By Brett Dailey and Allison Kennedy

Allison and I finally made the trek to the Riviere du Loup Arenacross. After hearing about the event for a number of years we decided that we better take in the experience. There are 17 American riders here and 34 pro riders trying to qualify for 14 spots in the main. The crowd is rather boisterous (not surprising) and Saturday night is supposed to be the good night! In Friday's race action, the KTM team swept both the 125 and Open podiums with Michael Willard, Johnny Montes and Marco Dube.

Johnny Montes gave me a hard time this week for eluding to the fact that he fell off the pace late in the race at Riverglade last weekend. Well, he sure proved me wrong last night! Montes fought through the pack in the Open main and used a crafty inside line to overtake Marco Dube on the final lap and take second place. The crowd loves Dube here but even the hometown crowd cheered for Montes when he was coming through the pack.

all photos by Allison Kennedy

Thirty four pros and only 14 spots in the main means aggressive racing.

Clint Shealy sure can ride arenacross. Speaking of aggressive riding, Shealy tried an inside move on Dube on the final lap of their qualifier and it turned into some fairly major contact. If there is one rider you should avoid messing with in RDL, it's Dube. The crowd can turn ugly when you go after their hero...

Ste Julie is only two weeks away and our MX2 East champion looks even faster than last year. Great starts got him out front and his corner speed kept him there. 

Dusty Klatt might be popular in Nanaimo but he doesn't hold a candle to the crowd's enthusiasm in Riviere du Loup. Marco has been coming to this race since he was a youngster and every motorsport fan within a three hour radius has Mother's Day weekend booked each year to see Marco.

see you at the races...