The 2025 Motul FIM MiniGP Canadian National tour wrapped up at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Saturday September 6, in an event held in conjunction with the inaugural RACEMoto Ontario Regional series. Jager Stockill lead the championship chase heading into the traditional event, coming off a dominant trio of races in the wet the previous week at Mount Tremblant in Quebec.
However arch rival Ethan Reardon of Calgary, Alberta, was still in contention, and fans were waiting for a straight fight between 12-year-old Stockill, who represented Canada at the World Final in Spain last year, and ten-year-old Reardon, in his first year of eligibility but with solid experience on the development ladder for young racers in Spain.
In practice, Stockill was fastest, taking advantage of his experience with the regional series on this specific Shannonville layout. In Free Practice three on Friday, Stockill turned a lap time underneath his circuit record at 48.9 of a sec.
But in the first official qualifying session of Saturday, a confident Reardon confirmed his pace with a best tour at 49.03, earning pole with his Terraburst Trenchless Sewer Ohvale 160 ahead of Stockill’s AIM Insurance supported entry at 49.6. A brief rainstorm meant that Q2 was meaningless, and the first session’s times established to overall starting grid for the three afternoon races in the delayed schedule.
Third on the grid, earning the outside of row one, went to TAS Racing’s Stefan Tanasic, age 14, ahead of his season-long rival, Martina Cardenas of British Columbia, age just ten, aboard the Bridgestone CSBK Scholarship entry.
In Saturday afternoon’s opener, Reardon got a great start at the blink of the lights, taking a slim lead with Stockill climbing all over his rear Pirelli. The pair dueled, Stockill sometime alongside the leader, but at the finish of 12 laps Reardon won his second race of the series by .331 over Stockill.
Further back, Cardenas held off the best efforts of Tanasic, the young female just 0.1 of a second ahead for the final podium spot.
In terms of outright pace, Stockill was strongest with a new lap record at 48.44, Reardon next best at 48.62 of a second. Cardenas and Tanasic were in the low 49s.
Race two was a more aggressive affair, with Reardon once again ahead early, but Stockill making some moves stick, particularly exiting the tight infield section where the track rejoins the bigger layout. A photo finish releveled that Stockill earned another victory by just .02 of a second.
In terms of best laps, Reardon was quickest, .07 ahead of Stockill at 48.52, very close to the recently set record. Cardenas managed a strong 48.83 on her way to another hotly contested third overall, with Tanasic fourth but slightly faster at 48.77.
The very entertaining and much hoped for fight between pre-season favorites Stockill and Reardon continued in the third race, Reardon again leading early and the two trading the point multiple times, never further apart than a few bike lengths. Tanasic and Cardenas were also right with the leaders on the opening laps. Reardon made a move work with just over a lap to go and hung on to win by .25 of a second, in a race that was the fastest of the day by just one second!
Reardon set his best lap of 48.31 with a lap to go, while ever-aggressive Stockill was a little quicker, turning a 48.27 on his final, ultimately futile tour. Behind the dynamic duo, Tanasic went all out to seize third from Cardenas, turning a best tour of 49.22 while Martina set a very stout 48.72.
After a fall late in race one, Mateen O’Brien scored a pair of fifths to complete his season.
Post race, Reardon commented that he was pleased with the racing, and how he and Stockill could ride close together “without anything happening. It went good.”
Stockill praised his rival and also commented that his wet weather experience in Spain at the World finals the previous fall helped lead to this year’s overall Canadian National crown.
During the post race festivities, series founder and Team Captain Toni Sharpless awarded Reardon with an award recognizing that his family had travelled the furthest to compete, since the five of them are based in Spain. Cardenas received the Lean Angle Racing Hard Charger Award.
In the final Championship points standings, Stockill netted the title with a total of 210, followed by Reardon at 191 and Cardenas third, in her national debut, with 129 points compared to the 123 total of fellow rookie Tanasic.
Stockill and Reardon will represent Canada at the FIM Motul World Championship event in Spain this November.
