After a two-week break in the CMRC Canadian Championship schedule, Round 5 kicked off the eastern leg of the series on Saturday, July 14th, in the heavy sands of Gopher Dunes Raceway in Courtland, ON.

In hot, humid weather, on one of the roughest and toughest racks in Canada, Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha’s Bobby Kiniry picked up where he left off out west by delivering another strong ride in the premier MX1 class  

With 2-3 moto results, Kiniry claimed second overall on the day, further strengthening his hold on second place in the title hunt and staying in contention for the crown with four rounds left on the calendar.

Kiniry’s teammate Richard Grey lived up to expectations to record an impressive ride at Gopher Dunes, claiming fifth overall on the strength of 9-5 motos in the volatile MX2 class.  Grey’s performance saw him move one position ahead in the points chase to now hold down 10th in the current rankings.

Despite starting outside the top 10 in both MX1 motos, an undaunted Kiniry did excellent damage control by unleashing his YZ450F and putting himself into the top three for two podium finishes.
In the first moto, Kiniry kept his head down and gradually but relentlessly picked off rider after rider, making his way into second place and finishing there behind archrival in the series Matt Goerke.
The second moto proved to be a similar situation, with Kiniry rounding the first turn around 14th place. Again he sliced and diced his way into the top five, running in fourth for a number of laps, chasing down Dusty Klatt towards the end of the moto and sticking a pass on him to grab third at the checkered flag.

“The weather definitely made it a very physically demanding day on a track that wears you down even when temperatures are ideal. Getting unfavourable starts didn’t help my cause any today, but I knew I had to stay focused and count on my condition and experience to get the job done. Having the reliability and power of the YZ450 at my disposal certainly helped,” Kiniry said.

In the MX2 class, Grey stepped up to the plate to hammer down his best results of the season to date. After the western rounds—which were a first for him in his pro career—Grey was looking forward to returning to more familiar territory and it showed in his attitude and confidence.
The first moto saw Grey nail down a 12th place start, which he then set out to exchange for seventh on his YZ250F by the time the checkered flag signalled the end of the gruelling race.
Unfortunately he was docked two positions by track officials, due to a rule infraction. Despite some controversy and a team protest regarding the call, the penalty stuck.    

In the second moto, Grey kept his cool, got a sixth place start and rode out the race in fifth place. He staunchly defended the position from all challengers, claiming fifth overall on the day for his efforts.
“My goal was to finish top five overall and that was the case, so I’m happy about that. I wasn’t happy about the penalty, but that’s racing. My bike ran awesome and the team did a great job as always, to make sure I would have a trouble-free day,” Grey said.

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