2019 Montreal Supercross | Race Report

2019 MONTREAL SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

For the second year following a brief hiatus, racing resumed at the Olympic Stadium with the 2019 Montreal Supercross. An event that dates back to the 1970s, the revamped race is now a part of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series that ties Arenacross, motocross, and Supercross together in a championship that runs throughout Canada for most of the year. Like the other major market Supercross races in the autumn months, Montreal’s promoters have no problem paying for a handful of US-based competitors to come mix it up for the weekend.

In a nod to Montreal’s history, the organizers brought back staple side acts like ATV and off-road buggy races. As one would expect, the four-wheel cars took a toll on the track and the rather mellow layout soon had hard pack and slick spots that required throttle control. How’d the three 450 races and two 250 races play out?

Dean Wilson was the man to beat. From the first practice to the last race of the night, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider stayed near the top of the running order, thanks to the fastest laps in both practice sessions, a hustle to the lead in Moto One, a spirited battle for third place with Justin Brayton in Moto Two, and an outright win in Moto Three. The 1-3-1 scores were more than enough for Wilson to nab the overall win, his first victory in quite some time.

Malcolm Stewart was the winner of Montreal in 2018 and many expected a similar performance from the SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda rider this time around, despite it being his first race since a broken femur in January. Plenty quick on the track, Stewart started the night with a second-place run in Moto One and claimed a crucial win in Moto Two. Unfortunately for Stewart, a crash at the start of Moto Three kept him from challenging Wilson for the key position to the overall and though he worked back to a fifth-place result, it was only enough for second overall.

For Justin Brayton this was the start to a run of events that’ll see him defend a championship in the Australian SX series, line up for the Geneva Supercross, and then the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series for Team Honda HRC. Although he was quick throughout the weekend and battled for key positions, Brayton didn’t record any wins. Instead, he improved with each gate drop and went 3-4-2 for third overall.

The Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series is sort of a championship within a championship because the points from the three separate disciplines are tallied together for a larger overall championship worth 100,000-dollars. Excellent riding in Arenacross and motocross has put Phil Nicoletti in control of the chase and he entered the weekend with a 25-point advantage over defending champion Cole Thompson. The Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha rider’s American Supercross experience certainly paid off in Montreal, as he claimed a pair of holeshots, led laps and went 4-2-3 in the trio of races. This put Nicoletti fourth overall on the night (Brayton’s better last Moto put the podium in his favor) and Thompson’s 5-9-6 scores allowed Nicoletti to tack two more points to his advantage with two rounds to go.

Matt Goerke, Cade Clason, Shawn Maffenbeier, Josh Cartwright, and Sammy Gaynor completed top-10, as the group exchanged spots five through ten in all three races. These will be important finishes for all when it comes to the final standings.

While the 450 class was about control and consistent, the 250 class was complete chaos. Jess Pettis was widely considered the top threat for the SX win, as the Red Bull KTM Canada rider has proven himself to be a worthy talent on the technical tracks, and he won the night’s first race by an impressive margin. The night, and maybe season as a whole, went awry when Pettis crashed with the pack at the start of Moto Two; he did not finish the race but instead was tended to by medics with a possible leg injury.

With Pettis out, the win was open for the taking. Luke Renzland aced the start and won by a nice margin, but a crash and ninth-place result in Moto One kept the Royal Distribution/MX101/Yamaha rider from getting the overall.

Dylan Wright was surprised to take the overall, considered the 5-2 finishes logged by the GDR Honda rider. That’s not to say that Wright lucked into the win; his laps were among the fastest in the field throughout the day, which is what one would expect from the newly crowned 250 MX champion.

There was some confusion around the final podium spot after the final Moto, as both Mathias Jorgenson and Westen Wrozyna tied with 10 total points. Initially, Jorgensen was awarded the spot thanks to 3-7 finishes, but officials soon realized that Wrozyna’s 6-4 finishes were technical better thanks to his second moto score and the podium was reset. We heard that there was another mixup at the end of the night regarding this, but did not hear a final outcome before our departure. Per the official results, Jorgenson was credited with the podium spot.