The draw for the 2018 Ontario Regional Driving Championship, set for this coming Wednesday, May 16 at The Raceway at the Western Fair District in London, Ont., is now complete.
First race post time for Wednesday's card of harness racing is 6:15 p.m. The following drivers will be participating in the Ontario Regional Driving Championship:
The ORDC races will take place in races 2 to 10. To view Wednesday's entries, click on one of the following links: Western Fair - Wednesday Entries - Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
The 2018 event will mark the fourth time that The Raceway has been the venue for the Ontario Regional Driving Championship. They also hosted the National Driving Championship in 2016.
“We are proud to host the Ontario Regional Championship for the fourth time,” said Greg Blanchard, the track’s Director of Racing. “So many of Canada’s top drivers are here in Ontario and this is another exceptional group that we’ve assembled. We look forward to them putting on a great show for the fans.”
The nine drivers will participate in nine competition races. Each race will have a field of eight and each driver will compete in eight races, drive from every post position, and sit out for one race.
Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position and the top two drivers from the nine-race competition will join six other drivers at the 2018 National Driving Championship (NDC) at Grand River Raceway.
The winner of the 2018 NDC will have the opportunity to represent Canada in the WDC, and join 2017 World Driving Champion, James MacDonald, in the 2019 WDC in Sweden.
SCORING
The Regional Driving Championships and the National Driving Championship will adapt the point system utilized in the World Driving Championship. Points will be awarded on the order of finish as follows:
Number of Starters: 9
16 (1), 11 (2), 8 (3), 6 (4), 5 (5), 4 (6), 3 (7), 2 (8), 1 (9)
Number of Starters 8:
15 (1), 10 (2), 7 (3), 5 (4), 4 (5), 3 (6), 2 (7), 1 (8).
Number of Starters 7:
14 (1), 9 (2), 6 (3), 4 (4), 3 (5), 2 (6), 1 (7).
In the event of a scratch, the driving rep drawn to a horse shall drive the ‘also eligible’ horse.
In the event of a horse being scratched or where no horse is available, five (5) points shall be awarded to the driver concerned. If a horse is disqualified or a horse and driver fail to complete the race, they will receive one (1) point.
In the event of a dead heat for any placing in any race the points for the horses involved will be added together and divided equally among the drivers concerned (eg. If there’s a dead heat for third between two horses, the points for third and fourth place will be added and divided among the drivers)