2023 Canadian Grands

The BMX Canada Grands went down over the weekend with another exciting 3 days of action in the Big Red Barn. When the main events rolled around, it was the Female Pro-Am that was first up, and Rift/Tangent’s RJ Barfoot finished off the season undefeated. RJ would win every lap throughout the season to secure the cup and the money.

In the Male Pro-Am, Alex Tougas had jumped out to an early point lead, but an injury would keep him sidelined for the latter part of the season. Many different amateur riders participated throughout the series, but it would come down to Taylor Otterson from Alberta and Mani Kawaguchi for the title. Those two had a great race in the main event, but it was Taylor Otterson for Remix who grabbed the lead into the first turn and never looked back. Congrats to Taylor on the win and the title!

Last year’s Girl Cruiser champ Makayla Brosius would come into the weekend leading the title chase this year, and she would win out to close out the season and lock up another #1 title for Factory Motofill. Congrats to Makayla on taking another title home to Victoria.

The Cruiser chase had Factory Bombshell’s Jhett Hickey grab the lead in 11 Cruiser with a dominating win in that class. That would set the stage for a showdown between the defending champ Darcy Glencross and Factory Motofill’s Hugo Donais – the World #7 rider from Victoria who had the lead coming into the Grands. Both island riders had a great start, but Darcy had the inside line into the first turn and down the second straight. They would bump in turn 2, and Hugo’s day would end there while Darcy grabbed the win. That meant the cup would be headed to Alberta with Jhett Hickey.

In the battle for the Girl's Cup, RJ Barfoot would have the point lead coming into the Grands. Halle Stocks would quickly grab the point lead for Factory LSG/Throdwn in 10 Girls Expert until the World #8 rider of Elle Foo-Donais ran wire-to-wire in the 11 Girls Expert class to assume the top spot. After that, all eyes were on the 15-16 class and Rift/Tangent’s RJ Barfoot from Nanaimo, BC. Once again, RJ would grab the early lead en route to another win on the season and a second cup to put the capstone on a perfect 2023 season!

Everyone knew that all eyes would be on the 11 Expert class for the Amateur Boys title, as they had the rider count to beat this weekend. In the 6 Expert class, Jasper Han would go wire-to-wire to grab the point lead for Alpha Factory. But, in the 11 Expert class, Jhett Hickey had two things going for him – rider count and the knowledge that he’d already won a title in Cruiser. The Factory Bombshell hotshoe from Alberta would get the holeshot and never look back – giving us our second “Champ-Champ” of the weekend. Congratulations to Jhett on an incredible 2023 BMX Canada National Series!

In the Title Team competition, it was Alpha Factory that had the targets on their backs all season long as the defending champs. That wouldn’t stop them from going undefeated for most of the season before finally being dethroned by Rift/Tangent at the Rattler Nationals. Factory Motofill would grab a win at the Vancouver Island Nationals as would Factory LSG/Throdwn. Another weekend of wins for Alpha Factory would net them their second cup in a row for Shane, Rebecca, and the rest of the team. Congrats to them on an amazing season!