Faces at the Races | Kamloops Round 1 | Leatt

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Greg Poisson and I showed up at the track on Friday. The first round is always the best to wander around and say hello to people you haven’t seen in a while.

As I always say, try to cheer up, Steve.

It’s always good to shoot the breeze with Scott Delaplace, even if he didn’t bring any apple pie moonshine.

Julien and Oliver welcoming Felix Lopez back to Canada.,

I even managed to leave the house one evening and had a drink with Kourtney Lloyd, Rachel Springman, and the rest of the Springman clan. You should have been a fly on THAT wall!

I had a few things I wanted to say here but all I can ever see is that crazy head of hair on Parker Eales. Would you just look at all that!!

The Tanners getting cleaned up during the WCAN.

There are probably some things we could talk about here, too, but all I see are Dura Ace wheels!

The rules have changed. You don’t have to actually be at the riders meetings anymore. You can just listen from your pits. But then how do I creep around and take photos?!

#33 Jeremy McKie made the walk over.

WMX riders can race both coasts. Eve Brodeur is going to try to add 2 more titles to her resumé.

5 weeks out of wrist surgery and hung in the top 4. Dude’s a stud.

This could be a shot from 12 years ago. Nobody would know!

Cale Foster and Lexi Pechout during practice. Cale is an Alberta guy now.

Hey Cale, did those kids ever bring back your pit board?

Sebastien Racine showed he belongs on the factory KTM team and in the top 3-5 in the pro ranks. Great showing at Round 1.

#494 Thomas Rendall was a little beat up heading into Round 1.

#22 Tyler Gibbs should be looking at a very successful summer.

Julien Benek is looking for a helmet graphics sponsor…

I see you seeing me, #80 Mikael Savard, former Loretta Lynn’s champ.

Morinville is straight north of Edmonton and has a Tim Hortons. #188 Kyle Macquarrie knows this.

#222 Jess Barnett is another Intermediate Alberta rider.

I kept wondering who the fast #66 rider was out there. That’s Tyler Yates from Duncan, BC and he was way up in 11th.

I’m ready to see what Jeremy can do if/when he pulls a holeshot.

We have a Bike Check ready to post with #14 Quinn Amyotte’s brother Bennet. Hmm, maybe now would be a good time… Oh, did we mention that they have a bet? If Quinn doesn’t cut his hair by Gopher Dunes, Bennet has to race it. Get your graphics kit ready, Larry!

#32 Wyatt Kerr is a ‘DMX Total Devotion Award by Club MX’ winner and he needed that devotion after the day he had. Better days ahead, for sure.

#44 Zach Ufimzeff showed his time down south was worth it. He was ripping out there!

#510 Marcus Deausy deserves some praise, too. He was way up at the front in moto 2 and finished the day with an impressive 9th. Keep an eye on him moving forward.

#991 Brandon McKee is from Saskatchewan and will likely enjoy the hard surface this week.

#195 Blake Ashley had a “character-building” experience at Round 1. We tried to get him sorted out but came up a little short. Stick around, Blake. We got ya!

#46 Marco Cannella will need time off the bike for his hands to heal but he doesn’t want to lose any ground of the other top riders. What to do, what to do…

It’s always good to have riders up from the USA. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the motos and headed back to Washington before he had planned.

#223 Austin Jones looking race ready.

We got our answer on #229 Mitchell Harrison, and the team got a kick out of my stupid free practice IG post. And guess what? The former American factory rider IS fast!

Not a great day for #130 Devyn Smith as he had a bike go on him in moto 2 after moving up to a solid 11th in moto 1.

Is that #163 Reis Lepine down from Dawson Creek?

Speaking of Dawson, #819 Dawson Gravelle looked pretty good in Kamloops. 19-18 for 20th.

#138 Dylan Rempel was in some really good battles and finished 8th.

#263 Zane Lepine also down from Dawson Creek.

Looking racy!

Quinn and 450 teammate #61 Tea Perrott back after his scary crash and injury at Walton last year.

Bird’s eye view at KTM.

Look who it is! Yep, that’s Kyle Beaton.

The rig got to the track late (long story) so they were pitted off on their own but it was worth the walk over. They won both classes…and fed me some lunch!

The theme of the day seemed to be mangled shiters.

Team shot.

Blake Ashley.

Jeremy must have watched our Bike Check video with Tyler Medaglia.

Jake Piccolo has Justin Roney on the wrenches this year.

And they dragged Steve Beattie kicking and screaming out of retirement for a short stint. Ya, we’ll see…

Not sure how much more we’ll see of Blake, so he gets another one.

Quinn getting in the zone.

