron "Ace" DeVeau	Graham Wale with wife Dulce

DIVISION 1, SUNDAY 5th SEPTEMBER

Much appreciated hard work all morning by Dave Havill had the Paris track surface before the event looking better than the previous day. Unfortunately, just a few laps by a few bikes and the track was back to just as it was the day before. There just didn't seem any way to beat the "dirt diggin' gremlins" this weekend.

Perhaps I should begin by explaining my early exit from the meeting. After one heat race on the tricky race surface, no fire in my belly and my mind on other things, I began to consider my chances of surviving five heat races somewhere between slim to none! Intuition, superstition, call it what you will. I just knew the race track was not the place for me to be on that day. I apologize to my fans, sponsors and the event organizers, all who I feel I let down.

We'll have to see what the closed season brings, but at this point in time I have to be asking myself if competitive Speedway racing is what I need to be doing.

Now, enough of the depressing stuff, how about the rest of the field who put up a great show? An excellent meeting with super close racing was enjoyed by the huge crowds and it truly was a fitting close to a superb season at Paris.

The program format was similar to the previous day's event where the top four points scorers after the regular heat races went through to the final. The difference being, this final was a true final, with the winner of that one race being the overrall winner of the event.

The qualifiers for that "big one" saw three American riders and one Canadian. Our very own Joe Heye from my soon to be new home town of Langton, Ontario, lined up against the formidable Craig Estelle, Jerry Harmon and youngster Brian Hollenbeck, all from New York State.

It was the youngster Hollenbeck who shot from the gate to take the lead, but Joe Heye pushed him super hard and agressively for the four full laps, at times with their front wheels dead level! Mr. Hollenbecks front wheel however was the first to cross the finish line by the smallest of margins leaving Joe Heye a superb second. No mean feat when you consider Craig Estelle, third and Jerry Harmon, fourth were his defeated competition!

Congratulations to Brian, who surely has a great future in the sport. Also worth a mention were both Rob Dixon, a gutsy performance right up until his last heat fall and the newly crowned Division 2 champion Aaron DeVeau invitied to join the Division 1 event. Once again Aaron's riding was unbelievably smooth and controlled. Great stuff to watch.

As usual, full race report and results are available on the CSRA WEBSITE.

Joe Heye in action

I'll sign off by saying a huge "thank you" to all involved in the organizing and running of Paris speedway this season. I'll be at the Sunday practice sessions with Michael, every Sunday weather permitting from noon until four so drop down to the track to see us. Anyone wishing to try out Michael's old 250cc machine with a view to purchase, drop me a line before hand and we can arrange a "test ride".

I'll be trying to keep the website updated with some interesting stuff throughout the closed season so keep checking back. One important reminder is the upcoming CSRA members meeting taking place at the "Robillard's" residence in Brantford this coming Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Please come and make a show. Our organizing team is in desperate need of "fresh blood" but these meetings are good social events too, keeping our speedway friends together throughout the long Canadian winter months. You can also obtain your 2004 CSRA Banquet and presentation evening tickets from Kevin Robillard at the meeting.

See you all soon!

Phil Small #21.

2nd September 2004

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND LOOMS!

Calling all Speedway fans, and a special welcome to you Sheffield Tigers fans that have been visiting recently!

The annual CSRA championship meetings are taking place this coming weekend and as usual, are an integral part of the Paris Fair. Excellent value for money means that entry will gain you access to all the fair attractions as well as the speedway.

Saturday sees the Division 2 and 3 championships and this starts at 4:00 pm. Be sure to get there a lot earlier than that as it's usually busy at the Fairground main gates.

Michael will be competing for Division 3 honours and I think we have the bike set up pretty well for him. Minor adjustments based on track surface may be necessary, but history dictates a hard, dry track and the weather forecast suggests no rain between now and then. So we've set the bike up based on that and we'll see how it goes.

Sunday sees the Division 1 championships. This event is also a round of the East Coast Speedway Series, so we hope to be graced with the presence of some of the top East Coast American riders. Racing starts at 6:00pm on Sunday, but once again, leave yourself plenty of time to get in.

I hope to have a good meeting Sunday to close the season out for me. There will likely be a few of the top Division 2 riders invited to join in so it will be interesting to see how those guys have improved. They should provide some excellent competition for those of us nearing the bottom of Division 1!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the weather forecast stays accurate. See you all on the weekend!