Canadian Speedway
Canadian Speedway: Bennett stars at Welland.
By Admin
Jul 1, 2007, 21:01

On a nice comfortable cool night at Welland Speedway, John Bennett was the star of the show!

John saw a frustrated Chris Hesmer push his bike off the track after 2 laps of practice, with the return of his nightmare mechanical gremlins! Without question, John jumped up to the plate and offered the use of his second bike to Chris - In minutes they were stripping this down and getting it prepared with Chris's set-up ready for the night's action.

John himself also received the biggest cheer of the night from an enthusiastic crowd after falling twice on the same corner. As John stayed upright on his 3rd attempt to restart the race, the crowd cheered loudly to his success! John also made some great moves to come from a 15 yard penalty to a good second place finish.

With Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer and Marc Gauthier riding in Quebec at the St. Alexis Canadian Championship Round, the field looked to be slim, but with the return of Drew Kehoe, and the addition of Casey Donholt from the US,. the event was a close match for all. The heats started with division 2 riders battling it out. US rider Dee Holden looped at the gate and fellow rider Casey Donholt ran out with his bike to allow this young lady to have another go! With this restart and John Bennett's two falls, it took four starts to get Terry Rideout his first win of the night.

Division 1 was split into 7 riders, Joe Heye, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt, Gary Hesmer, Chris Hesmer, John and Drew Kehoe. Gary Hesmer came focused and determined to win - his first heat gave the competition something too see! He got his lead and defended perfectly from the charging pack! The second heat saw another disappointment for Chris Hesmer. Just as he was coming to the start line the clutch assembly came loose and he had no control, so he was forced to sit and watch John Kehoe beat Casey Donholt.

Not allowing this to phase him, Chris came out in his next heat and showed why he is a threat at Welland, with a superb win. The Division 2 night was all Terry Rideout. Terry showing that his grit and determination will make him a very popular and solid rider. In the second heat, he nearly became a victim of a racing accident, when Dee Holden's primary chain snapped mid-way through turn one, Terry was challenging side by side and Dee did very well to control a wobbling bike and avoid Terry! Terry did however, cruise along all night and took the final checkered flag in the final! In the second round of Divison 1 racing, Joe Heye also took a good lead in front of a dueling Rob Dixon and Gary Hesmer, to gain a slot in the final group.

After the two heats, we had a points tie between, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt and Chris Hesmer - This allowed for a run-off to see which 2 would join John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Gary Hesmer in the final. This run-off was all Chris Hesmer, cool and smooth, he held Rob and Casey behind to take the win and put himself and Rob into the final. The Final was a cracker! - With John Kehoe leaving a big long black tire line on the inside gate and Gary Hesmer also suffering from this tire spin too, this left Chris Hesmer and Joe Heye, to push all the way around the track, with the others pushing hard to catch them.

But in fine style, Chris Hesmer aboard John Bennett's loaner bike took the checkered flag and with great gesture, gave John a trip aboard the bike on his lap of honor! Another great Welland show!