PRS NEWS: Kramer brings home 1st place @ 2014 Gymkhana National Championships
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Pacific Riding School’s Mark “Kramer” Kruger was chosen to compete in the Honda Canada Gymkhana Nationals, held in Toronto on August 10th. Kramer first appeared on the scene in May 2014 to compete in the Regional Honda Gymkhana event held in Surrey, BC. Kramer won the competition, notwithstanding his own style of drama, including flipping the 125 Grom motorcycle end over end during the first of two runs and disqualifying his first run of the set out course. His second run however, would prove to be the best time and a 1st place win, qualifying him for an all expense paid trip to Toronto to compete in the National Gymkhana event, which included riders from all across Canada.
To give you an idea of the grandeur of this event, the Honda facilities are on a 60 acre property! The event allowed consumers to try their ATVs, motocross, scooter and Gymkhana circuit, motorcycle museum, BBQ, face painting for the kids, live DJ, mini bicycles for kids, Rider’s Lounge… phenomenal! Thank you to Yoshi and Regan for being amazing hosts!
Upon arriving at the event, which was located at Honda Canada’s headquarters in Markham, Ontario, it became clear to Kramer that the level of competition was very high, and to win this event would demand great focus and few, if any mistakes. The morning practice session saw close lap times between all the top riders and 3 crashes from our own B.C. rider. In the afternoon, the top riders in Canada were only allowed to perform 2 laps on the newly set course which was changed from the previous race, to make it even more challenging. The first lap Kramer crashed the Honda 125 Grom on the second turn of the 36 turn course, disqualifying his first run and leaving him only 1 single run to make the best time without any mistakes. The crash, however, did not rattle the B.C. rider as he set up for the beginning of his second and final run. Kramer performed a perfectly flawless lap and recorded the fastest time of the day at 1:14.236 besting the second place rider from Ontario who posted a lap time of 1:18.259.
The victory earned a $1000 cash prize and a first place trophy exemplifying British Columbia as the top province in the country for competition in Moto Gymkhana motorcycle racing.
