After a memorable battle for the championship in the Women’s division last year that saw Jazzmyn Canfield take the title, this class was one of the most anticipated for the 2020 event. With Canfield out with injury, the door is open for her primary rivals from a summer ago, Team SBG Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Online Kawasaki’s Jordan Jarvis and Newground Husqvarna’s Hannah Hodges, to take home the vacant crown.
As expected, the opening Women’s moto came down to these two exceptional competitors. Hodges was able to edge out Jarvis for the STACYC Holeshot, but Jarvis jumped out to the lead on the opening lap. The two were separated by mere bike lengths early on, with KTM Orange Brigade’s Tayler Allred right behind in third. With a clear track ahead of her, Jarvis inched away from Hodges.
Jarvis brought home the opening moto victory by 19 seconds over Hodges, with Allred third.
The Supermini 2 class is another division with deep talent throughout, spearheaded by Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Ryder Difrancesco in addition to his fellow Team Green rider Gavin Towers, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Evan Ferry, and EBR Performance KTM’s Benjamin Garib.
When racing got underway for the first moto, each of these riders assumed their positions at the head of the pack, with Garib prevailing with the STACYC Holeshot.
Even with the early advantage, Garib couldn’t hold off the Kawasaki’s of Towers and Difrancensco, who both made their way around. Towers’ hold on the lead was brief, as Difrancesco made the pass stick before lap two and never looked back.
Difrancesco cruised to the Moto 1 win by nearly 13 seconds over Ferry, while Towers held on for third.
As a member of one of the motorsports world’s most successful racing families in recent years, it’s not a surprise to see that Haiden Deegan is ready to leave his mark on amateur motocross. The KTM Orange Brigade rider couldn’t have asked for a better start to the week, where he’s well on his way to continuing what’s become a flourishing career.
Deegan raced twice on Tuesday, in both the Mini Sr. 1 and Mini Sr. 2 classes, and was nearly perfect in each. Even though the STACYC Holeshots went to Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Krystian Janik (Mini Sr. 1) and KTM rider Thomas Wood (Mini Sr. 2), Deegan led every single lap in each moto en route to a pair of moto wins, both by double-digit margins.
Following Deegan across the line in both motos was Triangle Cycles/bLU cRU/Yamaha’s Logan Best in second and Janik in third.
The smaller displacements are where the early stages of rider progression are displayed, and for the 65cc (10-11) Limited class all attention was centered on KTM Orange Brigade’s Seth Dennis and Yamaha/Rock River/bLU cRU Amateur Motocross Team rider Canyon Richards coming into the week. Even with the pressure to succeed, both riders responded with impressive poise.
Out of the gate, it was KTM rider Deacon Denno who made the first statement with the STACYC Holeshot, but Dennis made the pass for the lead on the opening lap and asserted himself out front. Denno held onto second briefly, but Richards soon found his way into the runner-up spot and gave chase to Dennis. The lead duo mirrored one another in lap times for most of the moto, until a late surge by Dennis helped carry him to a victory of nearly 11 seconds over Richards, while Denno parlayed his holeshot into a podium result in third.