Cardenas breaks through while Stockill Rebounds
The penultimate round of the 2026 MotoMINI FIM Canadian National Championships took place at their “home base” of Lombardy Raceway, north of Kingston on Lake Ontario September 4-5. Lombardy is the only venue to host events in every season of the Mini “Spec” Nationals. In GP-0 action for the big wheel 190 Ohvale division, 13-year-old, locally based Jager Stockill returned to form to win both races, after the frustration of double electrical DNFs at the previous Shannonville Nat.
The big news was in the busy Ohvale 160 category, where Martina Cardenas, age 11, scored her first career National win in the seventh instalment of the ten-race series. Cardenas is the first female racer in North America to win a Mini National event.
After poor starts hurt her efforts in previous rounds, a full-focus Cardenas nailed the hole shot to lead light-to-flag in the opener, edging runner-up Tommy Molnar by just over three seconds. So far this season, Molnar has dominated the 160 division.
Molnar is from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia on Canada’s west coast, with Cardenas based nearby in Maple Ridge. This area is famous for producing six-time Canadian Superbike Champion Steve Crevier.
In 160 Qualifying One, Cardenas was quickest by just .09 of a second from Molnar, the pace at 47.53 sec. Third was Dayton, Ohio’s SWG-backed Xander Hilligas, joining the series for the first time. In Q2, Cardenas dropped the pace to 47.51, good enough for pole from Molnar (47.8), Hilligas (49.2) and the other typical front runner, Will Brown (49.5) earning the pole on row two.
Race one for the 160s was an entertaining affair, with Cardenas in the lead and Molnar trying everything to stay with her. Brown and Hilligas fought for third, eventually placing 16 seconds back from the winner in that order. Next was the fight for fifth, Deacon Hoffman eventually fighting off Tammer Chehade.
In race two Molnar responded to race one defeat in fine form, taking the point from the start and then holding off extreme pressure from the closely pursing Cardenas. Traffic eventually settled the outcome, with Molnar 1.7 seconds ahead of Cardenas. Twenty-four seconds further back, Hilligas shook off Brown to complete the podium.
Brown placed fourth, while Hoffman was fifth ahead of Abel Byberg. Molnar looks to have a trip to Spain for the World Championships locked in:
Ohvale 160 GP-0 Points Standings after eight of ten races
1. Tommy Molnar, 190 Pts.
2. Martina Cardenas, 153 Pts.
3. Will Brown, 106 Pts.
4. Tammer Chehade, 76 Pts.
5. Xander Hilligas, 75 Pts.
Stockill was in fine form during practice and Qualifying for the bigger class, pushing all out, knowing he needed solid finishes to make up for two no-points DNFs at the previous National. In Q1, Stockill went quickest at 45.18, then carved a further whole one hundredth off in Q2 to set pole at 45.16 seconds.
Double winner at the previous Shannonville National and a force in RACE Moto Regional Middleweight action on a Snow City Kawasaki 500, Stefan Tanasic netted second overall with a top time in Q1 at 46.2. Second in points Eric Sergi was third at 47.9, with Cohen Byberg fourth (50.8).
Fresh from a strong showing at the International Ohvale Invitational in China, Stockill was relentless in the 190 opener, running at a consistent Q pace (best lap of 45.19) to take first by 29 seconds from runner-up Tanasic. Sergi fought off a motivated Byberg to earn third, another 40 seconds back from victor Stockill.
Race two for the 190s was more of the same, Stockill taking only part of the opening of a scheduled 12 laps to get past quick starter Tanasic. From there, Stockill got down to a best lap of 44.9 seconds to take the win by 28 seconds from Tanasic, the race stopped early (9 laps) as rain arrived. Meanwhile Sergi diced with an on-form Byberg, Sergi earning third 43 seconds behind run-away winner Stockill.
With two races left to go, Tanasic looks set to make the trip to Spain, while Stockill has a chance to represent Team Canada for a third consecutive time:
Ohvale 190 GP-2 Point Standings after eight of ten races
1. Stefan Tanasic, 170 pts.
2. Jager Stockill, 150 pts.
3. Eric Sergi, 136 pts
4. Cohen Byberg, 110 pts.
The final round of the MotoMINI FIM Canadian Nationals takes place on Saturday, September 26 at the interior Go-Kart track at Shannonville Motorsport Park, as part of the final RACE Moto Regional and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the first ever motorcycle race at Nelson International Raceway.
The top racers from the overall points standings in the two Ohvale spec classes will then head to Valencia Spain for the World Championships, in support of the final MotoGP round, November 23-26.
From a press release
