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M O T O C R O S S P E R F O R M A N C E // V O L U M E 1 6 , I S S U E 3
MX P C O N T E N T S
CANADIAN RIDERS BATTLE ON THE HOME FRONT
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F E AT U R E S
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58
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SANDS THROUGH THE HOUR GL ASS Mike McGill looks back at Gopher Dunes
THE BEST OF THE WEST Brent Worrall takes us through the MX1 battle out west
STICKING TOGETHER Mike Alessi and Vince Friese are together once again
30 DAYS AROUND MY MOTOCROSS WORLD IN
Palms recounts his busy month of June
1 0 M O T O C R O S S P E R F O R M A N C E · M X P M A G . C O M
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COLUMNS 22
FA M O U S L A S T W O R D S
Natural Talent
24
GUEST COLUMN
Forward Focus
26
UPSHIFT
by Chris Pomeroy
WIT H BREN T WORRAL L
BY BRIAN KOS T ER
Rockstar Summer
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E V O LV E D N U T R I T I O N BY DREW ROBERT SON
Mentally Sharp
96
INSIDE LINE
Orange Domination
98
FROM THE DESK
Positive Thoughts
WIT H AND Y WHIT E
O F M A R K S T A L LY B R A S S
SPECIALS 12 18 90
EXPOSED CAUGHT ON CA MER A GEARING UP
52 THE RIVIERE DU LOUP ARENAC ROSS A look at the best little race in Canada
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74
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FIRST RIDE: 2 017 H U S Q VA R N A T WO -STROKES Palms burns some pre-mix in California
THE MANY FIRSTS OF LEXI PECHOUT Sierra Roth profiles this incredible talent
T H E 2 N D A N N UA L GR AND PRIX DE MUD Lawrence Hacking’s event takes two
M X P C H AT T E R : BL AIR MORGAN Palms sits down with Superman himself
THE BIKES OF T H E S TA R S James Lissimore gives us an up close look at our factory machines
PHOTOS BY JAMES LISSIMORE
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DOWNTOWN P L AY G R O U N D Photo by James Lissimore
EXPOSED Morgan Burger flies past the Calgary skyscrapers at the most scenic track in Canada.
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UPSIDE DOWN Photo by James Lissimore
EXPOSED Canadian FMX rider Kyle Demelo shows that he’s not afraid to take a look at the world from a different perspective.
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CANADIAN MOTO SHOW
STARRING
Brent Worrall
the chair on the air Wednesday Nights, 6pm www.canadianmotoshow.com
MXP MAGAZINE
THE
MOTOCROSS PERFORMANCE VOLUME 16 ISSUE 3
FOR SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES CALL SUBSCRIPTIONS: 416-635-MXP1 PUBLISHER: Charles Stancer/Mark Stallybrass V.P. OF SALES AND MARKETING: Charles Stancer EDITOR: Chris Pomeroy SALES MANAGER: Al Jaggard SENIOR WRITERS: Brian Koster, Brent Worrall STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: James Lissimore
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Mike McGill, Brent Worrall, James Lissimore, Craig Stevenson, Drew Robertson, Brian Koster, Bobby Kiniry, Danny Brault, Virgil Knapp, Leticia Cline, Andy White CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Virgil Knapp, Randy Wiebe, David Pinkman, Clayton Racicot, James Lissimore, Steve Dutcheshen, Frank Hoppen, Bill Petro, Matt Wellumson, Dan Stenning, Tyler Spikman COVER PHOTO: James Lissimore
MXP has the exclusive rights to the CMRC’s mailing list of racing license holders. Every CMRC license holder from coast to coast receives and reads each issue of MXP. In addition to this exclusive list of readers, we are partnered with several motocross and offroad enthusiast organizations across the country. TEL: 416-633-1202 Email: charles@mxpmag.com Online: www.mxpmag.com
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Left: Brett Metcalfe gets everything just right before his second moto win at Gopher Dunes.
Above: Despite a tough start to the MX2 series, Maffenbeier is obviously still well supported.
Below: Tyler Medaglia buys ice cream for his entire team after a hot day at Gopher Dunes.
Below: Cole and JSR strike a pose in KTM’s cold weather jackets.
Above: One of the little Schusters just loves it at the track.
Above: Hopefully Jeremy is asking Colton for some advice.
Left: The entire Thompson family gets in on the celebration after Gopher Dunes.
Right: Frenchie tells Alessi to be smooth on the track.
Below: More beautiful scenery from the east coast.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Below: It was great to see Dan O’Reilly getting some sun at Gopher Dunes.
P HO T O S BY JA ME S L IS S IMOR E A ND M X P S TA F F
Right: Unfortunately, Adam Turner hasn’t been very busy in 2016.
Above: Millsaps feels the pain at the roughest track in Canada.
Left: Derek Schuster keeps an eye on his new property.
Left: The Canadian Nationals have some of the best scenery in the world.
Right: Orange and red as far as the eye can see under the KTM tent.
1 8 M O T O C R O S S P E R F O R M A N C E · M X P M A G . C O M
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Left: Mark Worth’s dad goes over lap times with his son’s team. Right: Kourtney Lloyd gathers up stuff for Italy.
Below: Drew Roberts knows exactly what to do on the podium.
Above: Millsaps celebrates Father’s Day the right way with a win in Calgary.
Below: It’s safe to say that the fans in Regina love it when motocross comes to town.
Above: Steve Simms gets to hold the best trophy after his rider won at Gopher Dunes.
Below: Donk shows that the bubbly isn’t just for his rider.
Above: Kaven’s better half makes sure he listens at riders meeting.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
Right: Daryl Murphy shows Maffenbeier how he should jump in Regina.
P HO T O S BY JA ME S L IS S IMOR E A ND M X P S TA F F
Left: Kevin Tyler is the bearer of bad news at the final western round.
Above: Keagan Facciotti gets ready to show daddy how to play in the sand.
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FA M O US L A S T WO R DS W I T H C H R I S P O M EROY
NATUR AL TALENT
s it just me or does it sometime appear like our society is bogging down faster than an old 125 in the sand? While I was sitting down to compose this column, a few kids walked across my front lawn with their heads buried in their phones looking for Pokeman. This new Pokeman app is currently sweeping not just our nation but nations all over the globe. I know this was (supposedly) created with the good intention of trying to get kids outdoors, but is this really what it takes to get kids of today outside? I suppose there are worst things that could happen to kids, however, coming from a guy who spent his entire youth outside and my biggest fad as a kid was the Rubik’s Cube, this Pokeman thing is a little hard to believe. Anyway, thankfully, for better or worse, we have the sport of motocross to keep us busy. As you will read later in this issue, the last few weeks for me have been extremely busy traveling around North America. Yes, it was a very tiring month without a doubt, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. As I think back to some of the cool things I’ve seen in person, I’m still amazed. One thing about today’s world is that we can easily watch events either on television or on our phones, but we sometimes forget just how cool it is to witness something in person. For instance, I hope that everyone has a chance this summer to get out to a round of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals and watch the racing live. I mean, as cool as the new Conx2share Live Streaming has been, to see these riders in person is pretty incredible. Coming into the 2016 national series, everyone knew that KTM’s new gun for hire, Davi Millsaps, would be very fast. You don’t win a title in the USA and multiple 450 SX main events if you don’t know how to ride a dirt bike. Also, with Millsaps’ incredible natural talent, I assumed that learning our tracks would be no issue for him. You see, one of the inherent qualities that riders
I
“This was defini ely put on display in the opening rounds of the MX1 series as Millsaps did just about everything quickly.” with natural talent have is the ability to learn tracks fast and to adapt to changing conditions. This was definitely put on display in the opening rounds of the MX1 series as Millsaps did just about everything quickly. The new tracks were no issue for him, especially in the second motos where he went undefeated out west; his willingness to be aggressive and make things happen was unmatched throughout the first eight motos. For the lucky fans in attendance, we were all treated to what it was like to watch one of the best riders in the world race on our tracks. No television, cell phone or tablet can replicate just how fast Millsaps was out west. Now in saying that, I think the rest of the MX1 riders deserve a ton of credit for how they’ve adapted as the series has now moved east. As I sit here and write this, we’ve completed two eastern rounds, Millsaps has yet to win a moto and appears to be struggling a little. Riders like Matt Goerke, Brett Metcalfe and even rookie Kaven Benoit are using their love of the eastern tracks to lead and win races. With rough tracks and long travel days ahead for some of the stars of our series, I’m predicting two things. First, I believe the points battle will go down to the final round in Barrie, and two, Kaven Benoit has a moto win coming to him in the near future. From the seasoned pro riders, I would like to switch gears to our up and coming young stars. I’ve been around this sport a long time and can honestly say that the current crop of young riders
has never been better in this country. Riders like Marco Cannella, Tanner Ward, Austin Watling and Casey Keast are faster and better prepared for the pro class than ever before. During the first four pro rounds out west we saw Casey Keast run as high as 5th in a few MX2 motos. In the east, all of the top Intermediates are Loretta Lynn’s bound so we may not get to see any try to qualify for a pro national until the final round in Barrie. Looking to the future, these talented Canadian riders need a place to go once they turn pro next year and beyond. Yes, we still need the Millsapses and Metcalfes to headline the MX1 class, but we also need one or two teams to open their doors with some solid support for this up and coming crop of rookies. Not just bikes, parts and some expense money, but all of the above and a support truck at the races every weekend for these kids; something that both eases the burden of their parents, as well as gives these kids some guidance to help make their first few seasons in the pro class a little smoother. With four very fast and talented Intermediate riders ready to turn pro in 2017, I believe the time is now to try to make this happen. In closing, this issue of MXP Magazine has a little bit of everything in it. From a very cool sit down with the legendary Blair Morgan to the history of Gopher Dunes from our historian Mike McGill, there is a story for everyone. I hope the summer of 2016 is going great for all of you. Please be safe and I’ll see you (outdoors) at the races.
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GUEST COLUMN WITH BRENT WORR ALL P HOTOS BY JA MES LISSIMORE
FORWARD FOCUS
O
nce again, another season of high flying racing action is upon us and it has reached the midway mark in the blink of an eye. It seems just like yesterday, when I, like many of you, was counting down the days to the first gate drop of the season of our Rockstar Energy Drink National MX Nationals. I will be the first to admit that there is absolutely nothing to me that compares to being trackside when the first gate drops on a new set of opportunities for all lined up. With the depth of this year’s field in both classes, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that race fans would be getting their money’s worth. The major players involved in this series, from the title sponsor down, have shown us through their financial commitment to succeed that winning one of these titles and hitting the podium regularly is in fact a big deal. As a race fan of almost every single individual who has excelled to the point where they are able to line up at such an event, I am never short of reasons to cheer. I have been around this sport for many years and have seen it evolve on many different levels, some good, some not so good. Being one who has experienced every raw emotion with this sport’s highs and lows, I would like to think my current concerns are legitimate and will not fall on deaf ears. Keep in mind I am always quick to find the silver lining in almost every situation and focus on the positives. Living severely challenged on many levels since my 2011 life changing injury warrants that I roll no other way. Now that I have put my little rubber gloves on in an effort to prepare you for what I am about to speak on, I am going to ask you to fasten your seatbelt. Safety first, right? Okay, I may not be the best spokesperson for safety but what I am about to say is something that needs to be heard and discussed. What I would like to talk about and address is, what does the future hold for some of our country’s brightest, up and coming talents? Yes, we have a lot of them right now. Amateur rac-
“Many of these up and coming prodigies and their families have made immeasurable sacrifi es and commitments to get to the next level, a bar that is being raised higher and higher annually in Canadian Motocross.” ing in Canadian Motocross has grown in leaps and bounds in the last five years alone. Many of these up and coming prodigies and their families have made immeasurable sacrifices and commitments to get to the next level, a bar that is being raised higher and higher annually in Canadian Motocross. After reinventing myself from a racer to a media person over the past four years, the importance of certain things past and present have become very paramount. My pontification comes from no fictional pedestal but more so from my own life experiences with the industry and my grassroots connection with our up and coming talents. Climbing off f the high horse of throwing all of the praise, glory and accolades the way of those who have hit the top marks on the national scene for ten weekends of the year, what about the rest? Don’t get me wrong, they have earned their praise but what about our sport’s future? What are we as an industry doing to ensure that some of these riders that are already well on their way to this opportunity actually get it? Here again, thinking back to when I was 14-years-old and making sacrifices and commitments that I can say most my age were not confronted with, fortunately for me my perseverance did not go unrecognized. At the age of 14, I was the youngest person ever to be nominated for my hometown of Chilliwack, B.C.’s
Athlete of The Year.’ Also at that age, I became the first rider in Yamaha Motor Canada’s history to sign a ‘Factory Contract.’ Both of these documents I have as keepsakes and will treasure forever! The reality is that they are just pieces of paper, but the significance of what the support and vote of confidence did for me as an aspiring Motocross athlete was immeasurable. Having the opportunity given to me by the late Bill Mclean and Bob Work at Yamaha Motor Canada helped me in so many ways. Yes, the obvious being financial as times were tough in the early ‘80s. The other being the vote of confidence given in being the first ever mini cycle rider signed by a manufacturer. I can remember being at some of the biggest races in the county on Pro day and pitted under the Team Yamaha tent with the likes of Ross Pederson, Zoli Berenyi, Mike Harnden, Rob Hodgson, Terry Hofoss and many others. Fast forward to today and getting back to some of the dollars and cents being used to pursue titles and podiums, what about our future? I am sure I am going to take some heat for this somewhere along the line but maybe not. I believe if nothing else at all, this needs to be discussed and some foresight put into our future or we will not have one. These kids coming up through the ranks need to know they will have some kind of opportunity. I must say
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I like what KTM has done the last couple of years, teaming up with the CMRC for the Western and Eastern Super Mini Nationals. This has been great as it has given a couple of riders the opportunity to pit under their awning and be treated like the stars that they are working to become. I am not trying to call anyone out, I am only giving credit where credit is due. But hold on a second, there needs to be more, and a lot more. In my opinion and experience, our next generation of riders needs to know that they have a chance to be rewarded for their accomplishments and sacrifices. I am not sure what the logistics would play out like, how the money could be raised or allotted, but what about something like this? Say each manufacturer had one amateur rider that they supported at each national event? No, it does not have to be a rider necessarily that could win or even hit the podium on that day, but maybe one that they have had their eyes set on for his abilities to do so in the future; a rider with a great personality, potential, upswing, and great social media skills. The parameters could be outlined by the manufacturers that support this series and work with their
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top level supported teams. There are many possibilities that exist and I really do believe that now is the time. A prime example of the necessity of this type of support exists currently after the Western rounds of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. We have seen more than one homegrown rider with top 5 performances in the MX2 class who, as a result of an empty well, are now without an opportunity to keep their season momentum going into the east. Added to that the psychological factors they are left with: “I gave it my best and far exceeded anyone’s expectations of me and now what?� Trust me, I know that money is tight but I believe there needs to be a little more creativity put into the planning process of where the money goes long before the gate drops at the opener. Maybe these costs could be shared by manufacturers and teams. There needs to be incentive for these riders and families to press on in the face of financial adversity! Are the top guys in Canadian Motocross getting paid too much? That is not my argument, my point is that with many of these talented, likeable, up and coming individuals, next year may be too late. Their future is now!
Michael DaSilva is a young rider looking to make his mark on this sport in 2016.
