Joe McWilliams

Lakeside Leader

Jasper Fornoles of Slave Lake discovered ATV racing just a couple of months ago, after his dad Ian bought him a 90cc machine for his 11th birthday.

Since then, he’s attended race events all over the province, and has moved up to a 250cc machine.

Jasper’s first event was in Brooks, and it could hardly have turned out better.

“He got two firsts, two seconds and a third,” says Ian.

Next was a race event in Calgary, in July. Jasper came home from that one with five trophies.

Jasper is competing in what’s called the Triple Crown Race Series. The final is in Cold Lake on Aug. 11.

In the meantime, his early success resulted in people encouraging him to try more competitive stuff with a bigger machine. This required the purchase of a 250cc unit, and entry into a different series of races, called Flat Track Canada. It also forced Jasper to learn how to race while shifting gears. He didn’t have much time to practice the new skills before his first set of races.

“We just got back from Olds,” says Ian, referring to Jasper’s first experience racing with the bigger, faster, more difficult to operate machine. The result? A second-place finish.

“It’s fast!” says Ian.

Jasper will be back racing in Olds in September for the Flat Track Canada finals.

“He’s going to continue racing,” says Ian.

Jasper is going into Grade 6 at E.G. Wahlstrom School in Slave Lake next month.