Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128354
November 22 -27 , 2004 MOTOCROSS ~ 33rd Annual Thor Winter National Olympics MINI []'S A THANKSGI ING TRADITION e By CINDY GIBSON PHOTOS BY DENNIS GIBSON AND TIMEGGERS.COM ile most people we re celebrating T hanksgiving w ith t he ir families , top amateur mo tocross racers from around the globe also spent the holid ay with th e ir family - motocro ss family th at is. Thousands of young amate ur hopefuls and their families co nverge d o n Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville , Florida, for the Unlimited Sports' B rd an nual T ho r W inte r National O lympics (perhaps better know n as the Mini-O 's), presented by Pro Circuit. "From the beginning, our inten tions have been to improve the facility and the track while we give everyo ne the best racing experien ce pos sible," Unlimited Sports' Kern Wyn said. "We fee l like we've made progress in many areas, and with your continued support in attending th is historic eve nt, it will only get better in the years to come:' The Mini-O 's was started in 1972 as a th ree -day event for minicycle en thusiasts. In 19BO, 125 and 2S0cc classes were added to the curriculum and the name of the even t was changed to t he Florida Winter O lympics in order to re flect the program's diversity with the addition of the bigger bikes to t he schedule. Th is year, top a mate urs spent five days of racing on two differe nt tracks, motocross and supercros s, in a quest for the ove r $2 50,000 in facto ry con tingen cies fro m Ho nda , Kawasak i, Suzuk i, Yamaha, Husqvarn a, KTM, Cobra and Polini, along with an attractive $ 10,000 Pro purse. In addition to t he Wint er Nat io nal Championship honors, ot her special awards incluile d: Th e Olymp iad Champions Award, Pro Circuit Platinum Pipe Award, Fox Bronze Boot Award , Mechanix Wear Awar d, Cti Iro nma n Award , $10,000 Expert-class purse , Scott Golden Goggle Award and the Dunlop Silver Tire Award . The re were also other "extracurricular" act ivities th roughout the week, w hich included RC car races, sponsored by Dunlop, Pro Circu it 's pipe test and a chili cook-off. Thor hosted a karaoke night , in add ition to the Parts Unlimi.ted treasure hunt and the Engine Ice pit bike W 40 DECEMBER 15 ,2004 • race. Fox was on hand for "Fun Nigh.t," and Scott USA awarded prizes to winne rs of their "Tug-of-War" contests. C helcy Bowers was crow ned the 2004 Miss Winter O lymp ics during the Th or ta lent show and pageant . How ever, t he most anticipate d event, outside of the we ek's racing, was the an nual Th anksgiving Day feast, host e d by Thor/Pans Unlimited . Hungry racers, along with their family and friend s, began lining up an hour befo re dinner was se rved and most agreed that it was well worth t he wait . CYCLE NEWS Pleasant tem peratures hove red near th e BO-deg re e mark as qualifying rou nds for the tw o-day supercr oss event heated up o n Monday, w ith 170 I entrants on the lineup. Aust in Stro upe made his grand deb ut riding for Kawasak i at th is year 's Mini-O 's, w here he and KTM supersta r Zach O sborne began their batt le in the Supermini ( 12- 15) class. Osborne won follow ing a back-andforth brawl in Division One, where he made a quick pass on Strou pe on lap fou r fo r th e le ad , holding it to the en d. Strou pe 's strong performance earned him 40th Anniversary second-p lace honors. Nico Izzi held an untouchable lead in Division Two, where he blasted across the finish line in first place , ahead of Kyle Cunningham and Matthew Lemoine, respectively in the , Division Two qualifier. Team Green's Rya n Villopoto took quick command in o ne of the three qualifying divisions of the I25cc (12-15) Stock class, wh ile Honda-mo un.ted Pat rick Boyle and Suzuki's Ben Lamay he ld on to secon d and third places throughout the first two laps until Hond a's Broc Tickle edged into third, towing Kawasaki pilot Sean Hac kley into fourt h. As Villopoto took command of first place , Hackley hacked his way from a fifth-place start to a secon dplace finish, leaVingLamay to take third in the qualifying heat. KTM's Jessy Nelson and Co lt Nic hol s, alo ng with Suzuki mounted Blake Dungey. charged out ahead of t he pack in Division One of the 6Scc (7-9) Stock class during qua lifying for the supercross ro unds . While Nelson's lead remained uncontested t hrougho ut the first few laps, Nichols made a surprise move ahead of Nelson as the wh ite flag new. Nicho ls nicked first, while Ne lson and Dungey finished in runne r-up pos itions. Three othe r divisions followed , with a total of I 14 entries for one of largest classes in the supercross event. Main motos began midafternoon on Tuesday as the event co nt inued on schedule. Honda te am rider Ashley Fiolek showcased an unbelievable performance in t he Girls' 65-1OSee (9-1 3) class following a bad get -off in the previous day's qualifie r. Fourteen-year-old Fiole k from St. Augustine, Florida, gained a quick lead ahead of Suzuki's Katelyn Crowley but Ellena Needham, also aboard Suzuki, dove in fro m behind t o finish in second, in front of C rowley's thi rd. In the end. Fiolek was able to c1ieck out and take a comfort ab le first-place victory, Tyler McSwain w ent to the winners' circle fo r Cobra in t he 50cc (7-B) su percross main even .t even after Georgia's Nick Gaines took the holeshot . Gaine s went do w n follow ing his valiant effort to regain his lead , leavi ng Taylor Perry with a seco nd-place finish and Thomas Covingto n wi th th ird . Top mini