2016-07-20 3:06 PM
U P S H I F T W I T H B R I A N KO S T ER
R O C K S TA R S U M M E R
ere we sit smack dab in the middle of another fabulous Canadian summer, and for racers and riders across the country it has been a beauty. Sure we have had some stinking hot, dry, dusty days but where I live the rain has always seemed to come just at the right time to cool things down a bit to keep the dust at bay. For me it has been a bit of a whirlwind beginning to the season having moved residences, so after sixteen full years at the old pad, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Man, it was almost embarrassing how much stuff I ave accumulated over those years, but ya know, as soon as you throw something out the next week, that’s when you need it (lol). Anyway, it’s a new beginning, and though I did love my old house’s urban sprawl, the influx of new “residences” has forced my hand to flee northbound. When I first moved there in the fall of 1999 we had three sweet MX tracks literally within a three minute drive. I was like a house league hockey kid heading to the arena in full gear out of mom’s car. I would get dressed at home, boots and all, and drive my super pimp moto van to the track of choice that day; I was truly living the MX dream. Heck, some days I would even ride my dirt bike right down the road to spin laps. It was great while it lasted but the third and final track was finally fully shut down about five years ago thus killing the dream. Sure the 25kms plus of sublime mountain bike trails are still in existence and better than ever over there, but motocross now is all but a distant memory. I still drive the some forty-five minutes south to peddle with my old neighbourhood cycling buddies regularly, but these days I am always happy to drive home northbound and get away from the old rat race. The new (to me) place is the beginning of a new dream; being away from the congestion of so many vehicles and so many humans is a blessing, and the more I learn about the new area the more pumped I get! There are several moto tracks close by and there are also some sick mountain bike trails nearby too. There was even an eight hour, epic MTB
H
race in the spring less than ten kilometres from home. The new corporate headquarters is also less than a kilometre to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobilers’ trail system. After several years of being sled-free, a fresh Ski Doo 800X is a welcome addition to the new garage! Sure it equates to more windshield time being way out in the boonies and the excuses to not leave home are getting more and more prevalent, but hey, as they say, “there is no place like home.” I am also blessed to have an amazing, all-organic fruit and vegetable farm a few minutes away where the farmer will custom assemble an order for us, plus there’s a nice, little creek and bridge jump a short bike ride down the road where plenty of local teenagers congregate to jump and swim the hot days of summer away. Okay, sorry everyone, enough about me and my self-indulgent ramblings, this a motocross magazine and we are right in the prime of our Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. I’m sure many of you have been following the series and the results, or how a race or two have unfolded. The Conx2share app has been great for all those willing to download the free app to watch the Sunday Nationals live via streaming video. I know many of the riders’ friends and families have been tuning in from afar. As I write this I am in the Rockstar CMRC administration trailer at Ulverton, the first five Nationals are in the books and round six will go off tomorrow…in epic fashion is my prediction as this track and facility is totally awesome! Four out of the first five rounds have enjoyed record spectator attendance as well as record rider entries with a large contingent of American riders venturing north to be a part of this great series. The racing has been good with plenty of action but it has been the venerable Davi Millsaps who has been the primary bearer of the coveted red plate.
Davi is a huge spectator draw this year just like Mike “800” Alessi was two years ago. Millsaps has been great with the fans, and his on-track abilities have left this journalist pretty much awe struck. Sure we have seen a lot of amazing talent come and go here in Canada but Davi seems to be taking it to an all-new level with his dominance over his motorcycle…and the competition for that matter. Davi has announced that he has a deal in place for the US outdoors next summer, therefore, I think it’s vital you readers make a point of coming out to meet him and see him race right here at home. Millsaps is a huge star and a household name in our circles, and it’s great to see him having fun and enjoying his time racing in Canada. Sometimes one has to take a step back and evaluate their career before moving forward again, and Davi has done just that. Our series is a step back from the AMA Nationals but we are not all that far behind anymore, and in some regards, many of the American riders like our series and the lower key way of doing things better. Davi looks relaxed, rejuvenated and is obviously loving his factory KTM motorcycle, which is on par with Ryan Dungy’s championship winning bike. As always, when top US or International riders join our series, they leave Canada with a whole new level of fan support, which I think is great and a testament to how much our fans appreciate their participation. I’ve liked cheering for Millsaps for many years now (especially his epic Suzuki SX season) but now I will be cheering for Davi with a little more vigour in the future US series in which he chooses to compete. Of course Davi is not the only rider of note up here this year as we have a whole host of amazing talent in both classes, so do yourself, your friends and your family a favour and hit a National in your area. I can pretty much be certain you will not be disappointed…see you there!
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For man y years there has been Americ an riders venturing north to C anada to try to find ultimate suc c ess that has eluded them bac k home. As far bac k as we c an remember, the USA vs. C anada battle has been alive and well on t he indoor and the outdoor trac ks ac ross this inc redible c ountry of ours. Maybe it’s the c lose proximit y that C anada has to the USA that makes it so easy for their riders to c ome here. Or maybe it’s j ust that at some point in t heir c areers, America n riders feel like presenting themselves with a new c hallenge.
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“Davi Millsaps is a very interesting story as his entry into the Canadian Nationals
We’re sure that everyone remembers the name Jim Holley, or “Hollywood” as he was known in race circles around the globe. Jim Holley was one of the first big name Americans who traveled to Canada on numerous occasion in the early 1980s to race and collect our Loonies and Toonies. Holley was not only a motocross racer, he was a true showman. Even though he wasn’t able to win big races in his home country, up here he regularly battled with Ross Pederson, Doug Hoover and Al Dyck for race wins. Holley’s well documented success paved the way for the next wave of American riders to come to race in Canada, names like Jeff urwall, Mike Jones, Ray Sommo, Rich Taylor (just to name a few), and of course the first American to win the MX1 Pro National Championship, Doug Dubach in 2000. In fact, even to this day, the 53-year-old counts his time spent in Canada as the one of the best seasons of his career. Over the years there’s been plenty of American riders who have been signed on to Canadian race teams as ‘favourites’ to win titles here. After Dubach’s big win in 2000, popular American riders Mike Craig and Damon Huff-
man, who prior to coming to Canada had victories in the US Supercross Series, came north with high hopes of dethroning our Canadian legend Jean Sebastien Roy. Despite their efforts and confident attitudes, both Huffman and Craig were unsuccessful and soon Canada was getting a reputation as a difficult place for American riders to just show up and win. Even though these riders went home to the USA empty handed, this did not deter others from following suit in the last 15 years. Fast forward to 2016 before heading into the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, there was more hype than ever surrounding the group of foreign riders headed our way. Headliners like defending MX1 Champions Matt Goerke and Brett Metcalfe, plus Mike Alessi, Vince Friese, and perhaps the biggest name to enter the series, Davi Millsaps, all were signed up. This list was a Canadian race fan’s dream come true as they were excited at the thought of being able to watch these riders battle Canucks Kaven Benoit, Colton Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia. Would these testy foreigners be successful in 2016? Vegas odds and common sense said perhaps, while history told us maybe not! Davi Millsaps is a very interesting story as his entry into the Canadian Nationals was unexpected to say the least. Millsaps has been a top American rider for a decade, with multiple race wins and a Lites SX title in 2006. Since then he has been on almost
was unexpected to say the least. Millsaps has been a top American rider for a decade, with multiple race wins and a Lites SX title in 2006.” Above: So far this season, Davi Millsaps has made a practice of frequently being on the top step on the MX1 podium Right: Last year’s Champion Matt Goerke finally got a win on his favourite track, Gopher Dunes. Below: Vince Friese came into 2016 with a lot of hope and promise. Unfortunately an injury sent him to the sick bay before the series headed east
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every factory team, and as recent as 2013, Davi came up just short of winning the Monster Energy AMA 450 SX Championship. In short, this guy knows how to ride a motorcycle, and before the opening round of the 2016 series in Kamloops, the predictions were that Millsaps could win the MX1 title if he simply decided he wanted to. From the moment of the first gate drop at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops, our Canadian contingent of riders got their first glimpse of how good this year’s class of visitors would be as Matt Goerke dominated the opening MX1 moto. In moto two, fans saw the speed of Davi Millsaps as he took control early and looked like he was going to be the runaway winner. However, dressed in his Maple Leaf inspired red and white Fox gear, Canadian Colton Facciotti decided halfway through the second moto that he wasn’t going to let anyone come into his house and dominate. With temperatures hovering around 40c, Facciotti put on a charge that took
him to the rear wheel of Millsaps with only a few laps remaining. Even though Colton came up just shy of beating Millsaps, the Ontario rider sent a message that racing on Canadian soil wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for Millsaps, or any of the visiting riders for that matter. Since that opening round in Kamloops, no Canadian rider has managed to come that close to winning an MX1 moto. Colton has had a few distant second place finishes, while the rookie sensation Kaven Benoit has also graced the middle step of the podium. Yes, they have all played second fiddle to Millsaps and his foreign posse. However, everyone who has ever sniffed the fumes from a dirt bike knows that the remaining eastern rounds are some of the toughest races in the world. With long travel days and the crossing of multiple time zones for the handful of riders flying in from
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Left: After MX2 rider Jacob Hayes was injured at Round 1, Arizona’s Mark Worth was called to the front lines for the Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki Team. Below: Coming into 2016, many felt that Davi Millsaps would be the dominant rider. So far, they haven’t been too far off.
California each weekend, jet lag and fatigue will become as big an obstacle as the rough tracks. The east can be where championships can be won or lost, and this will certainly test every rider. In the past few years we’ve watched American riders Matt Goerke and Mike Alessi either do their best to cling to the points lead or sadly throw the points lead away with mistakes. Will this country’s fastest rider, Colton Facciotti, rise to the occasion and use his love of rough tracks and warm temperatures to his advantage? In 2014, Colton came from behind to win the MX1 title, and last year, after a slow start out west, Colton came alive at Round 6 and went on a winning streak that allowed him to claw his way to within five points of the eventual champion Matt Goerke. This time around it will certainly be much tougher for our crazy Canucks to make a push for the MX1 title, as the current crop of foreign fighters have hunkered in for the long haul. MX1 points leader Davi Millsaps wants
to take home this Canadian title and the money that goes with it more than anything right now. So far he has mastered our tracks and our laid back and friendly, Tim Horton’s lifestyle without too much trouble. With his foreign sidekicks Goerke, Metcalfe and Alessi also very familiar with how we work up here, you can bet they also have their eyes on the ultimate prize. Yes, Canadians Facciotti, Benoit and Medaglia have themselves an uphill battle, for sure. But hey, this country has spent its lifetime being the polite but fierce underdog. It will be interesting to see at the few rounds remaining in this MX1 battle if our Canadian riders have any bite left to battle with this year’s invading foreign army.
“This time around it will c ertainly be muc h tougher for our c razy C anucks to make a push for the MX1 title, as the c urrent c rop of foreign fighters have hunkered in for the long haul.”
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OPERATING YOUR OWN FACTORY RACING TEAM WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE A DREAM JOB FOR MOST MOTOCROSS ENTHUSIASTS. I KNOW IT’S SOMETHING I’VE ALWAYS DREAMT ABOUT DOING; ASSEMBLING A GROUP OF TOP RIDERS AND TEAM MEMBERS, GOING ON A BIG SHOPPING SPREE FOR ALL THE TRICKEST PARTS YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON AND TRAVELLING TO ALL THE RACES IN STYLE WITHOUT THE PRESSURE OF ACTUALLY HAVING TO RACE. HOW GOOD WOULD THAT BE? SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE EXACTLY THIS IS THE GUY WHO RUNS GOPHER DUNES RACING, DEREK SCHUSTER. SURPRISINGLY, SCHUSTER ADMITS THAT HE NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ALL THAT MUCH ABOUT HAVING A RACE TEAM BUT SOMETIMES “THINGS JUST HAPPEN.” OF COURSE DEREK GREW UP AROUND THE SPORT AND HE’S MORE INVOLVED IN IT TODAY THAN PROBABLY ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY. HE RECENTLY TOOK OVER OWNERSHIP OF THE GOPHER DUNES FACILITY AND HAS COMMITTED TO CONTINUE HIS RACE TEAM FOR AT LEAST THREE MORE YEARS WITH THE BACKING OF HONDA CANADA. IF THAT’S NOT ENOUGH, HE’S A NEW FATHER OF TWINS AND ONE HECK OF BUSY GUY. THIS IS HIS STORY.
IN 2005, GOPHER DUNES HELD THEIR FIRST CMRC PRO NATIONAL AND DEREK PLAYED A BIG PART IN MAKING THAT HAPPEN.
he Schuster family originally purchased the land on which the Gopher Dunes track is now located back in 1972. At the time, it was a working tobacco farm but that certainly didn’t stop Derek’s father, Frank Schuster, and his friends from ripping their dirt bikes around the property whenever they got the opportunity. Frank’s passion for the sport evolved over the years to the point where the facility hosted its first actual event, a three-wheel (remember those) ATV race in 1986, and the first sanctioned motocross race took place on the property in 1988. Thirty-two-year old Derek Schuster, or “Digger” as he is known to most of us around the sport, was born and raised at the Gopher Dunes motocross track. His earliest memories consist of him playing around on the sand hills surrounding the track with his sister while his grandparents looked on while the bikes and ATVs whizzed by in the background. Derek’s parents were of course busy working the track and this is how it went for the Schuster family in those days. Derek got his first three-wheeler when he was four-years-old and it wasn’t long before he became a regular fixture at the Dunes bombing around behind his dad wherever he went and eventually taking over the role of head money collector at the track on practice days. He was good at his job too, I must say, and this is speaking from personal experience. He was virtually impossible to evade. Just when you thought your riding for the day was going to be free, he would roll up on you out of nowhere with his little money bag strapped around his waist and clipboard in hand.
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Left: The roughest track in North America doesn’t look so bad from above.
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“ALL OF THE HARD WORK HAD PAID OFF IN SPADES FOR SCHUSTER AS HE WAS ABLE TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE OF DELIVERING A CONTENDER TO HONDA, AND AT SEASON’S END, THE #1 PLATE WAS AFFIXED TO FACCIOTTI’S BIKE FOR THE FOURTH TIME IN HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER.”
Top: Even as a little boy Derek Schuster loved to play in the sand. Right: Derek Schuster is very happy to take the Gopher Dunes mantle from his dad, Frank.
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Right: Who can forget the gas shortage of 2007? Blair Morgan makes the lonely walk to meet his team after running out of gas.
