Photo Report|Women’s West Nationals|Regina Round 4
By Billy Rainford
The 2016 Women’s West MX Nationals raced its final round Saturday at Moto Valley Raceway in Regina, Saskatchewan. #50 Shelby Turner came into the weekend with a 9-point lead over defending champion, #1W Sara King. To add to the excitement of the fourth and final round, Yorkton, SK’s #44 Kennedy Lutz showed up on a borrowed bike to see how she stacked up against the current year’s group of Western racers. Here’s a look at some of the action.
When the gate dropped for moto 1, it was #151, off-road specialist Lexi Pechout, who got to the corner first.
Her lead was short-lived as #44 Kennedy Lutz made her first appearance of the season in her home province and took off once she was in the lead.
#11 Tamala Whiteside was up near the top 10 early in the first moto and finished in 13th. Unfortunately, she had troubles in the second and was forced to wait by the finish line until the leader took the checkered flag before crossing herself in 27th. It gave her 18th overall.
Tamala won the Sportsmanship Award for the season.
#29 Lauren Gilmore from Oakbluff, MB finished 18-16 for 16th overall.
#93 Jamie Routley broke the top 15 with 14-14 motos for 14th overall.
#414 Myah Hjorteland was 13th (15-13).
#138 Kristin Tse gained a lot of respect from those who knew that when she crashed in the first moto she dislocated most of the fingers on her right hand. Her sister put them back in place and she lined up and struggled through the second, barely able to hang on! Her 12-12 efforts gave her 12th overall and kept her in the top 10 on the season.
#30 Courtney Stelter made a ton of passes at round 4.
Her 11-11 motos for 11th earned her the Gibson Tyre Hard Charger Award.
There were some fierce battles up in the top 10, like this one between #10 Danika White and #9 Kate Lees. White finished 10th (9-10) and Lees took 8th (6-8).
#470 Charity Bachman showed up in her home province’s round and got herself up in the mix with 8-9 motos for 9th.
#7 Madi Watt was consistent with 7-7 motos for 7th overall.
#5 Dominique Daffé was at the front of a great battle that included Lees, Bachman, White, and Watt in the first moto. Daffé finished 6th with 5-6 motos.
Defending Western Champ, Sara King, had a rough day. She fell hard on the 3rd lap of the first moto in the fastest part of the track. She had a hard time getting going again and finished well back in 10th place.
She was in obvious pain as she lined up for moto 2, but she toughed out a solid 3rd place to save her 2nd place in the championship with 5th on the day.
It was really no surprise she won the M7 Style Award.
#3 Brittany Danyluk got out to great starts at the final round. She battled with all the top riders and finished 4-5 for 4th place.
#151 Lexi Pechout and #50 Shelby Turner continued their battle in Regina. Lexi finished 3-4 for 3rd.
Lexi grabbed the first moto holeshot and also won the M7 Designs Athlete of the Year honours. She is off to Calgary for the Red Bull Rocks and Logs at Wild Rose MX Sunday.
#50 Shelby Turner did what she had to do. She was a solid 2-2 for 2nd on the day. It was enough to win her the 2016 championship.
She is also off to race the Rocks and Logs tomorrow.
There weren’t many riders at the track Saturday who could have stopped #44 Kennedy Lutz from winning. She dominated.
She actually won the first moto by 45 seconds. She has punched her ticket to Loretta Lynn’s where she will compete in the Ladies class as well as 450 C.
She won the RTR Performance first moto Holeshot Award.
Round 4 top 5: Kennedy Lutz, Shelby Turner, Lexi Pechout, Brittany Danyluk, Sara King.
2016 Women’s West Nationals top 10: Shelby Turner, Sara White, Lexi Pechout, Dominique Daffé, Brittany Danyluk, Madi Watt, Kate Lees, Courtney Stelter, Kristin Tse, Danika White.
Congratulations to series co-organizers, Sierra Roth and Kristi Moore. The Women’s East Nationals start their 4-round series at Gopher Dunes, July 9th. See you there…
