January 11, 2010 (London, ON) – A total of 13 teams contested the Ontario Madison Championship at the Forest City Velodrome on Saturday night.  The race was postponed from December due to boiler problems, last night the heat was on for both the competitors and race fans. With so many teams entered we had to split the riders into “A” & “AA” divisions based on ability.  

As it turned out there was a swing team of two first year junior riders Kyle Rupay and Justin Zottl were asked to move into the Elite division and learn what being on the rivet and racing like Pro’s is all about. The kids did a great job of competing and even won a sprint race which was part of the Omnium format for the teams.

In the “AA” division 6 teams were on the rail to start the evenings Madison event, Team Black of Krister Ovsenek (16 yrs) and Brett Hueston dominated the 5 races throughout the night and only had to finish the Madison (which they did in 2nd) to come away with the Gold Medal. During the final “AA” Madison the LCW team of John Hueston  and Scott Matthews attacked with 8 minutes remaining to separate themselves from the rest of the teams to lap the field and take control of the race. In the Omnium the LCW team captured the Silver medal.  The mixed team of Amy Biskaborn & Mike Renneboog -Team FCV were able to hold on to Bronze Medal.

The Elite race had a wildcard team in the mix, Barry Miller from T-Town wanted to race and fine tune his speed for two 6 day races in Europe in February.  He was paired with Kingston area Dentist, Scott Lundy who was making his return to the FCV boards after setting up his new dental practice.  After a slow start to the night the duo had a great final Madison and captured the over win… however medals can only be handed out to Ontario Licensed riders they took the glory but had to leave the medals on the table.

The FCV balances the teams at the beginning of the evenings racing to make sure everyone has an opportunity to compete for the win. Early in the program the young team of junior Jason King and Elite racer Vince DeJong had a solid lead on points with top 3 finishes in the TT, Scratch race and Sprints, however during the Madison the team missed a couple of exchanges and had to settle for 4th overall and the Bronze Medal. The Garneau Team of Andrew Lattimore and Matteo Dal-cin had a strong performance and were originally scored in Bronze, however, with a review of the final points in fact the Garneau team finished in 5th position overall.

The 2 teams that kept up with Miller & Lundy all night were the Jetfuel Coffee team of John Carden, Dave Byer and Team D’Ornellas of Garnett Abbey & Ryan Aitcheson.  All 3 of the teams attacked each other during the very spirited 30 minute Madison to close the evenings racing.. The 3 teams stayed on the same lap and were in contention for the extra points on offer for winning the Madison.

In the end Miller and Lundy came across the line just ahead of team Jetfuel and in 3rd were team D’Ornellas. A tremendous night of racing with the competitors exhausted and the fans giving the racers a solid round of applause in appreciation for safe, fast entertainment.

Complete results for all 5 Omnium events – here.

“A” Division – Results
1st   Team Yellow    – Scott Lundy & Barry Miller (USA)
2nd  Team Jet Fuel  – John Carden & Dave Byer – Gold Medal
3rd  Team D’Ornellas – Garnett Abbey & Ryan Aitcheson – Silver Medal
4th  Team Purple – Jason King & Vince DeJong – Bronze Medal
5th  Team Garneau – Andrew Lattimore & Matteo Dal-Cin
6th  Team La Bicicletta – Kyle Rupay & Justin Zottl
7th  Team Cycles London – Dave St. James & Brian Trafford