Monday Morning Coffee
By Billy Rainford
Hello and welcome to Championship Monday. The inaugural Canada AX Tour has come and gone and we have crowned champions in all three Pro classes. But guess what? It was the same rider who won all three!
Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki’s #100 (or should I say, #1?) Jacob Hayes came to Canada for his first time and did what was expected of him…win. In every post-race interview we did with him, he said the same thing at some point of the conversation: “Monster Thor Kawasaki hired me to win.” He expected to win and wasn’t happy finishing in any other position. What made the series exciting was that neither were the two riders chasing him for the titles.
Both Royal Distributing Fox KTM rider #148 Cole Thompson and Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki’s #101 Chris Blose had the exact same attitude about results. For whatever reason, Blose was just a little off the pace of the other two at most rounds but was always right there to capitalize on either one’s mistakes. Cole Thompson didn’t have a bike for the first two rounds of Lites competition, and his focus was always on the 450 class and the Clash for Cash.
The Clash race is something new to many competitors. While the other main events were 10 laps, these main events were twice that at 20. With the word ‘clash’ in the title, it seemed like a predetermined smash-fest was written into the rules. An judging from what happened between the top two riders, they thought it was written into the words Lites and 450, too!
We’ll get into the Hayes/Thompson on-track shenanigans in a later article dedicated to just that, but, for now, suffice it to say that it was an intense rivalry that had spectators waiting to see what would happen next every time the gate dropped.
For a quick rundown of what we were looking at at the final round in Calgary, here is what the title races looked like going into Saturday:
Lites
1. Hayes 157
2. Blose 151
3. Thompson 104
450
1. Hayes 155
2. Thompson 151
3. Blose 146
Clash for Cash
1. Thompson 164
2. Hayes 163
3. Blose 140
As you can see, it was a two-man battle in all three classes right to the wire!
Let me not forget to mention just how much fun we had doing the Valvoline AX Tour LIVE shows each week. Andy White, Chris Pomeroy, Ryan Gauld, and I made up the on-air team and we had a blast every time the cameras were rolling. Never in Canada have we seen a live broadcast of an entire series with so much production value! It was a pleasure working with Justin Thompson and the entire Jetwerx crew. Paige and Mitch Goheen were behind the cameras and did a great job capturing all the nail-biting, bar-banging action.
In case you missed the live broadcast, here is the entire final round from the Agrium in Stampede Park in downtown Calgary:
Canada AX Tour Round 8 Results and Final Standings
Jacob Hayes with Luc Caouette after winning the Lites, Open, Clash, and Parts Canada $25000 bonus. – Bigwave photo
Saturday, Nov 7, 2015
Agrium Arena
Calgary, AB
Lites Pro
1. 148 Cole Thompson KTM
2. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW
3. 51 Brock Leitner KAW
4. 55 Keylan Meston YAM
5. 90 Jared Stock YAM
6. 322 Zach Roth HON
7. 150 Mat Scott KTM
8. 613 Kyle Skelton KTM
9. 118 Boston Calder YAM
10. 819 Todd Sewell YAM
AX Pro
1. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW
2. 148 Cole Thompson KAW
3. 101 Chris Blose KAW
4. 55 Keylan Meston YAM
5. 116 Cody Matechuk YAM
6. 51 Brock Leitner KAW
7. 392 Cody Littau SUZ
8. 819 Todd Sewell YAM
9. 613 Kyle Skelton KTM
10. 150 Mat Scott KTM
11. 90 Jared Stock YAM
Clash for Cash
1. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW
2. 148 Cole Thompson KTM
3. 101 Chris Blose KAW
4. 55 Keylan Meston YAM
5. 51 Brock Leitner KAW
6. 118 Boston Calder YAM
7. 90 Jared Stock YAM
8. 116 Cody Matechuk YAM
9. 322 Zach Roth HON
10. 392 Cody Littau SUZ
11. 819 Todd Sewell YAM
12. 150 Mat Scott KTM
Final Point Standings
(unofficial after 8 of 8 rounds)
Pro Lites
1. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW 179
2. 101 Chris Blose KAW 151
3. 148 Cole Thompson KTM 129
4. 20 Dylan Wright YAM 73
5. 55 Keylan Meston KAW 66
6. 373 Jacob Williamson KAW 61
7. 65 Scott Champion KAW 60
8. 727 Dave Blanchet KAW 56
9. 10 Nathan Bles KTM 52
10. 34 Westen Wrozyna HON 51
AX Pro
1. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW 180
2. 148 Cole Thompson KTM 173
3. 101 Chris Blose KAW 166
4. 373 Jacob Williamson KAW 68
5. 55 Keylan Meston YAM 66
6. 51 Brock Leitner KAW 59
7. 65 Scott Champion KAW 56
8. 34 Westen Wrozyna HON 51
9. 20 Dylan Wright YAM 48
10. 7 Bobby Kiniry YAM 47
10. 727 Dave Blanchet KAW 47
Clash for Cash
1. 148 Cole Thompson KTM 186
2. 100 Jacob Hayes KAW 188
3. 101 Chris Blose KAW 160
4. 55 Keylan Meston YAM 65
5. 51 Brock Leitner KAW 61
6. 34 Westen Wrozyna HON 58
7. 727 Dave Blanchet KAW 53
8. 20 Dylan Wright YAM 53
9. 373 Jacob Williamson KAW 50
10. 10 Nathan Bles KTM 50
Furture West Arenacross Championships
Things got back underway out in BC as the Future West Arenacross Championships headed into Cloverdale Friday and Saturday. The track looked pretty soft and rutted up to keep the racers on their toes.
