PulpMX Photo Report – Prairie Hill Canadian National
Plenty of wind and rain as we raced in the homeland of Matthes…
Photos and Captions by James Lissimore
The third round of the Jetwerx Triple Crown Series Canadian MX Nationals made it’s way to Matthes’ home province of Manitoba, as the series returned to the Prairie Hill MX track, in Pilot Mound(got to love these Manitoba place names). After two nice days on Friday and Saturday, Saturday night saw multiple thunderstorms roll through, leaving much of the track under water for race day. The track crew got to work to push as much mud off as possible, and by noon, we were ready to go racing….
After the overnight rains, the track was a little soggy in the morning, leading to the first practice sessions being canceled.
The reflections were pretty, even if what they represent not so much.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen someone bailing out a track with a bucket before.
Pack that foam everywhere you can.
After pushing most of the mud off the sides of the track, things were ready to go for Moto 1.
The first 250 start was red flagged due to an injured rider but Drew Adams nailed the start the second time around.
Idaho’s Evan Stice had his best Canadian race yet going in Moto 1, as he ran in second for the first six laps and looked well on his way to his first podium….
Until he took a wrong line and became a victim of the glue-like Manitoba dirt. Once you get stuck in it, you’re never getting out. In the second moto, he jammed his wrist and suffered another DNF. Not a great finish to what was such a promising start to the day.
Gage Linville continues to quietly have a great season. The PRMX Kawasaki rider finished second overall and is only 8 points out of the title lead coming out of the Western swing of the series.
Australia’s Tiger Wood rounded out the Top 10, with a tip over in moto two leaving him with 7-14 moto finishes.
MX101 Yamaha’s Sebastien Racine continued his strong riding from last weekend with his first overall podium of the series. 4-2 for third overall.
After podium speed at the first two rounds, WLTN Kawasaki’s Quinn Amyotte had an off day at Prairie Hill. 6-10 for 7th.
Winner of the first two rounds, Kaven Benoit finished just off the podium in 4th. The Red Bull KTM rider still holds an 8 point lead in the series and will carry the red plate into the next round at Gopher Dunes in 3 weeks.
Drew Adams finally had a crash free weekend and the Team Green phenom dominated, leading every lap of the day. The Tennessee native goes into the break only 10 points behind Benoit for the series lead.
After a horrific crash last weekend that left him in the hospital, most assumed that 4-time champ, Dylan Wright, was finished for the season. So, on Saturday, when word started to filter out that Wright was going to line up, most were in disbelief. But Wright, threw on the bulky, Fox Airframe chest protector to protect his internal injuries, and went to the start line.
The Red Bull KTM pair of Jess Pettis(15) and Josiah Natzke(23) are crushing the 450 starts this year.
With his internal injuries and a shoulder he can’t lift, Wright managed to gut out a truly insane 7th overall and now has two off-weekends to try to recover for the next round at Gopher Dunes.
Australia’s Aaron Tanti continues to get more comfortable with each race and grabbed second in the final moto. His 5-2 finishes gave him 3rd overall.
He didn’t double up on a US and Canadian National like last weekend, but Utah’s Gavin Brough still cracked the Top 10 at Prairie Hill, with 9th overall.
Julien Benek has been the best of the up and coming Canadians in the 450 class so far this year and cracked the top 5 at Prairie Hill, with 7-5 finishes for 5th.
Josiah Natzke looked dominant at Prairie Hill. He grabbed the early lead in moto 1 and led every lap in moto 2 to take his first 450 overall win. The New Zealand rider is now 13 points down heading into a track he’s traditionally done well at, Gopher Dunes.
With Wright injured(and we thought out), all eyes were on Jess Pettis for the title. He grabbed the early lead in moto one but his teammate, Natzke, passed him and took off for the win. 2-3 finishes gave him 3rd overall on the day.
Wyoming’s Preston Kilroy continues to be right there for the podium. The MX101 Yamaha rider grabbed a third in the first moto and a fourth in moto two, for fourth overall.
Tanner Ward was consistent, with a pair of 6’s for 6th overall.
Motocross Action’s Josh Mosiman came up, with the help of FXR, to try his hand at a Canadian National. Riding for the MX101 Yamaha team, Josh finished just outside the top 10, with 12-11 finishes for 11th overall. Look for a story about his trip over at MXA.
Rough end to his day for Mitchell Harrison, who after grabbing 4th in moto one, was in 4th again in moto two when his bike quit.