#482 Teren Gerber was 15-12 for 13th. Not bad at all but he’s got more in the tank.

Jeremy.

I see everyone calling him “Chuck.”

Mitchell is going to fit in nicely here in Canada. And I’m not sure he knows he’s hanging with the two Kings of Nova Scotia out east. He soon will.

Charles Charlton is fun to watch ride. He’s also a former Total Devotion Award winner. Let’s get him down to Club.

#600 is Noah Porter. I was impressed with some of his rides at the WCAN. I didn’t realize he was so young.

Another team shot.

Punks not dead. And you know what? In this day and age, I think the dyed and sugar-watered Mohawk is the only hairdo left that actually has any shock value!

Zane Mellafont spent some time down in California this winter. He was 24th.

Sunday or 2014?

Steve Sulyuk is just a good dude and a good medic. He even brought me a Tofino surf poster one year!

Team shirt.

Kevin Tyler trying to start a slow clap.

Wyatt’s Wide World of Sports intro moment.

Shooting bangers non-stop is tiring work!

Normally, my shots are so blurry you wouldn’t notice the thread on Mitchell’s face. Sorry, I found new settings.

This summer will be a lot of this guy…

…and this guy. It’s going to be good.

#121 Brock Hoyer is still fast and was 10th in moto 1. He crashed hard in the second for a DNF. I didn’t see it happen but saw Annalyse Lopushinsky going for a running record so I knew something had happened!

Davey Fraser crashed into the fence on the outside of the first turn for a DNF in moto 1. He came back for a very solid 9th in moto 2 for 15th.

I got a great look-back jump shot of #47 Blair Nauta. This isn’t it. 23rd for Blair.

Tea time. Sorry to parrot something someone else probably already said. You see what I did there…

Focus for Dylan Wright on the line. He went out and went 1-1.

Jess will race himself into shape and be fighting for wins soon.

It doesn’t seem to matter when or where, #18 Parker Eales ends up riding alone. 7th for Parker.

#17 Yanick Boucher will be battling for top 10’s all summer.

#84 Tanner Ward was in a great battle with Chris Blackmer in the first moto. He took 6th in that one.

Everyone thinks #26 Westen Wrozyna is from Mexico. After his moto-long battle with #577 Felix Lopez, he joked that he just wanted to be the top Mexican. Funny stuff.

#3 Shawn Maffenbeier was on his way to a top 2 or 3 overall until that crazy high-side dislocated his left shoulder. Word is he’ll be on the line this week trying to recover some lost points. He still ended up 10th overall (3-DNF).

Tyler ready to go out and give the 2-time and defending champ fits. Don’t sleep on the #5!

#170 Josh Gedak was all 14’s on Sunday.

We did some interviews with Felix on the weekend. Dude is as nice as he is fast. After a great 1st moto, he had some troubles and slid back to 20th in the second for 12th. Watch for that to change this week.

I think Chris would be happy doing just about anything. He seems to be one of those guys who probably has a good time all the time. He grabbed a nice holeshot in moto 2 and finished 4th overall. You’re going to like this guy.

Oh man, would you look at these guys! Ross Thompson with #716 Todd Minnie. Awesome. Todd still rips and was 21st (18-18).

I don’t know #114 Jesse Royan from Saskatchewan but I’m guessing he’ll be strong in Alberta. He was 20th with a couple pretty good motos (16-17).

#108 Max Day has a fast-sounding name. “I like to think a man’s name says a lot about them. What’s your first name, Mr. Nessman?” “Les…” – WKRP

I also don’t know #112 Cory Steeves but he stood out to me every time he ripped by. He had a very solid 12th in moto 2 for 19th overall.

#143 is Eric Harvey from Fort St John, BC. I don’t know him either but he took 24th (24-21).

Glasses under the goggles. I feel your pain, #271 Chase Massey in 30th.

All good from #996 Cameron Birnie from Winnipeg.

#623 is another American rider who came up from Bozeman, Montana. 27-23 put him 26th.

#223 Adam Atkinson from Duncan, BC was 29th (30-26).

Team guys.

A mechanical took Tanner out of the second moto. He left a lot of points on the table and won’t be happy about that.

Kyle Thompson is the guy on the microphone for the awards.

Remember when they said Tyler was a few seconds per lap faster this year on his private track? Well, I don’t think they were making that up.

2nd place means smiles from everyone.

Dylan decided to have a big giveaway on the podium.

Yep, that’s a brace going!

He gave away his race-worn jersey too and then realized he needed it for the podium photos. He got it back and then handed it back to the youngster and invited him to the pits to get it signed.