April 14/02 11:49 am - Ontario Cup Road #1: Story & Photos

Posted by Editor on 04/14/02
 

Ontario Road Cup #1

Ontario Cup #1, held at the Mosport race track, can be termed a success, despite inclement weather. Darko Ficko and Kim Davidge (Saturn) were the winners of the senior 1-2 races, but everyone benefited from this special event that took place on a closed circuit.

Mosport Speedway is a motorsport track approximately 1 hour east and north of Toronto. The 4 kilometre circuit provides a rolling course with complete closure - no driveways, crossroads or Sunday traffic to deal with. Organizers Rob and David Naish say that the cost is slightly higher to rent the use of the facility then to arrange road closures and hire police, however, the number of people required is significantly less, the organization easier and safety is much easier. The event attracted approximately 250 riders, with 63 in the Senior 1-2 Men and 20 in the Women.

The women's race came down to a sprint among the top 8 riders, with Davidge breaking clear on the final ascent to the finish. The men's 132 kilometre race began in fog, which degenerated into heavy rain before the finish in clearing conditions. There were a number of breakaway attempts, with the most serious at about the halfway point containing 11 riders, including mountain biker Seamus McGrath, Aaron Fillion and Simon Small (Ital Pasta-Atlas Cold Storage). This group reached a maximum of about 1:18 on the field, but then began to disintegrate.

Gears Racing wasn't happy with the makeup of the smaller lead group that formed, and sent their entire squad to the front to chase it down. The effort split the field, especially in the heavy downpour that developed, but once the break was caught, everything settled down and the reduced field reorganized into 2 packs of approximately 15 riders each. Breakaway efforts continued, but were brought back until the final two laps when Small and Mathieu Toulouse (Gears Racing) broke away. They were joined by Ficko at the start of the final lap and, with both Ital Pasta and Gears represented, the trio stayed away. Ficko, who had been lurking in the pack through the race, proved to have the most left at the end, and outkicked Small over the crest of the last climb and into the finishing straight. Piers Davidge (Gears Racing) took the field sprint for fourth.

Full results to follow when available.


Ontario Cup #1, Mosport Raceway

Darko Ficko takes the win

Piers Davidge wins the field sprint

Simon Small & Matt Toulouse

Team Gears chases

Break

The fog

The rain

Start/Finish area

Peloton

Peloton 2

Peloton 3

Darko Ficko early in the race

Piers Davidge leads a chase group