Photo by James Lissimore
The Good And The Bad Well the good thing about Calgary was there was no rain! Being dry certainly makes for a better race day, but just like Calgary, everything for the Yamalube Schrader’s SMX Racing this past weekend was unpredictable. After Shawn Maffenbeier’s horrendous crash in Kamloops, no one was certain that he would be able to participate in Calgary. “After getting clearance from my doctor and having several massages before the race I felt that I could go out and at least try to salvage some points,” said Maffenbeier. “After a few laps in practice I was able to loosen up and get back the feel of the bike as I hadn’t rode all week.”
Photo by James Lissimore “My concern was that Shawn was healed and wouldn’t cause anymore damage to himself.” said owner/manager Randy Maffenbeier. “We were very encouraged by Shawn’s qualifying times and with a 7th place finish in moto one, we were very happy for him. The Yamalube Schrader’s Yamaha 450 is tuned so well and the SSS suspension keeps the bike tracking so smoothly that it enables Shawn to trust his equipment and enables him to concentrate on the riders around him.” Unfortunately moto 2 brought on a clutch issue right out of the gate. “I couldn’t watch him possibly have another crash after last weekend,” said Randy. “Some things are not worth the risk and I pulled him off the track. We’ll be prepared for Edmonton and be ready to finish the West off with some strong points.” Shawn finished 14th overall on the day and sits in 14th in the series.
Photo by James Lissimore Yamalube Schrader’s SMX Racing rider, Denaye Giroux was flying high in the second round of the Women’s Nationals this past weekend. Moto 1 had the speedster pulling away in the first few laps when she stuffed her front wheel into a deep muddy rut causing her to fall to the back of the pack. “I was really mad at myself for that mistake but I was able to get out and work my way back up to 4th.” Said Giroux. “ I hit another huge rut in that moto that caused me to do a superman and I came down pretty hard on the bike but managed to keep going.”
Photo by James Lissimore “Denaye came in after her first moto with a puncture wound just above her right hip. We had the medic personnel try to flush the wound and dress it and it was decided she would continue to ride the next moto.” Said owner/manager Jackie Maffenbeier. Denaye continued her charge in her second moto, flying high on her Yamalube Schrader’s 250F Yamaha. A second place finish in the moto gave Giroux a 3rd overall on the day and she now sits 2nd. Overall going into Edmonton. “I’m very impressed with Denaye’s drive and determination,” said Jackie. “ The puncture wound turned out to be much scarier and after Denaye took time to make prize handouts she then went to the hospital to get checked out. There several surgeons had to examine the wound as it was actually very deep and they ended cutting her open in order to examine her more thoroughly and keeping her overnight to make sure there were no complications. Denaye of course was complaining that it was all unnecessary and found the whole process more of a pain in the butt! She’s tough and she is ready to give it her all in the final round of the Western Women’s National this weekend in Edmonton.”
Photo by James Lissimore Shawn Robinson is tough as nails! After finishing his second moto last weekend in Kamloops, where he had his hand ripped off his bike by a sprinkler, this Yamalube MX101 Robinson Brothers Rider decided to tough it out through the swelling and bruising to race in Calgary. “I wanted and needed to be here,” said Robinson. “I’ve trained to hard and I know I can be a top rider and I want to prove it.” With a 17th in the first moto Shawn Robinson was not happy with his results. “I knew I could do better and with some strong visualization between motos I knew I was going to have a better race.” Robinson came out of the gates hard with a great start and ended up working himself into the top 10 with his best ever finish of 9th for a 12th overall on the day and 12th overall in the series. “We were finally able to convince Shawn R to go get x-rays on Monday morning.” Said the Maffenbeier’s. “It turns out that he has been riding with a broken hand that requires surgery. He has gone back to Gatineau Que. Where he will heal and we hope to have him join us back in the pits at Gopher Dune to continue his goals.”