5 Lap Sprint – Leah Clarke, Danika White, Dominique Daffé, Claudie Lapointe, Sarah King, Eve Brodeur, and Jamie Munro
By Jeff McConkey
Jeff talks with 7 women racers and asks them all the same 5 questions in this installment of ‘5 Lap Sprint.’
1. What was the best National of 2015, and why?
Leah Clarke
I wasn’t at all the rounds last year, but I think the best national I went to was Sand Del Lee. That might be biased because it’s close to home, but the riders always love the track and the crowd is always great in Ottawa.
Danika White
My favourite round was Wild Rose MX in Calgary. Home track and a huge turn out! It’s pretty sweet to see a whole bunch of ladies show up, especially when top ten speed riders show up that weren’t at the other rounds! [It] mixes everything up. Plus, the morning race was awesome conditions, and moto 2 was a rainy mess. Lots of fun (Laughs).
Dominique Daffé
I think the best National was Calgary. We had 39 girls on the line! That was super-cool to see. Calgary is one of my favourite tracks to race and it always comes down to that round, so the tension increases a little bit which makes things interesting. It also poured rain the second moto which was a nice change from the insane heat we had the first two rounds.
#7 Dominique Daffé says Calgary was the best national in 2015. There were 39 riders on the line and the cool rain for the second moto shook things up too. – Bigwave photo
Claudie Lapointe
For me, it was Kamloops. I got to see the top 5 West girls battle, and it was awesome.
Sara King
Nanaimo, just because I love that track and everyone else hates it (Laughs). Also, because I got my first moto win there!
Eve Brodeur
I’d say Ulverton! It was a special weekend for me and even if I didn’t win, it was awesome to ride with Jessica Patterson and to win my 2nd championship in front of the Quebec crowd! It was also great since Kaven (Benoit) and Tanner (Ward) also won their championships on this track, so it was an amazing weekend for the KTM Canada team!
Jamie Munro
The best national of 2015 was, in my opinion, Kamloops. This round I felt the best and being my hometown track it was nice having some extra support there to cheer me on!
2. What was the biggest surprise of the season?
Leah Clarke
The biggest surprise for the WMX series was definitely Jessica Patterson coming to the last round at Ulverton. It’s amazing that the word has gotten out about our series to attract the caliber of talent that she has!
Danika White
The biggest surprise would’ve been the unfortunate end to Kennedy Lutz‘s season. It’s a bummer for anyone to get an injury, especially during a championship run! Hopefully, we see her heal up 100% and back out there for 2016.
#10 Danika White lists #2 Kennedy Lutz blowing out her knee as the biggest surprise of the season. – Bigwave photo
Dominique Daffé
I think the biggest surprise of the season would be Lexi Pechout signing up for the third round and getting 5th overall! She is an awesome rider and I’ve known her since she was really little and I always knew she would do big things as a lady rider/racer. But she doesn’t race motocross and I was not expecting a 5th overall out of her. I guess that goes to show how talented she is and it was cool to TRY and chase her down (Laughs).
Claudie Lapointe
Kim Normandin was my biggest surprise. Not because I didn’t think she was fast, but she rode amazing, and not many people saw that second place overall coming.
Claudie Lapointe calls Kim Normandin’s amazing series rides to 2nd overall the biggest surprise. – Bigwave photo
Sara King
Kennedy (Lutz) getting hurt. It definitely shocked everyone and was a huge bummer.
#3 Sara King was looking forward to challenging #2 Kennedy Lutz in the west until Kennedy fell in practice and blew out her knee. – Bigwave photo
Eve Brodeur
Well, having Jessica (Patterson) showing up at the last round was definitely a big surprise for pretty much everybody, I think! Also, seeing Joey Crown become the first Intermediate to win a MX2 race was really surprising!
Jamie Munro
The biggest surprise of 2015 would have to be a tie between Kennedy Lutz getting injured right before the last round, or having to ride in flash flood lightning storm in Calgary in the last moto of the series.
3. Who was the most improved rider in 2015?
Leah Clarke
The most improved rider is a hard one. However, I think the consensus was that Kim Normandin was. She had solid finishes at every round of the series, with a 2nd place at Gopher, 4th at SDL, and 5th at Ulverton. She has definitely picked up the pace from last year!
Leah Clarke is picking Kim Normandin as her most improved rider of 2015. – Bigwave photo
Danika White
Hmm, this is a tough one! I’d say Madi Watt and Kate Lees. Madi Watt had some gnarly first corner crashes and moved through the pack like they were on a smoke break. If she gets a clean start holy watch out! I also think Kate Lees, I didn’t see her ride before this year, but this was her first time to do the national circuit and she finished 9th! Super-fast and has some guts.