By age 10, Derek was operating the bulldozer, and by the time he had reached his mid-teens he was building and maintaining the track. The fact that Derek was so involved with the operation of the track actually put a bit of a crimp in his own racing career. “I wasn’t able to get away and go racing every weekend because that was our busy time at the track. I had to work.” Derek did, however, do some racing in his late teens and early twenties, and as many can attest to, he was hard to beat on his own turf, or sand as the case may be. “I was never really into racing all that much,” recalls Derek. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved riding with my buddies, and would race occasionally, but I was never super into it.” Schuster admits that winning a couple of motos in the Pro class at the CMRC Provincial rounds at Gopher Dunes in the early 2000s were probably the highlights of his racing career. “We had a pretty solid group of racers in those days,” he recalls. “Guys like Jay Burke, Joel Saarits and Pierce Chamberlain were all going really well at the time so it was definitely an accomplishment to win over those guys on a couple of occasions.” In 2005, Gopher Dunes held their first CMRC Pro National and Derek played a big part in mak-
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So where did the idea of starting a race team come from? While Derek and his father had talked over a couple of beers about how cool it would be to have their own race team, many times that was it, just talk. They were already extremely busy with the day to day operations at Gopher Dunes and hosting a highly successful National weekend. A race team would have been something neat, that’s about as far as it went. That was until the spring of 2010, however, when one of Derek’s good friends, pro rider Liam O’Farrell, had his ride and sponsorship deal for the upcoming season fall through at the last minute. Derek did not want to see his friend left high and dry. “I had a month to ing that happen. “My Dad was pretty content organize it,” recalls Schuster. “We already had with not having a National but I really pushed a relationship with Suzuki through our rider training for it. The series was really growing at the time programs at the track so we were able to secure and I just thought it would be a good thing for some bikes. It was super low budget but we helped us.” The big sticking point as to whether Gohim get to the races, and the extra exposure that it pher Dunes got a National or not at the time gave us turned out to be a really positive thing. Both was their lack of a proper irrigation system. my Dad and I thought it was kind of cool.” Derek continued to push for the National and While Frank Schuster did enjoy many aspects of that’s when he and Frank decided to make having his own race team, one thing he did not particuthe move. They installed the state-of-thelarly enjoy was having his son and right hand man away art watering system they have now. “We from the track for several key weekends over the course lengthened the track a bit as well to get of the summer. This was definitely an issue going into the lap times up and that was it. We got the second year of Gopher Dunes Racing. “My Dad was the race,” recalls Derek. And the rest as not really keen on it but he eventually agreed and we went they say is history. While the early June for it again in 2011 with Topher Ingalls and Nathan Bles on dates in the first couple of seasons led Suzukis.” Frank gave Derek the okay to continue with the to some unpredictable weather and race team for the 2011 season but he made one thing very “average” attendance numbers, the clear. “It was my baby,” states Derek. “If we had to go out of reputation surrounding Gopher Dunes pocket to cover any expenses then the money was coming as being possibly the toughest and out of my pocket not my Dad’s.” Of course some people like to most physically demanding track in think that any time Derek needed money to help support the North America began to grow. The racing effort, Frank would open his cheque book, but this could switch to a mid-July date and the not have been farther from the truth. And to his credit, Derek excruciatingly, hot and humid conworked tirelessly to ensure that the team would have everyditions that generally accompany thing they needed for the upcoming season. it have done nothing to diminish “It was still an extremely low budget effort in 2011, though,” Gopher Dunes’ growing reputastates Derek. “Suzuki was really cutting back in all areas of tion. In fact, since the initial race off-road racing and what little support the race team had was back in 2005, the Gopher Dunes seriously beginning to dwindle. Even the long-time support from National has definitely become Suzuki for the rider training programs at Gopher Dunes was startone of the consistently great ing to dry up. Derek knew that if they were to continue with the Nationals and really one of team in 2012 they would have to change manufacturers. Frank, the crown jewels of the on the other hand, was still a bit sceptical but Derek was convinced Canadian series. that if they stuck with it long enough, eventually their hard work and
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perseverance would pay off n the form of a successful race team with enough sponsorship to pay for itself. Perhaps he was having Left: Ontario rider Chuck Mesley had some sort of premonition because some of his best it just so happened that while all rides on the rough this was going on back at GDR, Tyler Gopher Dunes track Medaglia, who was just coming off f a Championship season in the MX2 class for Blackfoot Yamaha, was also searching for a ride for the upcoming season. Derek and Tyler got together and came up with a plan. The decision was made to field a one rider team for 2012. Tyler would be piloting a GDR CRF450 Honda for the Nationals with additional support for the team coming by way of Troy Lee Designs, Joe Skidd, Machine Racing and Canada Powersports in Ottawa, to name a few. Other sponsors for that season included Yoshimura, Dunlop, Oakley, Parts Canada, and Adidas, and of course Tyler’s personal sponsors such as Red Bull. While the sponsor list may have seemed impressive on paper, the reality was that it was still a work in progress. The team didn’t even have a transporter yet so they had to rely on a friend with a motorhome and trailer to get to the races. Derek’s boyhood friend, Matt Bannon, was going to take the summer off rom his job to help manage the team while on the road and everything was seemingly set for an all-out assault on the CMRC Nationals. Whether it was a complete coincidence or brilliant strategy on the part of GDR Racing, the switch to Honda for the 2012 season could not have come at a better time. Honda, who had been completely out of Canadian motocross since the Blackfoot team switched to Yamaha in 2007, was seriously thinking about getting back in the game. As a matter of fact, throughout the early part of the 2012 season they had been speaking with Derek a lot. “They really liked the idea of the rider training programs that we ran at Gopher Dunes and Tyler was having a good season so that helped. The bike looked great and we were definitely creating a buzz.”
While Honda was seriously contemplating a return to the CMRC National series, nothing was set in stone, but, as in any negotiations with a huge company like Honda, things just didn’t happen overnight. To make matters worse, Tyler was unfortunately injured at the seventh round of the series; nothing serious but he was out for the rest of the season and for the Montreal Supercross. Derek decided to hire a replacement rider for the final couple of rounds and Montreal. Luckily, he was able to pick up American rider Blake Savage, who actually won a moto for the GDR team at the final race of the season. Things were looking good for the following season. Derek’s plan was to have Tyler back on the 450 and bring Blake in to ride the 250F in the MX2 class. Negotiations with Honda dragged on, however. “We had a lot of meetings but nothing was finalized,” recalls Derek. “October turned to November and December, and so on right into March.” Understandably, Tyler became concerned over that lack of progress on a new deal. He had a young family to support and was growing increasingly anxious and frustrated over the lack of something solid being put into place for the upcoming season. Derek urged Tyler to hang on a bit longer as he really felt they were going to be able to work something out, but just as Derek was about to put pen to paper at the Honda corporate offices in Toronto, Tyler received an offer from KTM to replace Dusty Klatt, who had injured his knee. Medaglia took the sure thing and signed with KTM. GDR was left without a top 450 rider for the upcoming season, which was only a couple of months away. “It was devastating,” recalls Schuster. “We had put so much work into making this deal happen and then Tyler bailed. It was a major issue.” In his words, Schuster was “super-bummed” over the situation. Part of the deal with Honda was contingent upon Derek providing a top level, Canadian 450 rider to compete in the MX 1 class. Obviously, these types of guys don’t
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just grow on trees; there are not many of them out there, Medaglia being one of the few. “I was worried that they (Honda) were going to be really upset with me,” remembers Derek. “Luckily, they were so fired up about Tyler that it took some of the pressure off f me,” chuckles Schuster. He can laugh about it now but at the time the situation seemed pretty dire, and Schuster admits that it did put a strain on his relationship with his former rider and friend. Fortunately, both were mature enough to realize that it was just business and not something to ruin a friendship over.
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Tyler stood up for Derek in his wedding party and today, according to Derek, “It’s all water under the bridge.” Don’t look for Tyler Medaglia to be riding a Honda again anytime soon, however. Old reliable Nathan Bles came back to the GDR team for the 2013 season to replace the departed Medaglia, although with Tyler gone Schuster and Honda decided to go with an all-MX2 team for the season. As most Canadian moto fans will recall, this was also the season that Derek purchased the old moving van as a team transporter. At least they had their own transportation to the races now so things were definitely looking up. At the same time, Schuster also made a promise to the brass at Canadian Honda. He told
them, “Stick it out with me and I will get you a contender.” As it turned out, the contender in question was going to be either Colton Facciotti or Brett Metcalfe. Both would obviously be excellent choices to represent a race team, and both were free agents going into the 2014 season. “We had meetings with both guys over a two month period,” states Schuster. Of course Derek already had a personal relationship with Facciotti, but in his case he was coming off f a badly broken leg, an injury that he sustained at the second round of 2013 in Kamloops, and he remained a bit of a question mark for the season. In the end, however, and in keeping with Honda’s Canadian content philosophy, the decision was made to go with Colton. The multi-time champ signed on for two years with GDR Honda, plus rookie Canadian pro Westin Wrozyna was also added to the line-up to contest the MX2 class. While it was certainly a big relief now that the riders had been locked up, the real work for Schuster was about to begin. “It was a huge undertaking,” remembers Derek. “24-7 really. I even spent most of my honeymoon on the phone organizing deals for the team. The first thing that needed to be addressed was a transporter. A rider of Facciotti’s caliber certainly could not be shipped around to the Nationals in
an old moving van so Schuster went about securing a rig. Fortunately for GDR, Troy Lee’s team transporter was up for sale, and since it was already set up specifically for moto, Schuster jumped on that opportunity. “Once we got the rig it felt like we were really a legitimate race team,” recalls Derek. The organizational details of setting up a big league race team almost became too much for Schuster and his small administrative team prior to the 2014 season. “It was really overwhelming. There was so much to do. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull it off.” Derek still refers to a meeting that he had with his friend Matt Bannon at the Swiss Chalet in Tillsonburg when they basically had to talk each other off he ledge and reassure themselves that they hadn’t taken on more than they could handle. As it turned out, 2014 could not have turned out any better for Schuster, Facciotti and the GDR team. Colton battled with American star Mike Alessi throughout the season, trading wins back and forth. The turning point of the season was ironically at the Gopher Dunes round when Alessi ran out of gas while holding down a big lead in the first moto, subsequently handing the victory to Colton. All of the hard work had paid off n spades for Schuster as he was able to fulfill his promise of delivering a contender to Honda, and at Below: Kyle Keast is another hard working Ontario rider who gave everything he had at this track on more than one occasion.
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season’s end, the #1 plate was affixed to Facciotti’s bike for the fourth time in his illustrious career. To top things off, Schuster was also presented the award as Team Manager of the Year at season’s end. Seeing the big #1 on the Honda seems like a natural site in motocross, at least to me it does. While this was the first time it had happened in several years, not since JSR in 2006, the team was coming into the 2015 season with plenty of momentum and were the odds on favourite to repeat. Jeremy Medaglia was added in 2015 to contest the MX2 class. The rookie Wrozyna struggled in the previous season, but Jeremy was a legitimate threat to take the MX2 title. Unfortunately, the season didn’t start off oo well for the defending champion Facciotti as Colton had a big get-off hile training down south prior to the first race of the season and injured his pelvis. After a slow start, however, the champ caught fire and battled eventual champion Matt Georke right down to the wire, losing out by a mere 6 points in the final standings. Jeremy Medaglia had a solid season as well for the team, finishing third in the final MX2 standings. Another truly successful season for the GDR Honda Canada Team was in the books. While the riders were no doubt looking forward to
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a well-deserved rest in their upcoming off eason, for team managers like Schuster, there really is no off-season. Once the final flag fell on 2015, Derek Schuster was already occupying his time with preparations for 2016. The number one priority was re-signing Facciotti whose contract with Honda and GDR was up at the end of ‘15. While most would assume that re-signing Facciotti would have been a slam dunk move for GDR Honda, it wasn’t to be as simple as that. “Colton had other offers,” states Schuster. “Good offers that Honda wasn’t sure they could match.” In the end, however, they got their man and Facciotti re-upped with Honda, signing a nice three year deal that will presumably see him finish off is career with Honda and GDR. “Once again it was nice to get that deal done,” says Schuster. “It’s a good deal for Colton, I’m happy for him.” While the team situation for 2016 was shaping up nicely, Schuster himself was also extremely busy with some big events in his personal life. In December, Derek’s wife Kerri gave birth to twins, Emerson and Sebastien, and if that wasn’t enough, at the same time they were also working on a deal to buy the Gopher Dunes facility from his parents who were planning on retiring. “The deal on the track couldn’t wait,” comments Schuster. “If I wanted it I had to act fast, so we just took it on all at once and just did it.” Fortunately, Derek was able to bring in a partner on the deal for the track as he couldn’t pull off he financing on his own. Old friend, sometime business associate,
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and Vet MX racer Wayne Carroll, who owns a Toyota dealership in Chatham, came on board and is now the part owner, along with Schuster, of Gopher Dunes. “I was barely getting five hours of sleep a night,” laughs Schuster. It was an extremely busy time. Since then things haven’t slowed down one bit for the Schusters, but just like it’s always been at Gopher Dunes, it remains a family affair. “Kerri helps out in the shop all the time,” comments Derek, “sometimes she has the kids in there with her or sometimes they stay with Barb (Derek’s mom). And what about Frank? “He likes to spend his time these days restoring his old dirt bikes,” laughs Derek, although I’m sure he still likes to keep an eye on things at the track. “It’s crazy how everything has worked out,” says Schuster in closing. “Back in 2011, I really felt that if I put my heart into this and a ton of work that someday it could turn out this way, and that’s exactly what’s happened.” He’s quick to mention that “It’s been no fluke, just a lot of hard work”, but he couldn’t be more pleased. “It’s definitely cool. I’m very happy.”
Above: The face of Jimmy Decotis is very common after a long Gopher Dunes moto.
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BY BRENT WORRALL
PHOTOS BY JAMES LISSIMORE
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he long awaited and highly anticipated 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink Nationals presented by Motovan kicked off n June 5th at Whispering Pines Raceway. The track, situated
due north of Kamloops, B.C.’s downtown core, was home to the series opener for the second consecutive year. The big bike battle began on a race surface that many of this series’ regulars have grown accustomed. This year’s edition of the opener, however,
saw riders dealt an about face turnaround in track direction. The layout change, coupled with what Mother Nature served up in the form of an ‘Ace Of Spades-like’ trump card, saw each rider’s preparation pushed to the limit. You got a sense before
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THE BEST OF THE WEST the first gate dropped that we were about to get a serious look at who would have a chance to wear the crown at the final flag wave come RJ Motosport Park in mid-August. No champion was crowned at the opener but with more top level contenders than this
series has ever seen at one time, we were all pretty anxious to see who would make the first statement. Off he hop in Moto 1, defending Champion Matt Goerke on the Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha continued right where he left off n 2015, on the top of the
podium. Goerke busted out to the front early and rode one of the best motos I have seen from him on Canadian soil. Coming into Round 1 last year banged up, Matt’s Moto 1 performance showed his competitors and race fans that no matter who was here this
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year, they were going to have to beat him to do it. Series newcomer on the Thor / Parts Canada / KTM, Davi Millsaps got his first taste of the Canadian series in Kamloops. I spoke with Davi the day before the gate dropped on Moto 1 and he was very happy to have the opportunity given to him by his connections. Davi said that no matter how things unfolded results-wise, his main goal and number one priority would be to complete this series healthy. Millsaps, who got a bad jump in Moto 1, claimed at one point that he could see every single rider’s jersey shortly after the gate dropped. Davi would, however, ride the rough, rugged terrain of Whispering Pines to near perfection and finish right behind Goerke at the end of Moto 1. Gopher Dunes Racing / Honda Canada’s Colton Facciotti looked as smooth and as poised as always to round out the podium in Moto 1. Mike Alessi, who came into the opener a little banged up and on a new Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki, finished fourth. The MX1 series’ 2013 Champ, Brett Metcalfe, finished fifth and looked to be still getting acclimated to the new Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha. With the ice now broken on the series opener and the first moto in the books, two questions emerged as the day unfolded. They were, how hot would it get for the first weekend in June and how rough would this new look ‘Loops’ layout become? As a race fan, I know when I am hearing some of the best riders in the world say a track is very rough, the results usually mean the cream has risen to the top. When the final MX1 moto hit the track, KTM’s Davi Millsaps got the lead early, after getting around Colton Facciotti, and opened up a substantial gap. Millsaps cited after the moto that he figured if he could pull a gap he could maybe relax a little bit at some point. What Davi also said validated the track condition on this day. “I was hitting bumps everywhere. There was not one place to relax on this track today.” As the moto wore on, Davi did get his opportunity for the breather, but it also ignited the championship fire burning inside of Colton Facciotti. Facciotti charged hard and strung together four blazing last laps that would see him finish only a couple of short seconds
“ I have no reason to believe that the east will be any more daunting for Davi. In fact, I think unfortunately for his competition this year, it might be quite the contrary.” off f Millsaps’ brilliant, first ever Canadian moto win pace. Matt Goerke hung on for third, and when I say that, I mean it in the literal sense. Late in the moto on the tower turn jump, Matt launched the jump that he had scrubbed all day long and flat landed some 30 feet beyond the downslope. At the time it happened, I remember thinking, “What was that all about?” Well, let me tell you this, once Matt completed the moto in third and sat on his bike at the podium wincing in obvious agony, what he unveiled when he pulled his glove off as horrendous. HIs palm was so badly blistered it is hard to fathom how incredibly difficult it was to hang on to the motorcycle, let alone how he would do it again in seven days time. The final results for the opener saw Davi MIllsaps take the overall win, Matt Goerke second and a hard charging Colton Facciotti third. Rounding out the top 5 were KTM Canada’s Kaven Benoit 4th and Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Mike Alessi 5th. Alessi rode Moto 2 with second gear only after contact with another rider that severely damaged his shifter. As for how hot it got at the opener, the mercury exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. Yes, it was hot.
Top to bottom: Millsaps definitely got used to climbing the steps of the podium in the opening rounds. As the series progressed in the west, both Brett Metcalfe and his new OTSFF Rockstar Yamaha improved every time they hit the track. Other than Millsaps and maybe Mike Alessi, rookie MX1 rider Kaven Benoit showed the most raw-speed compared to the rest of his competition.
