2022 Canadian MX Nationals Round 3 at Prairie Hill MX | Read the Recap
By Billy Rainford
On a day when we woke up happy that the trees weren’t bending at 90-degree angles, we should have been careful what we’d wished for. As we got into the van and headed back toward the Prairie Hill MX track just outside Pilot Mound, MB, the temperature gauge on the dashboard already read 26C at 6:30am. Sure, the trees were facing the right direction, but what were we in for?! We were about to find out.
Having bought a full can of Deep Woods Off the day before, I felt ready for the day. 60 SPF sunscreen was applied to my head and off I wandered to the riders meeting at 7:30am.
The track looked to be prepped perfectly – the dark soil contrasting the sky and trees beautifully. I had already grabbed a morning coffee at the Red Bull Thor KTM rig and was looking forward to another great day of Canadian MX racing.
Riders meetings aren’t what they used to be. You don’t even have to be there, in fact. They are broadcast over the speakers and you can simply listen in from your pits. There are no surprise roll calls, let alone tech inspection or sound checks. It means lurking around as Head Referee Paul Kingsley goes over the flags isn’t as much fun for me or my cameras.
We haven’t seen hot temperatures yet this summer in the west. It was actually a late arrival of spring and summer doesn’t seem to be cooperating yet either. That was all about to change as the calm breeze ruffled the leaves but did little to cool the temperatures we were in for.
As the 250 Pro class headed out for their practice, #44 Zach Ufimzef got landed on just after the second corner, bending his bike but not giving him any real damage.
Red Bull Thor KTM’s #30 Sebastien Racine hit the wall jump behind GasGas Cobequid Callus rider #229 Mitchell Harrison and then pulled over to the side of the track in some obvious pain. I’ll let him show you on the mannequin where the rock hit him…
Anyway, let’s get to the motos. I also shot video to do a recap, so watch for that, too.
250 Moto 1
#1 Red Bull Thor KTM rider Jake Piccolo got out to the front from the start with teammate Racine and #22 SSR TLD GasGas rider Tyler Gibbs in tow. #229 Mitchell Harrison was in 4th but fell and dropped outside the top 10, briefly.
MX101 FXR Yamaha rider #46 Marco Cannella was in a nice battle with Manluk Rock River Yamaha’s #14 Quinn Amyotte for 6th.
Getting a great start was #33 SMX Fox rider Jeremy McKie in 4th ahead of Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s #64 Ryder McNabb who was battling a flu last week.
As the halfway flags were crossed, Piccolo had a safe lead ahead of Racine who had Harrison closing in on him. Gibbs, Cannella and Amyotte were having fun in a nice battle for that 4th spot. However, McKie had begun to fade back and was now in 9th after being passed by #34 OGs Hudson KTM rider Wyatt Kerr, now up in 8th.
Harrison would grab 2nd spot as the moto went into its 22nd minute, and as we all know, a second can be as good as a first in moto 1.
At the flag, Piccolo held on to a solid lead as Harrison crossed the line in 2nd. Cannella looked to be making advancements and took 3rd and his first moto podium of the season.
Racine has been very impressive in his rookie Pro year and crossed the line in 4th with Amyotte closing.
450 Moto 1
Holeshot to GasGas Cobequid Callus rider #5 Tyler Medaglia who has been terrific off the gate this season. Behind him it was Thor Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider #84 Tanner Ward looking to make his mark in his rookie year on the 450.
In 3rd early it was SSR TLD GasGas rider #573 Chris Blackmer who could barely put any weight on his ankle after catching it in a rut during qualifying earlier in the morning.
#10 FXR Husqvarna rider Keylan Meston was back in Canada to race and was up in 4th place early ahead Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s #1 Dylan Wright. Partzilla PRMX rider #577 Felix Lopez and MX101 FXR Yamaha teammates #3 Shawn Maffenbeier and #26 Westen Wrozyna in 8th.
Wright would be at the front when the group crossed the line to complete lap 1 and was looking to keep his perfect season in tact.
At the half, Wright had separated himself from Medaglia in 2nd who had a gap back to a nice battle as Maffenbeier would get around Blackmer to take 3rd as the GasGas rider began to feel the effects of his injured leg.
Ward ran alone in 5th ahead of another nice battle between Wrozyna and Lopez who always seem to be finding each other on the track.
Meston ran alone in 8th ahead of #170 Josh Gedak and #18 Parker Eales.
Lopez looked to be capitalizing in the heat and was charging late. You had to think the Mexican rider would be strong in the temperature that had now risen to a scorching 37C with humidity to match. More on that later.
Tanner Ward was closing in on Maffenbeier late, too, but would stall the bike allowing Maff to sneak away. Blackmer was fading back in obvious pain.
At the flag, it was Wright out front ahead of Medaglia, Maffenbeier, Ward and Lopez.
