The Monster Energy Alpinestars Piller’s Kawasaki Race Team officially kicked off the 2019 season this past weekend in Abbotsford, BC, at the first round of the Arenacross Tour. The Abbotsford Centre was the host of a very challenging course. The freshly built indoor track was made of soft dirt and quickly became highly demanding for all the riders. None the less, both Kawasaki riders overcame the tough conditions and put on an amazing ride to finish the night on the podium.
In the 450 class, Matt Goerke started his day by setting the fastest time in both practice and qualifiers. His performance gave him a good confidence boost heading into the night show. Matt started his heat race near the front, to quickly get into the lead and never look back. He eventually crossed the finish line with an impressive lead over 2nd place, giving him first gate pick for the main event. Before the main, Matt lined up for the Clash for Cash race, in which he didn’t get the best start, leaving him mid pack. After a couple passes, he finished the Cash class in 2nd place, gaining some more points towards the championship, and got ready for the final race of the night. When the gate dropped for the 450 main event, Matt found himself in the leading pack. Unfortunately, a small crash with another rider set him back down to 7th place. It wasn’t over for Goerke, who despite not having a front brake anymore, got back on his bike and made his way through the riders to get right back into 2nd place within 5 laps. During the second half of the race, Matt tried to apply pressure for the lead multiple times, but ended up making some mistakes due to his lack of brake issue and the extreme track conditions, getting the checkered flag in 2nd place.
It is not a secret that the 250 riders had a harder time with the track’s utmost mushy state, but Tyler Medaglia did not let the course condition affect his highly anticipated return to the 250 class. After setting the fastest time in practice and 2nd fastest lap times in qualifiers, Tyler knew his place was in the front. He lined up for his heat race, got a top 3 start and started fighting for the lead right away. It was a tight three-way battle for the top position and Medaglia tried everything he could to make the move from 2nd to 1st, when he made a mistake setting him back to 3rd place. Tyler began his 250 main event from the back of the pack after a bad start. He quickly made some passes to find himself in 2nd place. As the race went on, Tyler got closer to the lead, but ran out of time and had to settle for a well-deserved 2nd place finish.
The Monster Energy Alpinestars Piller’s Kawasaki Race Team will now be traveling past the Rocky Mountains to Calgary, Alberta for round 2 of the Arenacross Tour this coming Saturday, April 13th.
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