DYLAN WRIGHT CONTINUES TO DOMINATE AS THE SERIES HEADS EAST AT ONE OF THE GNARLIEST TRACKS ON THE CIRCUIT

DYLAN WRIGHT CONTINUES TO DOMINATE AT ONE OF THE GNARLIEST TRACKS ON THE CIRCUIT AS THE TRIPLE CROWN SERIES HEADS EAST

Josiah Natzke Secures First 250 Moto Win for 2023 and Ryder McNabb Takes 250 Pro Overall Win

BRIGDEN, ON (July 11, 2023) - The mix of a gnarly sand track and rain set the stage for round four of the 2023 Triple Crown Series in Courtland, Ontario. It was said to be “one of the toughest Gopher Dunes we’ve ever seen” by announcer Rob Gauld. Dylan Wright continued to dominate at his hometown track as the series made the switch to the East Coast rounds of racing.

450 PRO CLASS

450 Podium: Jess Pettis (2),Dylan Wright (1), (3). James Lissimore Photography

When the gate dropped for moto one of the 450 Pro class, it was KTM Red Bull THOR rider Jess Pettis with the hole shot at Gopher Dunes MX. He had the top qualifier for the day and defending champion Dylan Wright closely in tow who quickly put the pressure on and made the pass to take over the lead. MX101 Yamaha rider Shawn Maffenbeier held steady in third as the rain began.

On lap three, Maffenbeier was able to overtake both Pettis and Wright as small mistakes caused them to drop back in positions. He extended a 14 second lead over the class but both Dylan Wright and Jess Pettis refused to give up the fight and continued to charge to reclaim podium positions.

Tyler Medaglia rode in the fourth place the first half of the race, but a new face to the class, Lars van Berkel kept him honest and eventually overtook the seasoned Canadian racer to move into the number four spot with Medaglia still rounding out the top five.

After fighting through the pack and with two laps to go, Wright turned up his intensity and challenged the current leader, Shawn Maffenbeier. Wright was able to make a pass on Maffenbeier, who quickly tried to reclaim his lead but went down allowing Pettis to move into second.

In Moto two, privateer Tyler Gibbs grabbed the Royal Distributing Hole Shot with Dylan Wright in pursuit. Wright quickly moved into the leader position, with Pettis riding in second behind him. Lars van Berkel remained consistent, riding inside the top five again and eventually moving into a podium position.

A mistake by Pettis allowed van Berkel and Medaglia to overtake him, shuffling the running order at the midway point of the race. Pettis made a strong charge as the final two laps approached and was able to pass Medaglia and move back into the top three. Dylan Wright finished the moto with a triumphant 45+ second gap on the rest of the pack at his hometown track with van Berkel in second and Pettis rounding out the podium.

Dylan Wright (1-1): "I finally had a moto where I feel like I rode my bike like I know how to ride it and how I have been during the week. It finally felt good to flow again. We’ve been struggling a little bit this year but I mean, such is life. In dirt bike racing you’re going to have good days and bad and I like where we’re at right now. That was a pretty perfect moto for me and we need to carry this momentum. I think we got a good set up right now heading into the rest of the sand on the East Coast. Bring on the heat, the humidity… yeah we’re ready to fight. Hats off to my trainer, Rob Mouland. He kicks my butt during the week. We do 40’s a lot, in the heat... it doesn’t matter. We get it done rain, mud, shine. I can’t thank him enough. I honestly think it comes down to determination, you know, I hate to lose and that’s my motivation day in and day out.”

Jess Pettis (2-3): “Yeah, it’s a war out there. I said that the last time I was here and a couple years have gone by and that hasn’t changed. It’s a pretty gnarly track. I was trying to just run a fast pace but at the same time the track is super rough. I was just trying to keep it on two wheels. I didn’t do well in that last moto. I had a pretty good crash at about midway and it kind of took the wind out of me. I hit my arm pretty good. I just put a charge on in the end there and got Medaglia. We just have to find a little more speed. I’m gonna do some homework and we should be fine. My fitness is great. I just need some more raw speed. I need to hang it out there more. Maybe it just comes from a bit of time off the bike and just trying to prove each week.”

Lars van Berkel (4-1): “For the people that have been watching my vlogs about being here in America, I am very privateer here in America. I have a buddy, Cory. He helped me with a bike and some parts. I raced Southwick yesterday and I was a bit disappointed, but now I can see it’s mostly the bike. Today they gave me an awesome bike and I think I showed that I was quite good today. I am in shape. I have one more race at Millville, and then take two weeks off and do some relaxing. I arrived at 3 a.m. last night and was literally sleeping on a couch in the pits. The team called me up and I told them I think it’s too much (to race Southwick and Gopher Dunes). At first they said I could bring my own bike but its bone stock, but I asked for a bike and mechanic and here we are on the podium. It was almost a 1-2 for the team. I hope they call me up to do more racing.”