250 Moto 2
With the heat now becoming a factor, we noticed the absence of a few riders on the line. One rider was Partzilla PRMX rider #12 Julien Benek. Julien looked good early in moto 1 but then started to fade with what we thought may have been a mechanical or something because he was definitely not looking like himself out there.
It turns out he blacked out from the heat a couple times back at the trailer and was in the cooling pool for a long time. There was just no way he could continue and they decided he would miss moto 2 along with some other riders.
Holeshot to #1 Piccolo again but this time he had Harrison with him who didn’t fall early. #33 McKie got off to another great start, but after fading back to 13th in moto 1, could he stay with the leaders this time?
Gibbs was in 4th followed by Cannella in 5th.
#30 Racine went down on lap 1 and was at the back of the pack. Charging through the field in this heat was not something anyone would have wanted.
At the halfway mark, Harrison was all over Piccolo and the two were giving the fans what they wanted, bar to bar racing action.
#64 McNabb ran alone in 3rd ahead of a nice battle between McKie and Amyotte, who wasn’t sure he’d line up for moto 2 after the way he felt in the heat in moto 1. Behind them, Gibbs and Cannella were fighting over 6th.
Harrison would fall and give Piccolo the breathing room I’m sure he wanted at this point in the day. Amyotte actually felt strong and got by McKie at the 20-minute mark. #34 Kerr was looking good and made a pass stick on Gibbs at the 21-minute mark.
With only 2 laps left to go, Harrison had made it all up on Piccolo and was on his rear wheel. McNabb was still looking safe in 3rd but Amyotte had begun to close in as he gapped McKie just a little. Cannella raced alone in 6th ahead of Kerr, Gibbs, and nice battle between #482 Teren Gerber and #138 Dylan Rempel who had to pick himself up off the ground and charge.
Harrison made his move to the front with 1 1/2 laps to go and Piccolo didn’t look like he was interested in trying to mount a charge. Everyone was feeling the heat in this one.
At the flag, it was Harrison ahead of Piccolo who just brought it home safely. McNabb held on to 3rd with Amyotte in 4th and McKie holding on to a nice finish in 5th.
Everyone talked about the heat on the podium and many riders were left soaking in their ice baths.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overall
450 Moto 2
There were at least 10 empty gates as we headed out for the final moto of the day. The heat was not relenting and many riders were left feeling the effects and not able to head to the line, including local legend #270 Josh Penner, who looked great in qualifying and practice but said that heat exhaustion got the better of him and he packed up and headed home early.
Holeshot to #10 Meston ahead of Wright, Lopez, Ward, Blackmer, Medaglia, Maffenbeier, and Gedak.
When the riders came around to complete the first lap, Wright was already starting to gap the field and looked to be putting himself on cruise control.
Lopez looked great up in 2nd ahead of Medaglia, Meston, and Ward. Behind them, Blackmer and Maffenbeier were together ahead of Wrozyna, Gedak, Eales, #17 Bailey Motorsports Fly Husqvarna’s Yanick Boucher, Manluk Rock River Yamaha’s #61 Tea Perrott, and Barrie Honda’s #19 Ryan Derry.
I wrote in my little note pad the old Ben Affleck quote from Good Will Hunting that goes like this:
“Every day I come by your house and I pick you up. And we go out. We have a few drinks, and a few laughs, and it’s great. But you know what the best part of my day is? For about ten seconds, from when I pull up to the curb and when I get to your door, ’cause I think, maybe I’ll get up there and I’ll knock on the door and you won’t be there. No goodbye. No see you later. No nothing. You just left. I don’t know much, but I know that.”
That’s how I feel about seeing Dylan Wright racing in Canada these days.
Just before the half, Medaglia got by Lopez for 2nd place. It was great to see Felix running up front like that.
At the halfway flag, Wright was looking smooth out front ahead of Medaglia, who still had Lopez in tow. Ward looked safe in 3rd ahead of Maffenbeier, Meston, and Blackmer.
There was a sizeable gap back to Wrozyna in 8th and then another to Eales and Boucher to round out the top 10.
Meston was staying with Maffenbeier and the old friends were in a nice dogfight in the crazy heat.
With only a couple laps remaining it became obvious that the heat was getting to Lopez as he started to slow considerably. His gap on Ward dropped like a stone and Tanner was on his rear wheel on the last lap as Lopez began to swerve.
At the flag, Wright eased over the line well ahead of Medaglia who did the same in 2nd place. Ward came across to take 3rd and his first 450 podium. Lopez somehow got himself across the line in 4th and went straight to the pits and jumped…no, fell in to the pool fully dressed, helmet and all!
Maffenbeier held off Meston for 5th and Blackmer was a distant 7th, but has to be happy to make it to the finish with his bad ankle in obvious pain.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No comments!
There are no comments yet, but you can be first to comment this article.