Here in Dubuque, it was the Amsoil Snowcross Round 2 of the AMSOIL 2022 championship and the Quebecers shined, mainly the two Quebec members of the Warnert Racing team Francis Pelletier and Jordan Lebel, in their respective classes.
Between the two days of racing, the circuit was completely modified. On Friday, the winding track alternated between tight turns and bumps. On Saturday, the track had returned to its traditional configuration with an oval interspersed with obstacles. Francis Pelletier #220 had a clear round, mastering both types of tracks. In the Pro class, on Friday, he took the holeshot, soon to be overtaken by Oskar Norum (Polaris), who was thrown off in the jumps. Pelletier was able to break away to take the solo victory.
On Saturday, Elias Ishoel, the winner of last week, fell and lost his chances. Hunter Patenaude took the second position. Francis Pelletier is the big winner of this round. He is in third place in the provisional championship standings.
In this class, we note the serious accident that affected Lincoln Lemieux. He was hit by a snowmobile that landed on him. He has a punctured lung, several fractured ribs and vertebrae. The entire community wishes him a speedy recovery.
In Pro-Lite, rookie Jordan Lebel #511 won the finals on Friday and Saturday. He won everything in both rounds, four finals in a row!
On Friday, the elder Lebel made a blistering start and took the lead from the first corner. He didn’t leave that position until the checkered flag. “I had a great start, so that helped me a lot,” he said. “I was just trying to hold my lines and get some that were a little bit faster. I got a couple of (fast) lines and then I just stayed there.”
On Saturday, the Chicoutimi driver used an outside line from the start to take the lead. He had Nick Lorenz on the inside, but Lebel was able to open up a gap on him after a few laps. Then, at the halfway point, a red flag came out, which allowed the field to regroup and start single file. Although Lebel was able to hold on to his lead, it caused a momentary pause before the Ski-Doo driver took the lead and cruised to his fourth consecutive win.
“On the first start, I had to start on the outside and I didn’t move. On the second start, they cleaned the track after we stopped, so I didn’t know where to go. I just kept my line from before the stop and it wasn’t good at all. Nick almost got me, but I was able to stay there and it was fine.”
Jordan Lebel leads the Pro Lite championship after the second weekend of racing.
In the PRO WOMEN category, we were following Naeli Lebel # 518 who was in second place after the first day in Shakopee (Mn). But the 14 year old athlete doesn’t want to be compared to Megan Brodeur. For now she is learning in the highest female category. On Friday she placed 5th and finished the Saturday final in 8th place. She is fifth in the championship in a class with 15 drivers.
In Sport Lite, William Coté #211 had finished at the top of the class at the first event in Minnesota, but he didn’t have such great results for the two days of racing in Dubuque. He finished 11th on Friday and 14th on Saturday. Newcomer Yann Baril #14 from Quebec finished 9th in the class twice.
In the PRO AM PLUS 30 class, there were four Quebecers registered. Maxime Bellerive and Seth Engle had a great battle at the halfway point. The two drivers exchanged places and trajectories before Maxime found a better line and took the second place. Francis Tremblay finished in 6th place while Frederick Godcher and Gaby Tetreault #55 took 9th and 10th place respectively.
With the SPORT, Jeremy Beaulieu #122 from Quebec did everything he could to challenge Adam Ashline, the strong man this season, before finishing second, his first podium this year, on Saturday. Nathan Mailloux #111 did not make it to the two finals of the weekend.
The races are visible on the floracing.com application
The third round takes place on January 28/29 in Deadwood, South Dakota.
