The Canadian National FIM Motul MiniGP Series finally got underway at Lombardy Raceway Motorsports Park on Saturday, August 23, after flooding spoiled the planned opener at Brechin in late July.
Lombardy has been the home track for MiniSBK action in Canada for the past four seasons.
At this ten turn, 800 meter in length, counterclockwise version of the Lombardy facility used for the opening three Nationals of 2025, the expected battle between Alberta’s Ethan Reardon and local Ontario racer Jager Stockill finally got underway. In the end, Stockill came out on top – just – with two wins in races one and three, and a second place after a jump start penalty in the second National, marked by Reardon’s first National success.
In the opener, Stockill (age 12) shadowed leader Reardon (age 10), then made an aggressive inside move in the turn one/” Bus Stop” section. From there, Stockill worked out a six second lead, Terraburst-backed Reardon netting second while Stfan Tanasic placed third on his TAS entry, a further 17 seconds back after 12 laps.
Fastest lap of the opener and a new lap record went to Stockill at 46.92 sec, Reardon also right there at 47.03.
Martina Cardenas of British Columbia had been close to Tanasic initially but settled for fourth – both Cardenas and Tanasic making their first starts in the National tour, Cardenas just old enough at ten while at 14, Tanasic is at the maximum age for participation.
Fifth went to another 14-year-old, Mateen O’Brien, who was penalized by five seconds in the results for an aggressive jump start.
Jump starts were an ongoing theme in race two, when Stockill moved early and drew Cardenas and Will Brown into a penalty position with the FIM Rulebook. Reardon jumped into the lead and held off a concerted challenge from Stockill, with Stockill just .13 of a second back at the finish, before the penalties were applied.
Tanasic was 12 seconds back for third, ahead of Cardenas and O’Brien.
Reardon edged Stockill for fastest lap in race two by an incredible .02 of a second at 47.07, remarkably close to his race one pace.
The third race would be a true rubber match, and with no jump starts to report, Stockill was glued to leader Reardon’s rear Pirelli slick from the opening lap. It took until lap four for Stockill to find the way past in the lead, ultra tight sets of turns, making a dive bomb move into a tight right hander. From there, the dynamic duo diced for first, until traffic split the leaders by an eventual .93 of a second, Reardon managing to catch up every time they encountered slower racers.
In the fastest lap competition, runner up Reardon got the nod by a tenth of a second with a lap of 46.83, victor Stockill netting a best lap at 46.95. This performance gave Reardon the new outright track record. Tanasic was next up with a tour at 48 sec flat.
The series now goes to Le Circuit Mount Tremblant’s Go-Kart venue on Wednesday and Thursday, August 27 and 28, before heading to the RACEMoto Ontario Regional event at Shannonville Motorsport Park, September 5 and 6. Neither venue has previously hosted a MiniGP National event.
