Montreal Friday Practice Report

Oct 1 2010 - 6:04pm - James Lissimore

One of the great things about the Montreal SX in this modern era is that all the riders get to practice on Friday. This starts everyone out on an even playing field, and considering most of the riders don't spend much time riding a SX track, Friday practice is a must for this event.

The MX1 guys were the first to take the track and instantly top riders like Dusty Klatt, Teddy Maier, Troy Adams and Jason Thomas all look confortable. The track this year is an interesting layout with a couple of tough jumps but alot of one lined sections, a good start is going to be very, very crucial. With most of the top riders within a second or two of each other in lap times, there is no don't that tomorrow nights racing will see alot of aggressive passes.

In the MX2 class, the Blackfoot duo of Tyler Medaglia and Kyle Beaton both looked very fast and confident. Fan favourite Kaven Benoit also looked good, the lanky Quebec rider will no doubt be very motivated on Saturday night. All the riders only got one long practice today, although it was more than enough time to get used to the fairly easy track. Here are some of James's best from today. Make sure you log onto www.twitter.com/directmx for updates tomorrow, and to the Thor MX/RTR Performance/Orange Motorsports KTM Montreal SX Webcast tomorrow night starting at 7 pm for all the live action.

Is there anything this guy can't do? JSR is the man behind almost everything that goes on in Olympic Stadium this weekend. Here the 5 time winner puts a little water down in the sand section.

If your going to bring truck loads of dirt into a stadium, why not bring a little grass in also to make it look better.

When the mountains turn blue, these hay bales are cold enough to drink.

You could call this the calm before the storm. Even though she is over 35 years old, Olympic Stadium doesn't look too bad. On the inside at least.

What is an Endurocross without a woods section. It must be fall as the leaves are changing color.

Who says Dusty Klatt's mechanic Andrew Mclean doesn't have an imagination. With Damon Bradshaw's 1993 factory Yamaha in mind, he transformed the #2 into this work of art.

Fresh off laps at Palm Springs SX track this past week. Bobby Kiniry looked very comfortable on the Montreal track.

For some riders, the Montreal SX is just another late season race. For Jason Thomas this race marks the beginning of his around the world SX season. JT$ looked real good today.

Danial Blair has been to Montreal a few times and always seems to do quite well. This year might be the toughest yet as there is a lot of good riders.

Matt Goerke is one of the US riders brought in to do battle with all the Canadians. This talented rider may be the guy to beat Saturday night.

The KTM duo of Jeremy Medaglia and Kaven Benoit will no doubt have their hands full with the Blackfoot boys.

It is great to see the newly married Colton Facciotti back at the races. Colton looked a little rusty today but will no doubt be up to speed when it counts tomorrow.

After many years of having multiple Quebec riders to cheer for. Tomorrow night, all of Quebec's hope lay on Kaven Benoit shoulders. Hopefully this likeable kid can handle all the pressure.

One of the many rookies this year trying their hand at SX, Bradley Dool looked very good today in the MX2 class.

The weekend didn't start well for young phenom Richard Grey. A hard crash early in practice may have detuned him for Saturday.

Kyle Beaton needs to do well tomorrow night. After a tough summer of not racing due to injuries, Kyle was back where he loves to be. On a SX track.

Spencer Knowles looked very good in practice today. Hopefully he can find his way onto the podium this weekend and salvaged his season.

Coming off a terrific summer, Tyler Medaglia has brought the same swagger to Montreal that he brought to the Nationals. Tyler looked very fast today in practice.

Alberta hero Julien Cerny has come to Montreal to try his hand at Endurocross. Judging by his speed today, he is one of the favorites heading into tomorrow night.