Story and photos by James Lissimore
Story and photos by James Lissimore
The 2017 Rockstar Energy Canadian Motocross series kicked off last weekend, in Kamloops, British Columbia. For round two, the series moved a full six hours north to the Blackwater MX track, near the Northern BC town of Prince George, a brand new stop on the tour.
For full results, visit http://cmrc.tracksideresults.com/index.asp
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| The farthest north the series has ever travelled, this weekend saw the first appearance of the Blackwater MX track, near Prince George, British Columbia. |
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| One rider who was happy to make the trip up north was MX2 title contender, Jess Pettis, of the MX101 Yamaha team, who resides in Prince George. He had plenty of fans out for the race. |
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| Multi-time championship mechanic and Weege-level wrestling fan, Pat O’Connor, is back at the races, spinning the wrenches for Dillan Epstein. |
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| Tony Alessi continued his Canadian tour, in support of Mike, this weekend. |
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| Jacob Hayes grabbed the holeshot in the first MX2 moto |
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| California’s Tallon LaFountaine actually has some family in Prince George. He finished 9th overall on the day with 9-8 finishes. |
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| On the podium at the season opener, Indiana’s Josh Osby would place 5th overall at Prince George. |
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| Australia’s Geran Stapleton finished just outside of the top 10, with 11th in MX2 |
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| Points leader, Shawn Maffenbeier, reeled in the defending champ, Cole Thompson, in moto one and made the pass for the lead but Thompson regrouped and closed back in. Maff would fall and drop back to third as Thompson took his first moto win of the season. |
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| Ryan Surratt grabbed the holeshot in MX2 moto two. He would end the day in 4th overall. |
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| Heartbreaker of a day for Shawn Maffenbeier. After working his way up to 3rd in moto two, a rock to his water pump cover spelled the end of his engine. A major set back for the red plate holder. |
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| Hometown hero, Jess Pettis, led most of the moto and was looking good to take his first ever moto win but Thompson kept chipping away and eventually made the pass with 3 laps to go. |
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| Thompson is back in the points lead heading into Calgary |
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| Sweet trophies made by the guys from the TV show Timberkings |
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| Hayes and his bear |
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| Not how Maffenbeier hoped his day would go |
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| Christophe Pourcel took the holeshot in the first MX1 moto |
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| Scott Champion finished inside the top 10, with 10-9 finishes for 9th overall |
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| Kyle Chisholm finished up in 7th, with 6-7 moto scores on the day |
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| Last week’s revelation, Dillan Epstein, didn’t win a moto this week but still had a solid day, finishing 3-5 for 4th overall. |
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| After missing the opening round, Texas’ Kyle Swanson was back in action at PG and finished 19th overall |
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| Tyler Medaglia split moto finishes with his teammate, Chisholm. His 6th in moto two gave him the edge in the overall, finishing 6th. |
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| Cade Clason rounded out the top 10, going 8-12 for 10th |
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| In moto one, Matt Goerke made the pass for the lead with 4 laps to go and even though Pourcel regrouped, he hung on to take the win |
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| Mike Alessi had a much better day at Prince George. He grabbed a holeshot in moto two and cracked the top 5 with 5-4 finishes. |
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| Moto two saw one of the closest finishes in Canadian moto history. Goerke grabbed the early lead and looked like a solid bet to take the 1-1 sweep on the day but Pourcel bided his time and when some lappers caused Goerke to switch up his lines, Pourcel got a good drive around the outside on the way into the final rhythm section and the pair were side by side going into finish line, with Pourcel edging Goerke for the win in dramatic fashion. The Crafty Frenchman strikes again. |
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| Pourcel and Goerke after one of the most thrilling finishes ever. One rider is much happier than the other. |
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| Pourcel is quicking gaining fans in the Great White North |