Friday Podiums
Clayton Racicot photo
Lites Podium:
1. Jake Anstett
2. Noah McConahy
3. Ross Johnson
Clayton Racicot photo
Open Podium:
1. Brad Nauditt
2. Ryan Lockhart
3. Ross Johnson
Saturday Podiums
Clayton Racicot photo
Lites Podium:
1. Noah McConahy
2. Jess Pettis
3. Ross Johnson
Clayton Racicot photo
Open Podium
1. Jess Pettis
2. Noah McConahy
3. Ryan Lockhart
Full results can be found at www.arenacross.ca
World Vet Championships from Glen Helen
Over 30 Pro
1. Ryan Morais (KTM) 2-1
2. Tonni Anderson (KTM) 5-2
3. Kris Keefer (Yam) 4-3
4. Arik Swan (Kaw) 3-4
5. Billy Jurevich (Kaw) 8-5
6. Andy Mathieu (Yam) 7-6
7. Matt Karlsen (Kaw) 9-7
8. Jason Thomas (Hon) 10-9
9. Broc Armbruster (Yam) 12-8
10. Mike Sleeter (KTM) 1-19
Over 40 Pro
1. Kurt Nicoll (KTM) 2-1
2. Doug Dubach (Yam) 1-2
3. Gordon Ward (Yam) 3-3
4. Mike Reefman (Yam) 4-5
5. Danny Tollet (KTM) 5-6
6. Kenjiro Tsuji (Yam) 9-4
7. Roger Suessson (Ym) 6-7
8. Shawn Wynne (Suz) 8-8
9. Brandon Milstead (Suz) 7-10
10. Ed Foedish (Kaw) 10-11
Over 50 Expert
1. Doug Dubach (Yam) 1-1
2. Kurt Nicoll (KTM) 2-2
3. Kevin Foley (Hon) 3-3
4. Ed Foesdish (Kaw) 4-4
5. Pete Murray (Yam) 6-5
6. Isao Ida (Hon) 5-7
7. Andy Jefferson (Hus) 9-6
8. Rob Engel (Kaw) 8-8
9. Jon Ortner (Yam) 7-10
10. Ian Fitz-Gibbon (Yam) 10-11
Over 60 Expert
1. Don Grahn (KTM) 2-1
2. Pete DeGraaf (KTM) 1-2
3. Rick Johnson (Hon) 3-3
4. Will Harper (KTM) 5-4
5. Jim Latendresse (KTM) 4-5
6. Bob Rutten (KTM) 9-6
7. Mike Brubaker (Kaw) 7-10
8. Mike Marion (Yam) 11-7
9. Larry Rowland (Yam) 10-8
10. Scott Smith (Yam) 13-9
Over 70 Experts
1. Roque Colman (Yam) 1-1
2. Bart Kellog KTM) 2-2
3. Nobuhiro Furuta (Yam) 4-3
4. Lars Larsson (Hus) 3-5
5. Bruce Hoover (Hon) 5-4
6. Gary Anderson (Hon) 7-6
7. Jan Lindmark (KTM) 6-7
Genova SX Results
| SX1 Overall | ||||
| 1. | Cooper Webb | 16-20 | Yam | |
| 2. | Broc Tickle | 14-14 | Suz | |
| 3. | Justin Bogle | 10-16 | Hon | |
| 4. | Justin Brayton | 20-5 | KTM | |
| 5. | Dylan Ferrandis | 12-12 | Kaw | |
| 6. | Cedric Soubeyras | 11-11 | Yam | |
| 7. | Matteo Bonini | 9-10 | KTM | |
| 8. | Valentin Guillod | 7-9 | Yam | |
| 9. | Cyrille Coulon | 8-8 | Kaw | |
| 10. | Angelo Pellegrini | 5-7 | Suz | |
| Superfinal | ||
| 1. Justin Brayton | ||
| 2. Cedric Soubeyras | ||
| 3. Valentin Guillod | ||
| 4. Dylan Ferrandis | ||
| 5. Justin Bogle | ||
| 6. Broc Tickle | ||
| 7. Cyrille Coulon | ||
| 8. Angelo Pellegrini | ||
| 9. Nick Koewenberg | ||
| 10. Matteo Bonini | ||
| SX2 Overall | |||
| 1. | Brian Hsu | Suz | |
| 2. | Nick Kouwenberg | Hon | |
| 3. | Francesco Muratori | Suz | |
| 4. | Kade Tinkler | Suz | |
| 5. | Marco Maddii | KTM | |
| 6. | Alberto Forato | Hon | |
| 7. | Filippo Zonta | Hon | |
| 8. | Kevin Auberson | KTM | |
| 9. | Andrea Winkler | Hon | |
| 10. | Lorenzo Camporese | Kaw | |
Have a great week. We’ll be sure to get some photos from both Arenacross events as soon as we can here on the site.
