2006 WMRC Champion!

Series: WMRC

Date: September 24th

2006 WMRC Champion!

What a week! First my wife gave birth to our son Carter on Monday, and then we win the 2006 WMRC overall championship! And what a year! Somehow we managed to retain our number one plate in 2006 despite a little adversity with our 600 over the season. Again, I have been shown how fortunate I am with the people and friends that I have in my life.

Before I get into this weekend's events, I really need to thank Dan Zlock & James Cyr for their tireless efforts in getting the 600 ready and running. With the misfortune we had at the last round and the resulting work required Dan had to put in some serious overtime. Although, when the engine developed some additional problems in first practise it seemed all his efforts were in vain as we didn't get to run our 600 in the final race of the weekend. Super frustrating, but when this stuff comes along you just have to roll with it and not let it affect your attitude. Again, Jason from Squids Racing was willing to lend me his 600 for the races. Apparently I hadn't discouraged his generosity the previous race weekend when he did the exact same thing. I really don't know how to thank the guy; he literally saved us from losing the championship. Anyway, with me only needing nine points total to clinch the championship, we decided to only race the first super bike race of the day. My goal was to finish in the top seven as that would give me the points needed. I got a decent start and worked my way into second by turn three. Alan Schmidt was flying on his 750 and I could only watch as he disappeared down the track. I was getting some serious pressure from Steve Dick, who was doing his very last race weekend ever. Steve has been a part of Canadian road racing since before I was born, so to be in a battle with him in one of his last races ever was actually quite extraordinary. Sure enough, the old fox pulled one out of the bag and managed to get by me with just two laps to go. I had nothing for him and had to settle for third, which luckily gave me enough points to clinch the championship. With that, I decided to not race anymore that day as I didn't want to jeopardize Jason's bike any more that I already had. I thought I should count my blessings, pack up and go home to spend time with my family.

So here I am typing this on the ferry ride home reflecting on all that's happened this summer. Phenomenal! To say I've had the time of my life is an understatement and I want to thank everyone involved in my racing programs. Regardless of the role you play, you're all an integral part of my life and I'm so very fortunate to have you. Thank you.

In the off-season I'm really looking forward to going fly fishing on the Cowichan River over the next few weeks. My lifelong best friend is coming over from Vancouver and we're going to go after some trophy brown trout and slow things down for me a little. It's also time for me to get a little "grounded" again and spend some time with Karla, Kodi and Carter. I'm also excited as the testing season is about to begin with Canadian Biker Magazine so look for our tests of the new bikes in upcoming issues. As for 2007 and what and where I'll be racing, I'll keep you posted on any new developments. It's going to be exciting!

Stay tuned.

Oliver

Please click on images to enlarge
All action photos courtesy Hugh Jervis

		James "posin"
Work begins		Lidia
Jason and his bike	Lidia "chillin"	James robbing my sticker kit
Jason's windshield	Scott & Christine Ponuick
Scott hugging me after the race	Interview after the race	I'm tired
	James interview
James & Jay	I see three monkeys & a football	Monkey thing again
The bikes that carried me to the #1 plate in 2006	My boyz
Number 1	Steve Dick on his parade lap