Faces at the Races | 2022 Round 5 – Gopher Dunes MX National

By Billy Rainford

Brought to you by Troy Lee Designs

Let’s have a fun look at Round 5 of the Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals at Gopher Dunes in this week’s Faces at the Races column.

The fun started on Saturday after Ryan Gauld and #467 made a $20 holeshot bet after a few “pops” on Friday night. That 20 found a new home.
Tanner Scott raced both days and will continue to do better and better on Pro Day.
There’s a great crop of young riders being cheered on by current and former Pro rider dads. That’s Tyler Medaglia with his son Talon. Talon is fun to watch ride.
6-time champ Colton Facciotti with young Keagan.
One of the most Canadian things you’ll see at a motocross race.
Jason Burke’s son #29 Beckett Burke was in some great battles at the front on Saturday.
Sam Gaynor raced FXR PreMix and the 250 Pro class on his GasGas 125 with a 150 kit. It’s his week for the Frid’Eh Update Interview, so be sure to check that out in a couple days.
I think Ayrton Pomeroy is just going to keep getting better and better. He’s got great style and I think he’ll be a late bloomer if he stays with it.
I jumped out on the track and gave “Josh” Cox double hang loose signs. I don’t know Kevin Cox. Oops.
Greg Poisson told me I had to get a shot of Brett Hellyer in his “pajamas,” so here ya go.
I can’t believe I didn’t get a chance to go chat with the Gourlays on the weekend! Ask Brandon to tell you his, “You’ve got a lot of f@#$ing work to do...” story. It’s a classic.
Remember last time when #211 Jack Wright went flying off the track after contact with Westen Wrozyna? Just doing my part to keep rivalries alive.
It was great to see Daymon Goold back at the track and ripping a 2-stroke.
Mitch Tyler will have home track advantage this week at Sand Del Lee.
Good luck finding someone with a bigger smile under their helmet than #405 Rylan Foster. The dude just loves it!
Wes Wrozyna serenading #810 Travis Roberts with some classic Gangnam Style. He’ll sing it for you, too. Just ask him this week. “Ope…ope, ope, ope...”
It was fun watching #138 Steve Shore and #738 Steve Simms go at it on Saturday in the +30B class.
#111 Gavin Forsbrey is only 12 years old!
I know I’m supposed to be unbiased, but I like watching #613 Cole Pranger ride, just like I used to like watching Ty Masterpool when he was an amateur.
#229 Mitchell Harrison was 5th at Gopher Dunes but still has a 7-point lead in the 250 class.
I’m afraid to say we’ve seen the last of #158 Trey Fierro because then he’ll just show up at Sand Del Lee and make a liar out of me again.
#33 Jeremy McKie was not happy with his performance in the sand last week. Just put your head down and rip two good motos this week, Jeremy. He was 11th and sits 8th in 250 points.
After a very successful Walton, #40 Preston Masciangelo had to borrow a bike for qualifying and then crashed pretty hard and was feeling some pain.
No wait, Zack Zager may be in a tie for biggest smile under the helmet.
Teren Gerber is from Alberta where they don’t have a ton of sand. He spent the winter riding some at Club MX and finished 15th.
#22 Tyler Gibbs will be looking forward to the rest of the tracks after struggling a bit in the deep sand. He went 11-11 for 10th.
#137 Josh Lemire is from Wasaga Beach. He should love this stuff!
Everyone is talking about #46 Marco Cannella like this is his last season racing if he doesn’t win. Let’s take a step back from all this doom and gloom and let him ride. 3-5 for 4th is not the end of the world! Most of our top 450 guys would not beat the 250 podium if they stepped down.
I don’t know the Schmucki boys from Alberta. I’ll fix that this week. Clayton was 22nd.
#300 Kevin Sullivan with some last-minute focus. It got him to 24th.
I didn’t speak with him but it was cool to see #16 Cole Thompson out in free practice on a 125.
Apparently, it wasn’t as much “fun” as he was hoping and showed up for qualifying on a 250F.
#533 Josiah Natzke was the fastest qualifier and is unbeaten so far in the east.
I roamed around the pits at the end of the day looking for the Perry family from Alaska. Unless they show up in Ottawa this weekend, I’ve missed my chance. Danny Perry was 21st.
#65 Bryce Wadge is from Manitoba and finished 26th.
Check out the lid on #13 Brenner Lammens. In his defence, he pulled his hat off for this shot.
