Honda Canada Racing Presents the Canadian AX Report

This weeks Canadian AX Report is brought to you by Honda Canada Racing. For the next six weeks, Honda Canada Racing will be bringing you a report as the sport of AX takes over the Western part of this country. This weeks report from Round 1 of the Future West AX Championships was sent to us by Brent Worrall, with photos by James Lissimore. This weekend the Future West Series, and the AX Tour Series combine forces for what is sure to be an incredible night of racing in Penticton, BC.

The gate dropped this past weekend on the opening two rounds in the small North Okanagan community of Armstrong BC. The opening weekend’s action was supported by 440 race entries over the two nights of action. At the top level there was no shortage of high profile talent that showed up in quest of all of the 2016 Future West Moto bragging rights and gold. To put it into perspective, we had 5 top 10 ranked riders in the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals in attendance as well as two riders ranked in top 100 of the AMA.

The rider who absolutely stole the show was none other than up and coming fast guy, Prince George, B.C. native and MX-101’s Jess Pettis. Pettis ran the table at the top level and went home a perfect 4 for 4. Jess got amazing starts on his way to the Lites and Pro Open main event scores both nights. The only hiccup was a bit of a get together with RTR Performance’s Shawn Maffenbeier. Maff rode solid at the opener and collected two main event second place scores on the opening night. The race surface was very compact and slick and saw many riders make the type of contact we race fans come to appreciate indoors. Reigning 5-time Future West Arenacross Champion, Cycle North’s Ross Johnson, was one such rider that was on the receiving end of a solid block pass by CMRC Nationally ranked #8 Keylan Meston. Johnson found his groove Saturday night hitting the podium and will be a force to be reckoned with as this series moves forward.

With a total of 18 top level riders, which included AMA ranked #59 Noah McConahay and #87 Chris Howell and many others, this series promises to be a beauty. Noah McConahay took home a sizeable chunk of change by winning the highly entertaining Dash for Cash both nights. Future West gets together this upcoming weekend with the AX-Tour in Penticton B.C., and it promises to be one of the best Arenacross events this country has seen. How will the likes of Jess Pettis, Shawn Maffenbeier, Noah McConahay, Ross Johnson, Davey Fraser, Ryan Lockhart and others stack up with the cream of the crop of the AX Tour? You guessed it, I cannot wait to be in attendance this weekend at Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre. It will be a beauty. If you are anywhere in the Western part of this country, you need to be there as this racing has to be experienced firsthand to be appreciated. See you in Penticton friends, Saturday night only. Here are the results from Round 1 in Armstrong, BC.

Friday Night:

Open Pro

1. Jess Pettis
2. Shawn Maffenbeier
3. Noah McConahy
4. Ryan Lockhart
5. Ross Johnson

Lites:

1. Jess Pettis
2. Ross Johnson
3. Chris Howell
4. Ryeley Gallup
5. Sebastien Lave

Saturday Night

Open Pro:

1. Jess Pettis
2. Chris Howell
3. Ross Johnson
4. Noah McConahy
5. Keylan Meston

Lites:

1. Jess Pettis
2. Noah McConahy
3. Shawn Maffenbeier
4. Ross Johnson
5. Chris Howell