450 PRO TOP 10:

Dylan Wright (HON), 1-1
Jess Pettis (KTM), 2-3
Lars van Berkel (HON), 4-2
Tyler Medaglia (GAS), 5-4
Jeremy Mckie (KTM), 6-5
Daniel Elmore (GAS), 7-6
Andy Truyts (YAM), 8-10
Grant Hoffman (YAM), 13-7
Parker Eales (KTM), 12-9
Gerald Lorenill (YAM), 10-11

250 PRO CLASS

250 Podium: Kaven Benoit (2), Rylder McNabb (1), Josiah Natzke(3). James Lissimore Photography

The fastest qualifier of the day, Ryder McNabb got the jump on the pack to grab the moto one hole shot. Josiah Natzke was not far behind with Kaven Benoit riding a close third. A pair of Yamahas were hot on their heels ridden by Austin Jones and Sebastien Racine.

On lap three of the moto, Natzke was able to successfully put the pass on McNabb to take over the lead. Benoit was able to move into the second spot after a mistake by McNabb caused him to go down and drop back to sixth. Mitchell Harrison battled his way up to fourth after a dead last start as a result of a first turn pile up. McNabb did his best to move back into podium contention, battling with Harrison and then Racine to secure a spot in the top three. As the final lap approached, McNabb made the pass on Racine to finish second behind Natzke who claimed his first moto win of the season.

In moto two, it was Mitchell Harrison looking for redemption from earlier in the day who grabbed the hole shot. The pair of KTM Red Bull THOR riders, Kaven Benoit and Ryder McNabb followed. Josiah Natzke and Tanner Ward rounded out the top five as the rain moved in once again.

Benoit challenged the leader on lap seven, but Harrison was able to hold him off. A second attempt by Benoit proved successful as the rain continued to come down. Harrison kept Benoit in sight and was able to make the pass to regain the lead. As the battle for the lead continued, McNabb rode consistently in third.

With two laps to go, Harrison had a major get-off and was not able to remount. Benoit took over the lead as the final laps approached. McNabb followed in second, with Tanner Ward securing the final podium position in third.

Ryder McNabb (2-2): “Honestly, that second moto was tough. My shoulders were sore. I couldn't hold on. I had no leverage on the bike, my elbows were down. I couldn’t pull back, but yeah I salvaged second. It was good. I’m pretty mad that I made that mistake in the first moto. It was stupid. I could’ve relaxed a little bit and then he got tired at the end, so I could’ve capitalized on that but yeah we’ll get them next weekend at Sand Del Lee.”

Kaven Benoit (4-1): “First off, that was for the old guys. I’m super stoked with that second moto. I struggled all day. I didn’t start off too good this morning. For some reason I didn’t have a flow on the track and my technique was bad and I just worked on that the whole day and just got better and better. That first moto I was angry because I missed a podium position there at the end, and yeah regrouped between the motos and came out swinging for the second one. I was having so much more fun on the track in the second moto. I had an awesome battle with Mitchell and I hope he’s OK. He had a really big get off their end, but it was an awesome battle. It was fun.”

Josiah Natzke (1-5): “Yeah it’s brutal man, you can’t be out there fighting for a championship if you can’t see and your goggles aren’t working. I’m pretty bummed about that. It’s tough to swallow. The track was brutal with the rain coming down on us. It is what it is, man. The highs and lows of the stuff, you just gotta ride that wave.”

250 PRO/AM TOP 10:

Ryder McNabb (KTM), 2-2
Kaven Benoit (KTM), 4-1
Josiah Natzke (KAW), 1-5
Sebastien Racine (YAM), 3-4
Tanner Ward (KAW), 5-3
Noah Viney (HON), 8-8
Tanner Scott (HQV), 12-6
Dylan Rempel (KAW), 11-7
Austin Jones (YAM), 9-9
Sam Gaynor (GAS), 7-12

WMX

WMX TOP 10:

Eve Brodeur (GAS), 1-1
Jamie Astudillo (KTM), 2-2
Avrie Berry (YAM), 3-3
Amelie Croteau (HON), 4-4
Brittani Majcher (HON), 5-6
Brooke Merrow (HQV), 7-5
Kaylie Kayer (HQV), 6-7
Brook Greenlaw (KTM), 9-8
Ciel Ferguson (HQV), 8-9
Mikaila Beach (KTM), 11-11

NEXT RACE: July 16, 2023 - Ottawa, ON, Sand Del Lee MX

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ABOUT THE TRIPLE CROWN SERIES

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Media Contact:

Taylor Dressler

taylor@jetwerx.ca