For round two of the 2024 Jetwerx Canadian Motocross Nationals, the series remained in the province of Alberta, but moved two hours to the south, to the Temple Hill MX track, in Raymond. It had been over 20 years since Temple Hill last hosted a MX National, but for those of us old enough to remember those days, not a lot had changed.
The race day was characterized by two things. The pure unpredictability of the 250 class finishes, and the red flagging, and eventual cancellation of the remainder of the final 450 moto when race leader, Dylan Wright, crashed hard and was knocked out on the track.
Let’s take a look at the day and, as always on PulpMX, a few of the American riders that came up to race at Raymond…
On the only hill in the middle of the flat lands of southern Alberta, the Temple Hill MX track has a decent amount of elevation. It also catches any of the wind that is blowing across the prairie, making keeping moisture in it a chore.
With rock hard conditions along parts of the track, I didn’t expect to see sand scoops as the preferred tire, but there’s enough soft sections on the Temple Hill track to make it a popular choice among the teams.
Things didn’t start out the best for red plate holder, Kaven Benoit, as he spun out coming into the first turn of moto one, collecting Drew Adams and Tyler Medaglia with him. He remounted and rode to 4th in the moto, which set him up well for a solid moto two.
Caught up in Benoit’s first turn tip over, Drew Adams, had an even more impressive charge, as the Team Green prodigy ripped through the pack all the way to take the lead and the moto win by the end of the moto. Unfortunately, a crash while leading in moto two knocked him out of the race.
Tyler Medaglia’s return to the 250 class has not gone well so far. Another casualty of the first turn crash, he rode a few laps and then pulled off. No word yet on if he’ll line up next week.
With Benoit and Adams down, Gage Linville grabbed the early lead and led most of moto one, before Adams got him with two laps to go. A 7th in moto two gave him 3rd overall.
If it wasn’t for this crash in moto one, and the subsequent mechanical DNF he suffered from it, Sebastien Racine would have been an easy podium pick. He was in second when he crashed, remounted, worked his way back to second before his bike cut out and ended his race. He came back to grab second in moto two, his first moto podium since switching to the MX101 Yamaha team.
Idaho’s Evan Stice continued his strong riding, just missing the podium with a 4th in moto two. His 8-4 scores gave him 5th overall.
Australia’s Tiger Wood continues to improve in his rookie Pro season. The GDR Honda rider finished 6th overall on the back of 5-6 finishes.
Another up and coming Canadian who impressed at Raymond was Wyatt Kerr. He missed most of his rookie pro season last year after getting hurt at round three but broke out this weekend with his first moto podium, grabbing third win moto two. 6-3 for 4th overall.
WLTN Kawasaki’s Quinn Amyotte was well on his way to his first podium last weekend before a collision with a lapper left him with a broken throttle. Amyotte made no mistake this weekend, finishing 3-5 for 2nd overall.
Kaven Benoit made up for his first moto crash by taking the lead on lap two of moto two, when Adams crashed, and never looking back. His 4-1 finishes were good enough to take the overall win and now the 36 year old has won both races to start the 2024 season.
250 Overall Podium – 1st Kaven Benoit, 2nd Quinn Amyotte, 3rd Gage LinvilleThe KTM Group is killing the starts in the 450 class. Husqvarna mounted Julien Benek is sandwiched by a pair of KTM’s, in Jess Pettis and Josiah Natzke.
The first 450 moto featured some aggressive battling for the lead between Pettis and Dylan Wright.
Wright would eventually get by and cruise to the first moto win. Unfortunately, that would be the high point of his day.
Preston Kilroy looked a lot more comfortable on his new MX101 Yamaha at Temple Hill. He grabbed a podium in moto one, with third, and looked to have third overall, until later getting docked for jumping on a Red Cross flag and getting moved back to 4th.
Australia’s Aaron Tanti grabbed his first Canadian moto podium, with second in moto two, and would eventually be credited with the overall podium too, when Kilroy was penalized.
Tanner Ward had an off day, finishing off the pace of the front group in 7th overall.
I don’t know anything about Hayden Cordell, but the Washington rider showed up at Raymond and went 15-12 for 14th.
I know he wasn’t happy with his results, but Josiah Natzke, continued his podium run at Raymond. The New Zealander would end the day in second overall, with 4-3 finishes, and sits second in the championship.
Mitchell Harrison rounded out the top 5, with 5-4 scores.
The ironman of the weekend goes to Gavin Brough, who raced the 250 class at Lakewood on Saturday, before making the trip to Canada to race the 450 class at Raymond on Sunday. He would even crack the top 10 in moto two with 14-10 moto finishes for the Utah rider.
With Wright’s crash, it now looks like it’s Pettis’ title to lose.While leading the second moto, Wright got kicked over the bars in an extremely ugly crash that left him unconscious for quite a while. The race was red flagged and eventually the decision to cancel the rest of the race was made. Wright was transported to hospital but has been alert and talking. No word yet on what the recovery timeline will be for the 4-time champion.
