Galvis takes both wins in third round of FIM MiniGP Canada series at Strathmore

Details

Published on Sunday, July 2, 2023 20:30 EDT

Written by Cam Bickle

Ten-year-old sensation Michael Galvis completed his own weekend sweep in the FIM MiniGP Canadian championship on Sunday, winning race two at Strathmore Motorsports Park after a previous victory on Saturday, sponsored by Motul and Pirelli.

Galvis found himself behind local star Lincoln Scott after qualifying, with the preseason favourite – hailing out of Calgary, Alberta just 40 minutes west – nabbing pole position by 0.541 seconds after pacing both Q1 and Q2.

Scott first led Ben Hardwick by just over a half-second in Q1 with Galvis slightly behind in third, but the latter found some extra momentum in the second session to put himself right behind the pre-season favourite entering race one on Saturday.

That trio ran together early with Scott marginally leading Galvis and Hardwick, but that order began to change in the later stages after Galvis put a hard pass on Scott for the lead, with Hardwick also fading into a lonelier third.

It looked like Scott may have been preserving some energy for the final laps as he is still recovering from a broken wrist suffered a few weeks ago, but that opportunity never came as a late red flag brought the race to an early halt, preventing their showdown and handing Galvis his first ever FIM MiniGP victory in the process.

Scott and Hardwick would settle for the final podium places, while championship leader Treston Morrison followed up his round one sweep by salvaging fourth as he switched to the Super Sonic Road Race School Ohvale machine, a swap that took him some time to get used to on the first day of round two. 

CSBK Scholarship Award rider Rhys McNutt would round out the top-five after a back-and-forth exchange with Morrison, perhaps riding a bit too carefully after a crash in qualifying that brought out a previous red flag. 

Ashton Parker would finish sixth, with Mason Archer completing the field in seventh after bringing out the late red flag following a pair of crashes, though Archer was thankfully uninjured in either incident. 

Race two brought much different circumstances for Galvis on Sunday, however, as the Ontario youngster immediately took the lead and gradually pulled clear of Scott, again preventing any chance of a late overtake with a three-second victory. 

Scott would face some pressure behind as he continued to fight through his wrist injury, but again managed to take home the runner-up spot in second, just clear of what was a hectic battle for third.

This time it was McNutt who completed the podium, but by a photo-finish margin of just 0.077 seconds over Hardwick, snatching his third podium in five points-paying races so far to keep his championship bid intact.

Hardwick, meanwhile, saw another key opportunity escape him by just a matter of inches, but will still be pleased to gather necessary points with a fourth-place finish as he and Galvis return to familiar territory in Ontario next month.

Parker would complete the top-five on Sunday after a lap-one crash from Morrison, who remounted but could only gather back a single place to finish sixth, with Archer rounding out the field once again in seventh.

It was a tough blow for Morrison, who will watch his championship lead slip away after sweeping the first three points-paying races in round two at Chilliwack. 

His tough weekend now means that no rider has stepped on the podium in all five of the points races, with five different riders sharing the rostrum overall and Galvis tops amongst them with four out of five. 

That consistency – combined with round three’s triumphs – have moved Galvis five points clear of Morrison for the new overall lead atop the standings, while Scott inches to within 18 points of second and just six points clear of McNutt in fourth overall. 

The FIM MiniGP Canada series will now take a four-week break before returning east to Lombardy Raceway just outside Smiths Falls, Ontario, the home of rounds four and five beginning on July 29-30.

Round four will be another traditional doubleheader before round five concludes the ten points-paying races with another tripleheader on August 5-6 at Lombardy.