Dominique Daffé
Madi Watt took the ‘Most Improved Rider’ award for 2015. She did awesome and I was glad she was able to make it out to the nationals this year. I have got to give a mention to Kristin Tse who is another most improved from the national series in 2015, in my eyes. I went out to Kamloops in the spring before nationals and she kicked my butt! Huge improvement from 2014. She’s still pretty young too and just lacks a bit of consistency and experience but she’s a contender for sure.
Claudie Lapointe
Alexandra Raymond keeps improving year after year. She’s one of the only ones who’s been there from the beginning and stuck to it. Every time I think she’s going to retire, she comes back even stronger! Out west I think Dominique Daffe did a really great job, she was consistent and even if all her stuff got stolen a week before the first round she ended up looking smooth and fast on the track.
KTM Canada’s Claudie Lapointe was impressed with how Alexandra Raymond keeps improving. – Bigwave photo
Sara King
Hmm… I would say Madi Watt. For her first year doing the whole series she hit the top 10 every round.
Eve Brodeur
For the WMX, I think the girl who surprised me the most this summer at the nationals was Kim Normandin. She has always been fast and riding good, but this year she was just so much faster than last year! It was great to see her riding in the front.
Jamie Munro
Most improved rider in my opinion was Dominique Daffé. She killed it this year.
#5 Jamie Munro picked Dominique Daffé as the most improved rider of the 2015 season. – Bigwave photo
4. Who was the most dominant rider in 2015?
Leah Clarke
The most dominant ladies rider for 2015 was definitely Eve Brodeur. She was unstoppable at Gopher and SDL, and got second to Jessica Patterson at Ulverton.
Danika White
For sure Sara King. Unreal speed, smooth and consistent! And does this all with a smile on her face. I was pretty stoked to see her get that #1 plate! Definitely deserved it.
Dominique Daffé
Kennedy Lutz.
Claudie Lapointe
This one is just too easy! Eve Brodeur was as step ahead all the other Canadian girls. She had some great battles with Patterson, which I’m sure she will be able to beat pretty soon.
Sara King
Eve Brodeur in the East. Besides Jessica Patterson coming up to race the 3rd round, I don’t think Eve had someone on her each moto.
Easily one of the best riding styles of any rider on the track, #3 Sara King won the west and picked east champion, Eve Brodeur, as the most dominant rider of the summer. – Bigwave photo
Eve Brodeur
In MX2 it was definitely Kaven Benoit. He made it looks easy at most of the rounds.
Jamie Munro
The most dominant rider in 2015 had to be Sara King. Her consistency throughout the series and drive to win really paid off.
5. Who will be the break out rider in 2016?
Leah Clarke
This is hard to answer because every year there is some variability in who races the ladies series. For example, Megan Brodeur came out to the third round at Ulverton and took home third! She hasn’t raced the series before. With more girls like this coming to race the series, it’s hard to tell who the break out rider will be. Hopefully, Megan races the series next year, I think she will do really well.
Danika White
2016 already?! I think Kristen Tse is going to be at least a top ten for sure. Kristen seriously hauls but REALLY showed that at round one in Kamloops. She was killing it running top five.
Dominique Daffé
I think there will be a few: Kristin Tse, Danika White, and Zoey Shamley. Zoey is on a little bike right now but I know she’s looking to move up and she’s going down to Cali for a little bit. She seems to have a lot of motivation and she has a big moto heart so I can see her improving a lot and moving up in the ranks.
Claudie Lapointe
I wish Gemma Pope could ride all 3 Eastern Nationals. I saw her ride at the MMRS national and she is definitely going to kill it if she keeps that pace. I don’t know if she wants to race more MX, because I know she’s an off-road rider first but I hope she’s going to show up to at least one of the Nationals.
Sara King
Honestly, it could be anyone. Any girl could come out swinging next year and have the speed to win.
Eve Brodeur
Me… Jokes aside, the Rockstar MX1 will definitely be tough to beat with (Brett) Metcalfe and (Matt) Goerke on the same team.
East champion, Eve Brodeur, is looking forward to the battle between 2016 teammates, Brett Metcalfe and Matt Goerke. – Bigwave photo
Jamie Munro
Breakout rider in 2016 is undetermined. We’re all going to have to make it out to the races to see!
