We were back in action Saturday for Round 2 of the 2021 Canadian Triple Crown Series Supercross at Gopher Dunes. They made a few changes to the flow of the track and every rider I spoke with said they thought the track was better for Saturday.
Being as they are also running an amateur program throughout the day, there were definitely two separate parts to the track. There were different rhythm options that saw some of the more experienced indoor riders hitting things that others were simply unable to pull the trigger on.
Case in point, #1 Cole Thompson decided to uncork the triple double out of the right-hand corner past the mechanics area during practice on Saturday. I didn’t see it happen, but he was the only rider to give it a shot and I asked him at the end of the day if he did it again and he gave a pretty emphatic, “No!“
Cole could also butter the triple triple “quad” section every lap. He pointed to just how much testing he was able to do compared to what most of our riders were likely able to do, and it was obvious during the races.
If you were there on the hill, I don’t have to tell you just how humid it was this weekend. It was an oppressive heat and made it hard to think of anything other than the sweat pooling in places you didn’t want to talk about. It was really bad.
Many people thought ahead and brought along a pair of board shorts to take advantage of the pond that saw a lot of action. I’ll bring along a pH test kit this coming weekend…
Let’s have a closer look at the racing and point out some things you wouldn’t have seen on the Fox Sports/Flo Racing app broadcast.
250 Class
#71 Preston Masciangelo took a violent crash in the far rhythm section on Friday and didn’t return for Round 2. I spoke with him today and he said he’s a little banged up but that they hope to be back on the line for rounds 3 and 4.#18 Ryder McNabb went out for practice on Saturday but then decided he wasn’t fit to race, suffering from a bad migraine. He doesn’t appear to be as comfortable on the SX track as he is in MX, but it won’t take long for this youngster to get it figured out.#132 Seth Hughes raced the B Main on Friday but there wasn’t a B Main on Saturday. Seth is an Intermediate rider and finished at the back in both Mains, but hit the big triple almost every lap and had some fun.#24 Jamie Powell was starting to get the hang of the whole Supercross thing and will continue to improve. He finished 10-10 for 11th. He won the B Main on Friday.#25 Guillaume St Cyr feels at home on SX tracks but didn’t have the day he would have wanted. He hit the ground and dropped back to 12th in Main #1. He was up in the mix in Main #2 and ended up 6th for 10th.#22 Tyler Gibbs excels indoors, too. He has now grabbed every holeshot. He got pushed off the track in Main #2 and got penalized 2 positions for going beside the far rhythm section. He was up in 2nd and then slid out. In the end, he’s scored 8-9 for 9th. #39 Daniel Elmore is starting to look pretty comfortable on the tighter SX track. He got slammed off the track here and finished 9-7 for 8th. He was alone in the first main but was in a nice fight in the 2nd.#19 Quinn Amyotte finished way up in 4th in #1 but then the wheels came off in #2. He had problems in the whoops and then slid out and broke off his clutch lever, finishing back in 12th. He looks really good and is due for a podium.It shouldn’t surprise anyone that #212 Sebastien Racine is catching on to SX really fast! He looked uncomfortable on Friday and then came back like a different rider on Saturday. 7-8 put him 6th. He’s headed back to school this week and won’t be back for the final weekend.#50 Julien Benek impressed everyone with his whoops speed and his lap times. When this young BC rider gets his starts dialled, he will be very dangerous. He was faster than the story his 6-5 Mains for 5th tell. His last corner pass on Racine was impressive.#84 Tanner Ward had the speed to be on the podium but found himself on the ground playing catch up. With the racing as intense as it is in the 250 class, your race pretty much has to go perfectly. 5-4 put Tanner 4th.#46 Marco Cannella also needs a start. I say that, but he now leads the class by 7 points. He spent most of Saturday making passes and finished 3-3 for 3rd. #30 Jake Piccolo is always exciting to watch but that doesn’t always work in SX. Well, Jake is making it work and traded wins for 2nd overall. He made his first Main win look pretty easy as he controlled his lead.#157 Darien Sanayei is now up to speed and took the overall with 2-1 Mains on Saturday. He’s tied for 2nd place in the series with Piccolo, 7 points behind Cannella. The 250 class is exciting this season.250 podium: Darien Sanayei 2-1, Jake Piccolo 1-2, Marco Cannella 3-3.
450 Class
#9 Dylan Wright’s terrifying crash Friday kept him off the line on Saturday. He was at the races in a sling but said it wasn’t due to any breaks. In fact, he’s apparently still IN for the MXON in Italy. Great news.#82 Travis Barrette made an appearance on Saturday and qualified in 15th position. We didn’t see him in the Mains but hopefully he takes another run at it this coming week.Find me someone who likes riding more that #37 Dario Zecca. You can’t. Well, maybe Zack Zager. Dario smiled his way to 13-13 Mains for 13th.You could tell watching #958 Jamie Mason race that he just wanted to go faster. He ended up in 12th place with 11-12 Mains and is having a blast with this racing opportunity.#751 Donald Turner ended up riding on his own with 12-11 Mains for 11th.#192 Ethan Ouellette got to the first turn very fast with great jumps. He was in a couple good battles and finished 10-9 for 10th.#33 Tommy Dallaire was in some good fights in Main #1 but ended up on his own in Main #2. He wasn’t happy with his 8-10 for 9th when we spoke with him at the end of the day.#26 Ryan Derry was battling a very sore back and even resorted to taping on a kidney belt! He had a nice battle with #11 Davey Fraser in the 2nd Main. 9-8 put him 8th.#31 Parker Eales had to do one of his now-patented come-from-behind races in Main #1. I kept my camera pointed at him the whole time.He grew up in the Chilliwack Barn and knows his way around a tight track. 6-7 put him 7th.I watched #38 Yanick Boucher practice during the week and he was killing the whoops. It didn’t seem to transfer to these particular ones but he still looked pretty good. He crashed on the sight lap, but we won’t mention that. 😉 7-6 gave him 6th.#11 Davey Fraser held off Eales in Main 1 and joked that a big part of him just wanted to let him go by. It was that hot out. Davey still has the SX fire burning and looked really good, finishing 5-5 for 5th.#32 Casey Keast and #100 Westen Wrozyna both think they are the #3 rider. They put on a great show all day and went back and forth a few times. Casey ended up 4-4 for 4th, so keep an eye on these two next week.The feel good story of the weekend was definitely #100 Westen Wrozyna. He got the ride with MX101 with Shawn Maffenbeier and Keylan Meston out of action and he made good use of the opportunity by landing on the podium with 3-3 Mains. It was his first Pro podium finish and he was visibly thrilled to be up there.#2 Marshal Weltin really wants to run the pace of #1 Cole Thompson. He got his chance in the 2nd 450 Main when Cole stalled his bike and made things interesting for a couple laps. In the end, he finished 2-2 for 2nd place. He looked like he had the runner-up slot on lock pretty easily, but Main #2 saw Wrozyna all over him as they worked their way through traffic.#1 Cole Thompson literally looked like he was on cruise control in both Mains when he got out front. His bike will do whatever he asks of it and I don’t see anyone even getting close, unless something very unexpected happens. It makes the actual racing for the win pretty boring, but you have to just sit back and enjoy his effortless riding.450 podium: Cole Thompson 1-1, Marshal Weltin 2-2, Westen Wrozyna 3-3.
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