Schrader’s Women’s West Nationals Round 2 Race Report

By Summer Knowles

Would be women’s competitor, Summer Knowles, takes the reins this week to give her take on round 2 of the Schrader’s Women’s West Nationals from the Wastelands in Nanaimo, BC.

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Schrader’s Women’s West Nationals – Round 2 The Wastelands, Nanaimo, BC

By Summer Knowles

Direct Motocross is a huge supporter of Canadian women’s motocross and I am very appreciative for this opportunity to talk about how awesome Canadian women’s motocross actually is. This last weekend we had round 2 of the Schrader’s Women’s West Nationals in Nanaimo, BC. Billy (Rainford) has been nice enough to let me talk about the day (after I complained profoundly for ten minutes).

First off, I just want to say how awesome the series is. The amount of sponsors recognizing and supporting the women is unreal. (The trophies were freaking snowboards (Alternative Groove) this weekend!). The top ten girls go home with money and everyone goes home with a prize from the prize table at the end of the day. The women behind the series work their butts off to make it what it is: Denaye Arnett – retired champion who is now married, works a full-time job and still manages to do all this. Camille Bunko – who has a very cool career as a nurse and just had a baby, puts on the series and still finds time to race the series with impressive results. Sierra Roth – Honor-roll student who just graduated high school, manages to somehow train national number 3 Sara King and help with the series. And, well, I don’t know much about Kristi Moore, but I’m sure she’s busy too. Overall, what I’m trying to say is these women go above and beyond to make the sport the best it can be and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Second, let’s talk about some of the badass things that happened this weekend: Kennedy Lutz literally had her ribs used as traction in the first turn of moto 1 and came back with a 2^nd place finish. Sara King won her first national moto. Kennedy Lutz and Sara King had lap times that were as fast as some of the Intermediates who qualified for Sunday’s Pro national! Rachel Springman finally learned how to spray her champagne bottle properly. Brittany Danyluk kept with Rachel Springman for most of moto 1 to keep us on our toes. Dominique Daffé rode amazing in moto 1 where she and Jamie Munro battled till the checkered flag for 5^th where Jamie ended up taking the 5^th position. Kate Lees came all the way from Saskatchewan and broke the top ten for her first year doing the full national series. Cycle North Team Manager, Kourtney Lloyd, didn’t try to steal the champagne from the riders at the podium this weekend. The list goes on and on…

#3 Cycle North TLD Honda's Sara King grabbed an impressive holeshot...

#3 Sara King grabbed an impressive holeshot…

…both motos.

#2 Schrader's TLD Yamaha rider Kennedy Lutz got off to a rough start. - Bigwave photo

#2 Kennedy Lutz got off to a rough start. – Bigwave photo

By 9:00am, I was dripping in sweat while wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I couldn’t even imagine being in motocross gear. Thinking about it almost gives me heat stroke. When I finally sauntered my way out from the air conditioning (thanks to Springman family, without you I would be dead) to look at the track, I wasn’t surprised to see the Wastelands was living up to its reputation. The technical track was going to be interesting for the ladies and I was excited to watch the motos. As the first gate dropped, I could see the Cycle North rider #3 Sara King come into the corner first and she was not letting off. The Langley Holeshot rider #631 Rachel Springman was right behind her. I was looking around for the Schrader’s rider, Kennedy Lutz, at the front but unfortunately she was nowhere near the front. Instead, I saw girls like Dominique Daffé up front. About ten seconds after the pack left the first corner, I saw Kennedy Lutz come ripping out of a cloud of dust like a mad women. Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Sara King started pulling way from Rachel Springman and Brittany Danyluk who were battling for 2^nd. Jamie Munro and Dominique Daffé were battling for 4^th position. Most of the moto this is what the top 5 looked like.

#5 Jamie Munro and #7 Dominique Daffé had a great battle.

Camille Bunko was running in 6^th and Danika White and Kate Lees were not far behind. All of a sudden, Kennedy Lutz came from the back of the pack up to 2^nd place. Madi Watt came back from a horrible start (literally last, maybe a little better off then Kennedy Lutz whose ribs got ran over) to get 7^th. It was an awesome moto to watch, battles all over the track.

Sara King with another holeshot in moto 2. Rachel Springman not far behind. Kennedy right up there. Camille Bunko had an awesome 4^th place start. Kennedy made the pass on Sara King on the first lap. Unlike last weekend where Kennedy was on a new level, Sara King was not far behind her running very similar lap times. The technical track really closed the gap between Kennedy and Sara.

#631 Rachel Springman rode to a solid 3rd place finish.

Rachel Springman rode in 3^rd the entire moto with no pressure from 4^th place of Brittany. Jamie Munro ran 5^th and Dominique Daffé 6^th. Madi Watt had another horrible start (literally last place) and worked her way up to 7^th again, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me. Imagine if she got a good start, the girl would be on fire. Camille Bunko rode a solid 8^th. Kate Lees grabbed 9^th and Charity Bachman with a solid 10^th place finish to round up the top 10.

#6 Brittany Danyluk took 4th in Nanaimo.

My personal favourite part of the day is when you listen to the girls talk about their day at the prize table.

Daniell Pettis 19-16 for 19^th overall – “ I don’t know what happened out there but I think I went into retirement mode.”

Charity Bachman 12-10 for 10^th overall – “First moto I ran over Kennedy’s ribs. Second moto I got a 7^th place start, was doing good, then I launched over a “hump” and landed in the grass.”

Rachel Springman 3-3 for 3^rd overall – “I’m just happy I made it out alive.”

Camille Bunko 8-8 for 8^th overall – “I had two good laps then I got tired as ****.”

Brittany Danyluk 4 -4 for 4^th overall – “Day was good.”

Kristen Tse who crashed hard in moto one went DNF-DNS – “I need to stop crashing.”

Kate lees 10-9 for 9^th overall – “I had a terrible start but came back to tenth.”

Sara King 1-2 for 2^nd overall – “I’m getting ice cream.”

Jamie Munro 5-5 for 5^th overall – “I fell in the hot lap but better than in the moto.”

Kennedy Lutz 2-1 for 1^st overall -“ I feel like I got ran over by a bus.”