PulpMX Photo Report – Sand Del Lee Canadian National
Chaos in Canada…
Photos and Captions by James Lissimore
After a wild weekend last weekend, at Gopher Dunes, who thought that things could get even crazier, but sure enough, this year’s Jetwerx TripleCrown Canadian National series got even wilder as the series moved up north to the Sand Del Lee motocross track, near Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. Hot temps, thunderstorms, and mayhem on the track led to this being one of the more memorable nationals in recent history. Let’s take a look at what went down…
Sand Del Lee. The literal calm before the storm
For Yamaha’s 70th anniversary, the hometown MX101 Yamaha team did these white and red chrome bikes.
In a strange twist, the GDR Honda also did white and red bikes for the Sand Del Lee round, to highlight the Red Cross. It definitely made things confusing on the track.
It’s not as deep as Gopher Dunes sand, but Sand Del Lee is still scoop country.
Red Bull KTM’s Dylan Rempel has been nailing the starts in the 250 class.
A long time competitor in Canada, Connecticut’s Josh Clark made the trip to Sand Del Lee and finished 7th overall.
Strong riding from Massachusetts’ Kyle Murdoch in his two appearances in Canada so far. In moto one he came from last to get 8th and backed it up with a 5th in moto two, for 5th overall.
Dylan Rempel is feeling the confidence after last week’s win and grabbed his third straight podium with 3-2 finishes for second overall.
From my hometown in BC, 16 year old Blake Davies broke through to take his first moto podium with a 3rd in moto two.
Things have gone from bad to worse for Dylan Walsh. Another pair of DNF’s on the day and he’s now DNF’d 5 of the last 6 motos. Not sure where things go from here for the New Zealander.
A solid 5th for ClubMX Yamaha’s Ryder Malinoski in moto one but a DNF in moto two knocked him back to 13th overall.
Maryland’s Max Sanford made the trip up north and nailed the hole shot in moto one, finishing 6th. A 14th in moto two left him in 9th overall.
It was an up and down day for points leader, Preston Kilroy. The Wyoming native rode to the win in moto one but had an off race in the muddy moto two, finishing 8th and taking the final spot on the podium.
It was an all around terrible day for the GDR Honda team. After suffering some health problems after the motos last week at Gopher Dunes, Ryder McNabb tried to ride at SDL but suffered the same issues and pulled out of moto one. With three rounds left, he’s effectively out of this title fight.
Right before the second 250 moto, the skies opened up and the rain came down, with thunder and lightning, delaying the motos. Things were wet for the second 250 moto but the stormed moved through before the final 450 race.
Hometown racer, Sebastien Racine has teased potential for years, but finally broke through to take his first moto and overall win at Sand Del Lee.
What a tough day for defending champ, Jess Pettis. After last week’s big crash and hospital stay, it wasn’t even certain if Pettis was going to race but not only did he manage to tough it out, but rode to a big lead in the opening 450 moto.
Then disaster struck. Pettis’ motor let go with a few laps left and his race was over.
Cody Groves rode to a solid 8th in moto two.
Another racer who’s spent a lot of time in Canada is Jerry Lorenz. The Michigan native finished 11th overall.
In one of the crazier moments in an already crazy season. Both Pettis and Wright went down in the first turn of the second 450 moto and when remounting, Wright crashed into Pettis, knocking him out of the race.
It was a disaster of a day for Dylan Wright. The multi-time champ had a huge crash in moto one, ultimately coming back to 9th in the moto before suffering the before mentioned first turn crash, in moto two, the collision with Pettis, another big crash and ultimately getting DQ’d for outside assistance in the final crash. 55 points down with three rounds remaining, it’s looking like Wright is probably out of this championship.
The Netherlands’ Lars Van Berkel is definitely happy to be on softer dirt out east. He grabbed a 4th in moto one and 7th in moto two for 6th overall.
It was a breakthrough ride for Preston Masciangelo, a Canadian racer who’s long showed promise. He led the second moto for quite a while before finishing second, for his first career podium.
Sporting red plates and with the troubles of both of the top two riders, Phil Nicoletti was primed to take control of this championship but he had a 2-5 day for 4th overall, allowing Tanner Ward to take the drivers seat in this championship fight.
Quinn Amyotte continues to impress. For a second straight week, the KTM privateer grabbed second overall and has moved up to 3rd in the title chase.
Proving last week’s win wasn’t a fluke, Tanner ward rode to the victory in both motos and takes sole control of the red plate going into next weekend’s race at Moncton.
