By Todd Vallee
Todd Vallee is the official Flat Track Canada announcer and has been announcing motorsport events for over a decade. He has written for Inside Motorcycles for 12 years with roughly 120 articles combined in print and online. Happily married for 30 years, Todd is also a father of two, and very proud first time grandpa. Off the track, you can catch Todd riding his Suzuki SV650, watching racing or hockey, or travelling to a new destination.
With Trois-Rivieres being the closest race to Dave Pouliot’s hometown, there is no doubt that Pouliot gets amped up for the race at the Hippodrome 3R. Saturday night he proved just how amped up he was, when for the second year in a row he stood on top of the podium at the end of the night.
When the lights flashed green in the Open Expert final, it was fellow Quebec native Dominic Beaulac jumping into the lead. Riding a wave of momentum after taking the victory at Georgian Downs, Beaulac looked like he could make it two in a row early on as he would lead just over half the race. Pouliot had other ideas however and made his move to the front on lap 12. While Pouliot spent the next eight laps increasing the gap to the rest of the field, Henry Wiles was on a charge and with six laps to go Wiles got around Beaulac to take over second. The top three would remain in that order with Pouliot winning the race to the checkers in front of the approving crowd. About the same time Pouliot was taking over the
lead in the race, Brandon Seguin was passing his brother Tyler for fifth. With Dustin Brown finishing fourth and Tyler Seguin finishing sixth, there are now only a few points separating the two riders in the Championship chase as the series heads to Humberstone Speedway for the final round this weekend.
In the DTX final, fans on hand got a good look at the talent possessed by former AFT Production Twins Champ, Cory Texter. Long known for his good starts, it didn’t take the Pennsylvania native long to roar to the front and he would hold that position for the first couple of laps. Pouliot took a stab at the victory early on but would only lead one lap before Texter forced his way to the front once again. With Texter looking smooth and comfortable out front and Pouliot safely in second, it was Beaulac, in a rare appearance in the DTX class, holding on to third for the entire race. Tyler Seguin owned fourth place for a few laps but ultimately Wiles made his way past to finish just off the podium at the finish. As delighted
as fans were to see Quebec riders finish second and third, they were equally thrilled when Texter did a few donuts on the front straight after pulling off the victory.
In the Dash for Cash, Pouliot was hoping to take another victory in the quick four lap race that saw his dad Steve put up $2000 in prize money. For the first three laps the race belonged to Beaulac but then at the start of lap four Pouliot made a confident move to the front and never looked back leaving Beaulac to cross the line in second followed by Wiles in third.
Intermediate action was all Ryder Reese as the youngster dominated both finals while riding Texter’s DTX machine. In the DTX final there was a restart after a crash, but Reese was not affected by the drama as he would lead the race from start to finish. Luke Wilhelm would hold on to second for the duration but just behind him there was an absolute dogfight for third between speedster Liam Caskie and rookie Intermediate rider Loic Nadeau. Caskie held on to third for more than half the race but with just a few laps to go Nadeau made his move and held Caskie off for the rest of the race in an impressive Intermediate debut. The script was much the same in the Intermediate Open final as once again Reese would blitz the field and once again Nadeau and Caskie would slice and dice in an epic battle for the
runner-up position. Nadeau held on to second early on but on lap four Caskie pounced on Nadeau’s bobble and slid into second. Caskie would hold that position for six laps but Nadeau refused to fade and with three to go the rookie would take over second for good.
Quebec native Mateo Racine had an impressive night in the Novice class and was the first rider to the checkers in both the DTX and Open finals. Aaden Johnson would grab the lead early on in the DTX race but that lead would be short lived as Racine found himself at the front of the pack by lap two. While Johnson would hold on to second for the remainder of the race, third place was turning into a battle between Seth Little, Nathan Peacock and Zackary Wilhelm. Little held the position briefly but then on lap four both Peacock and Wilhelm made their way past the number 70 machine. Just one lap later Wilhelm would muscle past Peacock and would hold on to that position to round out the podium. In the Open Novice race Johnson would once again grab the early lead but it was short lived as just one lap later
Racine charged to the front on a machine borrowed from Intermediate frontrunner Felix Dandurand.
The final race of the 2023 Flat Track Canada season is this coming Saturday at Humberstone Speedway. For ticket information please visit flattrackcanada.com
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