With the great news that Dave Havill the Paris Track manager was successfully recovering from his operation the past week, we were very pleased to officially dedicate the two days of racing over the Labour Day long weekend to Dave Havill and his dedication to the sport of speedway racing in Canada.

The day was set to run the CSRA Championship races of the Division 2, Division 3 and Junior Speedway P85cc. The sun was beating down on a fabulously prepared track by Michael Zelaska for the 2:00pm start time.

Riders from all over Ontario and Michigan USA, came to see who would reign supreme! Corinne Franic, Graham Wale, Bob Mosquera, Mike Hammond, Jeremy Zelaska, Nicole DeVeau, Dave Hope and Tim Murray were joined by Matt Sehl, Braden Vallee and Mike Fisher in the P85cc class and providing demonstration laps were 7-year old Josh Wilson on the P50, Aaron DeVeau and Terry Rideout from Division 1 and new Junior speedway rider 12-year old Tommy Hensby.

The racing program provided by Duncan Luke proved to be the winner of the day! Duncan provided us all with a superb race program for the day. The heats were close and very entertaining!

Division 2 racing was split into 3 riders who clashed hard all afternoon, Corinne Franic, Tim Murray and Mike Hammond all pushed each other really hard. This left Graham Wale and Bob Mosquera to fight for the remaining places. Graham Wale was suffering from some troubles following his racing from last weekend , and just couldn't get into the winning groove required to gain the Championship win? This left the others to really have a good go at each other, but one lady seemed to have very quickly regained her composure following her absence from the track for most of the season. Corinne Franic kept her throttle wide open and looked very smooth all day! She took to the starting line in the final heat for the Division 2 Championship and led from the gate to take a well deserved checkered flag! An excellent performance by Corinne!

Division 3 produced some good racing, The returning Nicole DeVeau was our second lady to the track for the day, came back to the track looking very strong and determined. Dave Hope sadly had to withdraw from the meeting after crashing out hard while defending a great race from Jeremy Zelaska. Dave suffered a shoulder pull and was unable to carry on after 3 heats. Jeremy Zelaska riding in only his second ever full racing event, showed why he will really be a name to watch in the future! he was fast controlled and looked very comfortable especially when he raced over the line for the final time to collect his prize of Division 3 Canadian Speedway Champion! Congratulations Jeremy!

The Junior guys were once again aboard their bikes to take battle! Matthew Sehl, Braden "LiL K'OS" Vallee and Mike Fisher played a great role in providing some superb racing, all 3 riders pushed hard right to the bitter end! Matt Sehl and Braden Vallee were swapping places throughout the first few heats, but then Braden lost some momentum and Matt pulled away for the final heats to successfully take the new title of CSRA 2008 Junior Speedway Champion! Well Done Matt!

The afternoon was completed with Aaron Deveau, Terry Rideout and Tommy Hensby, all doing an excellent job in giving the large crowd some nice demonstrations of speedway all all levels. Thanks to them for a great job!

Sunday August 31 2008 - 2:00pm

The Sunday event was poised to be a classic and this it was! With rumors floating around that Dave Havill had been let out of hospital and he was at the track! A buzz flew around the pits and a new level of eagerness to have a great show was in place. Our very dear and great friend Mr. Wesley Pierce from the Welland County Motorcycle Club events was invited to perform an outstanding job of announcing the event. Wes did not let us down one bit, his charming wit and wickedly funny humor keep the large crowd enthused throughout the proceedings!

Our Division 1, Division 2/3 riders were all there to battle away the afternoons big money prizes. Terry Rideout, Phil Mosquera, Aaron DeVeau, Tim Murray, Jeremy Zelaska, Mike Hammond, Jeff Orosz, Bob Mosquera, Corinne Franic, Nicole DeVeau, Joe Heye, and Doug Beaumont all arrived ready, as did Tommy Hensby to do his Junior Speedway demonstrations.

The racing was tight and close all afternoon. Joe Heye and Jeff Orosz had a few close and wonderfully entertaining battles, Jeff Orosz was ducking and diving all over the defending Joe Heye all day.

Phil Mosquera looked very good after a few years absence from Paris. he very quickly got into the groove and did a fabulous job for himself and the crowd alike! Mike Hammond was finding the track a bit uneasy and sadly he was involved in freak accident that left Jeremy Zelaska in hospital with a badly broken leg and dislocated ankle. Mike Hammond was pushing hard coming out of turn 2 on lap 3 as he slid out hard into the fence, his bike bounced back into the path of the sliding Zelaska and he had nowhere to go and hit Hammond's bike. Zelaska's bike pinned him against the safety fence and the impact by the foot rest smashed Zelaska's ankle and snapped in completely. He was left pinned upright and had to hang onto the boards to avoid any pressure on his leg. Such bad luck for both riders in a simple but crazy looking crash! Mike Hammond worked frantically to repair his bike and qualified to the final event!

The Division 2/3 combined races were completed with a great final race. Mike Hammond pushed Corinne Franic for 4 laps as Tim Murray and Bob Mosquera push Mike Hammond, a close hard race that was finished with Corinne Franic taking the second final event for the weekend!

Division 1 was a cracker, Joe Heye and Jeff Orosz led Terry Rideout and Aaron Deveau from the tapes. They were close for all four laps with Heye holding back Orosz as he tried all he could to get him, but to no avail! Joe Heye grabbed the big money and went home a very happy guy!

The CSRA would like to sincerely thank the following people, as this weekend tribute for Dave Havill, would not have happened to the height of success but for these volunteers and helpers:

Michael & Jeremy Zelaska (track prep) Wes Pierce (Announcing) Graham Wale, Terry Rideout and John Franic (Electrical setup) Russell Press (Sound Equipment) Tommy and Emily Hensby (Gate Sign-in) Roger Stevens (Starting Marshall and payout's) Duncan and Joan Luke (Program Set-up) Tom Marriott (pit Gate and programs) Dave Dudley, Kevin Robillard and Larry DeVeau (Corner Marshall's) Daniel Hanley and Charlotte Hensby (photos and event clean-up) David Hensby (Announcing and general overview) St. John's Ambulance, Peter Buss and Mario Glynn (Photos)