Wey wins Montreal Supercross

From the Supermotocross de Montreal

MONTREAL, QC - In front of a highly-charged crowd at the Olympic Stadium, veteran Yamaha rider Nick Wey from Michigan won the 33rd running of the Supermotocross Monster Energy presented by Coors Light and Parts Canada/Thor held Saturday night in Montréal. Two other American riders, Teddy Maier and Troy Adams, both on Kawasakis finished second and third.

But the MX2 finale really got the crowd on its feet as Quebec KTM rider Kaven Benoît won in spectacular fashion.

The featured class of the show, the MX1 category started the evening off with two qualifying heat races. In the first heat Wey led his Kawasaki first to the finish line ahead of fellow countryman and 2009 Supermotocross winner Jason Thomas (Suzuki) and Josh Demuth on a BMW.

Simon Homans of Sherbrooke, QC also qualified his Honda for the main event finale finishing ninth.

Matt Goerke (Yamaha) of Florida won the second qualifying heat ahead of 16-year-old Florida sensation Justin Starling (Honda) and New York rider Philip Nicoletti (KTM). Tim Tremblay from Lac Saint-Jean, QC finished fourth to move on to the evening finale.

The Endurocross class followed suit with American KTM rider Mike Brown quickest to negotiate the tough course to finish ahead of Kornel Nemeth (KTM) of Hungary and Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) of Poland. Quebec rider Guy Giroux brought his Husqvarna home in fourth place.

The last chance MX1 qualifying heat race enabled Benoît to shine as he led from the start to win with a seven-second lead. Marc-Antoine Généreux finished fourth. He also qualified his Kawasaki for the evening grand finale.

Following the MX1 last chance race, the ATV Quads took to the track for their two qualifying races with the first one going to Pennsylvania Can-Am rider John Natalie, while the second heat race was won by Quebec rider Jasmin Plante, who crossed the finish line ahead of his long-time rival Richard Pelchat of Lévis, QC.

Later that night in the ATV feature race, Natalie prevailed ahead of Pelchat and American Cody Miller. First out of the blocks, Plante fell off his ride in the first corner of the race, but continued at the rear of the field. Bobby Desjardins (KTM) of Ferme-Neuve, QC finished fourth.

The first evening grand finale, a 12-lap race, opposed the 25 Canadian MX2 riders who had qualified earlier in the afternoon, and it was Benoît of Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, QC who outclassed the field to win by a five-second margin over of Ontario rider Tyler Medaglia (Yamaha). Tremblay, who ran second for a while, brought his Kawasaki home in third place.

The Freestylers put on their circus act as the crowd cheered on their acrobatics. Charlie Pagès of France delighted the fans and won the 2010 contest ahead of local favourite Ben Milot of Yamachiche. Fans were also treated to the Double Back Flips performed by American Scott Murray.

The spectacular endurocross finale crowned 38-year-old American veteran Brown, who continued his domination on the rest of the field. The Midwest rider crossed the finish line with a lead of 17 seconds ahead of Nemeth and Oblucki. Best Quebec rider in EX was Giroux, who finished 10th.

The highlight of the 33rd running of the Supermotocross Monster Energy featured the MX1 class, and the crowd enjoyed a three-way fight for first place between Thomas, Wey and Demuth, who led several laps before falling back to sixth place at the finish.

Wey eventually held off the late race assaults of Teddy Maier, who charged to the forefront from his sixth place at the beginning of the race, to win his second career Montreal Supermotocross. Troy Adams of Florida went by Thomas on the last lap of the race to finish third. Best Quebec rider in the evening finale was Benoît (winner in MX2) who came in a distant 19th in MX1.