Teron Construction Wingham Cross Country Wiesner Insurance Ontario Cross Country Championship Presented by Apex Cycle KTM Round #3
Heavy rain leading up to this event had some riders concerned about mud and slippery conditions. Any rider having raced at this facility in the past would know this would be a larger than normal concern due to the hills, roots and off camber trails at this round. These concerns were erased when the skies cleared mid day Saturday and hot temperatures moved in to dry things up fast. Credit does have to go to Trevor and Sean who chose a course that was wide, fast and without sources for rider bottlenecks.
The course itself featured the best of the trails available and even the land owner said after viewing the course that a better layout was not possible. By time the morning program started there was not a mud puddle on the course‌ traction was perfect. With the loop splitting itself nearly evenly between forest and MX track, it was difficult to say if it was an experienced woods rider or motocrosser that had the advantage. In the end, Kevin Cockayne known by many as a racer with great experience with both disciplines, took the top of the Pro podium. He also took home the $100 Wiesner Insurance Holeshot Award for what must be the hundredth time.
The day started with an epic battle in the Pee Wee Class. The longest course in the Championship Series featured some water holes, a log crossing and a fast rocky section. Our highly skilled contingent of WEC Pee Wee racers tore up the track and were beaming with delight afterwards. Conner Taplay took top honours again who now has a commanding lead on the championship. Aiden Billings came out and took second on what he calls his “KTM Race Bike”. Keaton Vander Hoek filled out the podium in third. The
Pee Wee riders spent some time eying up the beautiful Marin mountain bike on display that one of them will win at the end of the season courtesy of our sponsor Royal Distributing. The Mini race was highly entertaining in both Junior and Senior classes. Kawasaki mounted Tanner Charette edged out Christian Wiesner on his trick Husqvarna CR65 for the win in an hour long battle. Series regular Ryan O’Niell came in third on his KTM 65. In Mini Senior it looked like Kyle Bichard was ready to show them all how it is done with his strong, hard charging style but he fell in the fast woods section and by the time he regrouped and got going again the lead was taken by Wolfgang Wiesner and he never let up taking first place. Mike Maclennan was close behind but was unable to close the gap Wolfgang made early in the race. Damon Strong was in the mix as well and ended up taking the third spot on the podium for his efforts.
The morning race program went extremely well with some stand out performances in the Beginner class by podium finishers Nathan Playford, Adam Kuni, and Alex Martin swapping paint for 14 laps. Vet Junior was selected for the Apex Cycle – KTM Amateur Holeshot award this time and it was none other than Jason Wiesner on his Husqvarna WR300 two stroke that was first to light up and get to the first turn. He battled in the early stages of the race then took his lead that he kept until the checkers. The Vet Senior Podium was a trio of familiar, happy faces. Keith Billings, Ron Phillips, and Keith Bichard showed that you can still go fast after 45. In Super Senior Bryan Hill took the win over perennial top finisher Jeff Golden.
The heat was nearly unbearable as the afternoon race program lined up at the start. Pro, Vet Master, Intermediate and Junior had to battle temperatures in the high 30s with humidity. With this event being in the “Classic XC format” these serious racers had to battle for two hours non stop. The track actually started getting quite dusty which may be a surprise to some who opted not to come out due to rain on
Saturday. When the dust did settle, Kevin Cockayne earned another $50 from Royal Distributing for the Pro Leading at Halfway Award. This is in addition to his $100 Holeshot Award and his Pro payback that is paid out at every WEC Cross Country Race. David Taplay who won the $100 Apex Cycle – KTM Holeshot Award last weekend, earned another $100 this weekend from Wiesner insurance for the Fastest Lap as Intermediate was the chosen class for that award. When asked if he was thinking about quitting his day job now that he appears to be a consistent money making racer, he replied by saying; “Not just yet”.
The Teron Construction Wingham Cross Country was a fantastic race even if the weather before the event scared off a number of normal entrants. Moving forward, the WEC Facebook page will be updated mid Saturday and again Saturday evening for riders to check track conditions and the weather at the race site. th
Round #4 will take place at the famous Walton MX Facility June 24 . Expect a large presence from the motocross community out to do battle with the off-road regulars. Walton will once again feature the Moto X Country format with two one hour motos for all adult classes. This event will also include a live engine start with backwards falling start gate. Start hydrating now and we hope to see you at Walton.