GREGOIRE MICHAUD NITRO SXS CHAMPION

Travis Pastrana’s Nitro Rally-X eight-round 2022-2023 season visited the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, and had four stops in the USA – ERX Park (MN), Wild Horse Pass (AZ), and two rounds at California’s Glen Helen Raceway. At two Canadian rounds, there were side-by-side support-class races, and at each U.S. round, there were Nitro SxS class races featuring identically-prepared Rival Motorsports/Hess/EVP/Yokohama Maverick X3s. Crew chief Scottie Lawrence had a dozen Nitro SxS X3s at each round, and interested racers could buy into a weekend of racing including Friday practice and Saturday and Sunday timed practice, Heats, Semis, LCQs, and Finals. For $15,000 a round, racers got the arrive-and-drive treatment, including a custom X3 wrap with the racer’s name, number, and sponsors. Thus, the four U.S. NRX rounds became an eight-round Nitro SxS series within the NRX e-Rally and NEXT championships.

 

SIDE-BY-SIDES STEAL THE SHOW

At the first round at ERX Park, the Nitro SxS class pitted X-Games, Nitro Circus and Rally-X icon Travis Pastrana against fellow X-Game golden-boy and LOORRS Pro Light and Pro2 champ Brian Deegan. Australian and X-Games multi-champion Robbie Maddison, Brit Robin Shute, and Canadian Gregoire Michaud added international flavor, and the Nitro SxS roster also included skateboarder Leticia Bufoni and teenaged-sensation Ben Maier. Deegan drew first blood in Minnesota with Saturday’s win ahead of Michaud and Pastrana, and Travis fought back to win Sunday’s SxS final over Maier and Michaud. Sided-by-sides provided great racing both days at ERX, which will host the fifth and sixth Championship Off-Road 2023 rounds in mid-July.

UTV Action covered the third and fourth Nitro SxS rounds at SoCal’s Glen Helen Raceway, the longtime home of Lucas Oil Motocross and Off-Road Racing and later Great American Short-course series, so Pastrana and Deegan are heroes to Nitro Rally-X fans. The duo again put on epic battles, with Michaud in the mix as well. Pastrana was set to take Saturday’s SxS main, but Deegan put in an unbelievable last-lap charge to steal the win from Travis, as the crowd went nuts. Those three battled in every Sunday race, but Deegan was forced to sit out Sunday’s final restart, after he tangled with Bufoni and sustained cage damage. Pastrana went on to win ahead of Michaud and Maier.

Phoenix, Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass hosted the fifth and sixth Nitro SxS rounds, but neither Pastrana nor Deegan raced. Lawrence put on his fire suit and helmet, and he and Michaud battled for wins in the desert. Lawrence won Saturday’s SxS final ahead of Michaud and Amanda Sorenson (USA), but it was his turn for disaster on Sunday (9th). Michaud won on Sunday over Maier and Robin Shute.

NITRO RALLY-X LOS ANGELES FINALS

Pastrana sat out the Nitro SxS class at the finals, as he was fifth in NRX-e points and wanted to concentrate on that. The class line-up was Michaud, Sorenson, Lawrence, Maier, Bufoni, Team Can-Am athlete Sara Price, and Demi Bagby, who rolled her X3 and totaled it early on. Michaud and Lawrence battled in almost every race over finals weekend except in Saturday’s Heat, when he and Maier both were laps down. Scottie bounced back in the Semi, finishing behind Michaud and in front of Maier. In Saturday’s Nitro SxS Final, Michaud won by less than a second over Lawrence with Maier third and Price fourth.

Now with two wins under his fire suit, Michaud was on fire for the series final round. He won the Heat by 11.609 seconds over Lawrence with Price less than a second behind Scottie. Lawrence closed the gap down to 2.5 seconds in the Semi with Price less than a second behind. In the Final, Gregoire led wire to wire and was 4.573 seconds ahead of Scottie at the checkers with Sara 5.841 seconds behind the new champ.

The only racers to compete in all eight Nitro SxS rounds were Michaud, Maier, and Bufoni, so they filled out the championship podium on Sunday, with Pastrana fourth and Deegan fifth. Lawrence’s four rounds netted him seventh in the series, and Price’s two-round weekend earned her tenth in series points. Dirt Wheels asked Lawrence if he was going to field Nitro SxS spec X3s for the U.S. 2023-2024 Nitro Rally-X series, and he said, “That’s the plan.” Check out www.nitrorallycross.com for more information and series news.

RESULTS: NITRO SXS FINALS

Saturday, Rd7:

1. Gregoire Michaud…C-A
2. Scottie Lawrence…C-A
3. Ben Maier…C-A
4. Sara Price…C-A
5. Leticia Bufoni…C-A
6. Amanda Sorenson…C-A

Sunday, Rd8:

1. Gregoire Michaud…C-A
2. Scottie Lawrence…C-A
3. Sara Price…C-A
4. Amanda Sorenson…C-A
5. Leticia Bufoni…C-A
6. Ben Maier…C-A

FINAL POINTS/WINS: NITRO SXS

1. Gregoire Michaud/C-A…490/3

2.. Ben Maier/C-A…345

3. Leticia Bufoni/C-A…263
4. Travis Pastrana/C-A…243/2
5. Brain Deegan/C-A…218/2
6. Robin Shute/C-A…189
7. Scottie Lawrence/C-A…187/1
8. Lia Block/C-A…140
9. Amanda Sorenson/C-A…135
10. Sara Price/C-A…99