Round 4 of the Rockstar Triple Crown Tour Canadian MX Nationals took place just outside Ottawa, Ontario, at Sand Del Lee. It wouldn’t be 2020 if we didn’t have rain move in to give us a mud race nw would it?! And that’s what we got on Day 1 of the 2-day race weekend.
The crew packed the track down tight and the track was actually very raceable on Saturday, despite all the water.
Here’s a closer look at how some of the 250 racers did this past weekend.
250 Class
Since the Tour de France is happening right now, we have to give out the ‘Lanterne Rouge.’ #186 Justin Parnell gets the honour in the 250 class with 42-DNF-DNF results for 42nd overall.#119 Jared Petruska is having a really rough summer here in Ontario. He came all the way from Calgary with his wife, #6 Dominique Petruska, and he wasn’t able to hang on to the bike with his injured thumb. After 21st in moto 1, he’s scored DNF-DNF and hopes to feel better for the final round…if it’s not a mudder.Both DaSilva brothers were on the track this weekend. #118 Christopher DaSilva had mechanical problems take him out for the weekend after the mudder. He’s scored with 29-38-37 for 38th. With only one bike, he’s hoping to be ready for the final round this week.I like this shot of #464 Carlos Ponce. He also had troubles with the conditions and finished back in 36th overall.#822 Kevin McMurray’s bike literally sounds like we’re at a 1986 National, and I love it. He finished 34th.#141 Eve Brodeur was the Ironman of the weekend again. She hasn’t lost a WMX moto and finished 31st (35-27-29) in the 250 class.#154 Travis Ford broke the top 30 with a 29th overall (34-26-26).#338 Joshua McGinnis is one of the few riders who crossed the border from the USA, so he makes it in. 33-23-22 put the Pennsylvania rider 28th.#115 William Mireault cracked the top 20 in the final moto and finished 26th overall (26-22-20).Not the greatest weekend to race your first 250 Pro/Am for #494 Thomas Rendall. I stayed at their place during the week and got him in tip top cycling form, but I couldn’t save his clutch on Saturday. 32-25-19 put him 24th. Watch for the 494 this week back at his home track.#157 Wyatt Waddell is having a tough time getting his feet underneath him this summer. He’ll get there but his 18-20-23 for 23rd at Round 4 is not where he expects to be.I stood and watched as poor #170 Julien Benek went just a tiny bit off the track on Sunday and got stuck in the mud as he tried to re-fire his bike. 20-28-18 for 22nd is nothing to scoff at for such a young rider, but he also expects a lot more from himself.#211 William Coté cracked the top 20 overall by scoring decent points with a 14th in the first moto. His DNF-DNF 2nd and 3rd motos definitely did not help. Watch for more from this Quebec rider this weekend. #66 Jamie Powell must have as many laps on this track as anyone. He was pretty steady with 11-17-16 motos for 16th overall, but he’s faster than that, especially here.#21 Quinn Amyotte is ready for his breakout ride. He was fast this week but bad starts and then a fuel line problem that took him out while running 7th did him in. 12-10-25 put him back in 15th.#25 Tyler Gibbs had a good weekend, finishing up in 5th in moto 2. He’s got a nice little thing going with Weltin out there on the track; they always seem to find each other lately. 19-5-10 for 12th.When things go right #164 Ryder McNabb has the pace to run up front. He needs consistently good starts to prove that. He had a motor go away on him in moto 2 while running 7th and his 4-31 (DNF)- 8 put him 11th.It seems like every muddy practice I notice this guy hauling out there before I realize it’s him. We’re going to need a breakout ride from #32 William Crete this coming week. He landed 10th at Round 4 with 7-9-13 motos. #41 Jeremy McKie landed on the podium in a mud moto at Walton 2. He needs to do it again in good conditions to prove it to himself that he should be up there every moto. It will happen and when it does, look out. 6-13-9 put him 9th.Same goes for #77 Casey Keast and he made it happen in moto 2 this week, finishing 2nd. He looked perfectly comfortable running the top pace. 13-3-11 put him 8th. As I type this, he’s waiting for results from a practice crash Tuesday the sent him to the hospital to get his knee looked at. Good luck, Casey.#123 Ryan Surratt didn’t get the starts or the luck he needed this past weekend. 8-11-6 put him 7th. He’ll be the lone rider on the Sky team after the departure of #92 Richard Taylor.Just as sure as there will be snow here this winter, #30 Hayden Halstead gave another solid, top-10 performance. I’d like to see what happens on a sandy track when he snags a holeshot. 10-4-7 for 6th.#19 Marshal Weltin knows he should be up challenging Pettis for wins this season. He needs better starts and some luck to show it at the final round this week. 5-6-4 for 5th.#381 Jacob Piccolo lived up to the hype in motos 2 and 3 and finished up in 2nd place where he belongs. His bike somehow held together (it looked like it might not, at times) and he finished 16-2-2 for 4th overall. This gained confidence makes repeat performances much easier. Let’s watch…It just wouldn’t be right if #46 Marco Cannella or #18 Tanner Ward weren’t on the podium this season. Both seems most likely. Marco was down in turn 1 in moto 2 and came back to 7th! His 3-7-5 motos put him 3rd, tied with Weltin and just 1 behind Ward.#18 Tanner Ward finished 12th in moto 2 and still ended up in 2nd overall! That’s what kind of conditions we were dealing with. He’s starting to look like a lock for podiums in this class. 2-12-3 for 2nd. What can I say? #15 Jess Pettis is starting to look like a man among boys out there this season. He’s young, and I know a ton of people really want to see him back lining up for AMA Supercross ASAP. There wasn’t a blemish on his score card this weekend. 3 holeshots and 3 moto wins out him 1st and he extended his points lead nicely.250 Podium: Jess Pettis KTM, Tanner Ward HON, Marco Cannella YAM.
Round 5 has been moved from Deschambault back to Sand Del Lee for the final weekend of the MX season.
Be sure to check out the 450 Photo Report coming up shortly…
