"Wojo" wins Hare Scrambles finale

By Suzanne Howie

WHEATLY, ON -- The number three plate in the Pro class was on the line at the Wheatly round of the CMA National Hare Scramble series last weekend.

It all came down to one race, two and a half hours of dust, sand, woods and hard work. With newly-crowned champion Jake Stapleton out, and Brian Wojnarowski secure in second place overall, it was up to Tyler Linton to defend his hold on third spot, which he had taken from Mike Vandenhoek after the last round in Wilberforce. For his part, Vandenhoek was looking to take home the win and the points to put him in front of Linton.

Chris van Hove, meanwhile, had his heart set on causing trouble for Linton and Vandenhoek, breaking out the big 450 Suzuki for this fast track. Local boy, Brad Dixon had spent his summer racing GNCCs and had a bunch of new tricks to show off in the Pro class. The KTM boys, Aaron Wilkins, Kevin Cockayne and Jonathan Ryan, couldn’t be counted out either.

It was a cold start when the Youth took off in the morning, but the weather turned warm with the sun shining down from a nearly cloudless sky.

Holeshot machine Wilkins put his KTM out front at the start, followed by Wojnarowski, Vandenhoek and the hometown hero Dixon. "Wojo" and Vandenhoek eventually got tired of eating Wilkins’ roost and both bikes made the pass into first and second.

"Wojo" took Vandenhoek in a corner coming out of the tomato patch and back into the woods, checking out for first place. From that point on, the seasoned Yamaha rider opened what would become a huge gap. Vandenhoek kept the charge up, refusing to back down, while van Hove passed Dixon into third place.

But Vandenhoek had another rough ride. The dust was hard on the riders’ lungs but it was just as hard, if not harder, on their machines, and air filters were caked. Vandenhoek was forced out of the race after six laps.

When Linton came into pit and saw Vandenhoek's bike on its side, he knew it was over. After having a less than stellar start, Linton was running just inside the top five, but pushing himself and his bike to the limit trying to get in front of Wilkins and gain positions on Vandenhoek. But upon realizing Vandenhoek was out, Linton relaxed and rode safe, riding to a seventh place overall.

With Linton and Vandenhoek pitted only one tent down from each other, there were mixed emotions between the neighbours as each congratulated the other following their battle, which both riders had wanted to settle on the track.

The computerized scoring allowed for accurate and easy access to the results, much to the pleasure of riders. More than one rider commented on how well the event was run and how nice the computerized scoring was.

Results:
1- Brian Wojnarowski (YAM) – 2:37:28 (10 laps)
2- Christopher van Hove (SUZ) – 2:38:48 (10 laps)
3- Brad Dixon (KAW) – 2:40:52 (10 laps)
4- Aaron Wilkins (KTM) – 2:30:03 (9 laps)
5- Kevin Cockayne (KTM) – 2:31:02 (9 laps)