#75 Lindsay Bradley is still going with the 2-stroke. She finished 11th. What? Only 13 riders finished the WMX at Gopher Dunes?! What is going on in the east? The west had full gates.
With Julien Benek not racing this week, Oliver headed to the line with #29 Alissa Harkin from BC. He couldn’t reach down to take off his Flash Dance slouch socks because of coming up short on a jump on Saturday morning. Yep, I had to comment on them.
#49 Jamie Astudillo and #1 Eve Brodeur are about as close in speed as 2 riders can get!
The top 4 WMX riders are pretty well established. #73 Brooke Merrow almost broke through this week and finished a close 5th.
“Hey, Breanna Rose!” CLICK! She finished all 8’s.
#276 Mickayla Vollick questioning everything before a moto at Gopher Dunes. Racing this track does bring out a lot of questions about life choices. She brought home the Lanterne Rouge in 13th.
Kevin Tyler doing his part to keep riders on the track.
The retro 1999 Hondas in the GDR pits.
#3 Shawn Maffenbeier was feeling better this week and had a good battle for 3rd place.
Keeping the streak alive with the Kerrs at 5 rounds. Thanks for the tasty libations on Saturday! Wyatt was in the mix all day and took 9th in the 250 class.
Not that he didn’t do well, but watch for a rebound week from #30 Sebastien Racine this week at Sand Del Lee. He was all 8’s in the 250 class.
“Can you hold that pose until I find the camera function on my phone?”
“Keep holding…” #130 Devyn Smith rode consistent to finish 15-15 for 14th.
#66 Tyler Yates is from about as far away as you can get in Duncan, BC on the Island. He finished 18th. And I always wonder what people with ironic mullets do during the week. It’s like going to a punk rock concert and seeing people with mohawks.
Quinn Amyotte just showed everyone that he has arrived in the 250 Pro class. And I’d say Bennet Amyotte still has to race an event because riding practice is just welching on a lost bet…I said it!
Jim Scott on the line with Tanner.
#44 Zach Ufimzef had a very uncharacteristic day back in 19th place. That will change this week. He sits 11th in 250 points.
#12 Julien Benek tried to go out in practice but had a crash and decided he’s just not ready yet. Watch for him to try again this week with better results.
Slight panic for Tyler Gibbs when he found himself without a shifter in qualifying. They got it fixed and he went back out.
It’s amazing to see Eve Brodeur maxed out racing with Jamie Astudillo. Watch for more of the same the rest of the series.
Knuckles after a great day of wheel-to-wheel racing.
#2 SKV had a scary crash on Saturday and was feeling the effects. Let’s see how close she can get to the lead 2 this week.
2 red plated bikes have become 1 after Eve went 1-1 at Gopher Dunes, but this battle is far from over!
We had a bit of a MXON vibe going. Viva Ecuador!
When you go 1-1 you don’t pull a lot of tear offs.
Jeff Gaynor had to run onto the podium scene and steal the bike to get it ready for the 250 races.
Hey, you look a lot like Joey Crown. What, you are Joey Crown?! Great to see him at the races, even if he wasn’t riding.
I blanked on Daryl Murphy’s first name in our post-race chat. The old brain misfires a bit more often these days.
When I was in high school, people wouldn’t say they liked your shirt until they checked the tag for a fancy brand name. The 80’s were an odd and interesting time…
Bennet Amyotte even ran a Suzuki tee shirt, making him one of only 2 yellow bikes at the races and definitely the only one with a tee shirt!
Was it amazing that #26 Westen Wrozyna finished 10-9 for 9th in the 450 class? You tell me!
James, you’re not supposed to make it that obvious you’re not listening to Julien!
Fly on the wall listening to this conversation: “Cricket…cricket…”
Josiah may have made that look easy, but he was feeling it at the end of the second moto, that’s for sure.
You can see the whole track from up there and I think you even get one bar of cell service!
There was a good crowd on hand this week.
And the bank gave everyone a great view of the stage.
See you this weekend, Yateseseses.
Shots like this one of #577 Felix Lopez pushing his bike across the line are always instant classics.
Great job again, Dave Bell. You need some roadies to collect all that cable! But I caught myself singing, “If you ain’t here to party...” when I got home and that did not sit well.
Sebastian Schuster asleep in puddles of oil next to jumper cables and tires while wearing water wings gets to say it this week: “See you at the races…zzzz...”