From a press release issued by Hjelm Motorsports:

July 16th -18th
Mosport International Raceway, Toronto, Ontario Canada

A great weekend for the Hjelm Motorsports team ends with their first national victory.

Under threatening skies HMS rolled into Mosport for the CanAm 125GP double header weekend run in conjunction with the Canadian Superbike Series. HMS was there along with 23 other American and Canadian riders looking for some of that Canadian cash.

Friday, July 16th
After one 20-minute round of practice on Friday morning it was qualifying time in the afternoon. John Hjelm riding the HMS 2000 Honda RS125 wound up 4th-fastest with a 1:35:42. First was Eddy Brunet followed by Angela Hiba and Scott Moxey (all three into the 1:34s). Four other riders right behind John were in the 1:35 range as well. At least it was a front-row start, which was a good beginning to the weekend.

Saturday, July 17th
Weather called for intermittent showers in the area. The schedule showed one 20-minute session in the morning and the first of two races at 5:00 in the afternoon. In the practice session Moxey dipped into the 1:33s, going really well for his first time at Mosport.

There was a combination of races and qualifiers run before the 125GP race. Due to the showers that came and went during the day, causing havoc (red flags) in the events leading up to the 125 race (not to mention lightning in the area) the race was postponed until Sunday morning. The organizers did this as a safety concern.

Sunday, July 18th
Race One:
What was to be a practice session in the morning was now a two-lap warm-up with five minutes to make adjustments before the shortened-to-8-laps (from 10 laps) race. Angela Hiba got a great start. After following her into turn one, John Hjelm passed her between turns one and two to take the lead. It was shorted-lived lead, though, as Brunet drafted past on the long back straight. It was a close race between Hjelm and Brunet as they pulled a gap on Moxey and Hiba. Hjelm tried to get past Brunet in a few spots but never had the opportunity to make it stick. On the penultimate lap a backmarker caused a little separation between Brunet and Hjelm and Hjelm could not make up the distance on the last two laps, and Brunet went on for the win. This race got off in the dry and it just started to sprinkle some drops of moisture in the closing laps. Still, second was Hjelm Motorsports’ best finish at a CanAm series race. Thanks to the tuning work of Al Hjelm, the bike ran perfectly during the race.

Race one results:
1) Eddy Brunet, Lachine, QC Can.
2) John Hjelm, Morrison, CO USA
3) Scott Moxey, Moorestown, NJ USA
4) Yvan Desy, Napean, ON Can.
5) Angela Hiba, Brampton, ON Can.

Race Two:
This was the second race after lunch. Right about the beginning of the first race after lunch a light rain started, then the weather cleared enough to allow a dry line to appear on the track. About 25 minutes before the start of the 125GP race it was raining lightly again. Hjelm decided there was not enough water to go to rain tires. “We went out on the sighting lap with the slicks and they worked pretty well in the conditions,” John Hjelm said.

As the riders pulled up to the grid, the officials decided to allow a 20-minute time period for tire changes should anyone want. “We put the rains on only because that is what all the others were using rather than take a gamble,” was Al Hjelm’s thoughts. John Hjelm commented that “at least we will be on even ground with the others this way.” It rained for the 20 minutes up till the start and halfway through the race so it ended up being a good choice. The disadvantage the slicks would have given at the start of the race probably could not be made up in the closing stages as the rain let up.

John Dempsey got off the line first and started to pull away. The HMS Honda was running third until turn 5b when Christian Rose fell down right in front of Hjelm. About halfway Hjelm, with Brunet on his tail, started to catch Dempsey. Hjelm passed Dempsey between turns one and two to take the lead with three laps to go. Hjelm Motorsports had their first national victory!

John Hjelm’s comments were, “That is what it is all about, it’s the greatest feeling to run the victory lap with the checkered flag and to see all the fans cheering for you. I am looking forward to Mont Tremblant next month.”

Race two results:
1) John Hjelm, Morrison, CO USA
2) John Dempsey, Brampton, ON Can.
3) Eddy Brunet, Lachine, QC Can.
4) Yvan Desy, Napean, ON Can.
5) Joseph Melchonda, Roslindale, MA USA