MX1 ound 2 of the series moved even further west to the pristine, panoramic views of Nanaimo, B.C.’s Wastelands facility. The round that makes this series a true coast to coast affair is backed by a solid core of people whose moto passion is unrivalled anywhere on the planet. In recent years, the Nanaimo round has been plagued
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by feast or famine-like weather conditions, from the mudders to last year’s scorcher on the hard packed race surface. This year saw Round 2 go down under what are the absolute best race conditions for the type of soil there. The temperature never really exceeded 20 degrees Celsius, and a moderate cloud cover kept the race day conditions as good as they get in Nanaimo. With the hierarchy amongst MX1
combatants still an establishing work in progress, Round 2’s results may not be the best indicator, or would they? First off, when the gate dropped, Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha’s Brett Metcalfe launched off the concrete lift off with something he did not get a lot of last year, a holeshot. Metcalfe soon gave way to KTM Racing’s Davi Millsaps, who led the moto to the finish. Matt Goerke, on the other Rockstar
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ith two rounds now in the books, the series began its long journey eastward with the first stop in Calgary, Alberta at the Wild Rose MX Park for Round 3. For the last two consecutive years, Calgary has seen a major bullet dodged in adverse weather conditions. You never really know what you are going to get in Cowtown in mid-June, and once again this year the weather turned out pretty good. The track also had a direction change from previous years, and in similar fashion to the first two rounds, a good start was imperative for success. As the MX1 combatants headed to the line for Moto 1, the Red Plate holder and series leader by 4 points was GDR Honda’s Colton Facciotti. When the gate dropped on Moto 1, it was the Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki rider Vince Friese with the holeshot. Vince was looking to right the preverbal ship on his season that had not been great through the first two rounds. The hillsides and sidelines in Calgary were packed, and it was the best crowd I have ever seen there to date. It did not take KTM Racing’s Davi Millsaps very long to get to the front of the pack where he would control Moto 1. Friese soon had company in the form of his teammate, Mike Alessi, who rode to a solid second in Moto 1. Vince ended up giving way to the defending Champ, Matt
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Yamaha, got around Metcalfe on lap 7 and finished the moto a solid 2nd. Mike Alessi, on the Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki, scored his first podium performance of 2016 with what, at the time, seemed to be a third. Colton Facciotti, on the Honda Canada bike, was fourth. But hold the phone, we had trouble in River City in the form of a protest. I am not sure exactly who launched the protest, but video evidence concluded that moto winner Davi MIllsaps and
Goerke, and finish a series best 4th in Moto 1. The quartet of talent that followed closely in order to finish up the moto were Kaven Benoit, Brett Metcalfe, Colton Facciotti and Husqvarna’s Tyler Medaglia. As a race fan, it has been a real treat to watch this many talented racers vie for the ever valuable championship points. Moto 2 saw Kaven Benoit out front early, but once again, Davi Millsaps wasted no time showing some blitzing race intensity early. It should also be noted that a first turn miscue pile up saw Matt Goerke dead last and score in 38th position after lap 1 of Moto 2. Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Mike Alessi got around Kaven on lap 3. Mike looked to me to be getting a little more accustomed to the Kawasaki and rode the strongest race of his series so far in Calgary. Benoit, who was stride for stride with some of this series’ heaviest hitters, also had a great performance in Calgary finishing 4th in Moto 2. Third in the
second place finisher Matt Goerke jumped a step down on a Red Cross flag. They were both docked 10 positions for this action. This infraction saw them set back out of the top 10 for Moto 1. Mike Alessi was credited with the win, Colton Facciotti second and Brett Metcalfe third. Moto 2 saw Metcalfe with another Royal Distributing Holeshot but he gave way early to a hard charging Facciotti and Millsaps. Colton was scored in the lead after lap one but
second moto would be a hard charging Brett Metcalfe. At one point early in the moto, Metty looked as if he may continue his forward progress far enough to catch Alessi for second. That, however, did not materialize but in this depth of talent pool, third is a pretty decent day; after all we have 14 motos left. Getting back to the frontrunner and who would be the Red Plate holder after the action in Calgary, Davi MIllsaps, I cannot state strongly enough how impressive his performance was. He was as fast, smooth and confident as I have seen a national won in our series in many, many years, if ever! After speaking to many of this series’ contenders at day’s end, most made it clear that in order to win you would need to get to the front very quickly in each moto, just as Davi has been doing so far. Would you believe we were now through six motos after the Calgary action and the #800 bike of Mike “Holeshot” Alessi had yet to have one to his credit? I didn’t think so.
was shortly thereafter overtaken by a poised-to-avenge Davi Millsaps. As the race wore on, Facciotti kept Davi in his sights, only a few seconds back. I believe that Colton along with those that followed him, Metcalfe, Goerke and Alessi, were limited as to how hard they could and would push on this day. Traction is at a premium on this race surface at the best of times and many of these riders’ tires at day’s end looked like they had been through a meat grinder. When
the final flag waved it was the GDR Honda of Colton Facciotti who was crowned King of the Series’ west coast Island Jewel race. Mike Alessi catapulted himself back into this year’s title hunt with a second overall finish. Brett Metcalfe, in a much improved effort over the opener, finished third. Rounding out the top 5, before the series would begin its trek east to Alberta, were KTM riders Davi Millsaps and Redemption Racing’s Cade Clason.
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ff o Regina, Saskatchewan and the beautiful glimmer of the golden prairie province for the last round of the western portion of the series we went. As the weekend neared, everyone’s focus, as had it been in the two previous stops, was the weather forecast. After the series returned there and the forgettable, mud shortened event in 2014, the concern was legitimate. This year, in similar fashion to last year there, Mother Nature dealt the series a playable hand. It was a little cool in the morning come race day but when the gate dropped all that mattered were the final western round points that were on the line. Red Plate holder Davi MIllsaps got to the front early in Moto 1 and showed no signs of letting off f the throttle and extending his current points lead. He once again ran the moto to perfection with his teammate, a very fast Kaven Benoit, in tow. Kaven’s second in the moto served notice that he is a podium threat each and every moto as the series moves east. This was also Kaven’s first ever premier class podium. Benoit passed the third place finisher, Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke, on route to a second step performance. Mike Alessi finished fourth and Honda mounted Facciotti would snag fifth place points values. In Moto 2, we saw something that many thought would have happened long before the eighth moto of the series. That would be none other than a Mike Alessi holeshot! As he is getting more accustomed to the new look and feel Kawasaki, Mike was close in Calgary but it would not be until this day that he would deliver. With the Royal Distributing cheque in his back pocket,
Tyler Medaglia’s decision to race a Husqvarna 350cc in the west certainly held him back, especially off the start.
“ This year, in similar fashion to last year there, Mother Nature dealt the series a playable hand.” MX1
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After coming out at Round 1 on fire, Colton Facciotti cooled off a little as the western rounds came to a close.
the moto would play out as a solid second place finish for Alessi. He gave way to a very confident and assertive Davi Millsaps on lap one. Millsaps cruised to a 13 second victory over Alessi. Brett Metcalfe crossed the line in third ahead of his Rockstar teammate, Matt Goerke. GDR Honda’s Facciotti collected an unaccustomed fourth straight moto finish out of the top 4 with a 5th. The final round of the western swing in Regina saw the top five overall on the day write as Davi Millsaps, Mike Alessi, Brett Metcalfe, Matt Goerke and Colton Facciotti. With four rounds now in the books and the series headed to east, the 2016 MX1 title chase picture has become a lot more clear. After four rounds, keeping in mind there are still twelve motos left, Davi Millsaps, even with the 10 position docking in Nanaimo, has a 24 point lead. Davi has looked very strong and confident on his Race Ready KTM Racing / Parts Canada / Thor bike on his first ever trek through Western Canada. I have no reason to believe that the east will be any more daunting for Davi. In fact, I think unfortunately for his competition this year, it might be quite the contrary. Could Davi Millsaps have more in the tank than we saw in the west? It is quite possible. It is also possible that he may need it as the riders that round out the top five and the list of contenders that are still in the hunt will do everything they can to force his hand. Mike Alessi, who sits second, 24 points behind Davi after four rounds, will also look to the east to capture what narrowly escaped him in 2014. How about four-time Champ, Canada’s own, Colton Facciotti? He sat third, 34 points back after Regina, and always saves his best for some of the tracks still ahead on the schedule. Rounding out the top 5 we have our two title series sponsored riders, Matt Goerke and Brett Metcalfe. Both of these Rockstar OTSFF riders sit 40 points behind Millsaps after the west, and I can assure you they are not at all comfortable being there. I suspect both of these riders, like all others still in pursuit of 2016 MX1 glory and personal bests, are anxious to get at it in the east. Sounds to me like no matter who is crowned Champion in this epic 2016 MX1 title chase, we race fans once again are the real winners.
“With four rounds now in the books and the series headed east, the 2016 MX1 title chase picture has become a lot more clear.” MX1
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, p u o L e h T n i s n e p p a What H ays in the Loup! St
By Andy White Photos by Ghislain Mailloux
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urn left when you leave the Montreal airport and drive 450km northeast, you will then arrive in a small town called Riviere du Loup that currently has a population of about 20,000. The town was established in 1850 and it was pretty well 100% Anglos that lived in the area. Move forward in time 166 years and now only 1% speak English in this town they used to call Wolf River. You see the town’s name as you drive along the Trans Canada Highway just outside of New Brunswick. This is where you would find a guy by the name of Paul Thibault. This friendly local had the idea back in 1981 to have dirt bike races in an arena at the same time that the county fair was in town. The dirt was already in
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the hockey rink for the fair, so why not use it for dirt bike racing? This is where the term “Arenacross” came from, or at least that’s what Paul told me. The first year it was very low key, with a few local riders showing up, and the event organizers would pile dirt here and there to create a track. That was 36 years ago and the event is still going strong. In 1982, the track was an official AX track layout. Riders like Serge Gregoire, his brother Gaby, Pierre Couture, Mario Paquette, Jeff urwall, Glen Nicholson and Terry Hofoss would all show up to race. Each year the event grew, and some years the events even lasted over three nights. Pro riders would race Friday and Saturday, and amateurs would take over on Sunday. The dates for the event have always been in the month of May.
The snow is usually melted by then and the fans are itching to see some AX racing. It’s impossible to have it sooner as RDL receives lots of snow. In speaking with Paul, I asked him who were some of his favourite riders that have come and gone over the years. He replied, “I have four favourite riders of all time. That would be Ross Pederson, Marco Dube, Mike Jones and Johnny Montes. These four riders really helped put the RDL event on the map. You have to remember that in the ’80s and ’90s there was no social media at all. The only way to get the word out about this event was by word of mouth. I also counted on the riders to spread the word about this event. The riders that I just mentioned did that every year for me. I think the money payout and the parties
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might have helped to bring riders here too.” One local rider that basically dominated the RDL event from 1993 to 2009 was Marco Dube.”You could say Marco Dube was the ‘King of RDL’ for a very long time. The fans loved him. He was their local hero.” Marco said, “I loved racing in front of the local fans. They would pump me up when they would cheer for me to win. I could really hear them when I was out on the track. I will never forget that feeling. I remember Paul saying to me, ‘I think there are some new riders coming this weekend that want to be crowned King of RDL.’ I would say ‘Bring it on!’ That motivated me. I remember one night in 2000 or so, I had just won the Lites final and we were given these king cans of beer and a gift. Well, I had another couple of races to go so I thought I would toss my king can of beer to my fans up in the standing room area at the one end of the arena. I walked over and pointed to my fans and I threw it like a football. It had good hang time as it sailed over the glass. I seem to recall that almost everyone jumped out of the way except one fan who received the can in the head. He didn’t see it coming. Well, he woke up a few minutes later wondering what the heck had just happened. The spectator came to see me at the end of the night with a major shiner on his face. I felt bad as I was trying to be nice. I gave him a signed jersey that night, he was pumped.” Mike Jones was also a huge hero to the French crowd. When I asked Mike why he would come all the way to RDL from Pittsburgh, PA, his reply was, “Paul treated me really well, like I was family. I also loved going to Quebec to race, the fans are totally into motorsports racing. I would say the RDL event was one of my favourite to attend every year.” Mike was no stranger to the Quebec motocross scene, racing for the Morgan racing team. I would have to say there are more Morgan racing fans in RDL than anywhere else in Canada. Chris Morgan was also a very good friend of Thibault. Paul said, “Chris Morgan was very competitive. He would always bring really good riders to my event. Riders like Pedro Gonzalves, Ray Sommo, Doug Dehaan, Charlie Bogart, Mike Treadwell, Casey Johnson, Rich Taylor and many others. You could count on the Morgan Racing Team to really help with the event marketing. The team would roll into town onThursday, then on Friday we would have press day at the arena where we had local music bands. I even remember hearing about Marco Dube jumping his bike over the band while they were playing. The crowd would go crazy. Marco commented on that: “I remember Paul saying, ‘Okay Marco, while the band is playing, I want you to ride around the track while the spotlight is on you. When you get to the music band, just jump over them. Okay?’ I thought to myself, jump over them? Huh, I could barely even see where I was going. I hope I don’t land on anyone.” Another fan favourite was Ross “Rollerball” Pederson. While the national events worked their way to the east, Ross would always make sure to attend the event. Ross was no stranger to these events as he traveled the world. “How awesome was it to have the
fastest rider in the country race at my event,” recalls Paul. Ross was a great racer. He would give it 100% all the time. The fans hooked on to Ross as well. They really liked it when riders from other provinces or countries would show up to our small town in Quebec. Riders like Mason Phillips and Daryl Atkins from New Zealand, Jeff icks, Jeff ement, Daniel Blair, Michael Willard, Jeff orthrop, Eric Nye, Keith Johnson, Chris Pomeroy and many more. Of course the French Canadians would cheer on their own too, like Marco Dube, JSR, Carl Vaillancourt, Arnaud Benard and Alex Langevin.” The “Spanish Fly,” Johnny Montes, was a regular at the RDL event who came from the east coast. Johnny recollects, “That was the one event that I would really give it 150%. I so wanted to beat the Americans. If I did well at this event, I thought it would open up some opportunities. I did get a break when I got the call from KTM Canada. They had an opening and I was on the list, all I had to do was get on that podium. I think it was the best race of my life that year in 2007. I really enjoyed the tight track. The only way to make passes was to knock riders out of the way! I remember in one moto final, Marco Dube was just in front of me. I thought to myself, ‘Do i make the pass?’ Well, I took the chance and bumped the King off he line and went on to podium. I thought I would get hung if I stuck around, but Marco came by and said it was all good.” The one rider that probably has the longest attendance record has to be Mike Treadwell. The first year he attended was in 1987, and he last time Mike raced in the arena was 2007. That makes it a full 20 years. Mike is still racing in the New England area and maybe one day he will make it back up. I seem to remember that there were a lot of ‘non legal’ things that would happen during the arenacross weekend in the town. For example, on Friday and Saturday night at the bar called Le Jet, it was okay to ride your fully pimped out race bike into the bar right on to the dance floor and do a ten minute burnout; the fans would cheer for more. As the dance floor was smoked out, the party would move outside until the smoke cleared. Mike Treadwell said, “That is what the fans wanted, so we did it. We also rode our bikes up and down main street. Okay, maybe wheelie up and down the main street with Miss Arenacross hanging on. This was the ’90s,” recalls Treadwell. “The parties over the weekend were awesome. The fans really got into it.” Treadwell went on to say, “The first time I went up, I brought my girlfriend (who is now my wife). I remember her saying, ‘Is this what you get up to every time you go racing?’ I guess she enjoyed it because I took her back pretty well every year after that.” As you can imagine, Mike Jones has some great stories to tell but this is a family magazine so you’re going to have to ask him yourself. Finally, back in the 1990s, MXP’s Editor, Chris Pomeroy, had the streak going for the most consecutive visits to the Riviere du Loup AX, as he was a faithful participant from 1990 to 1997. Like every
For example, on Friday and Saturday night at the bar called Le Jet, it was okay to ride your fully pimped out race bike into the bar right on to the dance floor and do a ten minute burnout; the fans would cheer for more. Top right: Jean Sebastien Roy (centre) and a very young Ryan Lockhart (right) made it on to the Rivière du Loup podium numerous times. Right: American rider Eric Nye and New Zealander Mason Phillips battle inside the small Rivière du Loup Arena. Far right: Local hero Marco Dubé would ride anything in front of his hometown fans.
