VRRA Round 2: The Highs and Lows of Vintage Racing

On one of the hottest weekends of the year so far, the enthusiastic racers and fans of the Vintage Road Racing Association gathered at Shannonville Motorsports Park for the annual Summer Classic. With some great highs and some extreme lows, racing was as fierce as ever on the 1.8 km Nelson circuit.

The event had its mishaps. Inside Motorcycles and the entire VRRA family send their best wishes and most positive thoughts to the racers and families struggling with recovery.

Despite the delays and red flags, the racers put on a fantastic show. The Period 3 Heavyweight race was a nail bitter!  Z1 Kawasaki vs Katana vs XS650. It was a great race, but in the end the Whyte Racing Z1, with racer Dominic Aubry at the helm, took the win. The P4 (83-89) Vintage Challenge saw some great position swapping, with Colin Duncan’s ZX-7 finishing first and Keith Louttit’s MBP Ducati 900SS second.

Heavyweights Madrus (#17) and Vaclavik (#75) line up to battle alongside Middleweights Belanger (#287) and Edwards (#613) in the P2-H/MidProd final.

Sunday got off to a late start, with the final races being shortened to 8 laps from their usual 12. The Period 3 Lightweight race had the Newbury GPZ550 in a great match up with Bill Quail’s Yamaha SR500. Lee Newbury took the win on a bike completely prepared and maintained by his dad, Fred. Two Period 4 classes (light and middleweight) had very fast lap times, with Jody Pearce taking the F3 win and David Percival winning F2.

The Middleweight Production race had Paul Brubaker’s production racer on top of the box both days, with Quail’s #711 in second place and KH400 two-stroke racer Roger Belanger in third. All three bikes are beautifully prepared by their riders and they put on a great show. Vaclavik, Mislbachner and Madrus had top honors in Period 2 Heavy, also on fantastic bikes prepared by their riders.

Honda CB350 rider Tim Voyer beat Stan Nicholson, who was racing vintage bikes before they were vintage! Miles Holden took second to Brubaker in Pre 1965-500cc with Don MacPhail taking first in Pre65-350cc. The Period 3 Middleweight race gave Chris Hurst the win, with Vaclavick, Brown, Whyte and Shaw in the top five.

Colin Duncan (#590) and his ZX-7 won P4F1 over the Ducati 900s of Bill Quail (not pictured) and Don Gosen (#73).

The Period 1-250cc class had Nicholson take the win, with vintage career highlights for Derek Strange (Suzuki T20 two-stroke) and Brock Hansler in second and third place. The Period 4 Heavyweight race was crazy, to say the least, with the top four riders having one minute lap times. Duncan’s ZX-7 took the win, with Quail’s and Don Gosen’s pair of 900SSs in second and third. Period 3 Heavy was not the battle royale we had hoped for, with Ruhl’s Katana sidelined. Aubry walked away with the win, with Vaclavik and Carravetti second and third.

Craziest of all was the sidecar final. Minnett, Gill, Vinten, Holden and Robinson were pushing, drifting, shoving, and bumping! The first two thirds of the race were absolute mayhem! Dave Minnett took the win, but Mathew Gill and VRRA President Mike Vinten really tried to have their way with the lead sidecar. Gary Holden’s rig put on a fabulous show.

Rookie Sidecar racer Vic Smith and his monkey had a DNF in the final, but loved their weekend and their new VRRA family.

The Vintage GP was also a great highlight to the weekend. This new two-stroke class highlights purpose built, production race bikes. Percival and Humphrey took top spots in their classes.

Come see the third round Vintage Festival, August 23-25, at CTMP (Mosport)! 

RESULTS:

HB Cycle P3 Lightweight:

1. 1)      Lee Newbury
2. 2)      Bill Quail
3. 3)      Dave Mascioli

ArmourBodies P4F3:

1. 1)      Jody Pearce
2. 2)      Jamie Barkley
3. 3)      Patrick Gagnon

JPrecision P1-350:

1. 1)      Jamie Bosson
2. 2)      Colin Duncan
3. 3)      Andrelo D’Ornellas

P1-OPEN:

1. 1)      Peter Hurst
2. 2)      Doug Forbes
3. 3)      Michael Clipsham

P2-Heavyweight:

1. 1)      Mick Vaclavik
2. 2)      Mike Mislbachner
3. 3)      Toivo Madrus

EvansAuto MiddleWeightProduction:

1. 1)      Paul Brubaker
2. 2)      Bill Quail
3. 3)      Roger Belanger

ArmourBodies P4F2:

1. 1)      David Percival
2. 2)      Craig Goodwin
3. 3)      Jamie Barkley

Pre65-350:

1. 1)      Don MacPhail

Pre65-500:

1. 1)      Paul Brubaker
2. 2)      Miles Holden

Heidenau Tires P2-Lightweight

1. 1)      Tim Voyer
2. 2)      Stan Nicholson
3. 3)      Jamie Bosson

Whyte Fitness P3-Middleweight:

1. 1)      Chris Hurst
2. 2)      Mick Vaclavik
3. 3)      Steve Brown

Newman Motorsports P1-500:

1. 1)      Paul Brubaker
2. 2)      Shaun McDonald
3. 3)      Michael Clipsham

MJ DreherTrucking P1-250:

1. 1)      Stan Nicholson
2. 2)      Derek Strange
3. 3)      Brock Hansler

Blue Streak Racing P4F1:

1. 1)      Colin Duncan
2. 2)      Bill Quail
3. 3)      Don Gosen

Sidecars:

1. 1)      Dave Minnett
2. 2)      Mathew Gill
3. 3)      Mike Vinten
4. 4)      Gary Holden
5. 5)      Brian Robinson

Tactical Products Canada P3-Heavyweight:

1. 1)      Dominic Aubry
2. 2)      Mick Vaclavik
3. 3)      Mike Carravetti

CMR Racing Products Vintage GP Middleweight:

1. 1)      David Percival
2. 2)      Steve Brown
3. 3)      Joe Soles

CMR Racing Products Vintage GP Lightweight:

1. 1)      Steve Humphrey
2. 2)      Patrick Gagnon
3. 3)      Colin Fearn