Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
As everyone knows by now, the gate finally dropped on the Ontario race season this past weekend at Gopher Dunes. Now, normally this wouldn’t be National news, but due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, like last year the 2021 Triple Crown Series will take place in Ontario and Quebec. With the beginning of this series just a few weeks away, Sunday’s AMO race gave some of our top pro riders a chance to hit the race track and shake some of the rust off. Lining up this past weekend at Canada’s roughest track was our defending 450 Champion Dylan Wright, 450 class title contenders Marshal Weltin and Shawn Maffenbeier. Also in attendance were 250 class title favourites Marco Cannella and Tanner Ward, as well as Ryder McNabb and new GASGAS rider Sam Gaynor. It was a star-studded field of pro riders and with three long twenty motos throughout the day, they most certainly got to see where they were at with their training. Let’s take a look at the Top 5 overall finishers and how their day went.
1.Marshal Weltin: 1-1-1
If there is a type of track that Marshal Weltin knows how to ride it’s most certainly a sand track. His style, his high level of fitness, and his bike set-up all appear to be suited to riding really rough and soft tracks. So it was no surprise to see him riding so well on Sunday and taking the overall win. Also, prior to arriving in Canada a few weeks ago, Weltin had been training in South Carolina at the ClubMX Facility so his strength and conditioning are right where they need to be right now. Weltin looks race-ready and it showed on Sunday as he was one of the few pro riders who didn’t fade during any of the three challenging motos.
2.Shawn Maffenbeier: 2-2-2
For 2021, Shawn Maffenbeier has moved back to the MX101 FXR Yamaha Team and he couldn’t be more excited about it. As you may recall, the last time Shawn was part of the MX101 Team he won the 2017 250MX Championship so you know that he and Kevin Tyler are happy to be reunited. On Sunday, Maffenbeier looked solid and although his race craft was a little rusty, by the third moto he appeared to be much more comfortable and chased Weltin right to the checkered flag. I have a sneaky suspicion that Maff is going to be really good this summer in the 450 class and will challenge for moto wins at each round of the Triple Crown Series.
3.Marco Cannella: 5-4-3
Like Maffenbeier, Marco Cannella is another rider who has been training hard both on the bike as well as off of the bike, but he hasn’t raced in a really long time. Because of this, Cannella looked rusty in the first two motos but by the third and final moto he was back to his normal self. Cannella was also racing a 250F so he was a little underpowered off the start in each moto. During the first two motos, Cannella had to come from behind and pass a lot of riders. This is an important season for Marco as for the first time he comes into the 250 Series as one of the title favourites. On Sunday, he looked solid and I’m sure he left Gopher Dunes feeling good with where he’s at.
4.Sam Gaynor: 9-8-5
Sam Gaynor has gone through some big changes during this off-season as he’s not only switched brands but also classes as well. Sam is now racing a 250 for the newly formed TLD/SSR/GASGAS Racing Team and on Sunday he appeared to struggle during the opening two motos. However, as the day went on and the track got rougher Sam’s riding improved, and by the third moto, he was back on the pace of the leaders. It’s been a while since Sam has raced a 250F as he’s been a 450 rider for the past few seasons. Racing in the 250 class is a lot different and Sam will have to make some adjustments if he wants to find success. However, Sam is a hard worker and you have to think that he will find a way to get the job done once the Triple Crown Series begins at Walton Raceway.
5.Liam O’Farrell: 3-3-22
What can you say about Liam O’Farrell that hasn’t already been said before? This guy is just a beast as he works full-time, has a family to take care of, and yet he still finds time to stay in great shape and race at a high level. I’m not sure what happened to Liam in the final moto but during the first two motos, he was fast and smooth. Look for him to do really well this summer in the Triple Crown Series as he looks to be in a good place right now.
The GDR Fox Racing Honda Team:
It was most certainly a tough day for the home team as all three GDR Honda riders ran into trouble. In the opening moto, Dylan Wright tweaked his knee while leading and was forced to DNF. I don’t think it’s too serious as I heard that he wanted to race the second two motos. However, you never want to tweak anything at this point in your season as every rider wants to head into the opening round completely healthy. Hopefully, Dylan shows up this weekend at SDL and everything is fine. Tanner Ward also tweaked his knee in the opening moto and then decided to call it a day. Tanner didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong with his knee but he was still planning on getting it checked out this week. Tanner is a 250 class title favourite this summer so he needs to be healthy heading into Round 1 at Walton. Finally, Ryder McNabb was involved in a first turn crash in Moto 2 and it was bad enough that he decided to call it a day. Hopefully, all three riders are okay moving forward and will be 100% when the gate drops for the opening round of the 2021 Triple Crown Series in a few weeks.