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The first year it was very low key, with a few local riders showing up, and the event organizers would pile dirt here and there to create a track. That was 36 years ago and the event is still going strong.
rider who ever made the trek to this race, Chris had his good nights and bad nights inside the tight confines of the RDL arena, but he came away with many long lasting memories. “It was actually Jeff Surwall that convinced me to go back in 1990. I was 16-years-old then and obviously had no idea what to expect. However, Paul and his staff ade me feel at home and it didn’t take too much convincing to return the next year and beyond. Even today, whenever I hang out with Newf or Treadwell, we always end up telling RDL stories. One of my favourites is from 1996, I believe, when they ran a B final for the riders that didn’t qualify for the A final. During qualifying, Treadwell had some bad luck and was forced to race the B final. Well, much to the delight of all of us watching, Treadwell goon rode the entire B final, and won! It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and only Mike Treadwell could pull it off. With so many great memories, I’m glad to hear that this event is still going strong.” The local hockey arena had seating for 1,300 people. They would fill the arena with just over 3,000 per night. Finally, in 2005, the new, improved arena opened. They would fill that with just over 4,000 nightly. I am pretty sure if the arena could hold 8,000 it would still be full. The RDL is still going strong, and in May 2017 it will be 37 years. If you’re in the area during that time of the year, look for the arena and enjoy some great racing.
Right: It’s easy to see why Mike Jones was one of the most popular riders to ever race in Rivière du Loup. Centre: To get a good start in AX, your reflexes have to be very quick. Far right: MXP’s front man Chris Pomeroy was a regular in Rivière du Loup for many years during the 1990s.
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MIKE ALESSI AND VINCE FRIESE
STICKING TOGETHER A closer look at Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki riders Mike Alessi and Vince Friese through the western swing of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan.
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eading into the 2016 race season somewhere around February, I caught wind that Mike Alessi and Vince Friese were rumoured to be once again heading north for the summer to race the MX1 class. This deal, which would be made public just weeks before the official gate drop on the series in Kamloops, B.C., was good news for Canadian race fans. I am sure any race fan does not have to dig that far back into their memory bank to recall some of the more memorable moments these two provided us in 2014. That and off course their one-off race last year in Calgary where Vince surprised pretty much everyone except his, at the time, Moto Concepts team owner Mike Genova. With that now in the history books and a summer off from racing the entire series in Canada, the two were both very excited to be back. I think it is only fitting before we go through what happened at Round 1 that I talk about something that happened to Mike Alessi that almost prevented it from even happening at all. The day after the final Supercross of the season in Las Vegas, Mike and his teammate, Vince Friese, flew to Kamloops. There
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they would connect with their new Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki team and head out to Whispering Pines Raceway the next day for some testing and a photo shoot. During that day on the track, Mike suffered a pretty horrendous get off. I was sent a text from someone who witnessed it and was in utter disbelief at what he saw. Not the news anyone wants to get as no one likes to see a great opportunity end before it starts. At the time I did not want to make too much of it as my source told me that Mike did walk away from the crash. Good news for all involved, as for the crash and the bike; I will get to more on that in a minute. On the Saturday before Round 1, I made my way through the pits and reconnected with Mike Alessi and Vince Friese. I had seen and spent some time with both of these riders down south this past winter while they were racing Supercross. They, of course, like the true professionals that they are, were focussed at the task on hand of getting the best results possible for the team paying the Supercross bills, Smarttop Moto Concepts. That Saturday in Kamloops I sat with Vince Friese and asked what was the main difference between racing the Ca-
nadian series compared to elsewhere this summer. His response was quite frank, sincere and simple. “When I line up here I feel like I can win anytime the gate drops. Down south I may be in a battle for 10th on a good day. Vince was definitely keen and ready at the opener and he showed that as he qualified first in the MX1 class. As for Mike Alessi, he too was all smiles on the Saturday before gate drop on Round 1 under the Monster Energy truck’s awning. I finally got a chance to ask him face to face about the get-off he day of the photo shoot. He said that it was just a very freak and scary thing, but he was happy to have escaped with only some minor damage to his knee. Mike said that while accelerating out of a soft turn, his rear wheel suddenly grabbed and hooked up on the surface unexpectedly. The bike looped out and endoed skyward like a rocket taking flight. Team Manager Jason Hughes said that he also turned his focus in the direction of the mishap just in time to see Mike’s bike cartwheeling skyward. Shortly after getting Mike’s take, his wife Danielle also joined in the conversation and told how she heard of Mike’s crash. She was out in California with her sister and got a text of
a picture of the #800 bike. The picture came through before any text explaining that Mike in fact was going to be okay. Indeed, it was a very scary moment for all of the connections,
“ Vince is a talented and feisty competitor that in my opinion will focus on personal bests and podium finishes the balance of the series.”
family, friends and supporters of Mike Alessi. As for the racing at Round 1, a day that started out great for Vince Friese, it would not finish that great. He would finish 7th in Moto 1, struggling a little bit with his set-up. Knowing that there was still nineteen motos left, Moto 2 would hopefully go better for the #55 bike. Unfortunately for Vince it did not. In a moto that would see Friese run as high as fifth, he would end up pulling off he track on lap 12. He would score a 26th for the moto, missing out on ever-valuable series points by only one position. His teammate, Mike Alessi, on the other hand, would have a pretty decent day but it too was marred by misfortune. Moto 1 was a fairly decent performance and result for Mike as he would score a 4th. In my opinion, Mike was still not quite a hundred percent from his setback and was still getting acclimated to the new green bike setup. Moto 2 would see Mike make contact with another rider on lap 2, which cost him the use of his shifter. The shift lever was stuck in the
second gear position, and from my perch I could see early on there was a problem. Mike kicked tirelessly at the shifter to get it to bend down to where it would function. With no luck on that he set his mind on damage control and rode as well as he could with second gear for 25 plus minutes. His reward was a 6th and his 4-6 moto scores would see him fifth on the day and 14 points behind series leader Davi Millsaps after the first round. Mike’s closing response on the opener to me was, “If this is a bad day, I’ll take this kind of bad day any day.” Round 2 in Nanaimo, where Mike was the overall winner over Colton Facciotti in 2014, would be a better day for Mike Alessi. His teammate, however, would see his early round struggles continue. While running 7th on lap 7 in Moto 1, Vince went down on the unforgiving bedrock-like soil at the Wastelands. Vince told me the crash was a result of a slight over jump on a step down, and when he grabbed the front brake to compensate for it, his front
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wheel skated out from under him. To me, another prime example of how temperamental the race surface in Nanaimo can be. With his bell rung pretty good in the crash, it was wisely decided for him not to ride the second moto. Mike Alessi, however, would, for the first time in the series, find his winning ways. In the same fashion that there are no pictures on a golf card, Mike and his connections would be happy with their first moto win of 2016. In case you missed it, the actual moto winner, KTM Racing’s Davi Millsaps, was docked ten positions for jumping on a Red Cross Flag. Moto 2 would see Mike finish 5th and take second overall on the day. Would you believe it if I told you we were now four motos into this twenty moto battle and Mike Alessi was yet to get a holeshot? The big picture being the focus of Mike in his quest for the title would see him 14 points down of Red Plate holder Colton Facciotti after two rounds. Heading to the Wild Rose Motocross Park in the panoramic foothills of downtown Calgary, Alberta, both Mike Alessi and Vince Friese were poised and confident; that confidence coming from both riders’ previous top step performances in consecutive years at Wild Rose. That’s right, Mike won here in 2014 in one of the best races of his professional career
and Vince in 2015. The Calgary track, in similar fashion of the opener, would see these two, and all others, race a track that was going the opposite direction. Not really an issue for either rider as they both like the ambience and soil Calgary provides. Vince stated at the onset of the day that he had a pretty good week and the tumble that set him down in Nanaimo was no longer an issue. You could not argue that as when the gate dropped on Moto 1, the Robbie Feder tuned Kawasaki of Vince Friese was first over the holeshot line. Vince would ride a very solid Moto 1 and get edged out for the podium by series’ title sponsor rider, Rockstar OTSFF’s Brett Metcalfe. As for Mike Alessi, he would start fourth and work his way to second quickly, and rode like a man who looked to be in full control of everything he did on the race track. I think this is where I add that no matter how long a rider is around this sport or how coloured his accomplishments are, there is no way around the fact that a brand adjustment takes time. I can honestly say that for the first time, both of these riders looked confident and comfortable on their new rides. Moto 2 in Calgary would see teammates Alessi and Friese run 3rd and 4th respectively early on in the race. Mike broke away from the others
who would fight it out for the final podium spot. He closed the gap considerably on eventual race winner Davi Millsaps and finished a hard charging 5 seconds of the lead rider’s pace. Vince, however, scored a good result of 6th that would see him 5th overall for his efforts. Alessi, on the other hand, was happy with his effort at day’s
“ Heading to Wild Rose Motocross Park in the panoramic foothills of downtown Calgary, Alberta, both Mike Alessi and Vince Friese were poised and confident.”
end. He left Calgary only 14 points behind new Red Plate holder Davi MIllsaps. Mike’s parting words to me were, “I need to get out front early to control the race. If I can do that I have a good chance to win.” With the final western round of the series in Regina up next, once again #55 Vince Friese would bust out the fastest MX1 qualifying time. Grabbing the pole allowed Vince a great jump in Moto 1 but a first turn spill would see him soon seated at the back of the bus. Friese wound up in 22nd place after a lap and relentlessly charged hard throughout the moto, finishing a respectable 7th. Moto 2 would see Vince finish 6th and collect that spot for his overall finish on the day. I think it is safe to say that Vince and his connections had hoped for much better results in the west as he sits 14th in the points standings after four rounds. Vince is a talented and feisty
competitor that will focus on personal bests and podium finishes the balance of the series. With more than half of the series still ahead, it is quite conceivable that Vince’s 2016 season could see him wear a single digit number for his efforts. Mike Alessi would have a good day at the final western round in Regina. The rider who sat 2nd in points, 14 back at the onset of the day, scored every lap in fourth position in Moto 1. Moto 2 would see Mike Alessi do what many thought would have happened much before the eighth moto of the series. You guessed it, Mike Alessi was the Moto 2 Royal Distributing Holeshot Award winner. Mike, on the #800 bike, would give way, about half through lap one, to a hard charging Davi Millsaps. Once again, Alessi’s comfort level looked to be as strong as ever as he cruised to what looked like a comfortable second place moto finish. At day’s
end, the tally of the point total would see Alessi and his connections 24 points off f the series leader Millsaps. With six rounds remaining in the series, Mike Alessi, the Florida native, will welcome the races in the Eastern Canadian heat and humidity. There is a lot of racing left and this title is still within striking distance for the Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki rider. Mike Alessi is embracing this opportunity with open arms and has given back to his fans and followers as much as possible. I have no reason to believe that no matter what the end result for his effort will be, Jason Hughes made a great move in signing these two riders. A special thanks to Jason Hughes, Mike Alessi and Vince Friese for allowing me into their valuable race day space to get to see this most professionally run operation up close and personal. Good luck the rest of the way.
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30 DAYS AROUND MY MOTOCROSS WORLD IN
STORY BY
Chris Pomeroy
PHOTOS BY
James Lissimore, Steve Cox, Drew Ruiz, Palms
LAST MONTH WHEN THE I TURNED THE PAGE OF MY CALENDAR FROM MAY TO JUNE, I JUST KNEW THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG THIRTY DAYS AHEAD. NOT ONLY WAS I PREPARING TO TRAVEL TO THE OPENING ROUND OF THE 2016 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MOTOCROSS NATIONALS IN KAMLOOPS, BUT THERE WAS THE OTHER THREE WESTERN ROUNDS AHEAD, AS WELL AS A COUPLE OF TRIPS TO CALIFORNIA PLANNED IN BETWEEN. LOOKING BACK NOW TO MY MONTH OF JUNE, IT WAS BOTH FUN AND INCREDIBLY EXHAUSTING AT THE SAME TIME. WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE, I FLEW JUST OVER 40,000 KMS IN JUNE; THAT’S EXACTLY THE SAME DISTANCE AS IT WOULD TAKE TO FLY ONCE AROUND THE GLOBE. SO HERE IS MY STORY IN WHICH I’M CALLING “AROUND MY MOTOCROSS WORLD IN 30 DAYS.”
y flight to Kamloops on June 3rd began like any other flight to one of the national rounds; wake up early, drive an hour to the Toronto airport while keeping one eye on the road and the other on the rising, summer sun. In case you don’t know me very well, I love flying but I despise waking up really early. However, during the racing season there are many mornings that I have to rise early. Once I’m up and moving, I love the summer mornings. I mentioned that I love to fly. This is true as I not only have my own pilot’s licence, but I love going to airports and just going somewhere. My Dad was an airline pilot for 35 years so we traveled a lot when I was younger, so maybe that is where it came from. All I know is give me a plane ticket and my passport and I’m as happy as Matt Goerke on a sand track. For the opening round, the plan was a simple one: fly to Calgary and then on to Kamloops where I would meet up with our staff hotographer, James Lissimore. With this being the first round of the 2016 series and it being kind of a big deal, my flight from
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Left: My new buddy Meston Lockhart and I hanging out in Kamloops. Above: Flying over the Grand Canyon always seems to put things into perspective. Bottom: Steve Anderson and Kevin Thompson get cozy in business class
Calgary to Kamloops was full of motocross people. Seeing some familiar moto people certainly added to the excitement that I was already feeling as our Air Canada Q-400 descended over Shuswap Lake and down into the Kamloops Airport. I was met at the airport by long time industry guru Allan Jaggard who was kind enough to give me a lift to my hotel. Jagg and his better half have planned their vacations around the western rounds for the last few years and have the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha Team bring out their dual-sport bikes. From there they begin their two week riding vacation while also taking in the first three rounds of the series. If you have never been to the Kamloops area, you really should plan a trip there. It’s known as Canada’s desert with hills and mountains surrounding the city. For any visitor, Kamloops is a pretty cool city and it makes for a perfect place to kick off ur national series. I’m not going to go into too many details about the race in Kamloops as everyone knows by now what went down at Whispering Pines Raceway. The three things that stood out from the opening round were the heat, the
“The three things that stood out from the opening round were the heat, the raw speed of series newcomer Davi Millsaps, and of course Dylan Wright’s entertaining display of jumping the gate in both motos.”
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raw speed of series newcomer Davi Millsaps, and of course Dylan Wright’s entertaining display of jumping the gate in both motos. Add in the fact that during the 45 minute drive to and from the track, Lissimore and I discussed everything from our favourite coffee to solving all problems relating to the world of motocross. Round 1 was a huge success. I will say that another cool thing about this race was that for the first time I was able to meet Ryan Lockhart’s new son, Meston. I love that so many riders are having kids now. It seems like these days, every rider over the age of 25 are now fathers. As I said goodbye to Kamloops for another year, the next chapter in my month-long journey was taking me to Temecula, California to test ride the 2017 Husqvarna two-strokes. With stops in Vancouver, San Francisco and then on to San Diego, the Monday after the opening round was definitely a long one as I didn’t arrive at the Springhill Suites in Temecula until 8pm. The following day was very cool as myself and ten other journalists were treated to a day of riding Husqvarna’s newest two-stroke weapons. Obviously, being 43-yearsold, I grew up riding bikes that required mixing oil and gas before you rode them. With being a full time four-stroke rider now, I don’t get the opportunity to ride two-strokes very often, especially in California. So with all of that being said, it’s safe to say that I had a pretty special day of riding with the folks from Husqvarna. The next day I headed back home for two short days of work and family time before it was time to head back to the airport for my flight to Nanaimo for Round 2. Just like Kamloops, traveling to Vancouver Island is always very special. First off, the scenery is breathtaking regardless of which way you look. The Wastelands track isn’t the best, however the crew out there always does a great job and the racing always seems to be entertaining. This year was no different as once again Millsaps showed incredible speed, as did Cole Thompson in the MX2 class. Other highlights from my two days in Nanaimo included hanging with my new, little buddy once again, Meston Lockhart, Dusty Klatt stories from Lissimore, and a short trip to the airport with Kevin Thompson (Cole’s dad), Steven Anderson, Cole Thompson and his girlfriend Chloe in Kevin’s rented Cadillac CTS. It was short but
a very sweet trip to our beautiful west coast. For a perfect bookend to my hectic week, I got the honour of sitting beside Head Referee Sir Paul Kingsley on my red eye flight home. Talking to Paul is always cool as he’s been around this sport forever and has a heaping amount of stories. Unfortunately, the moment the wheels of our Air Canada 777 lifted off he runway in Vancouver, Kinger threw his seat back and passed out. I can’t sleep on planes so I was counting on one or two of Kinger’s entertaining yawns to pass the time. On this flight, though, it was not to be so I was forced to watch the same movie I did on the way out to BC the day before. After five days to regroup at home, the day came to fly back out west for the Round 3 in Calgary. This round is always one of my favourites as visiting Calgary is never boring. The location of the track is so convenient because it’s so close to
“Our fearless foursome were planning on flying to Regina and back to Toronto in one day, leaving very early on Sunday morning and returning late Sunday night.” Left: Testing new bikes at Zaca Station is one of my favourite things. Top: Colton Facciotti’s smooth style was great to watch on the scenic Calgary track. Middle: The views in the Nanaimo area are absolutely spectacular. Right: Even busy city streets can look peaceful from the air.
downtown as well as to the airport. Round 3 gave me the chance to meet the newest member to the Pomeroy Family, my two week old niece Aubrey. My brother is the last of my two siblings to have kids. With my sister and I both have boys, so little Aubrey represents my parents’ first granddaughter. My brother even brought her to the race on Sunday so the Calgary National’s youngest fan got her first taste of dirt bikes! The unique track in Calgary also provided some very exciting racing, and Cole Thompson and Davi Millsaps dominated their respective classes. Highlights from the third round included the pancake breakfast at the MX101 Yamaha truck, the
Team Canada MXoN meeting, and of course watching all of the riders race on the very cool Calgary track. Another cool thing about the Calgary National is that there is a flight back to Toronto that leaves at 19:20 on Sunday evening. That means that although I didn’t get home until 2am, I was still home and able to sleep in my own bed. With so much action at the first three rounds, I was really excited for the final western round the following weekend in Regina. One unique aspect of this trip to Regina was that, thanks to Steve Anderson and his Air Canada connections, myself, Steve, Tim Marks and Kevin Thompson were all traveling together. Our fearless foursome were planning on flying to Regina and back to Toronto in one day, leaving very early on Sunday morning and returning late Sunday night. Steve called it a “Turn and Burn,” and that phrase seemed to stick with us all day.
