The 2006 National season kicked off with an all-Canadian podium and some great racing in Ste Julie. Here are some top pics from the weekend.

Photos by Jason T. Griffiths and Allison Kennedy

Marco Dube was all smiles after picking up his holeshot cheque for the second MX1 moto. Dube went 10-8 for 8th overall.

Machine Racing Honda's Kyle Keast had some good rides last season, but his Ste Julie performance topped them all. Keast went 9-6 for 7th overall and made it clear that opting for an MX1 only season was the right call for the Lindsay, Ontario native.

Welcome Back: Richmond Racing Kawasaki's Darcy Lange made his return to Canadian racing with style and a pair of third place finishes. While Lange is running a few seconds behind the JSR/Klatt duo, he showed that his confidence and bike time are going to add up to podium finishes this season.

Dusty Klatt leads the pack over the first jump in the second MX1 moto.

John Dowd DNFd the second moto after finishing 6th in moto one.

16 or 161? John Dowd had to run #161 up north this year, but he still rode with the same skills that have made him a top-10 AMA regular. Dowd is filling in for an injured Keith Johnson on the OTSFF Suzuki team.

If Ste Julie was any indication, we are going to be seeing a lot of these two on the podium this season. 

OTSFF Suzuki’s Keith Johnson had hoped to be in the title hunt this season but National #4 found himself on the sidelines after breaking his leg at a local race just weeks before Ste Julie. Johnson made the trip to Ste Julie to help out with the team, and as painful as watching was, he did a great job of spurring on his teammates.

While JSR and Klatt were in a league of their own at Ste Julie, the competition in the MX1 class is deep.  It could be a whole different story in the sand at Gopher Dunes.

While JSR was able to keep Klatt at bay during Sunday’s motos, Saturday’s qualifiers featured the wheel-to-wheel battle that is sure to materialize a few times this season.

OTSFF Suzuki’s Gavin Gracyk settled for fourth overall with 4-5 motos. After running up front last season and picking up the #2 plate, Gracyk won’t be satisified until he’s battling for the lead.

Quebec’s Tim Tremblay turned heads in both the MX1 and MX2 classes all weekend. Tremblay went 16-17 for 16th overall in MX1 and 8-DNF for 14th in the MX2 class.

After an impressive season last year, Quebec’s Simon Homans earned national #6. Homans finished 9th overall with 8-10 motos, after a costly mistake on the last lap of the second moto knocked him out of the top five. Homans says he had trouble with fuel and he was actually running on fumes for the last bit of the second MX1 moto. Watch for Homans at the Dunes, he podiumed there last season.

Air Blair: that’s what his helmet says. Blair Morgan looks very happy and very comfortable being back on the Blackfoot team. After going 5-7 for sixth overall, Blair knows what he has to do to run with the top three. 

And here, Canadian moto-fans, is your first all-Canadian MX1 podium of the season.

Ryan Lockhart leads John Dowd during the second MX1 moto. Lockhart’s 11-9 finishes didn’t reflect his speed, and with good starts and some clean rides, Lockhart should better his 10th overall at the Dunes. Lockhart was running fifth in the first moto, before he tangled with Simon Homans and went down.  

Colton Facciotti went 7-4 for 5th overall. Facciotti is another up and coming Canadian who has opted to focus on the MX1 class only this year. 

Survival: The Ste Julie track got rougher and rutted as the day wore on. Here Kyle Keast takes the inside line as he chases down Simon Homans.