Fergusons head to Pilot Mound motocross race

The highest level of women’s motocross in Canada is coming to Manitoba this weekend.

The Triple Crown Series — which features North America’s top professional motorcycle riders racing in 20-minute motos across boggy terrains filled with sharp turns and jumps — is hosting Round 2 of its 2026 season at Prairie Hill MX in Pilot Mound on Sunday.

For Ciel Ferguson and her three younger sisters Ani, Katrine and Téa, a family from Ile-des-Chênes, but better known in the motocross world as Ferguson Racing, this competition means everything.

“The track in Pilot Mound is one of our home tracks, so we love this,” Ciel said ahead of the event. “We’ve grown up riding there, so I think it’s huge for the sport and for the local growth of the sport that this series is going to be coming to Manitoba.

“It’s not everyday you get to see this high level of racing and all these big names competing, so it’s honestly a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to come in and watch this event, so we’re all excited.”

This marks just the fifth time Triple Crown has made its way over to Friendly Manitoba, as Minnedosa debuted the event in 2018 and then again in 2019, while Pilot Mound also hosted in 2022 and 2024.

The annual competition holds eight rounds across three divisions — the 450 pro, 250 pro, and WMX (women’s) — and kicked off last weekend in Calgary, but will eventually end off in Walton, Ont., in mid-August, following more stops through Quebec and New Brunswick.

The sisters have taken part in pro nationals the last five seasons, however, Ferguson has watched from the sidelines for more than a year now after breaking her collarbone, four metacarpals in her hand, and suffering a brain bleed along with a few concussions during her racing career.

The 23-year-old has been beaten to a pulp, so instead of getting ready at the start line, she’s moved to a managerial role, handling sponsorships and media, and doing all the photography and videography for the races. Still, she’s just as excited for her sisters, who have lots to prove come Sunday.

Katrine, 19, became the first woman from Manitoba to win a championship in the Canadian WMX series after taking home first place in the Pro West Coast Nationals in Alberta last June. She’s hoping to defend her title and do so with a strong outing on home turf.

She currently sits in ninth place following last weekend’s performance, while sisters Téa (11th) and Ani (13th), who both finished in the top-seven last year, are not far behind. Florida’s Jordan Jarvis enters Round 2 in first thanks to a bronze performance in moto one and a gold in moto two.

“I think we’re all just so happy to be involved in the sport and represent Manitoba,” Ciel said. “There’s only one other pro motocross racer that’s won a championship from here (Rider McNabb), so for Kitty (Katrine) to also be representing Manitoba at her home track, defending her championship from last year is pretty exciting for us and exciting for the entire community.

“It can be an intimidating sport and you see all these people competing at such a high level, but don’t let that intimidate you. It’s such an amazing community and welcoming, especially for girls. It’s been a very, very male dominated sport so to also watch girls get introduced to it too, people are kind of figuring out that girls kind of kick ass too, so it’s pretty cool.

“It’s a very tight-knit grassroots community and even though it’s an individual sport, we’re all a team and a family in that sense.”

Manitoban motocross has slowly developed from a niche hobby into a thriving, family-centric sport and it’s only going to continue drawing more eyes with these types of events, Ciel added.

Other times, all it takes is a cool parent showing you the ropes when the other is away.

After all, that’s how Ferguson and her sisters got into motocross after their dad brought home a dirt bike one day while their mom was away.

It turns out that was arguably the best decision he ever could have made.

“He eventually just got us riding,” Ciel said. “It’s just been something super cool for us to be able to do as a family, I think that’s something we all really love about it.

“Honestly sport aside, our lives and our relationships with each other would be completely different if it wasn’t for motocross and racing together. We’ve grown up our entire lives battling with each other on the track, even at this national calibre, so we push each other a lot, which I think has been great for our careers and our personalities and just like life in general and it’s brought us really close.

“Being there in our highs and being there on our lows, sending off each other in the ambulances and stuff like that, we’ve had a lot of really big experiences together because of this sport and it’s so important to us, so I always encourage everyone to try it too.”

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