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I won’t soon forget watching Davi Millsaps’ speed and aggression in the western rounds.
30 DAYS AROUND MY MOTOCROSS WORLD IN
We arrived at Moto Valley Raceway just in time for timed practice so Kevin was extremely happy that he got to watch Cole practice. The day flew by in Regina, and before we knew it the motos were over and it was time to head back to the airport for our trip home. Thankfully, my precise directions got us back to the airport in perfect time and we made our flight, a flight that was practically empty, so we each had our own row to try to sleep. Once we landed back in Toronto, we said our tired goodbyes and went our separate ways. Instead of heading home, I made my way to an airport hotel as I had a very early flight to California to test ride the all new 2017 Kawasaki KX250F. Highlights from our “Turn and Burn” were getting upgraded to business class on the flight out, Millsaps' amazing pass on Alessi for the lead in Moto 2, and listening to Kevin and Steve argue about pretty much everything (except how comfortable our business class seats were). The final leg of my June travels took me all the way to Santa Barbara, Ca. and the awesome Zaca Station MX track. Zaca is one of the tracks that is frequently used by the manufacturers for press launches and test rides. Not only is the track always in great shape, but with the surrounding hills littered with unique looking California oak trees, the photos always look great. Although I was a little jet lagged, the test ride was very cool, because the new KX250F is definitely one amazing bike. Highlights of my second trip in a month to California were an elegant dinner at a local vineyard, having my own mechanic for the day, and, even though I love traveling, being able to finally head home, which felt pretty good for my body and mind. So there you have it, 40,000 kilometres or almost 25,000 miles in 30 days. The month of June was definitely a record for me. I actually have trouble fathoming that there are people out there who travel that much almost every month. Anyway, during my June travels I was lucky enough to be able to drink some very good coffee with Lissimore, hold little (big) baby Meston Lockhart, watch some of the best riders in the world race in our national series, test ride some very cool new dirt bikes, and of course hang out with some of the hilarious members of our motocross fraternity. With a lot of races remaining in 2016, I can’t wait to see where my travels take me next.
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First Ride:
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2017 Husqvarna TC125 & TC250 These d ays with a ple thora of fourstroke models dominating the mo toc ro ss and off-road marke ts, who d oesn ’t love to s till throw their leg over a pre-mix burning two -stroke? Even though bo th strokes of bikes have a multitude o f things in c ommon , there is definitely a differen t feeling beneath you when you kic k over a two stroke and head o n to t he t rac k. Maybe i t’s a weight thing as generally two -strokes are muc h lighter than a four-stroke, or maybe i t’s a sound thing as there aren ’t too man y sounds in t his world be t ter than t he sound o f a finely tuned two -stroke engine. Whe ther it’s the sound o r even simply the smell of burning premix, a two -stroke mo toc ro ss bike has always c aptivated our sen ses and made riders, young and old, wan t to ge t on one and twist the thro t tle.
his was one reason why a trip down to California to test ride the 2017 Husqvarna TC125 as well as the TC250 was such an exciting prospect. Not only were the media folk given the opportunity to ride on one of the Golden State’s premier tracks in Cahuilla Creek, but we were privileged enough to be able test out the latest in two-stroke technology from one of this sport’s most innovative manufacturers. As you know, Husqvarna and KTM are the only two manufacturers that are still in the business of serious R&D efforts with their entire two-stroke line up. For this day of riding we were provided the 2017 TC125 as well as the 2017 TC250, two of Husqvarna’s drastically changed two-strokes complete with a new engine package, as well as the latest WP 48mm AER Forks. These bikes are not only more powerful with improved handling for 2017, but they’re also a combined eight pounds lighter than previous models.
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Our day of riding started out on an absolute perfect California day with clear skies and temperatures hovering around 25c. To get to the famous track at Cahuilla Creek, you have to head due east from Interstate 15 in Temecula, CA, and then weave your way up the mountainous terrain until you get to the track, which sits at just under 4000’ above sea level. The soil is made up of fine, loamy sand with sections of hard clay underneath, and fun jumps with many elevation changes. Of course, the track was perfectly watered and ready to go for this Husqvarna press launch. The Cahuilla Creek track is a great place to train and to test out a brand new dirt bike, with its power robbing uphills and choppy downhills. It doesn’t take long to familiarize yourself with the true workings of any machine.
The biggest changes for 2017 come with the TC250, or 250 two-stroke as it’s more commonly known. To reduce engine vibration on this new bike, Husqvarna decided to improve the balance of the engine. To achieve this they did a number of important things to make the engine and chassis work more closely together. Not only did Husqvarna add a new counter balancing shaft to the crank, but they have moved the crankshaft and the clutch assembly over 5mm higher. This not only cuts down on vibration at high RPMs, but it also creates a more centralized mass that improves the handling characteristics of the TC250. Finally, with an all-new piston and cylinder, this 2017 TC250 power plant is on par with their newly designed four-stroke cousins. All that is still missing with the new Husqvarna twostroke engines is Electronic Fuel Injection. However, that may be in be in the near future as Husqvarna continues their relentless R&D with their complete two-stroke line up.
“WITH ITS LIGHTWEIGHT CHASSIS, AER FORKS AND IMPROVED ENGINE, THE 2017 TC250 IS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST TO RIDE.”
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First Ride:
2017 Husqvarna TC125 & TC250 The other big changes on the 2017 TC250 are with the suspension and the chassis. To compliment the increased power and redesigned frame, Husqvarna added the new 48mm AER Forks to this bike. These new front forks are just what the doctor ordered for this modern day two-stroke. With easy adjustability and a supple feel, WP definitely got it right. The 2017 TC250 frame is also new. Now the chromoly steel construction has the perfect amount of flex and feel for today’s rough tracks. Husqvarna has also supplied this new TC250 with their trademarked Carbon Fibre Composite Sub-frame for weight savings and added rigidity. With the new chassis, redesigned engine and 48 AER Forks, the 2017 TC250 is a whopping 4.1 pounds lighter than last year’s model. The 2017 TC250 can also be upgraded with a 300cc engine kit, as well as an off-road kit for optimum trail and enduro performance. From the moment you kick one of these Husqvarna two-strokes over you get a sense that something special is about to happen. Although the modern day two-strokes are easier to ride than they were twenty years ago, they still demand a lot more effort than riding a four-stroke. Once I made my way on to the track, I was instantly impressed with both the power and handling of the 2017 TC250. With the redesigned engine, most of the old two-stroke vibration was gone, and the power was smooth and very useable. One thing I’ve always enjoyed about riding a two-stroke is that you can ride them successfully in two completely different
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“WHETHER IT’S THE SOUND OR EVEN SIMPLY THE SMELL OF BURNING PRE-MIX, A TWO-STROKE MOTOCROSS BIKE HAS ALWAYS CAPTIVATED OUR SENSES AND MADE RIDERS, YOUNG AND OLD, WANT TO GET ON ONE AND TWIST THE THROTTLE.”
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First Ride:
2017 Husqvarna TC125 & TC250 ways. You can either short shift them, while attempting to be smooth and precise, or you can rev them out and use all of the available powerband. On this day I used both techniques and each proved to be very useful. With its lightweight chassis, AER forks and improved engine, the 2017 TC250 is an absolute blast to ride. Over the past few years I had forgotten just how much fun it was to try to ride a two-stroke efficiently. However, with these 2017 Husqvarna twostrokes, it’s easy to point them where you want them to go and then turn the throttle. The handling is predictable and the engine performance is amazing. Even the 2017 TC125 was fun to ride. Although it doesn’t come with the same amount of engine changes as the TC250, it still has a four pound weight savings, as well as the new 48 AER forks. The 2017 TC125 is the perfect bike for a young rider who is just moving up from an
85cc or Super Mini bike and needs to progress to a bigger bike. It’s very reassuring to know that manufacturers like Husqvarna are still putting time and money into the research and development of their entire twostroke line-up. This is great news for the sport of motocross, as these two-strokes provide riders with a unique alternative to the modern day four-stroke. I had a great day riding these 2017 Husqvarnas and I would like to thank Husqvarna Canada for the opportunity to attend the launch. I must admit that since I do come from a twostroke background, I definitely felt a little nostalgic as I twisted the throttle and let the pre-mix burning engines scream. Long live the two-strokes I say!
“IT’S VERY REASSURING TO KNOW THAT MANUFACTURERS LIKE HUSQVARNA ARE STILL PUTTING TIME AND MONEY INTO THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR ENTIRE TWO-STROKE LINE-UP.”
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Lexi Pechout: MANY FIRSTS! BY SIERRA ROTH PHOTOS BY JAMES LISSIMORE
ineteen-year-old, Calgary endurocross rider Lexi Pechout turned many heads in the motocross world this year, specifically at the 2016 CMRC Western Canadian Women’s Nationals. For those that don’t know, Lexi accomplished an extraordinary third overall at the end of the series. An off-road enthusiast who had never seen much for jumps, she learned there are two motos a day at the nationals, not three, and learned the crucial skill of tear-offs in just a short time, plus she had the speed to compete with some of our most prestigious Western Canadian Women Motocrossers for the title.
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To many, Lexi’s appearance to the series was a shock. Her performance during the first round was an even bigger surprise going 1-5 for 3rd overall. However, after myself and my co-organizer at CDNWMX, Kristi Moore, got the word from the Pechout family that she would be racing the series, we were overjoyed with the thought of some tough fought battles
amongst the top five girls. For some odd reason, no one really knows the story behind Lexi Pechout. I have been lucky enough to grow up knowing her and Shelby Turner since the beginning of time. Lexi, unlike most, didn’t start racing competitively until she was 15-years-old, though, and I think that is the difference. Lexi is a newly decorated Canadian women
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endurocross, something never heard of for a Canadian. That isn’t just it for this well decorated athlete. Lexi can proudly say she has earned an ISDE Women’s Silver Medal in 2013, the Red Bull Rocks and Logs Championship in 2015 and 2016, and multiple ice racing championships between novice to pro. When I asked her what her favourite memory of racing was, her response was gratifying, which clearly represented the athlete that she is. “I have so many! My top two would have to be the 2013 ISDE in Italy and winning the AMA National Championship in 2014. Racing in Italy was unbelievable, the entire country was beautiful and I almost felt bad about riding down the white sand beaches… almost. Winning the National Championship in endurocross was unexpected. To start the race was crazy! Being in third place the whole race and passing first and second place on the last lap last in a corner giving me the win is definitely a race I will never forget! Winning the championship meant a lot to me. It meant all the hard work, late nights, early mornings, long drives, and bent pipes had finally paid off.” Coming into the CMRC Western Canadian Women’s Nationals, Lexi knew she needed a change. She figured racing motocross would be the perfect fit to improve her skills, as endurocross possesses motocross skills many off-road riders lack. She made the decision last fall to move to a motocross dominant bike, a 2016 Husqvarna FC 250, as she thought it would suit her riding style and be the ultimate weapon for endurocross. She hasn’t always been a fan of motocross, so when she mentioned to close motocross fanatic friends she was thinking about trying it out, they were pumped to teach her everything she needed to know. After riding motocross for a few
“Lexi is a newly decorated Canadian women rider who, if you don’t know her, you will be hearing a lot about her in the coming years.” rider who, if you don’t know her, you will be hearing a lot about her in the coming years. Lexi’s father, Siggi, was a successful off-road rider in his day. His passion translated to Lexi and her mom quickly, and has been a part of the family ever since. As stated, Lexi hasn’t always raced motocross or raced anything really. At the age of two, Lexi received
her first bike, a PW50. What her parents didn’t know was that would be just the beginning of a crazy ride (it’s a racer problem, that’s for sure). All Lexi wanted to do was ride. She was never concerned with what she was riding, she was just happy to learn. She says at first it was just a weekend thing with the family during the summer, however, her passion began to grow.
She started riding off-road single track, trials, endurocross, ice, and even hill climbing. At the age of 15, her family made the decision to start racing in the States and she then even made the trek to Europe for the ISDE. Her biggest focus was the endurocross in the United States, and after her second full season of AMA in 2014, she won herself her first AMA National Championship in
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Left: Congratulations to Lexi for winning the Athlete of the Year Award.
weeks, Dean Thomson, Manager at Blackfoot Direct in Calgary, suggested racing the nationals just to see how she would do. Because she is so open to many different disciplines and is always looking for a good variety of riding, she knew the experience could be worthwhile to her already well rounded riding type. Of course, Lexi being so talented, she hit the ball out of the park at her first year in competing at the national series. She summarizes her experience as follows, “I still can’t get over how well it was put together. Compared to the AMA Endurocross in the USA, you ladies put them to shame! I definitely had some ups and downs this year. Being my first year, I have had to learn a lot of different riding techniques, jumping being the main one to learn. I took a tumble in Kamloops and Nanaimo that scared me and kind of set me back. That is all a part of the learning curve, though. I was out there to have fun and just enjoy myself. Capping off the series with my first moto holeshot (which she absolutely destroyed if I might add), a third overall, and Athlete of the Year was incredible. I’m so grateful that I get to be a part of such an amazing community!” When I caught wind that Lexi would be racing the nationals this year, I was very hopeful she would bring much needed, new talent to the series. From experience and growing up with Shelby Turner, I knew her background in off-road would make for some interesting racing. Lexi agreed and stated, “A lot of my skills translate back and forth. I definitely noticed that my corner work from riding grass track and endurocross has paid off and this led me to be able to make up time I was missing on the jumps.” With all this being said, awarding her with Athlete of the Year at the end of the series felt fitting, to say the least. This girl has already made a name for herself and will continue to do so for many years to come. Her favourite part
Below: To be successful on the race track, you first have to get good starts. During the Western series, Lexi was almost always up front at the start.
of the series, she explained, was literally all of it. She loved the new places, variety in tracks, atmosphere, the amazing women in the sport in which she was able to battle and share the experience, having her family and friends with her cheering her on at every event, and how well the media covered women’s motocross. “I think we all raised the bar this year and turned some heads,” Lexi proudly stated. “I had a blast racing with everyone! I think there will be tons of more girls that are going to start racing more and that’s super cool.”
Above: During the final round in Regina, Lexi and Shelby Turner had a great battle for the title.
