McThoughts|Ulverton Round 6|MX2

By Jeff McConkey

Photos by Bigwave

MX2 Podium: Dylan Wright, Shawn Maffenbeier, Cole Thompson (after penalty).

We had some very good racing this past weekend in Ulverton. Cole Thompson was the winner with two great rides, but a penalty issued by the CMRC dropped him back and took away the moto sweep. Even with the penalty, I don’t think this will effect Cole for the remainder of the season. No disrespect to the others, but Cole just seems like he can pull the trigger and make passes for the lead at will. The good news is that we have a solid group of 3 or 4 guys right behind Thompson that still believe they can win. Let’s take a look at the results and see my thoughts.

1st Dylan Wright (3-1): This was Dylan’s first ever overall. He’s in a great spot right now, and is riding on cloud 9. With this added confidence, he will be very aggressive for the remainder looking for more wins. It’s going to be a dogfight for podiums from here on out, and Dylan will be right in the middle of it.

#17 Dylan Wright.

2nd Shawn Maffenbeier (2-2): Shawn’s in a weird spot. He’s riding great, and seems to have everyone but Thompson covered. If Cole wasn’t in the class, Shawn would be in complete control. His fitness is great and speed looks really good. This guy is a fighter and is still thinking championship with 4 rounds to go.

#15 Shawn Maffenbeier.

3rd Cole Thompson (1-4): Cole, once again, rode great in both motos. When he doesn’t get the start, it’s not ‘will he be able to get into the lead?” it’s ‘when has Cole eaten enough roost, and is ready to lead?’ He straight up has the best speed in the class, and it seems like he could set up the pass at any time. For Ulverton being as rough as it was, Cole made it look silky smooth. Unfortunately, he was docked a few positions. I didn’t see the incident, but even after losing a few points, it will not stop Cole from this title. He’s just that good.

#4 Cole Thompson.

4th Dakota Alix (4-3): Dakota is a great addition to our series. He’s always dangerous off the start. He led some laps and looked good for a podium until he tucked the front end. He’s too fast not to be on the podium and I think we’ll see him there at Pleasant Valley.

#164 Dakota Alix.

5th Brad Nauditt (7-5): Brad had a nice first ride for the GDR squad. He told me he ran Jeremy Medaglia‘s set up and actually didn’t mind it with limited time on the new bike. He said he spooked himself pretty bad in one of the downhill sections and that really threw him off for the day. I expect him to holsehot soon and get back to leading some laps.

#18 Brad Nauditt.

6th Jess Pettis (5-10): Decent first moto for Jess. He took a huge digger in the 2nd moto and took awhile to get going again. He’s not happy with the last few weeks, and is working hard to make the jump to be consistently in the next group. He’s pretty determined, and has been the most improved rider last season and so far this season, so I can’t see why he won’t be in that top group.

#20 Jess Pettis.

7th Davey Fraser (10-6): Davey bounced back very well after a not so good Gopher Dunes. This guy has some serious speed and will be closer to the top 5 on the next 2 tracks.

#36 Davey Fraser.

8th Ryeley Gallup (9-8): I have been very impressed with Ryeley since I saw him in Calgary. He looked very comfortable on the rough Ulverton downhills and had two great finishes. This guy has some great style in the air and looks like he’s having a ton of fun out there.

#69 Ryeley Gallup.

9th Westen Wrozyna (8-9): Westen is riding great right now and it’s really nice to see his equipment holding together. With better starts, he should be sniffing around the 6th-8th spots. I hope he skips Loretta’s and finishes out the East.

#34 Westen Wrozyna.

10th Hayden Halstead (11-7): Hayden had a nice 7th in the second moto. I feel these are the rides he should be having every moto. His starts need to be a tad better to set him up for a 7th-10th place finish.

#35 Hayden Halstead.

Biggest Stud: I’m going to go with Maffenbeier as my stud this week. He’s still down 64 points to Thompson, but he’s not letting up. His consistency is very impressive.

Biggest Dud: I’m still disappointed with the lack of B riders trying to qualify. Where is everyone?

Biggest Surprise: I was shocked to hear about the win being taken away from Thompson. It seems like we can’t go a moto without some kind of penalty.

Hard Charger: J.C. Bujould is the hard charger this week. He put in one heck of a ride coming from way back. I’d like to see what he could do with a top 5 start.