Gopher Dunes Photo Report

Jul 17 2012 - 4:47pm - James Lissimore

Sponsored by:

After a three-week break the Monster Energy CMRC Canadian Motocross Nationals resumed at the famous Gopher Dunes track in Courtland, Ontario. As always, the Schuster family and crew had the track prepped to perfection which led to some great racing. To get all the details you can check out Bigwave's race report here. Here are some of this weekend's best shots from James Lissimore.

Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha's, Bobby Kiniry, had another good weekend at the Dunes. He took 2nd overall with a last lap pass on Red Bull Royal Distributing KTM Fox Racing rider, Dusty Klatt, in the second moto and continues to hold second overall in the championship.

Image Tech Airway MX Track Scott rider, Brad Nauditt, has quickly established himself as a front runner. He led the first couple laps of moto one and went on to finish 5th.

Yamaha Canada Machine Racing off-road rider, Brian Wojnorowski, came out to contest the Dunes. He qualified and took 30th overall. Not bad for a guy who spends his time on a bike jumping logs and climbing deadly hills.

Red Bull Royal Distributing KTM Fox Racing's, Colton Facciotti, had a day he would likely rather forget. His shoulder is for sure in rough shape and the sands of Gopher Dunes did not help the situation. He soldiered on to take 5th overall, which is like a win for him in his condition. Heal up soon, Colt!

Caden Lee, the son of Brett Lee, is a big race fan. He's always helping out his dad and ripping around the pits on some sort of bicycle or carrying his fishing pole to the local pond. Here he helps flag one of the motos.

Klatt looked sharp sporting his new Fox boots this weekend and they may have even given him some confidence which led him to leading moto two for a several laps. He was passed by the frontrunners and a last lap pass by Kiniry bumped him off the podium to 4th. Look for a new Klatt to emerge this weekend in Ste. Julie.

Redemption Racing rider, Gavin Gracyk, is improving every round. Gavin stayed strong and his fitness showed when he took 5th in the second moto.He went 11-5 on the day for 7th overall.

Yamalube Blackfoot Direct Yamaha rider, Jared Allison, lined up for the weekend on his practice bike in hopes to save his race motor for the remaining rounds where he is expected to do better. Luckily for him, he did better than expected and finished 5th overall. He now sits 3rd in the championship.

Josh Clark was one of the many fast Americans that came up to see what they could accomplish at Gopher Dunes. He opened some eyes with two good motos going 7-8 for 6th overall. Let's hope we see him continue east and battling in the top five.

Jerry Lorenz came up and went 8-11 on the day. He showed some good speed in the sand and we hope to see him again here in Canada.

Facciotti and Klatt's teammate, Jeremy Medaglia, is KTM's last hope for a championship. He fought Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki's, Teddy Maier, hard both motos but came up a little short again on Teddy's speed. Jeremy has 4 rounds left to make something happen and if we know him well enough, we know it is not over yet.

James Roberts was another quick U.S. rider who made the trip. He qualified 4th fastest and was battling in the top 5 in both motos. He ended up 10th overall.

Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki rider, Kyle Beaton, got another great jump in moto one. Unfortunately, he went down in the first corner and was not able to recover and took 28th. He turned it around a bit in moto two with a 9th place finish. Look for Beaton to be fast in Ste. Julie and Moncton.

Duroy KTM rider, Kaven Benoit, showed everyone he has not missed a beat. He took a convincing first moto win capitalizing on some of Jeremy and Teddy's bad luck. He backed his result up with a 3rd in the second moto and took 2nd overall on the day.

Liam O'Farrell has finally joined the series as we head east. He took his PR-MX TM 450 to 10th overall. Look for him to move further up the results as we progress towards the coastline.

After a great western swing, Morgan Burger was able to make it out east thanks to the Blazing Saddles Ministries crew. He was a little farther back than usual taking a 10-12 for 11th overall.

Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki rider, Matt Goerke, put on a clinic and soundly trounced the competition. He may be one of the best sand riders in the world. Let's hope someone can run with him in Ste. Julie.

Gopher Dunes had awesome conditions all day. The bottomless sand is unforgiving and makes it one of the roughest tracks in North America.

MPH/WMX rider, Nathan Bles, also joined the MX2 class this weekend. He took a 6th overall on his Honda with 6-10 moto scores. Nathan hopes to hit the podium before the season ends.

Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha rider, Richard Grey, had a great day. He was docked a couple positions in the first moto after an incident where he had no choice but to cut the track. He went 12-5 after the penalty for 7th overall.

Machine Racing Yamaha's, Ryan Lockhart, started his 8th 'new beginning' this weekend. He had two great starts, including the holeshot in moto 2. He held on for the day and went 18-14 for 15th overall and helped raise over $1000.00 for the Injured Riders Fund.

Ryan Millar edged out Lockhart for the first moto holeshot. It was great seeing Millar back in Canada racing. He ended up having a rough day and went 15-DNF.

Yamalube Schrader's SMX Racing's, Shawn Maffenbeier, also had a day he would rather forget. Lots of bad luck crossed his path including a couple lappers that cost him some crashes. Here he is picking up his bike after one of the mishaps. He took 25th overall with a 19-DNF.

Experts Exchange 180 Decals rider, Topher Ingalls, may just win one of these before the season is over. He led moto one for a lap after getting past Nauditt.

Teddy Maier proved he is still the man to beat. He took the overall but it wasn't easy. Look for the red plate holder to work hard on the east coast to hang on to it.

GDR's, Tyler Medaglia, may have had a little extra pressure on him and his Gopher Dunes Honda since it was the team's home track. He came through with 3rd overall and made his team proud.

Never count out Tim Tremblay when he shows up at a race. He is one talented rider and took 3rd in the first moto showing some great speed. He ended up crashing out of the second moto. He will be quick this weekend in Quebec as his hometown fans cheer him on.

Goerke's teammate, Tyler Villopoto, continues to ride a consistent, smart season. A couple crashes held him back, but he went 8-10 for 9th overall on his Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki.

Relates to: