The second ever trip to the FIM MiniGP World Series Final proved to be a significant step forward for team Canada this week, as riders Lincoln Scott and Jäger Stockill showed well despite marginally missing out on the finale at Motorland Aragon in Spain.
MiniGP Canada Series champion Scott and title runner-up Stockill were part of a 41-rider group representing 21 countries in the main 160cc Ohvale class, a loaded field that included the top talents in the their age group from around the globe.
Despite the stiff competition, both riders and the rest of the team Canada crew got up to speed quickly in Aragon amidst damp and cool conditions, with Stockill going an impressive fifth-fastest in Group A while Scott went ninth-fastest in Group B to kick off the event in FP1.
Track conditions improved dramatically for FP2 and brought mixed results for the Canadian duo as Stockill found huge improvement in his own lap time but was relegated to 14th in Group A, while Scott also found a good chunk of time but was shunted to 12th in Group B. That trend would continue into FP3, as both riders found themselves in the exact same positions as before but with improving lap times.
One final tune-up in FP4 seemed to work in Stockill’s favour, as the trickier conditions on Wednesday morning saw him jump to sixth in Group A while Scott also made a marginal improvement to eighth in Group B.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to vault either rider into an automatic Q2 birth on combined times, forcing them into Q1 where the top four finishers would then advance.
Intensifying rain and cool temperatures helped close the gap even further in Q1, though Stockill’s effort was hampered by an early crash which forced him to remount three laps later.
Ultimately the pair would just marginally miss out on a spot in Q2, with Scott winding up fifth and only 0.166 seconds off the crucial top-four, while Stockill rebounded to salvage ninth in the session.
That meant the Canadian pair would be left to their last hope in the qualifying races, where three more riders would have an opportunity to earn a grid spot for Thursday’s tripleheader finale.
Race one of two saw Scott make a sensational push to the front, quickly carving his way from 12th on the grid to as high as fourth, running firmly in the lead group and eyeing a spot on the feature grid.
Instead, the tightening lead group got too close for comfort in the heavy rain and Scott was hit by a chasing rider behind, knocking him off track and putting his hopes on hold once again until the second and final qualifying race.
As for Stockill, the wet-weather expert unfortunately never got a chance to embrace the conditions, as an early mechanical issue left him stranded in the first qualifying race.
Qualifying race two saw the former Canada Series rivals back together on-track again, as Stockill carved his way through the field and into the top-eight in the early stages while Scott ran in the same group after a mediocre start.
The teammates would begin to find their rhythm in the second half, with Scott again climbing his way into the top-five and matching the pace of the leaders as he tried to earn the final spot for Thursday’s action.
This time it was his own mistake that would undo the progress, however, as the Alberta native crashed in turn eleven and could not remount. Stockill would have to take brief avoiding action, disrupting his chase for the podium.
In the end, Stockill would climb to an impressive fifth in the final order, putting him 27th in the final overall classification behind the 23 who will advance to the final, the strongest finish for a Canadian at the event.
Scott’s DNF would leave him classified 38th in the field, though that hardly tells the story as the Canadian champion flashed enough pace to challenge for a historic spot in the finale prior to the incident.
The impressive showing represents a major step forward for team Canada as they found themselves in the mix for a final qualification all week, thanks in large part to the efforts of both Stockill and Scott as they battled the tricky conditions at an unfamiliar venue.
The team was also aided by manager Toni Sharpless, rider coach and mentor Tomas Casas, Canadian racing guru Colin Fraser, helper Stacey Iwata, and parents Jason Stockill and Ben Scott, amongst many others who helped make the appearance possible.
The feature FIM MiniGP tripleheader will get underway Thursday in Aragon, with two regular races and a double-points Super Final set to crown the 2024 world champion ahead of this weekend’s MotoGP title-decider at Catalunya.
More information can be found on the FIM MiniGP World Series website.
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