I hope everyone had a fun weekend as well as a safe one. My family and I spent the weekend at Ontario’s best beach, watching our most talented riders battle on the rough and tough Gopher Dunes track. Even though Mother Nature gave us a little rain on Saturday and again yesterday, it was still a great time, and not only was the racing superb, but it was also great to see so many old friends that always come out to watch the Gopher Dunes National.
From an entertainment point of view, this was the best Gopher Dunes National we’ve seen, the racing on the track was exciting, as were the added features off of the track; food trucks, bouncy castles, and for the first time that I can remember, multiple bleachers were set up so spectators had some options on where to sit. All of these items added to the experience and vibe of Round 4 of the 2023 Triple Crown Series. Also, with the GDR Honda Team doing replica 1997 Machine Racing Honda graphics on their race bikes for this race, it even brought out the former man behind the Machine Racing effort, John Nelson. I can’t even remember the last time John came out to a National, so it was great to see him back at the races yesterday, and enjoying the honour that Derek Schuster and the GDR Honda Team bestowed upon him.
As I mentioned above, the racing was excellent yesterday at Gopher Dunes, as we actually got to witness some exciting late-race battles. Usually, the heat, and the track conditions demand that the riders conserve energy, so battling late into the motos isn’t always the smartest thing to do. But, that wasn’t the case yesterday, as the track was very raceable, and the overcast skies didn’t allow the temperature to get too high. There was still a lot of humidity in the air, especially after the midday rain, but it didn’t deter the riders from letting it all hang out. I’m going to go out on small limb and say that the second 250 moto yesterday was the moto of the year thus far in 2023, as there was action from the opening lap right up until the final lap when race leader Mitchell Harrison crashed hard and handed the lead back to Kaven Benoit. I didn’t see his crash as I was on the other side of the track, but by all accounts, it was gnarly, and thankfully Harrison was okay and looking forward to next weekend. Harrison had a rough day as during the start of the opening 250 moto, he went down in turn one and got hit by multiple riders. Then, after he charged back and was running inside the top five, he crashed hard again and ended up finishing in sixth. In moto two, Harrison grabbed the holeshot and led early before getting passed by Kaven Benoit at the halfway point of the moto. At that point, it looked like Harrison would finish in second, but he regrouped and went back after Benoit and retook the lead. With the rain pouring down, Benoit took a few laps to catch his breath, and then he went back after Harrison with four laps to go. These two riders were just bike lengths apart for the final few laps until Harrison crashed for the final time after the big double in the front part of the track. While this battle for the lead was going on, Tanner Ward was doing everything he could to try and catch Ryder McNabb for third. He got close at one point, but an injured McNabb strung together a couple of good laps in the second half of the race and pulled away. It was a great race, and even though it was raining hard for half of the race and every rider struggled with their vision, I think the rain kept the riders cool and allowed them to push harder than they normally would’ve in a second moto at Gopher Dunes. Whatever the reason was, the action was fantastic, and the riders deserve a ton of credit for their effort. In the end, McNabb used a solid 2-2 moto score to take his third overall win in a row and now has a ten-point lead over his teammate Benoit.
In the 450 class, the action at the front of the pack wasn’t quite as exciting as it was in the 250 class. However, the first moto yesterday had its share of action as Dylan Wright and Shawn Maffenbeier both had an opportunity to win. The first 450 moto started as most have done this summer, with Jess Pettis taking the holeshot and the early lead. Dylan Wright didn’t get a great jump off the gate but made room for himself in turn one and came out right behind Pettis. Dylan then made a pass on the #15, and most thought he would then pull away uncontested. But Shawn Maffenbeier had other ideas, and he also passed Pettis and put himself on the rear wheel of Wright. I’m sure at that point, Dylan thought he was also going to begin putting time on the rest of the field, but when he didn’t, he might have lost a little focus and went down. Maff then took the lead and looked smooth out front. When Wright went down again at the halfway point of the moto, it gave Maff a big lead and a great opportunity to win his first moto of 2023. After his second crash, Wright struggled and almost went down a few more times. Two laps later, he’d lost more time to Maff, and most in attendance figured he was now thinking about moto two. But something happened on Lap 12, and Dylan went from being “all over the place”, to turning one of his fastest laps of the race. It was quite remarkable to see. He went from a 1:59.999 lap time on Lap 11 to a blistering 1:56.813 on Lap 12. On that same lap, Maff’s lap time was just over two minutes, and within a few more laps, his once insurmountable lead had vanished. Like a shark in the water, Wright could smell blood, and there was nothing Maff could do. With two laps to go, Wright made his move, and as he did Maff made a big mistake and went down hard. Maff would remount in third and finished the moto with the pride of knowing that the win was almost his. Unfortunately, in the crash, he rang his bell a little and decided to sit out moto two. Wright rode off with the opening moto win and then came back in moto two and dominated from start to finish, winning by over 40 seconds. Behind Dylan was Jess Pettis, who finished second overall, Dutch rider Lars Van Berkel in third, and Tyler Medaglia finishing in fourth. Jeremy McKie also had his best ride this summer and rounded out the top five in the 450 class. Van Berkel also raced Southwick on Saturday before making his way to Gopher Dunes for Sunday morning. I wonder how tired he is this morning?
I’m sure all the riders woke up extremely sore this morning, and today and tomorrow will be all about recovery. This coming weekend they go back at it, at Round 5 on what is sure to be another tough track in Sand Del Lee. Most of the riders love SDL, so I’m sure everyone is looking forward to heading there this weekend. I hope everyone has a great week, and once again, thank you to the Gopher Dunes crew for being gracious hosts this past weekend. It was truly a memorable day at the beach!