Story and Photos by Alain Cimon

Despite the cold weather in Ontario, Canada (even for Canadian standards) that hovered around freezing all day, things heated up quickly in Toronto’s Roger Center this past Saturday. In fact, the Roger Center (also known as the Skydome) was near capacity with its 37,000 spectators, indicating that our beloved sport is still gaining popularity north of the border.

Unfortunately, the cold weather had a negative impact on the Tim Ferry-designed track. After Ontario received record amounts of snow, track builders had no choice but to truck in frozen dirt and mix it with sand – once thawed, it turned soft. Needless to say, soft dirt deteriorates quickly after a few laps on these powerful bikes. The inevitable rutting made it very difficult for the riders, especially the Canadians who didn’t get to race all year round. Nevertheless, a highly technical track made for some exciting racing!

Supercross Lites Class Qualifying

Since the Supercross Lites round in Toronto did not count for either the East or West division of the Championship, many of the top riders decided to stay home. This provided an unprecedented opportunity for many new faces to battle it for the podium.

In heat #1, DNA Energy/BTO Sports’ Kyle Keylon had a great start and took the holeshot, followed by Zack Ames; however, Keylon struggled soon after the start. Canadian rider, Brady Sheren, gave Keylon and Zach Ames a run for their money throughout the race. However, Matt Boni eventually broke way out in front. Brady Sheren finished a strong second and Zack Ames took third.

In the Lites qualifying second heat, DNA Energy/BTO Sports’ Kyle Cunningham took the holeshot, but was closely followed by Canadians Medaglia and Beaton. Teammate Shaun Skinner, who fell back to 16^th after a crash, made a great comeback to finish 8^th.

The beginning of the Lites LCQ saw Ryan Smith, followed by Canadian Chamberlain in lead positions. However, Smith pulled way out ahead leaving six riders to battle for a slot in the main event, with Keast and Fraser taking those coveted positions.

Results

Heat 1

1. Matt Boni (Hon)
2. Brady Sheren (Suz)
3. Zach Ames (Hon)
4. Kyle Keylon (Hon)
5. Levi Kilbarger (Hon)
6. Jack Carpenter (Hon)
7. R Lockhart (KTM)
8. Colt Humphrey (Hon)
9. Benjamin Ritter (Suz)

Heat 2

1. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
2. Tyler Medaglia (Suz)
3. Kyle Beaton (Yam)
4. William Browning (Suz)
5. Nathan Skaggs (Hon)
6. Kyle Tobin (Kaw)
7. David Ginolfi (Kaw)
8. Shaun Skinner (Hon)
9. Dane Marsack (Hon)

LCQ

1. Ryan Smith (Hon)
2. D Fraser (Hon)
3. K Keast (Hon)

Supercross Class Qualifying

Team Yamaha’s Josh Hill was all over Chad Reed in the first heat, but after one too many mistakes on that very technical track, he started falling back. However, San Maual band of Mission Indians / Yamaha’s Reed went down after making contact with Torco Honda’s Windham’s front tire, and fell back to almost dead last. Despite the bad break, in Reed-like fashion, he worked his way back up to an impressive 5^th place finish. With Reed out of the running in the first heat, Kevin Windham took and kept the lead handily. Josh Hill finished in second position, followed by Charles Summey.

In heat #2 Red Bull Honda Racing’s Millspaps took the holeshot and never looked back. He dominated the entire heat, followed closely by teammate Andrew Short and Team Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry.

The LCQ had quite a rough start; a few riders went down in the first few laps of that race, including Ryan Clark and Ryan Johnson. Josh Hansen played it rough and broke his shifter; he still managed to finish the race, but only in 7^th position. Despite a challenging start, Heath Voss managed to work his way to the top position, followed by Jiri Dostel in 2^nd. Only these two made it to the main event.

Results

Heat 1

1. Kevin Windham (Hon)
2. Joshua Hill (Yam)
3. Charles Summey (Yam)
4. Travis Preston (Kaw)
5. Chad Reed (Yam)
6. Troy Adams (Hon)
7. Jacob Marsack (Hon)
8. Dusty Clatt (Kaw)
9. Jason Thomas (Hon)

Heat 2

1. David Millsaps (Hon)
2. Andrew Short (Hon)
3. Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
4. Nicholas Wey (KTM)
5. Nathan Ramsey (Yam)
6. Paul Carpenter (Hon)
7. Jeff Gibson (Kaw)
8. David Vuillemin (Suz)
9. Eric Sorby (Hon)

LCQ

1. Heath Voss (Hon)
2. Jiri Dostal (Kaw)

Supercross Lites Main Event

Ryan Smith won the $1000 Progressive prize for grabbing the holeshot, but DNA Energy/BTO Sport’s Shaun Skinner quickly took the lead and stayed out in front. Smith went down to leave second place to Skinner’s teammate, Kyle Cunningham; however a crash by Cunningham opened the second-place door for Matt Boni and put Cunningham way back in 12^th position. The over one-minute lap times proved that this was indeed a challenging track – in fact, it was the longest main event in the championship so far. After Boni went down during the 5^th lap, this gave Skinner, who stayed error-free, the opportunity to open up a big lead, which he kept for the remainder of the race. Cunningham let it all hang out in the last lap and went from 12^th to an impressive 3^rd, behind Boni. Sheren finished 4^th, while the two most experienced riders – Ames and Browning – were not able to finish the race.

Results

1. Shaun Skinner (Hon)
2. Matt Boni (Hon)
3. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
4. Brady Sheren (Suz)
5. Kyle Tobin (Kaw)
6. Levi Kilbarger (Hon)
7. Nathan Skaggs (Hon)
8. Kyle Keylon (Hon)
9. K Keast (Hon)

Supercross Main Event

San Manual Band of Mission Indians / Yamaha’s Chad Reed dominated the event from the beginning by taking the holeshot. Sorby, Klatt, Preston, and Hill all had rough starts when they hit the dirt during the first few seconds of the main event. Windham was back in 5^th position at the start, but quickly moved into 2^nd. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry had a very rough start as well – barely holding onto 10^th. Teammates Short and Millsaps battled for 3^rd spot during the first couple of laps. Unfortunately, it was not a good day for Vuillemin, who started in 13^th position and struggled throughout the race.

Reed remained error-free, despite the increasingly rutted track, with a good 9-second lead after nine laps. Tim Ferry was able to climb up to 7^th on his self-designed track. Windham and Millsaps battled it out for second place throughout the main event. With only five laps to go, Windham squeezed by Millsaps into 2^nd position.

In the last couple of laps, Windham made a valiant effort to catch Reed by closing to just two seconds behind the leader. Millsaps came in a solid third, and Short took fourth.

Results
1.Chad Reed (Yam)
2.Kevin Windham (Hon)
3.David Millsaps (Hon)
4.Andrew Short (Hon)
5.Joshua Hill (Yam)
6.Nick Wey (KTM)
7.Timmy Ferry (Kaw)
8.Troy Adams (Hon)
9.Charles Summey (Yam)

Points
1.Chad Reed (262)
2.Kevin Windham (242)
3.Andrew Short (190)
4.Davi Millsaps (184)
5.Josh Hill (151)
6.Tim Ferry (151)
7.Nathan Ramsey (137)
8.David Vuillemin (123)
9.Nick Wey (110)