PulpMX Photo Report – Sand Del Lee 2 Canadian Series Finale
Photos and Captions by James Lissimore
Last weekend saw the 2020 Rockstar Energy Drink Canadian MX Tour reach its conclusion with a second straight stop at the Sand Del Lee MX track near Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. Originally scheduled for the Quebec track of Deschambault, the constantly changing landscape that is COVID-19 meant that on the Monday before the race, a last minute change was made to keep the racers at Sand Del Lee for an extra week. At least we finally had sunshine for the first time in a month.
Sand Del Lee is a sandy track, but with a hard base lying below. Tire choice is tricky – most racers go with the sand paddle, which is key in the soft sections and on the start but can get squirmy when digging in deep and hitting the harder dirt below.
The great hope for Matthes’ home province of Manitoba, Ryder McNabb, had a solid debut season in the Nationals as he wrapped up the series in 6th overall. Not bad for a 14 year old B-rider.
McNabb’s GDR Honda team-mate, Tanner Ward, finished off his season with a fourth overall in the race, and the overall series. Definitely a highlight for his first year on the Honda was his first career win, at round three.
California’s Ryan Surratt wrapped up his season with a Moto podium at Sand Del Lee, finishing third in moto two and fifth overall in the race and the series.
Marhall Weltin was the closest challenger to Jess Pettis in the 250 class this season, ultimately taking two moto wins over the course of the season but would end up finishing 67 points down in the end, grabbing second place in the series and third overall for the final round.
MX101 Yamaha’s Marco Cannella wasn’t flashy but was quite consistent, only finishing off the podium at one round. He would finish up the season with a second place finish and third overall in the series.
Even though he wrapped up the title after Saturday’s moto, Jess Pettis still showed that he was head and shoulders above the competition with another clean sweep 1-1-1 weekend.
After coming in injured last season and being unable to defend his 250 title, Pettis made no mistakes in 2020 as he dominated the class and grabbed his second Canadian title.
Your 250 series podium: 1st Jess Pettis, 2nd Marshall Weltin, 3rd Marco Cannella.
A return to number 1 for Pettis and now he’ll have to jump up to the 450 next year to battle again with his rival, Dylan Wright.
Phil Nicoletti was the only rider with a chance at catching points leader, Dylan Wright, coming into the final round, and it looked good to start Saturday’s moto as he grabbed the early lead, with Wright giving chase.
Tragedy struck though as Nicoletti and Wright crossed lines and Wright landed on Nicoletti’s back and arm. Somehow, neither one crashed but immediately Phil knew something was wrong and rode straight to the medics.
If you want to see some disturbing photos, check out Phil’s instagram feed, where he posted shots of his severely cut hand. Luckily, there wasn’t any broken bones or tendon damage and he’s now on the mend. A sad way to end the title chase and it definitely took some wind out of what was shaping up to be a good fight.
He was a little off compared to his previous two races, but all in all it was a successful season for Nicoletti’s Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha teammate, Shawn Maffenbeier. He would end up 4th overall on the day and third in the final series standings.
Florida’s Josh Cartwright had his best finish of the season at the final round, finishing 6th overall.
Pennsylvania’s Logan Leitzel managed to score his first top ten of the season, with 10th overall .
South African Liam O’Farrell wrapped up the season with 8th for the weekend and the series.
Pennsylvania rider, Bobby Piazza finished up the season with 9th overall in the series and 11th for the weekend.
Coming into the weekend, 3-time Canadian Champion, Matt Goerke, announced his retirement from racing. He’s still going to race the final two SX Tour rounds but since it was his last outdoor race, the Florida native was given the honour of leading out the parade lap for the final moto.
As consistent as ever after all these years, Goerke, capped off his Canadian career with both second overall on the day and in the final series points.
Seemingly battling with his teammate every time he was on the track, Tyler Medaglia joined Goerke on the podium with third overall and finished 4th overall in the final series points.
In a level of dominance not seen in a rookie since Dusty Klatt’s championship season of 2006, Dylan Wright notched another 1-1-1 sweep to take the 450 title in his first year in the class.
Not only the reigning 250 champ, Wright’s GDR Honda team has now taken the past three 450 Canadian Championships.
Champion burnouts.
In a nod to his mentor, Colton Facciotti, shows off his new digit with Facciotti’s patented wheelie berm blast.
The last minute venue change was a nice touch for Wright, as he was able to celebrate his championship with his entire family, at the track he grew up at.
PulpMX Photo Report – Sand Del Lee 2 Canadian Series Finale