Ironically, Rd.5 of the UWP/IJSBA National tour which took place across the border in Belle River, Ontario this past weekend was the closest race so far this year from me in eastern Pennsylvania. It was a mere 600 mile trip to the beautiful beach in Belle River on Lake St. Clair. Friday I did my testing and made adjustments in my handling setup for the one foot wind chop that was on the lake. Of course come race day, the wind had died leaving the lake flat until practice started, which with the shallow waters quickly gave it a race chop like that of Havasu. Temperatures and humidity also rose for the weekend making it a hot one! It was tempting to race in shorts, but I opted to go with just the Jettribe RS15 John Race Suit, leaving the jacket behind to get the added leg protection the suit offers, which turned out to be the right choice, not compromising protection and staying cool.
Spectator turnout was one of the highest so far this year and there was no doubt the Canadians enjoyed the event and the after parties eh. The highlight was the beer tent out on the pier which is something you probably won’t see here in the States. Saturday evening at 10:30 the amateur freestylers put on a show right in front of the pier under the lights with Mike Young announcing and getting the crowd fired up.
In Saturday’s races, I finished second in GP Ski behind Jim Cebulski and in front of Chris MacClugage. In Stock Spec I finished second behind Rob Flores after he grabbed the holeshot on the start but was able to push him the entire race and keep him honest.
On Sunday, in moto 2 of stock, it was a repeat of moto 1, again finishing second behind Flores. Moto 2 of GP, Jim Cebulski grabbed the holeshot again but broke down early in the race allowing me to capitalize and take the lead followed by Rob Flores, Josh Block and Chris MacClugage finishing fourth. After the first two motos, I needed only a 4th place finish or better in moto 3 to secure the overall. I had the opportunity to take the holeshot coming out of the splits with the inside line on MacClugage going into a double red out of the split, but decided to play it safe instead of possibly sending us both swimming. This allowed Cebulski to get by into second. I ended up winning the Canadian Nationals with a 2, 1, 3 finish. Chris Macclugage took second with a 3, 4, 1 finish and Jim Cebulski took third with a 1, 6, 2 finish. Finally after the third moto in stock going 2, 2, 2 being nothing if consistent, I ended up second.
UWP did a great job with the event as well as Naut-Wukin Racing and Ray of R&D Powersports. Overall it was a great weekend, leaving me looking forward to Rd. 6 in Colonial beach, Virginia!
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