To put the cherry on top of an already early successful season with racing, Lexi flew back to Calgary after the final round of the CMRC Nationals that night to compete at the Red Bull Rocks and Logs the following morning. To no surprise, her and Shelby Turner battled it out, and fortunately she ended up on top of the box. Lexi summarizes the event by saying, “All I can say is thank God the rain had stopped by the time our qualifiers had happened. When we rolled up in the morning, we were standing in three inches of sloppy mud. Watching everyone practice in the morning was making me nervous, for sure! But as our race came around, the track was perfect! No dust and tacky conditions! The crowds were huge and all my family and friends were there supporting me! That was the icing on the cake! All the ladies did fantastic this year! Shelby and I battled back and forth the whole race! I was
just doing my best to stay smooth and steady. Red Bull put on an amazing event once again and I am so excited that I was able to defend my title!” The athlete mode in Lexi isn’t over quite yet. Her future plans, career-wise, haven’t been confirmed yet, but until she figures out what she wants to do, she fills her time working at Blackfoot Direct. Her hope is to eventually head to University. As far as racing goals, she hopes to defend her endurocross championship, finish top five in the local off-road series, and then improve on her motocross skills where she hopes to obtain the national #1W in Western Canada and race in the United States. This is just the beginning of Lexi Pechout’s racing career, and I can’t wait to see where it takes her.
She would like to thank the following sponsors for all their support: Blackfoot Direct, Husqvarna Canada, Fox Head Canada, Ride Dunlop, Motorex USA, DT1Filters USA, Mika Metals, TNT Suspensions, Bike Binderz, 100%, Matrix Concepts, Mobius Braces, Atlas Brace, Glow Health, P3 Carbon, M7 Designs, Bulletproof Designs, Seat Concepts, and the Angry Greek.
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THE 2ND ANNUAL GRAND PRIX DE MUD BY LAWRENCE HACKING | PHOTOS BY BILL PETRO
The second annual Grand Prix de Mud is done and dusted, and boy was it dusted. Polar opposite from last year, the weather was hot and dusty at the GPDM this year. Depending on your point of view, the GP de Mud did not live up to its name this year. 7 8 M O T O C R O S S P E R F O R M A N C E · M X P M A G . C O M
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COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, WAS GP DE MUD A DUD?
While last year’s event had plenty of mud, this year the track was as dry as a bone. However what the event lacked in muck and sludge, it more than made up for with some ledgendary riders and an impressive collection of vintage bikes. We are all looking forward to next year, and will be crossing our fingers for some rain to adequately saturate the track.
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THE 2ND ANNUAL GRAND PRIX DE MUD
ew for 2016, the Friday evening Legends dinner drew a good group of past champions and other motorcycle sport luminaries. The special guest was former Husqvarna distributor Steen Hansen who, at 77-years-old, is still riding and showing the young guys how it is done. The organizers elected Larry Bastedo as Grand Marshall and Bill Petro’s Legends of Canadian Motocross was the official host of the dinner. Other former champions included Paul Andratis, loyal Husky rider and Canadian Enduro Champion, Al Logue, 1977 125 Canadian MX Champion, Pat Bastedo, former Nationally ranked MX competitor, Helmut Classen, ISDT Gold Medal winner, and a number of other highly regarded racers. The Mohawk Inn and Chop House are welcoming hosts to a number of motorcycle friendly events throughout the year with the Grand Prix being one of their favourites. The original concept of holding events at a location like the Mohawk was to demonstrate that is it is possible to have motorcycle events welcomed to facilities such as the Mohawk Inn on a sustainable basis. The neat thing about the GP is it is a social event with bike races on the
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side and not the other way around. Husqvarna Canada stepped up once again as the title sponsor, and this year Joe Rocket Canada donated a ton of coveted prizes like MSR clothing, Pro Taper bars and a big box of swag. The Legends dinner was legendary, everyone had the opportunity to tell their favourite racing story, and the epic tales went on into the night. The following day saw the parking lot full of vintage motocross and trials bikes. The races included a half hour crosscountry battle through the adjacent hardwood forest trails during the lunch break. The trials group had a record turnout and each vintage MX class had a full start line of bikes. The concours bike show’s ‘best in show’ award went to Paul Andratis for his 430 Husky Automatic that was not only pristine but it was functional, so much so the ‘80s era 430 two-stroke gave the modern Husqvarnas ridden by Nick Caldwell a run for his money. Once the dust settled and the prizes and awards were handed out, the participants pitched in to take the track markers down and pack it up for another year. The winners took home some nice souvenir-style plaques and some fond memories of the glory days of their careers.
“The Legends dinner was legendary, everyone had the opportunity to tell their favourite racing story, and the epic tales went on into the night. The following day saw the parking lot full of vintage motocross and trials bikes.”
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BL AIR MORGAN BY CHRIS POMEROY | PHOTO BY JAMES LISSIMORE
lair Morgan needs no introduction to anyone in this sport, or in the equally demanding sport of snowcross. From 1997 until 2008, Blair was at the top of both sports winning races and championships. All of that changed however on a fall day in September of 2008 when Blair crashed in practice at the Montreal SX and suffered a severe spinal cord injury. Blair’s crash and his subsequent injury set shock waves through the action sports world as many felt Blair ‘Superman’ Morgan was invincible. After that fateful crash in 2008, Blair retreated to his home in Prince Albert, SK to recover and spend some quality time at home with his family, something that was hard to do during his years on the road. But this past winter Blair felt the time was right to pack his bags again and start attending various snowcross events as a Team Advisor for his old sponsor Ski-Doo. Recently at the Regina round of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, we caught up with Blair while watching the sport that he still loves so much.
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MXP: Hey Blair, it’s obviously great to see you. These days we only get to see each other once a year at this event so we don’t get to catch up as much as we used to. Sounds like you’ve been keeping busy. How are things going? BM: Things are really good, and yes, I’ve been pretty busy lately. For the last few years I’ve just been at home with the kids and taking care of them, but this past winter I got back out on the road a little and attended some snowcross events. It had been about seven years since I was at a snowcross race so it was great to be back and see some old friends.
You weren’t just there as a fan, your old sponsor BRP actually put you to work. Yes, I was there working for BRP as a Team Advisor. I was helping their athletes and giving my input. It was fun and it’s been something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. The time just felt right to get involved this winter and get back on the road, I really enjoyed it.
I’m assuming that with your name and what you have to give back to both motocross and snowcross that you’ve had a few offers to be at the races. What made you decide to do it now? Well, up until my injury in 2008 I had been racing for 20 years, so other than being injured, I was also pretty exhausted. It’s funny, I was thinking about retiring from racing when I got injured, but then it ended up being a forced retirement. In 2008, my kids were still really young and up until that point I was never home. So with that said, I really wanted to take some time to heal, spend time at home doing dad things, and also reflect on life and figure everything out. Going back to the track was the last thing on my mind and I needed that time. Now, though, my kids are older and we’re in a better place where I can take some time to travel to the races and be a part of it again.
I guess that’s maybe something that a lot of people didn’t realize with you. They see you as an athlete, and obviously as someone they look up to, but they don’t see the work behind the scenes. You didn’t get a break, you were always training for either snow or moto. Exactly, there was never a real break or time for a vacation. I wouldn’t say that I was getting burnt out at the time of my accident, but it was definitely feeling like a grind. So as I said, after I got injured there was obviously a lot to do with the recovery process from a physical side, but it was also time to sort of exhale and then heal mentally.
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BL AIR MORGAN Apart from the injury, it must’ve felt good to be at home and just being a normal guy. For sure, I mean it’s not the way I planned it obviously, but to be at home going to soccer games and hanging out with friends who I rarely got to see when I was racing was really good. Those moments have been amazing and it’s been fun just living a somewhat normal life really. That is so awesome to hear Blair. I know I speak for everyone when I say that it’s great to see you doing so well. When you look back on your career in both sports, what things are you most proud of? I just think that I was able to be successful at both and do them for so long. Both sports have their similarities but they’re also quite different. So to be able to go from one to the other for so many years was cool, not to mention that I was always playing catch up with both sports every time it was time to switch. In the spring I was always behind in motocross and it would take me half the season to reach my peak, then in the winter it was the same with snowcross. So to be able to work through those issues and still have successful seasons is probably the thing I’m most proud of.
I guess that’s another thing that people really didn’t see or realize. As you were talking I was thinking about how excited everyone must’ve been to see you back at the track last winter. You’re hand must’ve been sore from shaking hands. (laughs) For sure, I don’t think I’ve ever shaken as many hands as I did last winter (laughs). The coolest thing was that even kids who weren’t even born when I was racing were coming up to me to say hi. When you’re racing every weekend and so involved in trying to be better, it’s impossible to fully realize the impact you’re making on the sport. However, to go back after a few years, I got a real sense of what I meant to snowcross. It’s the same when I go to motocross races like this one.
Well, you’ve been such a huge part of both sports that I’m glad you realize your impact on them. Looking at the current state of motocross in Canada, what are your thoughts on the sport these days? You’ve seen it at its lowest point in the early ‘90s to one of its highest in the mid-2000s. How does it look today? It’s just like going back to snowcross this winter and seeing how it is now. Motocross has become such a show with the sponsors and the big trucks. We show up here today and the track is lined neatly with banners and there’s television cameras everywhere. It certainly wasn’t like this 20 years ago. I’m glad to see the sport come so far. It’s a great sport at all levels to compete, and it’s a great sport to watch live, so it needs to be where it currently is at now.
“In the spring I was always behind in motocross and it would take me half the season to reach my peak, then in the winter it was the same with snowcross. So to be able to work through those issues and still have successful seasons is probably the thing I’m most proud of.”
JSR and I talk about this all the time and he always says that while so many things have changed in motocross, the recipe for success is still exactly the same. I would agree and I also think that might even be harder now as there’s so many riders that are training hard and wanting to be best. Plus, with Social Media it’s easy for people to say stuff about you, both good and bad. When I was racing there wasn’t any of that stuff o you just did your own thing and never heard about it. I don’t know, life for these top riders just appears to be more complicated now. But it’s all good, they still need to train hard, block out all of the distractions and perform when they have to. Thanks for doing this Blair, I can’t tell how good it’s been to catch up and to see that you’re doing so well. All the best and we’ll probably see each other next year. I hope so! It’s been cool to catch up Palms, all the best and say hi to the family for me.
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OF T HE S TA R S: A C L OS E R L O O K AT T H E FAC TO RY M AC H I N E S FRO M T H E 2 016 R O C K S TA R E N E R GY D R I N K M X N AT I O N A L S
BY CHRIS POMEROY | PHOTOS BY JAMES LISSIMORE s we’ve done for the past few seasons, we give our readers a close up look at a few of the factory bikes that our top riders race at the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan. For 2016, these bikes look particularly special as the teams have been in competition with each other, not just on the track but off he track as well. For a number of years now motocross has become as much about fashion as it has about the racing. At each round of the series, fans can be seen walking around the pits checking out the riders and their incredible machines.
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The modern day four-stroke is a marvel of technology with its Electronic Fuel Injection and Air Suspension. At the factory level, it is all about performance and durability as the riders want the best possible, all-around machines. From the KTM Thor Racing Team to the MX101 FXR Yamaha Team, these bikes are pushed to the limits in every moto they enter. On the track these machines are two wheeled rocket ships capable of jumping 80 feet with a single blip of the throttle. Off he track, they’re true works of art. Thanks to James Lissimore, we’re able to get a close up look at some of the factory bikes that compete each and every weekend at the entertaining but gruelling 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals.
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BOOST BATTALION HELMET
MARIN BIKES THE ATTACK TRAIL 7 EVS AXIS SPORT KNEE BRACE Modeled after our Axis Pro, the Axis Sport Knee Brace was designed for lightweight comfort and flexibility utilizing reinforced nylon injected upper and lower cuffs. The monocoque aluminum hinge allows for a low profile structure, which results in a comfortable, lightweight and rigid brace. motovan.com
The ideal ride for the aggressive Mountain Biker who wants to take all the big hits! The ATTACK TRAIL 7 is spec’d at the entry level of MARIN BIKES MOUNTAIN Full Suspension Category. Also available is the higher spec’d ATTACK TRAIL 8, the 9 and the top of the line Full Carbon PRO. Lightweight, great geometry, and killer style, the MARIN ATTACK TRAIL series is worth a serious look. MARIN BIKES is the Official Bicycle of the CMRC ROCKSTAR MOTOCROSS NATIONALS and the choice of many of the NATIONALS TOP RACERS like Kaven Benoit, Cole Thompson, Colton Facciotti, Jeremy Medaglia, Mike Alessi, Jeremy Medaglia, and many more. marinbikes.com
The FXR Boost Battalion helmet has been designed to not only look great but to help you win every race. With this helmet exceeding DOT and ECE standards, being built with a Lightweight poly-injected shell and weighing in at only 1350g +/- 50g the Boost Battalion is incredibly light weight, along with offering a fully compatible neck brace system and one-piece nose guard for roost protection this helmet offers a new level of safety. The helmet comes with a removable and washable duel density EPS liner and high flow visor helps to reduce lift at high speeds. fxrracing.com
DUNLOP MX3S GEOMAX The Dunlop MX3S Geomax was first introduced and reserved for the factory race teams as munch in the AMA supercross and motocross racing . And now after dominating the SX and MX racing scene the MX3S rear tire finally drops to the riding public. Able to cover sand, soft and intermediate terrain, Dunlop has created a knob pattern that greatly improves cornering bite and feel over a wide range of surfaces. For the competitive motocross rider, this is the one to grab. motovan.com
MISSION MX JERSEY+PANT The FXR Mission MX jersey and pants offer total protection on the track. Both made of a moisture wicking, breathable polyester material designed for maximum airflow to keep you cool and dry when out riding. the jersey features under arm mesh and a shaped front collar to allow for ultimate comfort. The pants feature pre-curved knees to allow for all braces, along with a heat and abrasion resistant leather outer panels to assist in protection for the most aggressive riders. The pants also include our 360 accordion stretch inserts to allow for maximum comfort. fxrracing.com
MARIN BIKES THE GESTALT 3 This brand new segment created by MARIN BIKES with the call tag seen in their national advertising of BEYOND THE ROAD is the latest in cool models from MARIN. For the adventurous street rider who wants to venture off nto gravel and dirt covered roads! Discover how you can spice up your road training with a bike that will shock you with its versatile capabilities in all terrain. Voted by BICYCLING MAGAZINE as the BIKE OF THE YEAR for 2016. Available in 3 different models referred to as the GESTALT 1, 2, and (featured in picture) the top model, the GESTALT 3. marinbikes.com
FLO MOTORSPORTS – PRO SERIES FOOT PEGS
FIVE MXF PRO RIDER GLOVES FIVE is raising the standards in MX Gloves, by introducing a brand new and exclusive fabric to make your palm feel so comfortable without losing any of the sensation and grip you need to perform. Try a pair on and you won’t believe how different these gloves feel. We focused on how you feel the bike while riding, but we also added just what it takes to protect your fingers from flying rocks without hindering the freedom of movement that modern racing requires. Add up longtime reliability and you’ll get what can be considered as the most Advanced MX Gloves. No wonder the 2013 European MX2 Champion Valentin Guillod rides with them. motovan.com
No matter how much power your bike makes, it means nothing if there is no control of the bike . You probably haven’t given much consideration to you’re footpegs before, but pretty much all professional AMA supercross , motorcross and off-road riders ride with aftermarket footpegs for a wider platform, more grip and overall control of the bike . These Pro series Flo Motorsports Foot pegs will offer all of the above plus some more. Our pegs are constructed from highly durable 7075 T6 alloy making them much more durable then some standard 6061 T 6 that many competitors use on the market. motovan.com
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Gearing
SCOTT TYRANT GOGGLES
Up
The Tyrant goggle sets the bar for performance and innovation. Carefully engineered to optimize fit, venting and moisture management. Designed with features such as the Scott Fit system, the RAM Air plug and adjustable nose guard. All around, the Tyrant goggle is a top choice for any serious rider motovan.com
SENTINEL GP
VERGE HELMET
Our goal is to constantly improve the rider’s experience. When designing the SENTINEL GP, we set out to develop a roost guard that is so light and slim that it goes almost unnoticed, while still providing premium coverage. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a chest full of roost, you will surely appreciate the energy dispersing front panel, which is designed specifically to be a barrier between you and the rocks, roost, and debris. The rear panel features an integrated CE level one back protector that is constructed to optimize energy absorption. For the SENTINEL GP to do its job, it has to fit, which is why we created three distinct sizes with a wide range of adjustment within each size. Designed to fit over or under the jersey, the SENTINEL GP’s slim design provides a performance fit for minimal interference on the bike. With intake and exhaust vents throughout, those long hot motos won’t seem quite so long and hot. Tested and proven on some of the most brutal tracks the Outdoor Nationals have to offer, you can rest assured knowing that the SENTINEL GP has your back. thormx.com
When designing the VERGE, we worked hand in hand with our riders to develop a helmet that checked all the boxes. From coverage, to comfort, to ventilation, the VERGE helmet has been carefully designed to deliver first-class performance across the board. Weighing in at just 1286 grams (size Medium), the minimal weight of the VERGE reduces rider fatigue and decreases the rotational weight of the rider’s head. Inside of the hand-laid composite shell is a dual density liner that optimizes energy absorption for premium coverage. With 11 strategically placed vents, the VERGE rewards you for stretching that throttle cable by circulating fresh air into the helmet, while simultaneously pushing the hot air out. Off-road or moto, the VERGE is designed to perform on all fronts, regardless of what the track or trail throws at you. thormx.com
TROY LEE DESIGNS SE GEAR Troy Lee Designs SE gear has been developed and perfected into the superior line it is today, with a heavy focus on three key features: performance, function and durability. The combination of both perforated and heavy grade polyester, stretch material, and top grade leather, make this the perfect line of gear for anything you can throw at it. troyleedesigns.com
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RIDE LIFE TO THE FULLEST Explore the possibilities at ontariotravel.net/goride
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EVOLVED NUTRITION WITH DREW ROBERTSON & PHOTOS BY NICK HILL
M E N TA L LY S H A R P
ver the years I have written about nutrition, conditioning, how to layout out programs, including riding, as well as incorporating chiro and massage. Now I would like to touch on the mental aspect of training and competing. Some of us seem to have no outward signs of any problems, because we come across as being confident and strong, but in our heads we are worrying and second guessing ourselves. To become a true warrior we need not only to be in shape physically but mentally as well. I have always believed that hard, physical labour will help with our mental strength. Look at the military for example, they combine hard physical training with teamwork, honour and discipline to make sure that they are mentally tough. Now just to be clear, I do like how the military does some things, but I don’t condone all of their approaches. For one, I don’t think we need to yell and demean people. Instead of pushing people off the cliff, so-to-speak, we need to lead and have the person want to jump on their own. Before you go jumping off liffs, let me explain. The cliff I’m talking about is the cliff f trust and absolute belief in your program and training. In the military they tear people down, break them both physically and mentally, then they “reprogram” them to follow orders almost without question. I’m not saying they become mindless zombies, because some of the special forces operators are incredible at adapting and thinking on their feet during missions. This comes from the rebuilding process. After they are torn down, they train them for endless hours on different techniques that they can then apply in different situations. So how the hell does this apply to you the racer? Well, think about this: if you have total confidence in your readiness, both physically and mentally, you would be a formidable force on the track. Now let’s get to the ‘good stuff.’ How are we going to tear you down and reprogram you to be able to confront any and all things that get in your way?
