Don't Miss

Decal Works Presents Monday Gate Drop

mxp gate drop

Good Morning!! As I sit here this morning writing this edition of Monday Gate Drop, the snow is falling, my neighbours are actually having to shovel their driveways (I hope they do mine) and the news is trying to portray the falling gas prices as a bad thing. It’s definitely a strange Monday here in Shelburne, Ontario. Hopefully the age old saying that states when winter comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb is true because for almost a week now it’s been roaring. I guess it might as well snow so we can all go skiing and get the sleds out. I’m sure with these cheaper gas prices more people will want to drive to the ski hill or buy some fuel for their sled!

With another few weeks off until the Future West Canadian Arenacross Championship starts up again, there wasn’t a lot of racing going on this past weekend. A few of the up and coming stars of Supercross were over in France for the Bercy SX, well for this year it was moved outside of Paris to the city of Lille, France. From the photos and videos I saw from Lille, the track and facility looked a lot better than Bercy. Also, the stands looked packed as they always are for this historic event.

Geico Honda rider Eli Tomac was the big winner as he was crowned the “King of Bercy.” Eli rode strong and held off Justin Barcia and Malcom Stewart for the overall. All of these young riders look very fast. Racing a few of these off season events will no doubt serve them well when the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross Series begins on January 3rd in Anaheim. It’s always interesting to see which riders decide to use these races as part of their preparation for the following season. I know money talks as these riders get a good amount of money to fly ten to twelve hours just to race, however I’m sure a lot of confidence is gained by winning one of these overseas races. Our MX2 Champion, Kaven Benoit, is scheduled to head to the Geneva SX in a few weeks so it will be cool to have one of Canada’s top riders to cheer for.

clvsat1

Newf currently sits 7th in the Pro Open Class.

Okay, onto the big news that came out last week in our industry. Ryan Lockhart is currently 7th in the Pro Open points standings in the Future West Canadian AX Series!!!! Although this is great news for Newf fans and all the plus 30 riders in Canada, I’m only kidding. The big news that came last week was the amendments made to the two-stroke rule by the CMRC. If you haven’t seen them yet, here they are as per the official CMRC Pro Racing Press Release:

1. The bike must remain in stock form from the intake manifold to the exhaust port, and all engine parts between those two points. All engine parts (ie. cylinder, cylinder head, piston, rings, rod, etc.) must be OEM for that year model.

2. Intake manifold is defined from the rubber boot clamps to the carburetor. No porting or headwork allowed.

3. There are no restrictions on pipes or mufflers other than the fact that they must meet the sound rules.

4. CMRC will be conducting random engine checks throughout the series. CMRC will have a cylinder, cylinder head and piston from each manufacturer for comparison.

5. Any bikes found to be modified will be excluded from the results of the day’s competition.

6. Additionally, a rider may not switch from a two-stroke to a four-stroke or visa-versa. The type of machine on which a rider begins the series is to be used to the completion (ie. Start on a two-stroke, finish on a two-stroke).

Obviously, when rules or amended rules are introduced there is blow back as there is multiple opinions. On this particular subject there are two main sides, well three actually, and I don‘t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure who is on each side. One side thinks two strokes shouldn’t be allowed to race at all in the MX2 class as they pose too much of an advantage over a 250 four-stroke. This is how the racing in this class works in the USA, no two strokes are allowed in the Lites class.

The second side feels that two-strokes should be allowed in the MX2 class because it gives certain riders an option of being competitive on a motorcycle that is cheaper to maintain for the entire series, thus adding to the entries and filling up the gates in this class. This side has been obviously gaining strength over the last few seasons as there has been more and more two-strokes on the track in all levels of racing, and to the manufacturers’ delight (well for the three that still sell two-strokes) their sales have increased.

moncton kaven

When Kaven Benoit took home the 2014 MX2 Championship on his KTM 250 Two-Stroke, you could just sense that some rule changes were on the horizon.

While this argument has been simmering on the back burner for some time, it wasn’t until a two-stroke 250 finally won a championship this past summer (congrats to Kaven Benoit). Once this happened you just knew that the stuff would hit the fan and changes to the rule might be made. Now being the responsible journalist that I am, I’ve contacted members of all sides on this subject to get their valuable opinions. Since one side didn’t want to comment on it just yet, to be fair I won’t say who that was, and I won’t print the comments that I did get. Instead I will just give my own opinion and leave it at that.

I know the CMRC has taken a lot of heat over the years on some of their rules or lack of rules, however if this rule needed to be tweaked a bit than I think they got it right. Remember, only half of the manufacturers still make a two-stroke so I’m assuming that there was some suggestions to ban them all together from the MX2 class for 2015. If getting rid of them was an option, then tightening up the rules a little was good idea. Banning two-strokes from the MX2 class in Canada is probably the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time. It’s like shooting ourselves in the foot!

For the riders that are going to ride two-strokes in 2015, even though there are now limitations to what changes can made to the engines, I still think they’ll be plenty fast enough to make it worthwhile racing one. From what I remember from my 250 two-stroke days, if you get the jetting spot on, throw on an exhaust system and maybe change the fly wheel to smoothen out the power delivery, with the right rider working the controls, the bike will be good enough to win on.

gopher maffenbeier2

Shawn Maffenbeier was one of the riders in 2014 who were very successful in the MX2 class while riding a Yamaha Four-Stroke.

For the riders that are going to race the 250 four-stroke in 2015, these bikes can still be made to go fast without killing their reliability or putting costs through the roof. Remember, in 2014 in the MX2 class, four-strokes won 13 of the 19 motos so I don’t think you can argue that the riders racing these modern bikes do not still have a distinct advantage over their pre-mix loving cousins. At the end of the day the best rider won the MX2 title this year and they will continue to do so next year and the year after that, regardless of what bike they’re riding. I hope two-strokes are here to stay because they provide an alternative that helps the sport in this country and at the end of the day that’s more important than anything else. The only part to the amendment I could do without is #6, simply because I think switching bikes actually hurts a rider. I know Benoit did it this past year and it worked for him, but he took a huge risk and it could’ve gone the other way. How you ride these two bikes is completely different, in my opinion, so I don’t think it helps to race both in a series. In fact, it may only help the media as it gave us a great story to write about this past summer.

So having said all that, what is everyone going to ride in the MX2 class in 2015? With the exception of Benoit, I’m sure all the same riders, and maybe a few additions, will ride a two-stroke. It will be interesting to see which bike Benoit chooses in 2015? The only track I can’t seeing the bike working on is Nanaimo, however if the series avoids the island and begins on the mainland of BC then he won’t have to worry about it. I guess we’ll have to wait until the series schedule gets released shortly and then all the decisions can be made. Please stay tuned later this week as I will try and get some comments from both sides on this subject. As I said, one side wasn’t prepared to comment yet, and since I wanted to be fair and present both sides, I will wait.

Finally, through all this drama comes some very joyful news. Our MX1 Champion is now a father! A few days ago, Colton and his wife Jocelyn welcomed their beautiful son, Keeghan Facciotti, into the world. Congratulations to the Facciottis from all of us at MXP.

I hope everyone has a great week and I hope you all stay warm.

coltons baby

Welcome Keagan Facciotti.

x

Check Also

This Week In Supercross: Round 8 Monster Energy Supercross- Daytona Supercross

For information about the SuperMotocross World Championship, please visit www.SuperMotocross.com and be sure to follow all of the ...