The Can-Am Challenge Series held its swan song of 2006 at Shannonville Motorsports Park this past weekend, and those who stood their ground against the dismal forecasted weather certainly reaped the benefits. Combined qualifying saw veteran rider Dean Hoelscher and his Aprillia edge out Team Celtic’s youngster PJ Jacobsen (recently turned 13, happy belated PJ!) for pole position in the 125 class. Jacobsen, however, didn’t need to worry, as he had already bagged the 125 championship at a previous round. Barry Gilsenan and Rick Bulmann finished out the front row. Eddy Brunet made it look easy to take pole, setting a difficult pace to keep up with among the 250s. Dempsey would settle for second behind him after a front sprocket bolt went missing from his Yamaha. Matt Cooper, who suffered a crank seizure three laps into qualifying, managed to keep himself on the front row in third position. Jerry Sadler proved his mettle by rounding out the top four. With qualifying done early in the day on Saturday, the paddock prepared for the onslaught of rain predicted to hit the area in the afternoon, which it did. The rain continued to soak the area overnight, and seemed to even wait until the final race to start raining harder then it had all day on Sunday. After a clean start, the 125s and 250s began the final race of the season; Jacobsen broke away early to settle into a comfortable lead. Tim Harrington maintained a steady second place position, as Bulmann attempted to keep Mark White, his nemesis for second in the championship, behind him, but to no avail; White pulled ahead of Bulmann in the fifth lap. Crystal Campagna of Team Celtic found the exit to the chicane to be incredibly hard on machine and rider if taken the wrong way; Campagna was sidelined with a heavy crash, but was able to walk away with some minor injuries, her Celtic Racing 125 suffering the most damage between the two. The remainder of the 125 went without incident, while the 250 race provided some entertainment at the head of the field. Dempsey was able to keep Brunet behind him for only one lap before the French-Canadian made a pass, and never looked back. Brunet seemed to be able to ignore the rain and go about his business of finishing at the top of the box, while Dempsey was being harassed by John Chemello, a rider coming to us from the world of motocross and motard. Chemello seemed to be quite comfortable in the wet conditions, nipping at Dempsey’s heels, before falling victim to Corner Two. Cooper had started the final with the 250 championship already claimed, and was minding his own business in fourth until Chemello’s demise boosted him into third position. Behind him, Sadler and Jim Bergey exchanged positions before Sadler became the second rider of the race to fall in Corner Two in lap nine. Both Chemello and Sadler were unhurt. 125 GP FINAL RACE RESULTS 1-PJ JACOBSEN, 2-TIM HARRINGTON, 3-MARK WHITE, 4-RICK BULMANN, 5-DON MURFIN, 6-DEAN HOELSCHER, 7-DAVID SHAW, 8-LAIRD SHINGLETON DNF-CRYSTAL CAMPAGNA DNS-GARRY GILSENAN 250 GP FINAL RACE RESULTS 1-EDDY BRUNET, 2-JOHN DEMPSEY, 3-MATT COOPER, 4-MARK WHITE, 5-JIM BERGEY, 6-LAIRD SHINGLETON DNF-JOHN CHEMELLO DNF-JERRY SADLER Congratulations to PJ and Matt, our 2006 Can-Am Challenge Series Champions!