Pulp MX Photo Report – Gopher Dunes Canadian National
Photos and Captions by James Lissimore
After two weekends off, the 2024 Jetwerx Canadian MX Tour National series picked back up in the east, at the deepest, nastiest sand track around – Gopher Dunes. Riders had plenty of time during the break to prepare for the tough conditions but nothing really prepares you for race day at “The Dunes”.
It wasn’t the hottest Gopher race ever, but it was still hot enough, and riders looked like they’d been through the wringer after 30 minutes on that track. A large contingent of American riders came up to try their hand at Gopher, so there’s plenty to cover in this week’s edition of the PulpMX Photo report…
Gopher Dunes. The calm before the storm.
Saturday night, the track looks so nice and smooth. It won’t stay this smooth for long.
Getting all the water down.
Every year for their home race, the GDR Honda team puts together a special edition bike. Tyler Medaglia is officially so old that the GDR team created a retro bike to match his own 2012 CRF from his debut year on the team in his first go around with the Gopher Dunes squad. His 2012 bike is on the right and his new bike is on the left.
6-time Canadian Champ, Colton Facciotti, is the suspension guy behind both the GDR Honda and Red Bull KTM squads.
Scoops, and only scoops are the tire of choice at Gopher Dunes.
With Gopher Dunes known as “The Beach”, the WLTN Kawasaki team was rocking their best beach attire for the race.
With zero points through the western swing of the series, things had not started out well for Medaglia’s return to the GDR Honda team. He was looking to change that now that the series moved on to the east.
With the Combine taking place at Red Bud on Friday, Krystian Janik, joined his fellow Team Green racer, Drew Adams, in making the trip north to take on his first Pro National at Gopher Dunes. He kicked things off by grabbing the hole shot in moto one.
Janik led laps in moto one before eventually finishing third. A first turn pile up left him having to come from the back to seventh in moto two.
It was a rough day for Gage Linville. Two DNF’s and a serious dent in his title hopes for the PRMX Kawasaki rider.
Long time Canadian National racer, Connecticut’s Josh Clark, made another trip up north and finished 14th overall on the two-stroke.
Australia’s Geran Stapleton made the journey to Gopher Dunes. The Kawasaki rider had to come from the back of the pack in both motos on his way to 14-22 finishes for 18th overall.
It was a learning experience for Idaho’s Evan Stice in his first trip to the Dunes. 12th overall on the day.
Massachusetts’ Kyle Murdoch finished inside the Top 10, with 10-8 scores for 9th overall.
It was a semi hometown race for Australia’s Tiger Wood, as he rides for the GDR Honda team and has been basing himself at the track. 12-10 for 10th overall.
Sebastien Racine continued his strong riding, just missing out on the podium in 4th place.
He finally pulled things together at Gopher Dunes, as Tyler Medaglia scored his first points of the season with a podium at Gopher Dunes. 5-3 for 3rd overall.
Kaven Benoit hung on to the Red Plate for another weekend, as the Red Bull KTM rider pushed hard but couldn’t match Adams’ pace. Second overall on the day with a pair of second place finishes.
It took him a few rounds to figure things out, but Drew Adams looks untouchable now. He made short work of the motos, and even with a tip over, handily won both motos and the overall on the day.
The Team Green rider is now only 4 points out of the lead in the 250 class.
He’s old enough to be Adams’ dad, but Medaglia joined him on the podium.
Jess Pettis has his starts dialled in the 450 class.
Australia’s Aaron Tanti just missed out on a podium in moto one, with a 4th, and a 7th in moto two gave him 6th overall.
I don’t know anything about Pennsylvania’s Benjamin Nelko, but he showed up and got 12th overall. Pretty solid.
Georgia’s Evan Smith finished just behind Nelko in 13th overall.
Utah’s Gavin Brough made the trip to the Dunes and finished the day with 18-14 finishes for 15th overall.
Jess Pettis was so close to a perfect day and a solid boost to his title hopes when his bike died on the last lap of moto one while leading. He bounced back to take the win in moto two and he had lapped enough riders before his bike quit to still grab the podium with his 10-1 scores giving him 3rd overall on the day.
Georgia’s Nate Mason finished the day with 15-26 scores for 19th overall.
Mitchell Harrison hasn’t quite showed the speed yet on the 450 that he did the past few years in the 250 class, but he had another solid day with 7-8 for 7th overall.
Wyoming’s Preston Kilroy continues to hover around the podium. 5-4 for 5th overall.
Suffering a severely damaged shoulder from his horrendous Raymond crash, Dylan Wright gutted out another incredible ride. Fighting through the pain, he managed to grab a podium in moto one with a third, and was running fourth in moto two before being taken down by Kilroy on the last lap. Fourth overall on the day but you wonder how much longer he can keep going like this.
I knew him from seeing him race Supercross, but I had no idea that Tristan Lane had sand skills like this. The Next Level KTM rider made the trip up to try his hand at a Canadian National and rode his way to the podium. 2nd overall with 2-5 finishes.
Tanner Ward had his best race of the season, even if the results don’t show it. The WLTN Kawasaki rider was running 6th in moto one before his bike quit with two laps to go, but he bounced back to take his first moto podium of the season in moto two with a solid 2nd place.
Josiah Natzke continues to build momentum with every race. The New Zealander capitalized on Pettis’ misfortune to take the moto win in the first moto, before backing it up with third in moto two to take his second straight overall win. He’s now only 4 points behind his teammate for the 450 points lead as we head into next week’s race at Sand Del Lee.
35 minutes of all-out racing in the sand and heat is no joke.
He’s in so much pain, but Wright keeps gutting it out.
