Canadian Motorcycle Association Press Release
November 13, 2024
The Canadian National Trials Championship season opened and closed this past weekend at the Victoria Motorcycle Club property. Despite a rainy Saturday, almost 50 riders were on hand to try their chances on an expertly laid out course created by multi-time Canadian champion Ryon Bell, Matt Fracy, and Brandon Volk. To say that these fellas and their helpers did a massive amount of work is an understatement. The sections were amazing, and while challenging for the top classes, the scores were spot on, and the event (from course markings, volunteers, timing, and entertainment) was top notch.
In the top class (Championship – Trial 1), halving his competitors scores both days, Murphy Aaron (Gas Gas; Temecula, California), is the 2024 Canadian National Trials Champion. Coming in hot after a 2-1 finish in the Expert class of the last round of the AMA national series, Aaron showed he was more than a match for the slippery terrain that the VMC has to offer. After the event, he said “that was the hardest event I’ve ridden all year. Many of those sections were just as hard as the US national Pro lines, and those guys would have been taking points.” He also mentioned that the VMC was not only the slipperiest place he’s ever ridden, but definitely the most slippery place to ride in the world. Rounding out the top 3 in the Championship class are Brandon Volk (Vertigo; Victoria, BC), and Sean Bird (Scorpa; Port Coquitlam, BC). While Brandon held a bigger lead on Saturday (105.5-124), it was a close battle on Sunday with Sean only 3 points behind. Coming off a broken hand at the Trial des Nations this year, Bird definitely held his own against the younger Volk. This will be a battle to watch in the future, and also possibly a bromance if they’re both looking forward to the TdN in 2025.
The women’s top class, Women 1 – Sportsman, was only contested by Victoria’s own Melissa Andrist (Gas Gas), who beat several of her male counterparts. Back-to-back wins in this class earns Melissa another in a long line of CMA women’s championship titles.
The Trial 2 - Expert class proved to be the hardest class for skill level all weekend, being won on 100 points on Saturday and 65 points on Sunday. The CMA podium held steady on both days, with Alex Le (Vertigo; Squamish, BC) named the # 1 CMA Expert for 2024, followed by Andrew Watson (Montesa; Victoria, BC), and Rhys Hathoway (Vertigo; Victoria BC) in second and third. However, the event also included non-CMA riders, and on Sunday two single-day riders took 1st and 2nd in the class scoring. Nik Ferguson (Gas Gas; Victoria, BC), and Trevor Wince (Gas Gas; Duncan, BC) topped the podium, with Alex Le coming in third.
In Trial 3 – Sportsman, Ontario’s Aaron Wilkins (Beta) made the drive worth his while with a pair of wins and a CMA championship. While on Saturday he was tight to second place John Faa (Vertigo; Victoria, BC) with 52 and 59 points, on Sunday Wilkins pulled the lead out with a 19-to-53-point win. Faa was second both days for a CMA silver medal, and Brian McNeal (Gas Gas; Coquitlam, BC) was third in scoring both days. However, the CMA bronze medal was claimed by youngster Jake Eastman (Vertigo; Victoria, BC).
The terrain proved trickier for the Vet 3 – Senior Sportsman class, with Dave Nunn (Gas Gas; Victoria, BC) winning both days with 70 points on Saturday and 59 points on Sunday. Close second was Nanaimo’s Simon Kitchen (Beta), who fought a back injury on Sunday to finish the weekend strong. In third place was Ernie Ferguson (Vertigo; Victoria, BC) who unfortunately was only able to compete on Saturday due to injury.
The Trial 4 – Intermediate class saw a jump from two to five riders from Saturday to Sunday, but while the top two riders changed positions, they did remain at the top. Saturday’s win went to Ethan Maier (Beta; Portland, Oregon), with Shawn Steinbacher (Vertigo, Pennsylvania) coming in second. Sunday’s win went to Steinbacher, with Maier second, and local Mike Bullen (Gas Gas) rounding out the podium.
The Vet 4 – Senior Intermediate class was the largest class all weekend, with 11 riders on Saturday and 10 riders on Sunday. Closely challenged, the top two riders swapped spots each day. Saturday saw Stu Eastman (Vertigo; Victoria, BC) take the top spot over our most far-flung competitor Kevin Patterson (Vertigo) from Nova Scotia. Sunday saw Patterson in the top spot with Eastman only 2 points behind. In the series standings, Eastman is the CMA Vet 4 champion, with Patterson in the silver medal spot. The oldest competitor in the event at 84 years old, who was quite unimpressed with having to compete in a “young man’s class of only 50 years”, Bill de Garis (Vertigo; Port Moody, BC) rounded out the podium with 3rd place both days, and the CMA bronze medal.
The Women 2 – Intermediate class had an excitingly large turn out with 5 riders, and proved to be even more exciting with all the jockeying for position. Day one top spot (by 30 points) went to Alicia Lim (Vertigo; Victoria, BC), followed by Katie McGeachy (Beta; Vernon, BC), and Jaclyn Delacroix (Vertigo; Squamish, BC). Day two saw a mostly different podium with Delacroix in the top spot, followed by a consistent McGeachy, and new comer Emily Roberts (Beta; Golden, BC). The series championship was awarded to Delacriox in the top spot, McGeachy in second, and Lim taking third place.
The event this year was met with rave reviews: a few surprises (like the first time a CMA national has had a first loop time limit), a separate course for each day’s competition (which highlighted this group’s incredible hard work), and some spectator-friendly man-made sections. The event couldn’t run with out help from the massive volunteer force provided by the VMC… a well-manned scoring table (including CMA’s Holly Ralph), over 25 scorers each day, and of course the Clerks of the Course (Ryon Bell, Matt Fracy, and Brandon Volk) and crew who put in countless hours and weekends before the event even started.
The crew would like to thank a number of contributors: Victoria Motorcycle Club, True Line Contracting, H. Volk Transport, Cutter Industries, Stan Fry Cement Finishing, Moser Earth Works, Farhill Engineering, AAA Rebar, Willowleaf Holdings, Perrie Roofing, Landmark Sign, Langley Precast, Nichol Electric, Pacific Truss, Trio Redi Mix, Thetis Cove Joinery, Mototrials West, Captial City Paving, United Rentals, Northridge Excavating, FISHER Backhoe Services, Global Pro Systems, and Old Dart Management.
Thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers, and riders who made this event memorable.
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