Gopher Dunes ReportMay 6, 2008 4:04pm- press release - A weekend of mixed weather and expectations welcomed the first Southwestern Ontario ANQ and the third round of the Royal Distributing Ontario Provincial Championships at Gopher Dunes, Ontario this past weekend. Riders woke to the sound of rain early Saturday morning and despite the meteorologists forcasting otherwise the rains did not abate until the day’s racing had long finished. Even with the adverse weather conditions the riders did not disappoint and still managed to put on a show for the spectators and family members that remained throughout the day. In the Mini ATV Tyke class, Oakville's Paige France took her first overall with a 2-1; Paige was also the 3rd place champion in last year's Ontario Provincial Championships. The Ladies class saw BC's Missy Hackett make an appearance as the entire OTSFF Suzuki/Rockstar team was on site for the weekend. Despite a 2nd place finish in the first moto, Missy was unable to secure a finish in the second moto and the overall went to local favourite Jocelyn Killough with a 1-1. Jocelyn was followed closely by Shantel DePaepe in moto two, and Kim Emery put in a solid and consistent ride with 4-4 finishes. Day two began with more cloudy skies but Frank Schuster's anti-rain dance must have worked its magic as they soon parted to beautiful sunny skies in time for the racing to begin. Sunday was also the day of qualifiers with three in the MX2 Junior class and two in the ultra competitive Super Mini class. The final overall for the Junior MX2 class went to Seaforth's Tyler Listman on a Suzuki, with the Yamaha riding Anthony Lunghi and Suzuki's Bobby Byers keeping him honest throughout. The same format followed with the Super Mini class with KTM's Richard Grey taking the overall and Lucas Lowe (Michigan) and Nick Beatty taking second and third overall as well. Stacked MX1 and MX2 Pro classes offered up the spectators some supreme racing action with riders such as Tyler Medaglia, Marco Dube, Doug Dehaan, Brady Sheren, Kyle Keast, Jay Burke and South Africa's Liam O'Farrell taking to the line. Once again, Machine Racing's Kyle Keast dominated the field winning each of his motos handily. Label It's Jay Burke followed closely behind Keast in first moto of the MX1 Pro class, with Burke and Keast trading positions throughout. In the second set of motos, the rough track conditions found riders pulling off mid-way, much to the dismay of local shop owners and team managers. Those that stuck it out saw Keast once again ride to first place finishes, with OTSFF's Tyler Medaglia taking second in MX1 and Burke second in MX2. Next weekend's racing action takes us to Walton Raceway in Walton, Ontario for the Mother's Day ANQ/OPC Double Header. Special thanks are due to Frank, Dig and the crew for working overnight and well into the morning in an effort to prep the track for they days' events after Saturday's rainfall.
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