In spite of a terrible weather forecast, the faithful racers of the Vintage Road Racing Association headed to Autodrome St-Eustache for the final round of the season on September 7-8. Fortunately, Mother Nature (or the racing gods) chose to bless them with incredible temperatures to finish off a turbulent but successful 2013 campaign.
Chris Hurst was the big winner of the weekend, winning the Period 3 Middleweight race and taking the championship over Mick Vaclavik and Tim Whyte by just six points. He also made the podium in two other classes and rode his Andrew Cuttler-prepared Honda Hawk 650 to championships in P4F3 and F2, while his Yamaha TZ350 took him to glory in the Middleweight Vintage GP class. What a season!
National Pro Superbike racer Louie Raffa really made his presence known at St-Eustache, taking first in both the P4F3 and P4F2 finals on a borrowed Yamaha FZR400. Dave Roper took top honors in Period 2 Heavy while former national Honda CBR champion Stacey Nesbitt returned to the VRRA and took the win in Vintage GP Lightweight class ahead of Patrick Gagnon.
Inside Motorcycles’ own Dave Minnett won both the heat race and the final in Period 2 Sidecar with cousin Dale Minnett, while Jason Darlington won Period 3 Lightweight. Stan Nicholson had a perfect 4-for-4 season in the Period 1-250 class. Hats off to Neville Miller who was out there racing his beautifully prepared, pre-1950 Velocette!
Next on the agenda for the VRRA is the Annual General Meeting and Awards Banquet, to be held this November in North Bay.
Results:
HB Cycle P3-L
Jason Darlington
Lee Newbury
Mike Vinten
Armour Bodies P4F3
Louie Raffa
Chris Hurst
Daniel Rinfret
JPrecision P1-350
Eric Pritchard
Colin Duncan
Jamie Bosson
P1-Open
Joel Nelson
Pre-1950
Neville Miller
Sidecar P3
Pierre Rochat
Jean-Guy Ractliffe
Sidecar P2
Dave Minnett
Mathew Gill
Mike Vinten
P2-Heavy
David Roper
Mick Vaclavik
Toivo Madrus
Evans Auto P2-Middle
Rick Edwards
Colin Fearn
Roger Belanger
Armour Bodies P4F2
Louie Raffa
David Percival
Dave Minnett
Pre-1965 500cc
Miles Holden
Pre-1965 350
Eric Pritchard
Don MacPhail
Heidenau Tires P2-Light
Stan Nicholson
Jamie Bosson
John Dunlop
P1-200
Rick Yates
Whyte Fitness P3-Middle
Chris Hurst
Tim Whyte
Mick Vaclavik
Motorsport Newman P1-500
John Dunlop
Shaun McDonald
MJ Dreher Trucking P1-250
Stan Nicholson
Eric Pritchard
Robert Orr
Blue Streak Racing P4F1
Colin Duncan
Marc Tremblay
Tim Ruhl
Tactcal Products Canada P3-Heavy
Dominic Aubry
Tim Ruhl
Tim Whyte
CMR Racing Products VintageGP-M
David Percival
Chris Hurst
Dave Roper
CMR Racing Products VintageGP-L
Stacey Nesbitt
Patrick Gagnon
Steve Humphrey
Period 4 Vintage Challenge
Marc Tremblay
Dave Minnett
John Crossley
— By Brian Lourenco for the VRRA
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