Welland Motorcycle Club
603 Netherby Road, R. R. #4, Welland
Ontario, Canada L3B5N7
Tel: (905) 734-7058
Canada v USA Speedway
Welland Motorcycle Club
July 9, 2016
The event was originally scheduled to be a Canada v USA challenge to be run over two rounds at Welland and Mid America in Indianapolis. However the first leg at Welland on Saturday night was changed to an individual meeting instead with fourteen riders vying for spots in the A and B finals on the fast Welland quarter mile track.
Right from the beginning it was clear that three of them, Canadian Kyle Legault, and New Yorkers Casey Donholt and Mike Buman were a class above the rest and that their meetings would decide the winner on the night.
By the luck of the draw the unbalanced format favored Buman who only met Donholt once in the four qualifying rounds while Donholt and Legault met twice. Donholt got things off to a great start when he beat the hard charging Legault in the first round. When they met again in the next round he again got the early lead but this time Legault powered around him on the second lap to even things up. Donholt then
beat Buman when they met leaving all three heading the qualifiers on 15 points.
Florida based David Meldrum on 13 points took the fourth spot in the A main but with the next three in line meeting in their final heat, fifth place was up for grabs. Going into it young Zach Peters was a point ahead of Nick Fafard and two up on Terry Rideout and that was also the race order going down the back straight of the first lap but that didn’t last long. First Peters had to drop out at turn three when his bike caught fire and then a lap later Fafard seized his motor leaving Rideout to get the win and move up the standings into the A main.
With the track very slick passing was difficult making gating critical. Legault won the draw for gate choice and took the outside with Donholt beside him. Their choices worked as they beat Buman of the line and there was little between them going into the first turn. However behind them Buman and Meldrum came down between turns one and two bringing about a restart with both of them on the penalty line. Again there was little between Legault and Donholt coming of the line but Legault grabbed the lead and that is how they finished with Rideout holding off a strong challenge from Buman to take third.
Duncan Luke luke99@rogers.com
[Note: The report below is from the Welland Motorcycle Club website.]
Saturday night at the Welland Speedway was filled with great anticipation, as the Canada v USA Speedway event was poised for some great racing.
16 riders from both countries prepared for battle on a hot sticky summers night.
The night saw some old familiar faces from the Canadian Speedway past emerge to compete in this historical event, Lee Charland, Nick Fafard (Bellport), Gaetan Carignan and John Bennett joined Kyle Legault, Terry Rideout, Tyler Brown and Paul Brauweller for Canada.
The USA team was a strong contingent of Mike Buman, Casey Donholt, Jim Terchilla, Zach Peters, Spencer Poroboro, David Meldrum, and Clayton Criswell.
It was also great to see the legend himself Merle Craven in the pits helping the USA guys! A solid professional!
Some exhilarating races ensued with the USA riders winning a few heats. Four rounds of three heats and two finals completed the program and the large crowd enjoyed top class racing!
Canadian Gaetan Carignan came to ride his last ever race on his birthday and sadly blew his engine in practice, which forced his hand to quit the night! Lee Charland rode really well and was also a victim to bike problems and punctures which saw him withdrawn after round 2. Nick Fafard showed that he has a special talent on a bike and was victorious in the B Main final!
Welland regular Zach Peters suffered an alarming time in his last heat when his bike lost power and the carb caught fire in turn 3, he quickly doused the flames but was left with some serious damage to his new bike covers and the carb. Despite desperate work in the pits he was unable to continue on that bike for the night! Canadian Kyle Legault stepped up and offered his back up bike to Zach to enable him to ride in the qualified B Final, where he finished 4th.
The night was held up for about 20 mins due to heavy showers, but they passed to allow for the last round of heats and finals to take place.
The main final consisted of Kyle Legault, Terry Rideout for Canada and Casey Donholt, Mike Buman and David Meldrum for the USA. The tapes flew and disaster for both Buman and Meldrum as Buman slid out and Meldrum lost his chain! with a few minutes of work, Buman was back all dusted off and Meldrum was on Kyle Legault's spare bike. they both were penalized and started on the 15 yard line.
Kyle Legault got the hole shot on both starts, and keep an aggressive Casey Donholt behind him, whilst Terry Rideout produced his best ever race holding a charging Buman from passing him, to give Canada a 1st and 3rd place in the main final!
So as it stands Canada leads the series 1-0, the rematch in the USA should be a cracker!
The Flat Track classes were also run, and we thank them for also putting on an awesome show, lots of close racing in all classes making the night extra special!
The results are now completely up-to-date and are posted under each class ridden. Photos will be posted soon!
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