Through eight consecutive races of the Canadian Mini Superbike Championship series in the summer of 2022, local teen Ben Hardwick chased down rival Vincent Lalande, finishing second to the native of Mirabel, Que.
In late August, competing at the Lombardy Raceway Karting Club just outside of Smith Falls, Hardwick finally prevailed as the young Canadians battled it out aboard their Pirelli-mounted Ohvale GP-0 160 machines.
Spurred on by this success, not to mention the inclusion of the FIM MiniGP Canada Series to the FIM Circuits Racing international scene thanks to the efforts of bike racing legend Toni Sharpless, Hardwick and family have decided to expand their horizons.
After participating in the first round of the Canadian schedule last month at Lombardy, the Grade 8 student at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School left this week for the West Coast, with races planned for the Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack, B.C., on June 24-25 and another set at the Strathmore Motorsports Park in Alberta on July 1-2.
It’s all pretty heady stuff for the youngest of three children in the family (Ben has two older sisters) who first dipped his toes in the sport while still quite young, venturing off to compete in both lacrosse and alpine skiing before making his way back to his motorsport passion.
“I got a (Yamaha) PW50 (dirt bike) when I was three or four years old,” Hardwick said. “We lived on Baker Street then and had a little back road there so I would go out and drive with my mom.”
Like any other sporting discipline around, there was a need for the acquisition of basic fundamentals, the tools so critical for the expansion of a skill-set in bike racing.
“I learned how to brake into the corners and use the throttle smoothly, not be choppy, which is a big thing for corners,” said Hardwick, 14.
“That was definitely one of the best things you could learn from the start.”
By the age of 11, he would have his own road bike and began travelling to Orillia (Brechin Motorsports Park) with regularity, with Hardwick taking his pit bike out to the track. While he is certainly not adverse to the motocross variations and such, his comfort level is on the paved circuits that often double as go-kart raceways.
“I ride a little bit of dirt bikes and I do have a Surron, an electric dirt bike that I bring to school and everywhere. It helps me with my training.”
The turning point for Hardwick would come with former Canadian pro motorcycle racer Gilles Bolduc, the Elliot Lake native who is now part of the team at Adventure 365. Soon, the local youth would move from basic riding skills to the fine-tuning needed to move from the practice stage to race day competition.
“You have to learn how to pass, how to ride your own bike and not worry about other people on the track; just do your own thing and don’t worry about them,” explained Hardwick.
Beyond his ability to lean on the vast knowledge of Bolduc locally, the talented rider also gets guidance from the likes of Jake LeClair, Connor Campbell and Tomas Casas, well-known personalities in these circles.
It all has the northern lad more than a little bumped to take as much away as possible from his summer of 2023.
“We saw it as a learning opportunity, the chance to learn other tracks,” said Hardwick. “There are some similar corners, but the traction can be a lot different, there can be bumps in different places.”
And, of course, there is the never-ending need to garner as much experience as possible when accompanied by other top athletes on the track, each and every competitor looking to garner that extra edge.
“I like to get a fast start so that I can get ahead and keep up with the kids in front of me,” said Hardwick. “Patience is the key for racing. I wait to learn how they are riding – and then I can move on them when they make a mistake.”
This will be Ben Hardwick’s final summer in this particular classification of racing, already itching to take the next step.
“The reason I am still on the mini bikes is that 14 is the age when you can join the big bikes, but I was 13 when the season started,” he stated.
“I want to race the 400s in the CSBK (Canadian Superbike Championship) – and I want to ride in the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association – south of the border) – but I have to wait until next year to do it.”
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
