2008 Speedway Season Overview

With the close of the regular speedway season in Canada, it gives us a time to reflect upon the complete season.

2008 began with a 1/2 mile racing event at Paris. Russell Press and Dave Havill compiled a great event which was held on the first long weekend of the year. The weather was absolutely freezing and thanks to the CSRA membership. all posts were filled whilst wearing 3 jackets, scarves and gloves!

Jeff Orosz began the year at this event and finished the year holding the converted No.1 National Champion plate for all tracks ridden. he dominated the 1/2 mile events including a large one in the States. A very satisfying year for the GT Tuning Canada sponsored rider.

Paris Speedway was again sponsored by the local Brantford radio station CKPC. Their great support was again very welcomed by all the speedway fraternity at Paris. The events were for the first time, run and controlled by the Paris Fair. In doing so their decision to change the racing day to Sunday afternoon was a concern for riders and fans alike. Due to the tremendous afternoon heat, these events were weakly attended by all concerned and the Paris Fairboard very quickly realized that a change was needed to complete a successful season, and so they smartly moved all racing events to Saturday night following the completion of the Welland Speedway schedule. These were a great success despite the interference of mother-nature and her awful rainy storms that seemed to doom any formal events throughout the summer months!

Welland Speedway began with the CSRA once again, gaining full control of the speedway section of their program. The events were well run and organized. Tommy Hensby provided the superb photos for all events and all classes, and many CSRA members worked hard to ensure that the speedway part of the program was a seamless intricate part of the night! Sadly though, mother-nature also played a serious role in causing chaos in the racing schedules. Many events were forced to be cancelled due to huge violent storms that passed over just hours prior to race time!!! Aaron Hesmer, Chris Hesmer and Jeff Orosz, provided some of the best racing you would have seen anywhere in the world. It was a great pleasure for the CSRA to be involved in these events, with such a high caliber standard of racing being provided by all the riders!

The Canadian Championship event also fell victim to the rain and some scheduling problems. Aaron Hesmer was ready to defend his title against many top-flite riders from Canada, and from the USA. Our great friend, Jason Bonsignore kindly drove to Canada with Shawn Harmatiuk, Shawn McConnell and Mike Buman, but this was not possible as CMA Referee Ian March was forced to cancel the event just 1-hour prior to racing. The heavens opened and gave the Welland track a beating. The re-scheduled event at Paris Speedway was unable to take place due to some scheduling and sanctioning problems. So it was completely cancelled for 2008!!

Paris Speedway resumed the races after the rain-outs and had some superb events. The CSRA had rented the Paris facility for 5 weeks during the Welland season, and utilized the track for practices and schools. GT Tuning Canada and Stan Bradbury were very instrumental in providing bikes and schooling for all newbies. Many seasoned riders also took the opportunity to use the track to try different set-ups etc.. And a huge welcome was offered to the junior and big-guy flat track riders. They also had a blast riding the smaller track and found that they enjoyed it very much! Some new and revived riders emerged from these sessions in 17-year old Jeremy Zelaska, a great lady rider, Nicole DeVeau, Dave Hope and a new Junior rider aboard a 175cc junior scaled bike from Stan Bradbury, 12-year old Tommy Hensby. All these riders progressed to their next levels!

The Paris season ended on a very high note. The Paris Fair events were held mid-afternoon at 2:00pm and were greeted by alot of eager fans. The CSRA Division 2 and 3 Championships were up for grabs as well as, a new Junior Speedway 85cc Championship. The event was close and enjoyed by all, and we are very proud to say that our 2008 Champions for these classes are:

Division 2 - Ms. Corinne Franic

Division 3 - Jeremy Zelaska

Junior Speedway 85cc - Matt Sehl

The Sunday event was all speedway and was a cracker. Wesley "Mr. Speeeeeeedway" Pierce was on hand to MC the event. This and Saturday's events were dedicated to the track Manager & Maestro of Paris Speedway, Mr. Dave Havill. Dave had undergone a serious emergency operation in the week prior to the events and the CSRA dedicated these events to Mr. Havill. He was able to visit the Sunday event, and we were very proud to know that Dave was there!

Joe Heye battled all day to beat out a very competitive Jeff Orosz in the final to take the day's crowning glory. Sadly though the the day ended in a bad way for the new Division 3 Champion, Jeremy Zelaska, as he crashed heavily with Mike Hammond's bike to break his leg. But Jeremy will be back in 2009

The CSRA would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the volunteers who help at all the racing events. These wonderful people come week-in and week-out to give their support to the events and ensure that they run like clockwork! Thank you sincerely everyone!!!

And last but not least, we thank the riders and you for completing the equation. Without the riders and fans, all the work done by the volunteers is wasted. Great job!

Finally, a big and generous thanks goes to the following for all their support:

• CKPC - Brantford's Best Radio Station
• Dave & Carol Havill
• Russell Press
• Paris Agricultural Society
• Randy Doan
• Welland County Motorcycle Club
• Tommy Hensby Photos
• Peter Buss Productions
• Bones Productions
• Roger Stevens
• Tom Marriott
• John Franic
• Ian March
• Wesley Pierce

.