SEPTEMBER 2006 NEWS ARCHIVE

19th September 2006
Last Welland of the Season
A good speedway contingent of 8 Division 1 and 7 Division 2 riders respectively turned out for the final Welland Club meeting of the 2006 season last Saturday night.
Jumpin' Jeff Orosz ran out the D1 winner, followed by Chris Hesmer making his first return to the big track since coming out of retirement.
In D2, the sensational female teenager Katalin Davis out of New York State took a well deserved win. See the CSRA website for full results and meeting report.
My meeting was poor by any standards and I rode well below my capabilities. Partly due I think to the switching back and forth of machines between the Weslake to the GM this season. I never really found the correct set-up on the GM for me either at Paris or Welland, and this particular night I was just starting to get it figured out by the end of the meeting. Too little, too late!
With strong rumours to the effect that the final Paris meeting scheduled for this coming weekend may be cancelled, you may well have seen the last of Team Small's competitive racing for 2006. The Belleville half mile remains scheduled for the 30th of this month, but it's increasingly unlikely that I'll be a starter in that event due to family commitments.
Please keep your eyes peeled on a daily basis for news on this weekends scheduled Paris event. The formal announcement on whether this is to proceed or not should be made in the very near future.
Bye for now!
Phil #21 & Michael #2.

10th September 2006
Division 2 & 3 Championship Runs At Last!
A smaller than usual crowd turned out on a chilly September evening to watch the CSRA Division 2 & 3 Championship meeting, held over from last weekend due to bad weather.
All I can say is the spectators that didn't show missed possibly the best speedway race they would ever have seen. I'm talking about the Division 2 final. Breathtaking! More about that later.
A Divison 1 program was also run as a "support" class, but this was always going to play second fiddle to the D2 and D3 competition. This was their night.
In D1, an unbelievable run of bad luck saw both Aaron Hesmer and his brother Chris (just returning to top flight speedway after a number of years on the sidelines), encounter a couple of serious mechanical failures each! A terrible night for the Hesmers.
Although Aaron made the final, he again sufferd a mechanical failure which left the way for "Jumpin'" Jeff Orosz to take the win, from Rob Dixon second and myself Phil Small third. My best Division 1 result ever!
In Division 3, Veteran rider, Graham "Pirate" Wale arived totally pumped up and committed to take the title home. Up against some stiff opposition from this seasons D3 rookie Trevor Farrington, and the always competitive native Pole, Peter Fornal, Graham had trouble early on in the meeting with an uncharacteristic mechanical problem.
Fortunately, the problem was identified just prior to the start of his second heat and he was able to jump on a borrowed bike of very similar set-up to his own Weslake. Continuing for the rest of the evening on this borrowed machine, Graham rode unbeaten on the night to take the championship.
A fitting and well deserved Championship win for one of the most popular and hard racing veterans of our sport.
As mentioned earlier, the Division 2 Final was UNBELIEBVABLE!!! I can honestly say, in all the years I have been watching speedway at all levels, this was one of the best races I have ever seen!
Michael Small, riding for the first time in a month had some indifferent heat races, some good, some bad. Understandable perhaps with his lack of sustained racing this season. Never the less, he made the final second on points behind Corrine Franic, and just ahead of Corrine's boyfriend Terry Rideout.
Also making the final was the sensational female teenager from New York State, USA, Katilin Davis.
As the tapes went up, all four riders stayed locked together, jockeying for positions with the lead forever changing between Corrine (holding a tight inside line) and Michael (rocketing for four laps straight right around the boards).
Corrine Franic once again proved that the shortest way around the Paris track is invariably the quickest to take the win, with Michael less than a bike's length behind her for second, and Katilin Davis less than a front wheel's length behind Michael for third. Terry Rideout came home in fourth on a borrowed bike less than a bike's length behind Davis.
This was truly fantastic speedway, and even though this type of heat is maybe the exception rather than the rule, it just proves that speedway is always worth watching. To quote Forrest Gump, "You never know what you're gonna' get".
Well, I guess we're now real close to the end of our short speedway season here in Canada but don't forget, we have the last Welland race of the season next weekend, with the last Paris the weekend after that. And to round off the speedway season proper, there's still the scheduled "Half Mile" at Belleville on the 30th September.
See you all next Saturday night down at Welland.
Phil #21 & Michael #2.

5th September 2006
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
For the first time in well over five years, the Paris Fair Labour Day Weekend was plagued by bad weather, and that in turn meant serious disruption to the scheduled Speedway events.
The annual Division 2 and Division 3 Championships, always held on the Saturday were a complete washout. It rained steady from 9:00am Saturday morning, thru 3:00am Sunday morning.
This event has now been rescheduled for next weekend Saturday 9th September at 7:00 pm. The D2 and D3 championships will form the main event, with a D1 support class running alongside.
The rain into early Sunday morning also meant that the long awaited Canadian National Championship had to be held over until the holiday Monday. Fortunately, although still touch and go, the weather finally co-operated and a marvellous spectacle ensued.
With Kyle Legault returning from the UK to compete in his home Country National event it made the already strong line-up of sixteen riders even stronger! With Kyle eventually going unbeaten on the night he deservedly took the title, which doubly ensures him his work permit to once again compete in the UK next season.
He certainly did not have it all his own way though, with strong challenges coming from a number of top US riders. However, it was the Canadians that really showed well on their home track, especially Aaron Hesmer who was desperately unlucky in the final to snap his rear chain whilst nibbling at Legault's heels.
Check out the CSRA website for full results and meeting report. From a personal point of view, I had secretly set myself a goal of a top ten finish. My final placing of eleventh however was pleasing and probably fitting looking at the names that finished ahead of me.
I would especially like to thank "Sparky and Sparky Jr" (visiting from Kyle's home track in the UK Sheffield) for their support. It was a pleasure to meet you both! Also many thanks must go out to my long suffering family. Three trips to Paris and back in as many days was a weary way to spend the holiday weekend! The thanks wouldn't be complete without mentioning Dave and Carol Havill. Dave tried every day during the weekend to get the track raceworthy, loosing out every time bar Monday to the weather! Thanks a million Dave and Carol!
Well, lets hope we see you all on Saturday for the re-scheduled D2 and D3 Championships, in which Michael will be competing.
Until then, Bye!
Phil #21 & Michael #2