This past weekend the CMRC sanctioned Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals were in La Belle Province of Quebec. The track location is just east of Drummondville and not too far from Ulverton (the track that was originally slotted to host this round). In my opinion, Ulverton was the best track on the circuit. It’s a shame that the Quebec agricultural police clamped down on this event.
The sand track in Bon-Conseil had a little bit of everything and kept the riders on their toes for the entire day. Photo by James Lissimore
My very first race was at Ulverton way back in 1981 on my Yamaha YZ125 air cooled, not so fast twostroke. I still remember like it was yesterday…well almost. The 125 Junior class was probably the biggest class of riders we had. I believe there were well over 85 riders trying to qualify for the 40 gates. We had a bunch of qualifiers and then we had two 15-minute motos. I was in the first qualifier and I remember the gate dropped (my first start with a gate by the way), and I pinned it in first gear. I shifted to second then third. Half way up the hill I was taken out and before I knew it I was laying on the ground with a few other squirrels. I thought to myself, “Well that sucked.” Lucky for me, they red flagged the race and I was back on the gate with a bike that had bent yellow Answer bars and a front fender that was bent to the left. I eventfully qualified and raced the two motos and had the best day ever! I was hooked from that point on.
So yes, the new track was pretty close to Ulverton. This new location is right behind Kaven Benoît’s house. I heard a few riders saying this was a strange place to have a race track right behind a bunch of houses on a main street in the small village. Well, in Quebec, you have to understand, there are no rules. Okay maybe some. The town agreed to the race and the locals loved it. Mr. Benoit and his team did a fantastic job of preparing the track; they had fences built to keep the spectators off the track. The track had lots of jumps and some pretty big ones as well. The fans loved watching the riders get big air. The pit party was pretty wild with lots to look at. They even had a playground set up for the kids to play in.
The racing in the MX1 class was good. Local and track owner Kaven Benoit looked like he had ridden this track a few times. Unfortunately for Kaven, his day was cut short after crashing hard in the second moto while fighting off four4-time Canadian Champ Colton Facciotti. It sounds like Kaven will miss a few rounds due to the crash. Winning the overall for the first time this year was Colton Facciotti on his Factory GDR Honda/Fox CRF450. Colt dominated the first moto, and it was impressive to say the least. The second moto he started with a good start in fourth. By mid way he had moved up to third after Benoit cartwheeled and ended his day. Going 4-1 was the World Champion Christophe Pourcel on his Husky Rockstar 450. Pourcel looked smooth but really never looked like he was trying. He has the riding style that looks like he is out for a fun, relaxing Sunday ride. The points leader, Goerke, went 3-2 for a third overall. I know Matt wanted more but I think it’s time to focus on the championship. Finishing fourth was Mike Alessi on his Monster Alpinestar Kawasaki. Mike went 5-7. Not the results he wanted but he did ride very well. On the second start, Mike went from almost holeshoting to ending up in the woods. He went from dead last to 7th. It was good to see John Dowd’s son Ryan up from the US this weekend. John said he will be back for Deschambault, and yes, he will race against his son.
The MX2 class was a wild one. The speed these riders were going was crazy. The track was a little one lined, so it was pretty hard to make clean passes without bumping. The points leader Cole Thompson looked great in practice but unfortunately tangled with Hayes on Lap 3 and went down. Cole picked up his KTM and rode a few more turns until he realized he had dislocated his thumb. That was it for the first moto. In the second moto, Thompson taped up the thumb and went out and finished a solid 7th. This was not a good weekend for the points leader. His lead went from 40 points to only a 2 point lead now.
Here the eventual MX2 overall winner Shawn Maffenbeier tracks down Jacob Hayes as the two riders head into Turn 1. Photo by James Lissimore
The overall went to Shawn Maffenbeier on his MX101 Yamaha FXR 250F who went 1-2 for the day. Finishing second with a 2-3 was Dylan Wright on his Honda Fox 250F. Dylan has really improved the last few rounds and I think we will see a win out of him real soon. Third for the day, on his Redemption KTM 250F, was Josh Osby. This was the weekend Josh almost had the overall if it wasn’t for a red cross flag that Josh ended jumping on. That cost him 5 positions and the overall! Ryan Surratt, on his Nut Up Kawasaki, finished a solid fourth for the day. Ryan is getting stronger and stronger as the series heads east. The next round of the series heads to Tyler Medaglia’s backyard in Truro, Nova Scotia. I like this track. It’s very technical with lots of jumps and very slippery dirt that the riders don’t like that much. If you’re looking for a race in the Ottawa area this coming weekend head over to Sand Del Lee MX track for the Rockstar FXR Ironman double header. The weather looks good and the track is groomed. Lots of FXR prizes for the kids. Be sure to check it out if you’re in the area.
See you at the races.