1997 Canada Cup

1997 Canada Cup
March 2, 1997 Buddy Ford's Motorcycle and ATV Ice Racing
From: Kim Gregory

The weather was VERY warm. It had been raining steadily the day before the race, and was at least 3 degrees above freezing for more than 24 hours before the race. The track and the pit area ( on the St. Lawrence River) had two inches of water on it.

It has been an unusually warm winter for Ontario as well, without a long cold spell to build up a reliable thickness of ice. Only a handful of spectators showed up, and only half the riders. It was decided (after a long riders meeting) not to cancel, but just ride for series points. While preparing to practice, I was helping Nick Fafard start his bike, and the bike and I went THROUGH THE ICE! I went in up to my neck (in full leathers), and luckily, the front fender caught on the edge of the ice, preventing the bike from completely disappearing. As soon as I got myself out of the water, I reached down and grabbed the handlebars that were about a foot under the water, then started screaming for help to get the bike out. The bike cylinder was full of water when we turned it over, so a complete tear down was required before it would race again.

We became very afraid about the ice safety at that point, noticing other holes near our vans, and deteriorating conditions at the shore where we drive off the ice. We packed up the truck and got it off the ice as fast as we could. There was little parking available on shore as it is a quiet cottage area, with roads only one lane wide. Last we heard, two hours after we left, the locals were still racing, and no one else had gone through. It would have ruined our racing for whole 1997 season if we had lost our van and bikes!

No speedway was run, but the flat track / motocrossers seemed to be enjoying it