After a week off, we were off to the East Coast for the Riverglade round of the Rockstar Energy Motocross Tour series, near Moncton, New Brunswick. A little rain overnight had the track tacky and ready for the day’s racing.
After racing the previous round at Gopher Dunes, John Dowd was back to being a moto dad for his son Ryan at Riverglade.
The 250 class blasts off.
So close for Josh Osby. After a second place finish in moto one, the Indiana native was looking good to take his first overall of the season when he took the lead halfway through moto two but a flat front tire derailed his chances at the victory. He managed to nurse it home for 2-2 on the day.
Points leader, Jess Pettis, took a convincing win in moto one but could only manage a fifth in moto two, for third overall.
The defending champion, Shawn Maffenbeier was just off the podium, in fourth.
Winner of two overalls this year, Dylan Wright was a little off the pace of the leaders and could only manage 5th overall.
He’s been knocking on the door all season but at Riverglade, Joey Crown finally broke through to take his first ever overall victory as he rode to 3-1 finishes.It certainly won’t be the last time we see the Michigan native on the top step of the podium.
Fisheye 450 start shot.
With Mike Alessi still out with a shoulder injury, the Monster Energy Alpinestars Pillars Kawasaki team tasked Jacob Hayes to fill in. It was a solid debut on the big bike as Hayes rode to 6-5 finishes for 6th overall.
After a moto win at the previous round, it was another podium finish for Dillan Epstein as the California rider finished third overall.
The Texas privateer, Cheyenne Harmon finished 11th overall.
Ryan Dowd continued his run through the eastern rounds of the series with a 9th overall.
Pennsylvania’s Michael Fowler finished 21st.
Cade Clason blew an engine in moto one and then rode to 8th in moto two. #poorcade
Matt Goerke hit the gate in moto one and came around the first turn in last, mounting an impressive comeback all the way to third by the end of the moto. In moto two, he did not hit the gate and also finished third. Guess it was just a 3-3 kind of day, but at least it gave him second overall.
The winner of the previous round, Tyler Medaglia crashed in practice and suffered an ugly looking cut on his ribs from a razor sharp foot peg, but the medics taped it up and he managed to “gut” out 5-7 finishes for 7th overall.
Colton Facciotti ran away and hid in moto one on the way to taking the victory but a fall early in moto two left him having to make up ground and it seemed to take a while for him to get going, he would work his way back to 6th by the moto’s end and an improbable 4-way tie for the win that left him off the podium, in fourth. One more position and he would have gone from 4th to 1st. Ouch.
Another rider with an up and down day was Kaven Benoit. A crash in moto one saw him finish 7th but he grabbed the hole shot in moto two and grabbed the win after a tight battle with his teammate, Cole Thompson. Like Facciotti, he was another rider who, with one more pass in moto one, would have won the overall. Instead, he finished 5th. That’s a kick in the balls.
One of the leading picks for the championship before the season started, Cole Thompson had struggled so far this season to run with the front guys. He finally broke through at Riverglade to take his first overall win of the season, with 4-2 moto finishes and almost caught his teammate, Benoit for the win in moto two.
Photo Gallery – Moncton Canadian National