With another season of Arenacross racing upon us, the folks at Future West Promotions, with help from Winnipeg Sport & Leisure, brought rounds 1 & 2 of the 2006 Canadian Arenacross Championships to Winnipeg’s MTS Centre.

Report and photos by Doug Engstrom

One of Manitoba’s dedicated Moto Medics, Warren Alexander, looks out over another good crowd, here to see some of the finest AX riders Canada has to offer.

While a lot of the ticket holders were likely there to see the Pro classes, the heart of racing is the Amateur classes. Not to disappoint, a full schedule of Amateurs meant there was a little of everything for the discriminating fan.

We had everything from 50cc racing, where Dylan Williamson (72) applies the “rubbin is racin” principle to Wyatt Bayliss...

...to 125 Intermediate class racing, where Aaron Pfrimmer (32) leads the pack through the first rhythm section.

The Future West folks even had you covered if you needed more than two wheels per machine to enjoy the racing.  Here Jason Friesen (52) grabs a Pro ATV class holeshot.

Coming off his Victory in the MX2 class at the Montreal SX, Darcy Lange showed up in Winnipeg for one of his final rides for Richmond Kawasaki.  Lange is headed to the BooKoo Arenacross series to ride for Team Babbit’s Kawasaki.  Unlike last year’s appearance in Winnipeg where Lange appeared to be shaking off some rust, Lange was ready for battle from the drop of the gate this year.  Lange took the AX Lights mains on both Friday and Saturday, while he grabbed the AX Open main on Friday.  In Saturdays AX Open, the only moto Lange did not holeshot all weekend, he ended up taking the second step on the box.

Mototalk’s favorite privateer, Dennis Jonon, made the trek up from Kansas to ride a Stoneridge KTM. He rode with no numbers on Friday but Jonon got some help from Rob Gaudet at Image Plus and showed up with the familiar 436 on his KTM for Saturday. Consistency was the word of the weekend for Jonon as he finished seventh every time he left the gate on the weekend.

On Friday FXR’s Marco Dube showed that he was still prepared to mix it up at the front of the pack, hounding Lange for several laps. Dube ended Friday with two third place finishes. Saturday saw Dube hit the ground early in the AX Lights main. Dube was able to regroup for fourth, which matched his finish in the AX Open class on the day.

Dirt Wurx North? Actually it’s Grant Jobst. Grant and his son Colton of Grako Enterprises put in countless hours to prepare the track for the event.

Colton Facciotti grabs the holeshot in Saturday’s Final Pro race the AX Open main. Facciotti, riding a bike supplied by Headingley Sport Shop, looked impressive all weekend but could not catch Lange after watching Lange holeshot the previous three pro motos. Facciotti had a fourth in AX Lights on Friday and a second in AX Open. On Saturday, Facciotti once again was second to Lange in AX Lights before grabbing this holeshot and the victory in the shortened AX open main.

Kyle Cyr took to the gate at a serious horsepower disadvantage in the Youth class on Friday night.

Simon Homans made the trip to Winnipeg and left Friday night with a fifth in the Lights and a fourth in the Open class.  Saturday saw Homans finish fourth once again in the Lights class.

Kyle Beaton showed signs on the weekend that he’s ready to battle with Lange and Facciotti at the front of the pack.  Beaton put in a strong ride in Friday’s AX Lights main and was rewarded with a second place finish. Apparent bike troubles in the AX Open class left him with a fifth place finish on Friday. Saturday Beaton was once again right in the mix battling with Facciotti early in the Lights main before settling in for a solid third place finish.

Beaton and Homans were also the talk of the night on Saturday after a horrific crash led to an immediate red flag of the AX Open main.  Beaton clipped a lapper landing from a double and bounced into another lane of track right into Homans’ path causing a near head on crash. The force of the impact split the frame of Beaton’s bike in two. Beaton hobbled off the track with assistance from two people. Homans was carried off the track on a backboard and taken to hospital—he was alert when departing the arena.  Beaton also ended up going to the hospital on Saturday night for a precautionary check up. Beaton was contacted Sunday evening while in the Hospital visiting Homans and provided the following updates: Beaton is on crutches with no breaks found but will require an MRI when he returns to BC, while Homans has a broken collarbone, a severe concussion and other assorted bumps and bruises. Homans is still currently hospitalized for observation.

With all of the racers deeply concerned for their two downed comrades, it was very quickly decided the AX Open main would be called with results at the time of the red flag being final. As a thank you to the fans, all of the racers came out and threw down some whips or tricks over the catapult jump.  Hoyer quickly became the crowd favorite with a heelclicker and a no hander, while the other racers were tossing goggles to the fans.

See you at the races!