Where else but at the Paris Fairgrounds could you have been be on a Friday night and be able to say that you had seen all of the following.
* Two expert flat-track riders going shoulder to shoulder for all six laps of their first qualifying heat and still have only a tire width separating them at the finish.
* See a youngster on an ATV test how far he could stretch the tape with his neck when he overran the start line as he came up to the tapes. Surprisingly far is the answer.
* Four Baja bikes in a line across the track as they same out of a turn.
* A go-kart spinning out and getting stuck in a pile of dirt just off the inside edge of the track and the driver then getting out, pulling it clear and rejoining the race.
* A demo by a 1,000cc specially designed racing sidecar, one of only two in all of Canada.
* A young speedway rider slamming into the fence and then entertaining the crowd and showing that he was unhurt by picking himself up doing a swan dive over his fallen bike.
* A 70 year old go-kart driver showing that you are only as old as you think you are by easily defeating his rivals not once but in every race.
* A rider wearing a bright pink racing helmet.
* P50 riders falling all over the track when it was a little greasy after watering and the difference in the level of concern when this happened between the officials and the kids themselves when one of them, as he came up to the tapes for the restart, happily told the starting marshal that “he really wiped out”.
* A flat tracker trying to jump the start so aggressively that he put the starting gate out of action for the rest of the night.
* The program adjusted to enable a rider whose bike wouldn’t start to share a bike with another rider in the same class all the way through the qualifying heats.
* The genuine applause given to a young rider when he was able to get to his feet and walk off the track, albeit with a shoulder injury, after an awkward fall.
* An ATV rider losing control and coming off as his machine tipped over, then jumping up getting the machine back on four wheels and restarting it before the leader could get around to lap him.
* 49 heats of racing.
In short it was just another regular night of racing at Paris for the fans to enjoy.
The best race of the night got the meeting off to a fast start when Ryan Rainville and Jeff Seguin wowed the fans with six spectacular laps of close action. Although they exchanged the lead more than once neither could get more than a wheel ahead and at the line it was Seguin in front by no more than half that distance. The final wasn’t as close with Seguin leading it from start to finish while behind him Rainville took second and Steve Rivier third.
There was another dramatic finish to the flat-track youth final. Braden Vallee’s season long string of victories in this class was under threat thanks to a fine ride by Nathan Hammond who led for the first three laps. Vallee then got by only for Hammond to catch him at the final turn and it was only in the run to the flag that Vallee got the edge to keep his record intact.
Another winning streak continued when Aaron Hesmer took the speedway main event with Gary Hesmer following him home and Mike Hammond third.
Machine problems meant that the two Matts, Ward and Sehl, had to share a bike and while #45 got a good workout it certainly performed well and brought them five wins and a second in six starts. Sehl used it in the final but Ward borrowed Rainville’s bike and had no trouble adjusting to it with a tapes to flag win while Sehl had to settle for third behind Vallee.
At the end of a very competitive ATV final that needed a restart after a couple of them tangled mid race, it was Blain Nock who took the checkered flag ahead of Regan Woodards.
RESULTS:
SPEEDWAY – 1) AARON HESMER, 2) Gary Hesmer, 3) Mike Hammond, 4) Tommy Hensby.
Aug.6th Race Results
A FRIDAY NIGHT AT PARIS
by: Duncan Luke
Where else but at the Paris Fairgrounds could you have been be on a Friday night and be able to say that you had seen all of the following.
* Two expert flat-track riders going shoulder to shoulder for all six laps of their first qualifying heat and still have only a tire width separating them at the finish.
* See a youngster on an ATV test how far he could stretch the tape with his neck when he overran the start line as he came up to the tapes. Surprisingly far is the answer.
* Four Baja bikes in a line across the track as they same out of a turn.
* A go-kart spinning out and getting stuck in a pile of dirt just off the inside edge of the track and the driver then getting out, pulling it clear and rejoining the race.
* A demo by a 1,000cc specially designed racing sidecar, one of only two in all of Canada.
* A young speedway rider slamming into the fence and then entertaining the crowd and showing that he was unhurt by picking himself up doing a swan dive over his fallen bike.
* A 70 year old go-kart driver showing that you are only as old as you think you are by easily defeating his rivals not once but in every race.
* A rider wearing a bright pink racing helmet.
* P50 riders falling all over the track when it was a little greasy after watering and the difference in the level of concern when this happened between the officials and the kids themselves when one of them, as he came up to the tapes for the restart, happily told the starting marshal that “he really wiped out”.
* A flat tracker trying to jump the start so aggressively that he put the starting gate out of action for the rest of the night.
* The program adjusted to enable a rider whose bike wouldn’t start to share a bike with another rider in the same class all the way through the qualifying heats.
* The genuine applause given to a young rider when he was able to get to his feet and walk off the track, albeit with a shoulder injury, after an awkward fall.
* An ATV rider losing control and coming off as his machine tipped over, then jumping up getting the machine back on four wheels and restarting it before the leader could get around to lap him.
* 49 heats of racing.
In short it was just another regular night of racing at Paris for the fans to enjoy.
The best race of the night got the meeting off to a fast start when Ryan Rainville and Jeff Seguin wowed the fans with six spectacular laps of close action. Although they exchanged the lead more than once neither could get more than a wheel ahead and at the line it was Seguin in front by no more than half that distance. The final wasn’t as close with Seguin leading it from start to finish while behind him Rainville took second and Steve Rivier third.
There was another dramatic finish to the flat-track youth final. Braden Vallee’s season long string of victories in this class was under threat thanks to a fine ride by Nathan Hammond who led for the first three laps. Vallee then got by only for Hammond to catch him at the final turn and it was only in the run to the flag that Vallee got the edge to keep his record intact.
Another winning streak continued when Aaron Hesmer took the speedway main event with Gary Hesmer following him home and Mike Hammond third.
Machine problems meant that the two Matts, Ward and Sehl, had to share a bike and while #45 got a good workout it certainly performed well and brought them five wins and a second in six starts. Sehl used it in the final but Ward borrowed Rainville’s bike and had no trouble adjusting to it with a tapes to flag win while Sehl had to settle for third behind Vallee.
At the end of a very competitive ATV final that needed a restart after a couple of them tangled mid race, it was Blain Nock who took the checkered flag ahead of Regan Woodards.
RESULTS:
SPEEDWAY – 1) AARON HESMER, 2) Gary Hesmer, 3) Mike Hammond, 4) Tommy Hensby.
ATV – 1) BLAIN NOCK, 2) Regan Woodards, 3) Shawn Stys, 4) Justin Kelloway.
FLAT –TRACK – 1) JEFF SEGUIN, 2} Ryan Rainville, 3) Steve Rivier, 4) Dale Thompson.
FLAT TRACK AMATEUR 1) MATT WARD, 2) Braden Vallee, 3) Matt Sehl, 4) Nick Longhurst..
FLAT TRACK YOUTH – 1) BRADEN VALLEE, 2) Nathan Hammond, 3) Michael Burning.
BAJA BIKES – 1) MIKE HURLBURT, 2) Jeremy Weasmer, 3) Shane Dube, 4) Jay Weasmer.
FLAT TRACK 50CC – 1) JUSTIN HUTCHISON, 2) Hunter Bauer, 3) Austin Barath, 4) #11
ATV YOUTH – 1) BRADEN KELLOWAY, 2) David Stanley.
BAJA WOMEN – 1) TANYA ROGERSON, 2) Jenny Totten, 3) Holly Schertzing.
GO-KARTS – 1) TIM SEGUIN, 2) Winston Grosse, 3) Tom Weasmer.