OROSZ Wins the Night!
A beautiful night welcomed the opening event at the Welland Speedway. All the classes of Flat Track, Junior and Speedway entertained the bumper crowd.
The Canadian Speedway Racing Association took full control of the speedway program and it was a huge success!
The night began with 9 Division 1 and 5 Division 2 riders.
The First race presented by the Division 2 riders, Mike Hammond, Tim Murray, Gary Moody, John Bennett and Allan Chisholm was a great opener. Tim Murray grabbed a commanding lead from the tapes and led for 2 laps, until a hard charging Mike Hammond took the lead to leave Tim Murray, to battle it out with John Bennett to a close finish with Gary Moody, leaving Allan Chisholm following up the rear.
The first round of the 2 Division 1 heats began with Joe Heye, C.J. Hesmer, Gary Hesmer, Aaron Hesmer and Terry Rideout respectively gating in this order. C.J. Hesmer flew from gate 2 to take the lead and leave the others to battle it out. Unfortunately for Aaron Hesmer, turn 3 caught him out and he slid out and remounted to finish in last place. Joe Heye finished second with Terry Rideout and Gary Hesmer close behind!
The second round saw Fred Legault, Jeff Orosz, Glen Brown and Rob Dixon take to the track. Jeff Orosz, who always looks sharp at Welland, took a commanding lead from the tapes. Behind him, the battle between Rob Dixon and Fred Legault was the attraction with them side by side for 2 laps, eventually leaving Rob Dixon to pass Fred Legault on turn 3, to grab a comfortable second place. Glen Brown seemed to be underpowered and finished in last place.
Round 2, gave the fans something to talk about! The Division 2 guys gave a great race; Mike Hammond flew away leaving Tim Murray holding back an aggressive Gary Moody, behind a comfortable 2 nd placed John Bennett. Tim Murray made a big mistake on lap 3 and Gary Moody was ready and flew passed him to gain a well-deserved 3 rd place. Allan Chisholm who was off the pace finished last.
Gary Hesmer, C.J.Hesmer, Terry Rideout and Jeff Orosz began their second Division 1 round. Again Jeff Orosz was flying and left C.J. Hesmer and cousin Gary Hesmer to fight it out! Terry Rideout did a fantastic job of keeping the race interesting by mixing himself into the duel! The outcome though, was a second place for C.J. Hesmer, third for Gary Hesmer and a fourth for Terry Rideout.
The second Division 1 race proved to be a crowd attention grabber! Fred Legault, Aaron Hesmer, Joe Heye, Rob Dixon, and Glen Brown all took off neck and neck into turn 1, Aaron Hesmer held his line from gate 2 and pulled away, but Fred Legault and Joe Heye clashed and fell in corner 2 leaving Rob Dixon to lay down his machine in fantastic fashion. He is the master of this, and it was superb to see this manoeuvre performed perfectly reducing any problems! Glen Brown also was able to avoid any contact! The restart with all 5 riders to the line was finished from the tapes with Aaron Hesmer taking a good win ahead of Joe Heye, Fred Legault, Rob Dixon and Glen Brown respectively!
The final events also produced so great racing. The Division 2 final was completely dominated by Mike Hammond who looked very calm and composed to win ahead of John Bennett, Tim Murray, Gary Moody and Glen Brown.
The Division 1 B-Main was a cracker! Gary Hesmer led from the tapes, but Rob Dixon would not give up as he spent four laps right on Gary Hesmer's shoulder right to the line! Terry Rideout and Glen Brown had a good battle for the 3 rd place until Glen Brown was forced to retire with mechanical problems.
The A-Main final was delayed due to the ambulance being utilized following a previous huge flat track crash. Following a patient transfer to the regular ambulance, Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer, C. J. Hesmer, Joe Heye and Fred Legault rolled up to the line. C.J. Hesmer and Jeff Orosz were side by side for nearly a lap until Jeff Orosz took off and led to the final flag! Aaron Hesmer pushed really hard from third place to keep Terry Rideout behind him, while Fred Legault pushed Terry Rideout to the end. Aaron Hesmer pushed C.J. Hesmer to the line, but he was unable to get the required drive off the last corner to make the final successful move!
A superb night of speedway racing, which left the crowd definitely wanting to come back next week!
