PulpMX Photo Report – Riverglade Canadian MX National
Photos and Captions by James Lissimore
Last week the 2024 Jetwerx Canadian MX Tour National series made it’s furthest East stop, as the series made it’s way to the Riverglade MX track, near the city of Moncton, in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick. After two straight sand tracks, at Gopher Dunes and Sand Del Lee, riders were back on hard pack for the Riverglade round and it reflected in the results.
Coming off of six straight moto wins in the 250 class, the championship momentum was firmly in Drew Adams’ court, but an off day for the Team Green prodigy meant that Kaven Benoit has firmly reinserted himself in this title fight. The hard pack track conditions were also a god send for PRMX Kawasaki’s Gage Linville, who bounced back from a terrible past two rounds to firmly dominate the 250 proceedings with a pair of moto wins and the overall victory.
As it has been since multi-time champ, Dylan Wright, got injured at round two, the 450 class has been a two-horse fight between the Red Bull KTM teammates of Jess Pettis and Josiah Natzke. They would again each claim a moto victory, but a fall for Natzke in the opening lap of moto two would allow Pettis to gain a few more crucial points in the the championship on his fellow KTM rider.
As always on PulpMX here’s a look at the day, focusing on the many US and International riders who’ve made their way up north to race in Canada this summer…
Riverglade MX. Welcome to Atlantic Canada.
Red, hard packed dirt, is a big change from the past two sand rounds.
After dominating the last three rounds, Drew Adams had finally wrestled the red plate away from Kaven Benoit for the first time this season.
Concrete start. Can’t image Drew’s had to deal with too many of these.
GDR Honda’s Tiger Wood and PRMX Kawasaki’s Gage Linville lead the 250 pack into the first turn.
Idaho’s Evan Stice was happy to be back on hard pack and looked more like the rider we saw early in the series. 9-7 for 7th overall.
Drew Adams looked fast all day but crashes on the opening lap of both motos left him having to come through the pack. 7-3 finishes gave him 4th overall on the day and crucially, he lost 10 points to Benoit in the Championship standings.
New Hampshire’s Aaron Zielfelder made the drive north to race Riverglade and finished the day in 16th overall.
Australia’s Tiger Wood ran near the front for much of moto one, ultimately finishing 8th. He would end the day in 11th overall.
Tyler Medaglia has been a podium fixture since his return to racing at Round 4. A third straight 3rd overall for the Honda rider.
Not quite on the podium pace he showed out West, WLTN Kawasaki’s Quinn Amyotte was close, earning the dreaded 5-5 for 6th overall.
Massachusetts’ Kyle Murdoch rounded out the Top 20, with 17-18 moto finishes.
Pennsylvania’s Logan Leitzel DNF’d moto one but came back to get 16th in moto two.
Up and coming Canadian rider, Wyatt Kerr continues to be one the most impressive racers in the 250 class this year as he spent another round lurking around the podium. He finished his day with 4-6 finishes for 5th overall.
Tyler Medaglia grew up close to the previous round at Sand Del Lee, but has made his home near Riverglade for the past 15 years, so both rounds are essentially home races for him these days. Another third place finish and T-Dags has become a podium lock since his return from injury.
Orange Brigade racer, Luke Fauser continued his Canadian tour with 6-13 finishes for 8th overall.
Just when it looked like the momentum was swinging in Drew Adams’ favour, Kaven Benoit finds himself back in the red plate going into his home race at Deschambault, a track that he’s been historically tough to beat at.
Connecticut’s Josh Clark continues to fly the 2-stroke flag out there, finishing the day in 9th overall.
What a rollercoaster of a season for Gage Linville. After finishing the West part of the series with a podium at every round and looking like a title contender, the PRMX racer suffered a miserable two rounds at Gopher Dunes and Sand Del Lee and fell out of the championship conversation. At Riverglade he bounced back in a big way, leading every lap to win both motos.
Linville wins his first Canadian National in dominant fashion.
250 Podium: 1st – Gage Linville, 2nd Kaven Benoit, 3rd Tyler Medaglia6-time Canadian Champ, Colton Facciotti, handles the suspension tuning for several of the top teams.
KTM’s everywhere on the 450 start.
Australia’s Aaron Tanti just missed the overall podium but did race to a solid second in moto two.
Denmark’s Matti Jorgenson made the trip to Canada to try his hand at a National and cracked the top 5, finishing with 4-7 moto scores on the day.
After crashing out on the last lap at Gopher Dunes while in a podium position, Julien Benek returned at Riverglade and was immediately back in the mix. 7-6 for 7th overall.
The championship battle between Josiah Natzke and Jess Pettis continues to be red hot. Natzke struck first with the opening moto win but unfortunately for the New Zealander, he crashed in corner three of the second moto and had to work his way back through the pack.
Natzke tries to avoid the entire field.
Illinois’ Nicholas Inman kept the ball rolling at Riverglade, with 10-14 finishes for 12th overall.
Tanner Ward ended his day in 6th overall.
Preston Kilroy is really finding his comfort zone as the series moves along. The Wyoming racer grabbed another podium with 3-3 finishes.
With Natzke’s crash, Jess Pettis grabbed four crucial points in the title chase and now sports an eight point lead with two rounds remaining.
6-time Canadian Champ, Colton Facciotti, handles the suspension tuning for several of the top teams.
