Ontario Off-Road Racing 2010: A Tale of Two Series

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Let’s start this story off with a quick review. Try to pay attention here, because this mess of alphaghetti is really thick. I've thrown in lots of photos that may or may not be relevant, mainly to break up this story into smaller chunks to give you a chance to digest. Let's take a deep breath and dive in.

-The CMA National Hare Scramble Series has been, in essence, an Ontario Provincial Series.

-World Enduro Canada (WEC) and the Canadian Motosport Racing Club (CMRC) will be promoting an industry-backed Ontario Cross Country Series (OCCS) in 2010. The various regional Ontario off-road clubs that hosted CMA National Hare Scrambles in the past were recently invited by the WEC and CMRC to instead host OCCS events.

-This invite put those regional clubs in a bind, because they have traditionally been aligned with the Canadian Motorcycle Association. In response those clubs came together as one large group, collectively calling themselves the Ontario Off Road Competition Clubs (OORCC). They announced Dec. 2 that they would be running a cross-country series of their own, independent of CMA or WEC/CMRC.

 

The following is the official word from Ontario Off Road Competition Clubs spokesman Bill Watson. “We don't want to confuse anyone, but our situation is not entirely settled yet. The clubs got together a couple of times over the past few weeks for the first time in twenty years, deciding we needed to stick together for both the good of the individual clubs and the good of the sport in this province. I was impressed with the level of cooperation and unity the clubs showed. We have not officially left the CMA, but we are seeking to make our series more interesting and to grow the sport by making races more accessible and offering something different. Many of us have spoken to the WEC and are impressed with their efforts on the Royal Distributing Canadian National Enduro series, but we remain uncertain about provincial matters. Alberta, Quebec and we think Nova Scotia, have formed provincial organizations. Certainly the Quebec model is very appealing. Outside of Quebec, our CMA National Hare Scramble series was probably the biggest in the Country.”

Dan’s translation: The Ontario clubs that traditionally hosted CMA Hare Scrambles met and decided to stick together and hold a provincial racing series independent of any sanctioning body…at least for now.

 

Back to Watson’s email. “I encourage you to publish our OORCC schedule so riders know there is going to be a Provincial Cross-Country Series at familiar venues hosted by local clubs that they, in many cases, already belong to. I can tell you we have talked about a lot of alternatives, but our final decision will be the result of a democratic process that involves all the clubs. We have not ruled out cooperating with any promoters and/or sanctioning bodies, but neither have we committed to any. Understandably, we are hesitant to simply swap one sanctioning body for another, but are willing to look at options for improvement.

There is not much I can say yet, other than we the Ontario Off-Road competition Clubs are very excited about the future prospects for racing in Ontario.”

At this point I was struggling to digest this giant bowl of alpha-honk and get my guts to stop churning. Like you, all these stupid acronyms are driving me freakin' nuts. And no offence guys, but closed-door meetings between the CMA and the OORCC, involving in most cases older club members, left this journalist feeling a little queasy. I will say the Ontario clubs may be conservative and stubborn, but they have kept off-road riding and racing alive and legal in a province that faces huge problems with urban sprawl, limited legal riding areas and an overabundance of misguided rules. So bravo for their efforts! But I wondered how the WEC/CMRC would react at getting their invite to those clubs to host rounds of the WEC/CMRC 2010 Ontario Cross Country Series essentially rejected, with the old “well, we might show up, or maybe not if something better comes along or if we just don’t feel like it, or maybe we’ll have a party of our own,” cop-out. So I called WEC/CMRC Ontario Cross Country Series spokesman Sean Wiesner to find out.

 

Wiesner told me, “WEC has been meeting with the CMRC and Mark Stallybrass, finalizing dates and venues for the 2010 WEC/CMRC OCCS series. Our OCCS will be the premiere off-road series in Ontario, and we have secured full industry support. Work is also being done to share a few rounds with the FMSQ in Quebec, in hopes of producing an “Eastern Canada Cross Country” title series. CMRC racing licenses are valid. The goal of the WEC/CMRC is not to compete directly for the majority of riders who have contested past CMA Hare Scrambles, but instead capture the elite of that group and tie it in with the 2000 CMRC motocross racers in Ontario. Don’t worry if you are a motocrosser venturing into the woods for the first time either. CMRC Motocross racers who never been between two trees have the option to enter whatever class they feel comfortable with at first. So as far as WEC and the CMRC are concerned, the Ontario Off-Road Competition Clubs running an independent series is not in direct conflict with our plans.”

To me, the bottom line looks like this…at least for now. WEC/CMRC will be hosting the 2010 Ontario Cross Country Series. This series is where you will see factory riders, big trucks, industry support, electronic scoring, new venues and most of the motocross-crossover riders. It can be likened to the GNCC series in the U.S and the FMSQ series in Quebec, both of which are way cool and way huge.

 

The Ontario Off-Road Competition Clubs have decades of experience producing CMA National events, dating from back when they really were Nationals, so they know how to host good races that are also fun for families, less experienced riders and weekend warriors. Having no competition license requirement in their new series should encourage entries by curious first time racers. Insurance for these events will be sourced from a third party. Similar independent series are very common and beneficial to motocross and off-road racing all over North America.

So, I know this has been a lot to take in and I don’t know if I made any sense of it. To be honest, I have indigestion from thinking I may be jumping the gate on the whole works and spreading further confusion. Or maybe I’m having an alphaghetti overdose. Whatever. I'm just tired of reading all the crap about this topic on internet blogs and answering my phone to hear people ask me the same questions over and over...questions about these series that I can't or won't answer. I will, however, puke out my two-cents worth of opinion right here on DMX now.

Personally, I think maybe all this mumbo-jumbo can work together beautifully. Two Ontario cross-country series, done properly and respectfully of each other, could compliment each other and help our sport grow! If nothing else there is an opportunity for cooperation between the WEC/CMRC and the Ontario Off-Road Competition Clubs that never existed during the old CMRC/CMA feud days. No matter how you look at it, Off-road racing in Ontario in 2010 will be going through growing pains. This is positive because there will be more off-road races in Ontario in 2010 than there have been since the glory days of the sport in the 1970s. I’ll let you know more when I know more, but for now where the hell is my bottle of Pepto Bismol when I need it?

This is the proposed Ontario Off-Road Competition Clubs 2010 independent Provincial Cross Country schedule.                                            

May-30, Cross Country, Port Colborne, Niagara Timberline

Jun-06, Cross Country, RJ Motosport Park, OCMC

Jun-13, Cross Country, Burnt River, Burnt River

Jun-27, Cross Country, Vienna, Vienna Trail Riders

Jul-11, Cross Country, Moorefield, K & W Cycle

Jul-18, Cross Country, HORRA (*tentative)

July 24 & 25, Two-Day Cross Country, Oshweken, Steel City Riders (*Tentative)

August-13 Cross Country, St. Thomas, Lynn Valley

The WEC/CMRC Ontario Cross Country Series schedule will be announced at or before the Toronto Motorcycle Show Dec 11-13, and I'll post their schedule as soon as I can.