Mini O’s: Final Photo Report

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By: Billy Rainford

The 40^th Anniversary of the Florida Mini O’s has come and gone. We had some things to cheer about as well as a couple things to boo.  If you’ve never attended one of these big, US Amateur Championship events, I suggest you make plans for next year as they really are some of the most professionally-run and well-attended races you’ll ever get a chance to see. Just making it into the final motos at this event is a feat in itself. Our racers did us proud and one of my American friends said that Canadians are some of the nicest, most polite people he has ever met. The weather was warm and sunny, the pits were full, the gates were stacked, and a Canadian won a couple titles!

On to the results…

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. #411 Duncan Macleod took one of the scariest crashes I’ve ever seen during the supercross portion of the week and ended up breaking both his arms. His left was going to require surgery when he got back to Canada, so I hope everything went well for him and we see him back on the track somewhere soon. I have a very short video of the crash that I have yet to post. He asked me to put it up, so I will do that when I get a chance.

Thomas Rendall raced both supercross and motocross in Florida. Only one Canadian was on the track more often that Thomas. SX: 51 (4-8) Stock: DNQ , 51 (7-8) Stock: 20th, 65 (7-9) Stock: DNQ MX: 51 (4-8) Stock: DNS, 51 (7-8) Stock: 34th, 65 (7-9) Stock: DNF

#505 is Cody Tibbits. He was one of only two Canadians on big bikes this year at the Mini O’s. I’m not sure where all of our fast, B and A riders were, but we weren’t represented in either of those classes. SX: 250 C Stock: DNQ MX: 250 C Stock: DNQ In Cody’s defence, the top C riders were lapping only 4 seconds slower than the majority of the top, B and A riders. Just lining up at these events gives you a ton of valuable experience for future racing.

#541, Dawson Tracey, goes faster than his results would indicate. He has smooth style and look for him to keep improving. SX: Supermini 1 (12-15): DNQ MX: 85 (12-15) Stock: 25th, Supermini 2 (12-15): DNQ

#491 Brandon Goulay’s style and aggression impressed me this week. I watched him fight past riders after getting a bad jump off the gate as he railed his way around the sweeping first turn. I did a video of him that will be up as soon as I get a chance to get at it. He didn’t race the supercross track and instead just concentrated on the more familiar motocross discipline. MX: 85 (12-13) Mod: 27th, Supermini 1 (12-15) DNQ

#741 (471 in results), Keenan Wright, raced on both tracks all week. He travelled in the school bus with Brandon and didn’t have the results he probably wanted, but gained a ton of experience that comes with these big events. SX: Supermini 1 (12-15): DNQ MX: Supermini1 (12-15): DNS, Supermini 2 (13-16): DNQ

This is Jamila ‘Jammi’ Robertson from Thor USA. She’s in charge of the Amateur Program down there and is the one responsible for helping out Cole Thompson and, equally as important, setting up the Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday every year at the Mini O’s. Thanks, Jammi.

In case you were wondering who the fastest, top dogs were this year, here are your answers: #79, Jesse Nelson, looked absolutely perfect on the 450 during supercross and took the Open Pro title. #154, Justin Hill, took that class on the motocross track. #100 is Zach Bell and he dominated every other Pro race that the above riders didn’t win. He took titles (and went undefeated) in the 250 A/Pro Mod class in supercross and also in the stock and mod classes on the motocross track.

Tanner Ward was busy all week and was on the track more than any other Canadian. Watch for a video of Tanner later here on DMX. He borrowed a 65 from the Scotts and qualified for every class he entered. SX: 65 (10-11) Stock: 8th, 85 (9-11) Stock: 23rd, 85 (9-11) Mod: 11th MX: 65 (10-11) Stock: 13th, 65 (10-11) Mod: 18th, 85 (9-11) Stock: 38th, 85 (9-11) Mod: 18th

#94, Kate McKerroll, opted out of the races on the supercross track after tweaking her wrist, but lined up all week in the Womens 12 Plus class. I never had much of a chance to talk to her after her motos, but she looked good on the track and was in the middle of some great battles every time she was on the track. SX: Womens 12+: 19-DNS MX: Womens 12+: 11th

#22, Hunter Scott, was also on the track a lot this week. He battled hard in every race and was always in the mix. SX: 51 (4-8) Stock: 20th, 51 (7-8) Stock: 26th MX: 51 (4-8) Stock: 24th, 51 (7-8) Stock: 32nd, 65 (7-9) Stock: DNQ

Younger brother, Tanner Scott, is quite the little character and did both disciplines. SX: 51 (4-6) Stock: 26th MX: 51 (4-8) Stock: DNQ, 51 (4-6) Stock: 21st

Tanner and Hunter’s dad, #57 Jim Scott, lined up in the very competitive Plus 40 class on both tracks. I have a short, funny video I will upload as soon as I can that shows Jim lined up right beside #6, Keith Johnson, and having a few troubles with the start. SX: Plus 40: 9th MX: Plus 40: 19th

#57, Josh Duerksen, did very well in some of his classes. He was down there with the Lutz Family and is at the younger end of some of the classes he raced. SX: 65 (7-9) Stock: DNQ, 65 (7-9) Mod: 14th, 85 (9-11) Stock: DNQ MX: 65 (7-9) Stock: 29th, 65 (7-9) Mod: 17th, 85 (9-11) Stock: DNQ

This is Brian Hsu from Italy. He’s the rider that Kade Walker had been battling in the European SX Rookie series before crashing. I’m pretty sure he was very impressed with Adam Ciaciarulo and others’ speed this week.

In some of the 65cc motos, we had 4 Canadians on the track at the same time. In a few of them, they were 3 in a row for most of the race. Here are both Ben and Jake LeClair in the same shot with another Canadian just ahead of them, out of the frame. #417 Ben LeClair SX: 65 (7-9) Stock: DNF, 65 (7-9) Mod: 28th MX: 65 (7-9) Stock: DNQ, 65 (7-9) Mod: 36th #811 Jake LeClair SX: 65 (7-9) Stock: 20th, 65 (7-9) Mod: 16th MX: 65 (7-9) Stock: DNQ, 65 (7-9) Mod: 35th

#79 is Cameron Wrozyna. With some better jumps out of the gate, he could have moved himself up the standings a fair bit. He was up in the hunt in most of his races. Here he is on Saturday looking back to see his two Canadian friends right behind him. SX: 65 (7-9) Stock: 17th, 65 (7-9) Mod: 12th MX: 65 (7-9) Stock: 16th, 65 (7-9) Mod: 34th

Florida native, Leah Cantrell, cleaned up on the motocross track all week in the Womens 12+ class.

Westen Wrozyna looked fast all week and could have been in the battles in the pack ahead of him with some better luck in the starts. Once he got going, he was making passes until the checkered flags. He had the help of Cale Foster as his mechanic/’man friend’ all week. SX: 85 (12-15) Mod: 14th, Supermini 2 (13-16): 16th MX: 85 (12-15) Mod: 13th, Supermini 2 (13-16): 16th

The highlight of the week was #44, Kennedy Lutz, winning titles on both the supercross and motocross tracks in the Girls (9-11) classes. They are a super-nice family and I think it was a bit overwhelming as she was mobbed by American moto sites after taking the titles. She handled it well and, if she keeps going, women’s moto in Canada looks to be in good hands.

So, that does it for another year. The moto, race calendar hits a bit of a lull now until the Supercross Series starts in January. All that’s left for Canadian racers to do is make plans to escape the cold weather and head south for some training before racing starts again in a few months. Thanks to our great sponsors for getting involved to help promote Canadian, amateur motocross.

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