The 2024 Thor WMX West Series saw our champion #1 Eve Brodeur challenged once again from south of the border. Last year it was Jamie Astudillo and this year it was #50 Viviana Contreras. But, as the old saying goes, “If you want to be the champ you have to beat the champ!” We wrapped-up the series last weekend at Prairie Hill MX in Pilot Mound, Manitoba, so let’s have a look at the Top 10 in the series:
10th: #7E Ciel Ferguson (67)
#7E is Ciel Ferguson, one of 4 Manitoba Fergusons racing the series. Ciel was in a battle to get into the top 10 with both #5W Sienna Brown, #24 Bailee Bancarz, and #8W Destiny Slingerland, but when neither Brown or Slingerland were at the final round Ciel managed to edge them out and take the final spot. by just 1 point over Brown.
9th: #6E Brook Greenlaw (74)
#6E Brook Greenlaw was the only 250 2-stroke on the track. She had a rough start to the series at the first 2 rounds in Alberta but came back strong with 8-6 results to take 9th overall.
8th: #333 Lauren Puhlmann (79)
The triple 3 of Lauren Puhlmann seemed to be charging every time I saw her go past. She faltered at the last 2 rounds, otherwise she would have been a couple places higher in the final standings, but she showed good speed at times.
7th: #11 Ani Ferguson (83)
#11 Ani Ferguson was in a tight battle with her sister, Tea. They came into the final round close in points, but Ani only managed to close the gap to 2 points to take 7th in the series.
6th: #9W Tea Ferguson (85)
#9W Tea Ferguson lost touch with the top 5 in points but had to ride well to stay ahead of the riders chasing her. She did just enough at the final round to claim that 6th in the series ahead of her sister, Ani, but behind her other sister, Katrine.
5th: #7W Katrine Ferguson (110)
Top finishing Ferguson was #7W Katrine Ferguson. She was in some of the best battles of the series and came into the final round with a chance at 4th place, but came up short in 5th.
4th: #6W Annalyse Lopushinsky (122)
#6W Annalyse Lopushinsky is one of the riders looking to fill the boots of Eve Brodeur when she leaves. She’s very close and will keep getting better. She has shown she can hold off the top 2 riders in the past, so her future is bright. She was consistent but slowly lost points to the top 3 and was 4th overall.
3rd: #3 Kaylie Kayer (140)
#3 Kaylie Kayer looks like she’ll take over at the top when Eve steps away. It won’t be easy but she’s shown she is the next fastest Canadian rider. She gets good starts and isn’t afraid to air out the jumps. With 3’s across the board, she was as consistent as it gets, she just needs a tiny bit more to turn those into 1’s.
2nd: #50 Viviana Contreras (157)
#50 Viviana Contreras came up from California and looked like she could be the one to take Eve down after winning the first 2 overalls. She and Eve actually went 1-1-2-2 and 2-2-1-1 in overalls. I’m sure she feels like she left this one on the table, but her speed and style were so good that we’ll definitely keep an eye out for her in the future. That was another epic WMX war.
1st: #1 Eve Brodeur (166)
They keep lining up and #1 Eve Brodeur keeps knocking them down. I’m sure she feels the pressure, but it’s her ability to perform under that stress that seems to set her apart. This one had to be extremely satisfying for her, as she grabbed her 11th Canadian title under difficult circumstances.Her partner in crime, Marc-Olivier Giguère, suffered a catastrophic injury in a freak bicycle crash but told her she had to go race anyway. He surprised her by making the trip out to Manitoba after a ridiculously short time in recovery to witness her win…again.It was a very special win in a long list of wins for Eve.
Series Podium
2024 WMX West podium: Eve Brodeur, Viviana Contreras, Kaylie Kayer.
We’ll likely only be able to watch Eve race a few more times – the WMX East and the TransCan at Walton Raceway. Who will come up to challenge her for this final title chase? Great series, everyone. See you at Gopher Dunes!
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