Name: Mike Hammond
Born:
1968 - now I get seniors discount at Rona!!!
Hometown:
Cambridge, Ontario
Started Riding Speedway:
2008
Tracks Ridden: Paris, Ontario - Long and Short tracks
Welland, Ontario
Belleville, Ontario
Mid America - Indianapolis, USA
Canton Ohio - 1/2 mile. USA
Western Reserve - Salem, Ohio. USA
Champion Speedway - Owego, NY. USA
Medina, NY. USA
Quebec - a mud fest....lol
Various indoor Ice races across Canada and the US with Xiir
Achievements:
2011 CMA Speedway Champion
2011 Canadian Speedway Champion
2012 Canadian Speedway Champion
Bio: Started road racing in 1990 when finished College for mechanical engineering riding Yamaha RZ 350, In 1991 won the RZ Cup championship and 3rd in Amateur 400 production. 1992 moved to Pro 600 with an early season podium finish at Sanair Quebec, before destroying my bike at the first National race in Shannonville off the back stretch in a multi bike pile up in the pouring rain. Rather than purchasing a new bike I choose to focus on my Engineering career. In 2008 a great friend and previous road racing buddy Todd Vallee suggested I take a Speedway school offered by GT Tuning Canada which I did in mid May 2008. A few weeks later I purchased an ex Gary Havelock JHR-GM bike from GT Tuning Canada and by the end of the year had bought another two used Jawa's an 888 & 884.
Through the years I rode every chance I could at various track and practices. Some Saturdays I would leave home early morning for Mid America in Indianapolis which is a 7.5 hour drive, race and then pack up and drive home that night, it was generally a 22 hour trip.
In 2011 and 2012 I had great seasons winning the Canadian Speedway championship along with the CMA number 1 plate in 2011.
Many people supported and coached me through the years, my brother as pit crew, Tim & Jeff from GT Tuning and many others. A highlight of my Speedway racing time was getting to know and ride with Terry Rideout. We normally pitted beside each other, helped each other out with our bikes and with Terrys personality had many good laughs that just made the racing that much more fun. We spent countless nights together as competitors but Terry was always willing to help out giving me things to think about and try as we improved together. The world lost a great man, RIP Terry!
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