Monday November 11, 2012. St-Bruno, QC – Four weeks ago, it was Factory KTM’s Jeremy Medaglia flying west and mixing it up with the BC arenacross regulars. This past weekend in Chilliwack, another top KTM racer, Kaven Benoit, went toe-to-toe with Canada’s best indoor riders at Round 5 of the KTM Canadian AX Championships!
New to the series, but not new to indoor racing, Benoit felt comfortable right away on the tight and technical Chilliwack track. Maple Ridge Motorsports had loaned the Quebec native a 2013 250 SX-F. Despite limited time on the new steed, Benoit was putting in some of the fastest laps in Friday’s Pro practice. Qualifying went well for Benoit and he was looking like a real threat for a win in the Pro Am or Open Pro finals.
Although well known for being one of the best starters in Canadian motocross, Benoit was lost his touch on the Chilliwack gate and was forced to really work for his results.
The Pro Am final didn’t go quite well, with Benoit taking fifth after a bad start and mid-race mistake. He show resilience however, as the French Canadian bounced back for a second-place in Open Pro. “It was an okay night,” says Benoit. “On Friday we used my supercross suspension, which is too stiff for these conditions so we softened things up on Saturday.”
On Saturday, Benoit continued laying down fast laps; his only goal though was for good starts and an opportunity to at least battle for the win. Sadly, things wouldn’t go his way. “I made too many mistakes trying to pass riders after getting bad starts,” said a disappointed Benoit. “I guess sometimes everything can’t go your way. I hope that I will be here again though. I had fun, the racing was good and I appreciate the guys at Maple Ridge KTM for helping me out.”
To some consolation, Saturday evening Benoit win the well-paying, head-to-head ‘Dash for Cash,’ taking home a cool $440! Congrats to American Jake Anstett, who finished second in the Open Pro final on Saturday night, and also to KTM racers, Kirk Haws and Dylan Delaplace, who rode hard to top-10 scores in Pro.
The KTM Canadian Arenacross Championships now take a break until January 18-19, when the series resumes in Chilliwack, BC. Please visit http://arenacross.ca for all of the info. For updates on all KTM racers, please follow @ktm_canada on Twitter or become a Fan of KTM’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KTMCANADA