Legendary Canadian Flat Track competitor Dominic Beaulac started his national event at Georgina Down with a challenge – how to recover from an early practice session that ventilated the engine in his potent Rotax “framer.” The half mile horse course near Barrie, ON, suits the 46-year-olds charging style, but you need a bike to get you through Saturday’s afternoon and evening program.
This is when it is good to have friends, and Scott Sehl of the legendary hall of fame Stoney Creek family had a well built Rotax, a “C and J frame from around 1999,” ready to go.
“The bike is ideal for big half miles like this track and Flamboro,” explained Sehl. “I rebuilt it over the winter to use it at Welland practice days. Dominic knows exactly what he likes, he changed the chassis, the shock, the swingarm angle, and got out later in the afternoon.”
Beaulac earned second place with his new mount in the second of the three heat races that determined the starting grid for the featured Expert Open category, chasing home the strong Bieger Honda “framer” of Dustin Brown. Third in the second heat went to Tyler Seguin, locked in a battle for the title with Brown, and leading by two points, 79 to 77 with three races remaining, including Georgian Downs.
Heat one went to the back-from-injury Champ Dave Poullot, with American Brandon Newman second after a good early battle.
Heat three belonged to Brandon Seguin, holding off former champ Brodie Buchan, making his first Canadian National start in three years.
Poullot jumped into the lead at the start of the 20-lap main event, with Beaulac trying immediately to push by with Brown right there in third. Heading into the first turn for the second time, the leaders came in contact, and Poullot went down, causing a Red Flag. After a lengthy delay, Poullot returned to grid at the rear on the restart.
Start two was all Beaulac, and the 2006 AMA National Lima half mile winner set sail to earn a solid victory. His only other points-scoring result of 2023 was at Flamboro’s round three, when he retired during a Red Flag with technical issues.
“This is what you try for, but not easy with a borrowed bike,” smiled Beaulac post-race. “I had to ask the Sehls if I could borrow a bike, and they said go, so thanks so much to them. It seems like we have all been all-out, all-day.”
Another racer who borrowed a Sehl-Rotax was eventual runner-up Tyler Seguin, on a machine that was “similar to Beaulac’s, around 640 cc, as big as you can go safely.” Seguin held off Newman and Brown, to slightly extend his lead atop the overall points standings.
“It just seemed like it was bad luck, all day,” commented a relieved-looking Seguin. “I thought maybe I was catching Dominic, and I thought maybe he might make some mistakes, but he didn’t make any mistakes, not one. With the bad luck, the back up bike, this really felt like a win.”
In the fight for the No.1 plate for Flat Track Canada’s national tour, Seguin extended his points lead over Brown, 99 to 93.
Newman’s strong event ended with a feature podium with third place, the New York racer in the thick of a couple of good battles. “It was busy,” explained Newman. “I don’t know if I could do it all again, but I figured it out somehow.”
In the Expert DTX event for stock-framed M/X based singles, Seguin, Newman and Brown staged a great fight for first early, mirroring their positions at the top of the class standings. Brown worked to the front to earn the victory, Newman second and Seguin third. This result moved Brown further into the lead atop the 2023 DTX standings, unofficially 102 to 93 points.
Georgian Downs National Rd 5 Flat Track Canada September 2
Open Expert Final Provisional Results
1. # 30 Dominic Beaulac Trois-Rivieres, QC Rotax
2. # 22 Tyler Seguin Welland, ON. Honda
3. # 90 Brandon Newman Batavia, NY KTM
4. # 91 Dustin Brown Bracebridge, ON. Honda
5. # 19 Brandon Seguin Welland, ON. Honda
6. # 49 Brodie Buchan Leamington, ON. Honda
7. # 1 Dave Poullot Quebec City, QC. Kawasaki
8. # 11 Taia Little Welland, ON. Suzuki
9. # 24 Fred Deuchesneau Trois-Rivieres, QC. Honda
10. # 46 Sean Hoy Kitchener KTM
11. #909 Roderick Scott Wainfleet, ON. Honda
12. # 98 Trent Pickle Wheatley, ON. KTM
13. # 6 Dustin Lambert Welland, ON. Honda
14. # 391 Bentley Thistlethwaite London, ON. Kawasaki
DTX Expert Final Provisional Results
1. # 91 Dustin Brown Bracebridge, ON. Honda
2. # 90 Brandon Newman Batavia, N.Y, USA KTM
3. # 22 Tyler Seguin Welland, ON. Honda
4. # 98 Trent Pickle Wheatley, ON. KTM
5. # 24 Fred Deuchesneau Trois-Rivieres, QC. Honda
6. # 11 Taia Little Welland, ON. Suzuki
7. # 909 Roderick Scott Wainfleet, ON. Honda
8. # 71 Hughes Pontbriand Sorel, QC. KTM
9. # 6 Dustin Lambert Welland, ON. Honda
- From Colin Fraser
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