Nick Evennou Arenacross First Laps

Much of the time, when you see a video of a Dirt Rider test rider doing his thing on the racetrack, he looks comfortable and loose. While that's typically the case, things don't always start out that way—especially if a track is as technical as the Amsoil Arenacross course inside of the Citizen's Business Bank Arena in Ontario. The DR test team recently conducted a multi-bike test here, and while our guys dialed in the course fairly readily after a few minutes, the first few laps weren't 100% perfect. In this video, we take you onboard with test rider Nick Evennou—a tremendously talented racer—as he completes his first few laps around the tricky AX course. Watching Nick get on Jace Owen's Honda CRF250R for the very first time and then go huck these jumps is humbling; there is little room for error, and virtually zero time to get used to the bike. As you'll see, Evennou had a slightly scary misstep on his second lap, but fortunately this was the worst of what was otherwise an extremely successful test day.

A few little Easter Eggs for you hardcore Dirt Rider fans: the man talking into Evennou's GoPro Sessions camera at the beginning of the video is none other than Associate Editor Sean Klinger. As Nick rides down the ramp toward the tunnel, you'll see our other Associate Editor, Pete Peterson, snap a pic of Evennou. Just as Nick enters the Arena, photographer Justin Kosman is standing inside the tunnel to the right. Also on the track with Nick were DR Editors Chris Denison (blue gear) and Kris Keefer (red gear), along with test rider Tyler Enticknap (yellow gear).

We have a massive video coming from this test day, along with a full test of these machines in our July 2016 issue. Check it out, and enjoy this vid!