The first of four regional driving events for Canada's 2009 National Driving Championship will be taking place this coming Monday (October 20) at Grand River Raceway, and Jody Jamieson is looking to get it on.
The winner of the 2009 edition of Canada's National Driving Championship -- to take place March 21, 2009 at Fraser Downs in Surrey, BC -- will go on to face global competitors in the 2009 World Driving Championship, to take place May 14-20 in Norway.
"I'm absolutely looking forward to it," Jamieson told Trot Insider, in reference to the Ontario regional event at Grand River. "There's nothing quite like representing your country. As a driver, you've got to have that experience of doing it [representing your country] to really understand the extent that the host locations go to in order to make it a success. They pull out all the stops; treat everyone with a lot of respect and really put on a first-class show."
If Jamieson is to emerge victorious from the Ontario regional, and then in the national competition at Fraser Downs, he will earn the right to represent Canada for the fourth time in the WDC. He won the 2001 edition in Finland; finished second in 2003 over Canadian ovals and followed the event to Italy in 2005.
"It [being able to represent Canada] is still a long way down the line," Jamieson explained. "The Ontario regionals are coming up and then there is the National Driving Championship at Fraser Downs. This is the first year that I will be participating under this format, and I'm looking forward to it.
"Monday's regional at Grand River is going to depend quite a bit on the horses and posts -- after that you make your own luck. I consider myself a half-mile specialist and I'm going to be in there facing off with a group of half-mile specialists, so we should put on a good competitive show on Monday."
On Monday, Jamieson will be facing off against eight other polished pilots in eight dashes over the Elora, ON course. Gord Brown, Scott Coulter, Brad Forward, Paul MacDonell, Paul MacKenzie, Bruce Richardson, Mike Saftic and Robert Shepherd will also be taking their shot in the event.