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One of the first things we are going to do is train more outside; training in the gym or with gym equipment lacks that ‘real world’ touch. Go get a big tire, a sledge hammer, fill two large sand bags, get some Olympic rings, a mountain bike or road bike. Remember this, there is a difference between working out and training. Training is about using our bodies in the same manner that we race. Your program should always be evolving in order to provide as many different stimuli as it can in order to constantly challenge the body in new ways. Test yourself and see how far you can push yourself. My opinion is that people are twenty times more capable than they think they are. I always tell my athletes, fail, never quit. I have seen so many athletes quit before they are actually tried. Push yourself to new limits and change your comfort zone!!! BREAKING MENTAL TRAINING DOWN INTO CATEGORIES: ATTENTION CONTROL You need to learn and become aware of your thoughts and then determine if those thoughts are negative or positive, because negative thoughts will drain our strength and energy. They need to be stopped!! Positive thoughts, on the other hand, need to be focused. Now this may sound easy because it’s my mind and I know what I’m thinking; this is easy. However, there are thoughts that pass just below our conscious, but they can affect our mood, drive and overall energy. Think of those hard training sessions when you get to the point you feel like you can’t continue. If you let those tiny thoughts of “I can’t” creep in, “what about my knee?”, or “is my bike fast enough?”, you will psyche yourself out and you will quit. WHERE YOUR MIND GOES, YOUR BODY WILL FOLLOW. If you don’t think you can beat someone, you’re not going too!! BODY CONTROL This is where we learn to control the body through breathing and concentration. I’ll give you an example: you’re watching a scary movie, the music is getting louder, you know the crazy machete wielding psycho is under the bed, and the pretty girl is coming into the room. Watching this your heart might start to race or your extremities might get cold as the blood in the body rushes to your core in a flight or fight response. This is an example of your mind controlling your body, though not through your conscious direction. We want to be able to direct the mind and thus direct the body. One thing I have seen work is breathing exercises coupled with visualization. Through breath control and thinking about certain things
we are able to feel warmer. Think about it this way; if before a race and before you head out of the trailer, stop, close your eyes and breathe. Think about different areas of the track, breathe, think about the corners, breathe and so on. This will calm you down. When on the track, breathe, relax, and calm your mind!!! BREATH CONTROL This is about taking time and actually putting thought into something we do all the time without any thought. Try this exercise: inhale for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, exhale for 5 seconds, hold the exhale for 5 seconds, and repeat for as long as you can. This will help with lung capacity and it will calm the mind!! I have read a lot on this; one guy talked about getting through “Hell Week” with the SEALS. During the fourteen mile runs he would just think about breathing. He would hold for a two count on the inhale and he was amazed at how time just flew by. He also talked about the times he didn’t use this technique and how he struggled with the runs. When he concentrated on his breathing, the mind was calm and thoughts of failure or the pain he was enduring were unable to enter. CONCENTRATION Concentration and breath control can go handin-hand, however we want to emphasize to focus on the moment - right here, right now. If you worry about the future or the outcome of a race, you can easily get overwhelmed. Take the race or the hard workouts and break them down into smaller pieces. This way they are more manageable. Breath control will help with concentration, which will help with breath control, which will help with concentration... Working on one aspect of awareness will have an effect on another. MEDITATION To meditate is to develop the discipline of listening deeply while not actively thinking of anything. If this sounds different, think of it this way; breathe deep and let your mind be still. You want to remain in this state until you’re not thinking about breathing but listening to your breathing, and listening to everything around you without thinking about anything!! It’s tougher than it sounds, but this will help clear your mind. One thing I have found it does is bring things to the surface, things that were lingering in the back of my mind. Maybe you’re worrying about something and you’re not even aware of it. Try to meditate each and every day. I like to do it both in the morning and then again at night. We train the body, now train your mind, complete the picture!!!
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CHAMP 8 WINS RECORD-SETTING 31 CONSECUTIVE PODIUMS 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS RYAN DUNGEY
@RideDunlop DunlopMotorcycleTires.com ©2016 Dunlop Motorcycle Tires.
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THE INSIDE LINE ANDY WHITE
brought to you by
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W I T H A N DY W H I T E
O R A N G E D O M I N AT I O N
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“From the minute he started practice, Millsaps looked solid, very aggressive and was pushing hard. His KTM 450 looked like it was all dialed in.”
ow that the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals western rounds are over, let’s take a look back at a few highlights from the first few rounds. There was lots of talk of an American rider coming up named Davi Millsaps. We all know that this guy can ride a two wheeled dirt bike and is probably one of the best competitors in Supercross these days. Davi has had an up and down career, and loads of injuries have slowed him down. He actually hasn’t raced outdoors for the past four years or so. Two months prior to the Canadian series, Davi went down hard at the Daytona Supercross, and came out with some fairly serious injuries too - punctured lung and a few broken ribs. The injury was so bad that he had to drive home from Florida instead of taking a flight. The word on the street was that he was coming to Canada, but no one really knew if he was in shape to race. Some people even said that Davi doesn’t have the heart anymore to race. Well, I can dismiss any of you naysayers right now. I was at the first round and the Davi Millsaps I saw was in shape and looked like he wanted to win. From the minute he started practice, Millsaps looked solid, very aggressive and was pushing hard. His KTM 450 looked like it was all dialed in. KTM has invested some big money to win in 2016. They even have a full time WP suspension tech for the team. That KTM 450 Factory service race bike is probably one of the best bikes out on the track right now. It sounds and looks fast. KTM USA and
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Canada have a good program going on right now with Roger DeCoster overlooking the program. At Round 1, Millsaps looked like he has been riding outdoors for years. He is probably one of the most talented riders to race the Canadian series…ever! At Kamloops, Millsaps went 2-1 for the overall. Round 2 didn’t go so well, though. Late in the first moto, Davi got caught jumping on a Red Cross flag, which ended up costing him 10 positions. CMRC’s Head Referee, Paul Kingsley, had the honour of telling Mr. Millsaps that, “You can’t jump on a Red Cross and it’s going to cost you 10 places.” Not the news you want to hear when you are paid big dollars for overalls. The word got out that Mike Alessi was the one that protested the KTM rider for breaking the rules. Not only was Millsaps penalized, so was last year’s MX1 Champion Matt Georke. The rules state that if you get air on a jump where the Red Flag is being shown you will be docked 10 spots. Is it too much? Well, the rule has been in place for years, and additional, more severe penalties were added for second and third infractions after Colton Facciotti went down in Kamloops when four or five riders jumped right on him and knocked him out for the year. The example was given that Ryan Dungey jumped on a Red Cross last winter at one of the rounds in supercross and he was docked three places. Is the rule in Canada too much? Well, possibly, but everyone voted on it years back. In Moto 2, Millsaps had Facciotti on him most of the race but was able to hold him off. That gave him an 11-1 for fourth overall. Moving on to Calgary, this track better suited the California rider. Right out of the gate Davi sprinted and never looked back. With a 1-1 for the overall Davi had a nice points lead going into Regina. Running second in the series is Mike Alessi on his Monster Energy Kawasaki 450, and as a new addition this year, the team is sponsored by Alpinestars gear. Mike came off a retty good supercross series with a win in a heat race. Mike is no stranger to the Canadian series; two years ago Mike finished just a few points behind Facciotti for the championship. Would this be his year? Well, if Millsaps wasn’t here, I would have to say maybe. Mike is getting stronger and more
confident on his new ride. It’s not that easy to switch from a Honda to a Kawasaki in thirty days and show positive results. I think his best race I have seen was when Alessi was in Calgary looking like the old Mike we had known, going 2-2 for second overall. Four-time Canadian Champion, Colton Facciotti, on his GDR Honda and wearing Fox for 2016, is sitting third in the series. Never count this guy out. He is so smooth that it looks like he is not really trying. The lap times say he is hauling but when you watch him it looks like he is relaxed and just cruising. Round 1 was good as he finished third in Kamloops. Round 2 was even better as he got the overall. That meant he had the red number plate going into Round 3 in Calgary, but this round was not that good for Colton. Was it the red number plate? Was it just a crappy weekend? From what I could see, the track was fast and kind of a one-liner that made it not easy to pass. The roost from the 450s would leave massive welts on your skin. Fourth in the series is a guy that never quits and he is on a new team for 2016. Brett Metcalfe was the guy to beat in 2015 but with a few mechanical issues it wasn’t to be. Riding for the powerful Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha race team, the off-season was good as Brett was able to start testing in the fall in California. In the spring, Metcalfe got the opportunity to head to Australia to compete in their Nationals on a Husky 450. “It took a few weekends to get the Husky dialed in,” said Brett. “The two brands are quite different.” Once Brett returned to the US he found himself adjusting to the Yamaha. “Round 1 and 2 were okay, not great but okay.” Round 3 was way better. Brett looked like he was much more comfortable on the YZ450, because apparently the team did a full week of testing. I would say it paid off or him. Brett is a way better sand rider than a hard pack rider, in my view, and I am sure his results will improve when we get to the eastern rounds. That’s what has happened in a nutshell after three rounds in the MX1 class. I am really looking forward to what’s going to happen in the next seven rounds. See you at the races.
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F R O M T H E D E S K O F M A R K S TA L LY B R A S S P HOTO JA MES LISSIMORE
POSITIVE THOUGHTS
e’re now at the halfway point of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, and what a series it has been to date. Amateur entries reached new highs in the west, attendance at each national has drastically increased, the level of talent in the Pro classes has never been higher, and the number of people following our series throughout the world has increased dramatically. I could go on about the steps forward that have been taken, because many positives surround the series but not without some challenges. But wait, let’s not focus on the positives because there is some controversy that needs to be pointed out, especially by the armchair critics and anonymous morons who get courageous behind their keyboards or smartphones. For those following the national series, you know there have been two Red Cross flag incidents. Here’s the bottom line: In the two cases, was the flag out? Yes. Was the flagger in the proper position? Some will argue, but yes. Was it justified to have the Red Cross flag out? In Nanaimo it’s debatable but in Regina it was completely warranted, but the bottom line is the flag was out. Did some not see the flag? Maybe, but would a judge dismiss the case if you said you didn’t see the red light before t-boning another vehicle? Don’t think so. Jump on the Red Cross flag and it is ten positions – period. What we have learned from these experiences is two things: 1) How to properly penalize ten riders for the same infraction (who woulda thunk we’d have to do that? That was a first!). 2) Our rule had to be clarified so it reads the way we intended (It now has been amended to read: Red Cross Flag Indicates a downed rider or the need for extreme caution. All riders must display a clear attempt to reduce their speed. Absolutely no passing, or no jumping with the purpose to clear any obstacle). Unfortunately, life is about living and learning, and learning through experience. We’re moving forward in the name of progress. If we didn’t, then you
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“A healthy amateur base makes for a healthy pro class, and a healthy pro class feeds a healthy amateur program.” should give us the gears. Then there’s social media. I don’t use Social Media to communicate. I’m old fashioned, I pick up the phone. Unfortunately, I do read a number of posts because I’m sent them by the SM companies. It’s a treat to invest your working life in a sport then get chastised and have your name dragged across the coals every day in appreciation for your hard work. It’s been happening since day one so it doesn’t bother me a bit, in fact, it motivates me to keep plowing forward. For the Pro Nationals, we’ll be introducing a new Social Media policy for riders, mechanics, team managers, and team members similar to policies introduced by professional sports organizations. As I explained in my pro riders and managers meetings we hold each Saturday before a national, you never know who is reading your post. Maybe it’s your sponsor or manufacturer who really doesn’t appreciate being associated with you because of the BS you’re saying and decides next year you’re out. Maybe it’s a corporate rep that is thinking about getting into the sport either at the series, team or rider level. After they read the garbage, maybe they think it would be best to wait a while until the people in the sport grow up. I know people involved in the series get amped up when a decision goes against them, and I don’t blame them one bit. However, rather than post something to the world when you’re all fired up, take a deep breath,
act professional, and suck it up. After all, who does O T O B Ycloud J A M E Sover L I S S Ithe MORE it benefit? To me, it hangs PaH dark sport, and takes progress a step back. When it comes to the general public, there are certain individuals who must be unhappy with their status in life because they find it necessary to criticize each event, the series, the national series staff, a ruling, whatever the case. If hiding behind your words and thoughts for everyone to see makes you feel superior, good on ya! There’s one last point that I’d like to clarify. It really makes me chuckle when people say I don’t care about amateur racing. That is so far from the truth it’s not funny. I have spent the last twenty-seven years running this company for the sake of all competitors, amateur and pro. I get this the most in Ontario, probably because I don’t attend every regional race like I used to for the first decade of CMRC. So if that’s the case then riders in every other region should be complaining about my lack of presence because I don’t go to their regional races either. A healthy amateur base makes for a healthy pro class, and a healthy pro class feeds a healthy amateur program. I don’t know anyone out there that fights to keep our country from splintering more than I do. Another story at another time but that will lead to a major decline. It would be a shame because there are so many positives that are taking place in Canadian Motocross at the moment.
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