The Alberta Mini Road Racing Association (AMRA) enjoyed a very successful Round #2 held on May 20 at Varsity Speed Park in Calgary due in large part to all of the volunteers and executive, as well as all of the racers who participated in the event.
In Formula GP, race#2, Rob Ross led the field from start to finish to take first, with Jay Fox pushing closely for second. Cody Conrad, in his first time racing in this class, this year, taking third, despite losing his shift lever. Rob Haynes, aboard Jay Baloch’s newly rebuilt TZ85, took fourth overall for the day, in his first time aboard a GP bike since 2010.
The Spec Motard class was a repeat of round #1 with former British racing star, John Hardingham, whose hand was cramped tight before this final race, taking first and the upstart Scott Hewgill coming in second.
The Thunder Class was as entertaining as always. Cody Conrad and Jay Baloch battled for the lead for most of the race and ended up with Jay having a tire go flat, giving Cody the well deserved win. Young gun, Josh Hewgill and veteran Rob Ross banged handlebars for most of the day and in the end Josh beat him out, placing second and third respectively.
In the Spec Supersport class, 15-year-old Alyssa Fox battled a couple of returning AMRA long time veterans Jonathon McCarrol and Jason Ortt for the win. Jonathan and good buddy Jason exchanged paint for most of the race, neither willing to back down. Matthew Smith and Connor McCarrol rounded up the top five. Interesting to note in this race was there were two father and son tandems; Jason and Braeden Ortt, the other was Jonathon and Connor McCarrol. How long until these young guns are beating their fathers?
In the Spec under 21 class, Round 2 was a repeat of Round 1 with Cody Conrad taking first, Josh Hewgill, second and Alyssa Fox taking third. Rounding out the top five were Braeden Ortt in fourth and Connor McCarrol in fifth.
The Formula under 21 class pitted young guns Josh Hewgill. Cody Conrad, Alyssa Fox and James Smith against each other. They finished Conrad, Hewgill , Fox and Smith.
Alyssa Fox is quickly getting used to the extra power of the formula machine and James Smith is rapidly improving and will both be challenging for the top of the podium in this class in the near future.
The Spec over 21 had one of the largest grids of the day with 10 bikes all plowing into turn 1 together. Jay Baloch and Jay Fox broke away from the pack early and battled for the lead with Baloch putting his TTR125 first on the podium with Fox aboard his NXR100 in the second spot. CMRA star Rupert Collins and Rob Ross battled for the final podium position with Ross beating him out for third. Jeff Dahms and Rob Haynes (aboard a highly tuned AMRA bike) finished fifth and sixth respectively.
The Formula over 21 class saw John Hardingham, Rob Ross, AMRA rookie Jeff Dahms, Jay Fox, Jay Baloch and Scott Hewgill lining up against each other. After a hard fought 10 laps, Ross, Fox and Hewgill filled the podium with Baloch, Dahms and Hardingham rounding up the field.
Formula Supersport, with increased interest due in part to the CBR125’s, saw Jeff Dahms and Alex Irving battle for first and second respectively with Alyssa Fox in the final podium spot. Rounding up the top five were James Smith and Sandi Chapma, who had a couple of violent crashes but managed to get her bike and herself together to answer the bell for her later races.
The Youth 6-9 is a smaller class this year, so far, but the competition between these two young superstars is anticipated to be intense. Lined up for this race were Torin Collins and Aiden Langridge, with Collins taking first and Langridge in second place when the race was done. Both boys very excited to be on the podium!
In the Women’s Class featured Sandi Chapman, Alyssa Fox and Sierra Eslick. The finishing order was Fox in first, Chapman in second and the AMRA rookie Sierra Eslick in third in her first podium finish. If the Eslick name sounds familiar, it should. Her father, Billy, is cousin to the AMA superstar Danny Eslick. It’s just a matter of time until the Eslick mad skills take over!
The Intermediate Class had nine racers taking the grid for this one. This class has grown the most over last year. The line up of future superstars for this race included Connor McCarrol, Braeden Ortt, Noel Chambers, Heather Iverson, Sandi Chapman, Anthony Lo, Matthew Smith, James Smith and Sierra Eslick. After the hard fought race was over the top five finishers were Connor McCarrol, Anthony Lo, James Smith, Braeden Ortt and Matthew Smith.
Full results from Round #2 can be found on the Alberta Mini Road Racing Association website at www.amra.ca