2016 CMRC Eastern Canadian Women’s National Preview

2016 CMRC Eastern Canadian Women’s National Preview

By Leah Clarke

The CMRC Eastern Canadian Women’s Nationals has grown throughout the years to become one of the most prestigious Women’s racing events in Canada. Last season, the east series had a huge increase in numbers making each round a full gate of exciting action. For 2016, the girls will have four rounds to prove themselves on who is top. With an addition of a fourth round in Barrie, Ontario, this series will be an event you won’t want to miss. For the past two years, Quebec native Eve Brodeur has been champion. Eve has also been competing in the US WMX nationals this year, and has ridden consistently around top 5. I believe that the competition this year will be stiffer with some fast girls coming from the U.S and some off-road girls from Quebec coming to compete for the #1 plate. I fully expect (and hope) that every round will have 40 riders on the gate!

Sylvain Brodeur and I (Leah Clarke) have worked really hard to secure sponsors for this year and we hope to see a full gate of ladies at each race. Something special about our series is that while we do have Holeshot awards and top 3 plaques like the mens series, we also have a draw table of prizes for the girls at the end of the day. This helps provide equitable opportunity to the women competing in this series by giving them the opportunity to receive free gear and equipment. While most top men riders are sponsored with gear, 99% of top females in Canada are are not. While we are not at the point (yet!) where women are treated equally in motocross, we can strive to provide them equitable opportunities. Often, the terms “equity” and “equality” are misused and interchanged. Equity recognizes that some are at a larger disadvantage than others and aims at compensating for these peoples disadvantage in order to make sure that everyone is capable of attaining the same type of goal. Equity is different than equality such that we can’t use the one-size fits all method to apply to everyone. That’s equality, and equality does not always elicit true fairness. We need to put in the extra work and give everyone what they need.

We both believe in giving women equitable opportunities in this sport, and we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the help of our 2016 sponsors:

M7 Designs, CMRC, MX101 Racing, Laminacorr Racing, Gibson Tyre Technology, Strikt Gear Company, Mongoose Machine, Gamma Powersports, Oakley, FLY racing, Dragon Alliance, Forma Boots, MD Distributing, Motovan, Moto Illimitees, MXTrophies, Wheelsport, EMP Garage St Jerome, KTM Canada, Hardcore Candy, Evans Cooling, Nihilo Concepts, MX and Offroad Magazine, Jimmy Weinert Training Facility, Offroad Like a Girl, Parc MX Tring Junction, and the Canadian Moto Show.

We also thank MXP, DMX, GuaranteedMX, RideMX, and Canadian Motoshow for giving us media coverage and unwavering support.

This year the rounds are as follows:

Round 1 July 9th 2016 Gopher Dunes

Round 2 July 16th 2016 Ulverton

Round 3 August 6th 2016 Deschambeault

Round 4 August 13th 2016 RJ Motosport

Importantly, most of these tracks are predominantly sand. Gopher is deep sand, and here fitness and endurance are a huge factor. Gopher Dunes is probably one of the most physically exhausting track on the circuit, because it is deep, loamy sand. Ulverton is also sand, but has some elevation as well. The track goes up and down the side of a massive hill, which is exhausting for the riders but spectators have a great view of the track. Deschambeault is also sand, with some clay base in corners. Deschambeault is one of the longer tracks on the circuit, and has great jumps and elevation. I expect that at Ulverton and Dechambeault there will be a full gate of women, 40 or more. I expect that there will be lots of girls from Quebec series and offroad series that will come out of the woodwork here to compete. We might even have to run qualifiers!

RJ’s Mototsport park is new to the circuit this year, and adds a fourth round to our series. We are excitedly to see the girls battle it out on a “new” track. The addition of a fourth round also gives the women more opportunities to achieve points, which will be more forgiving if they have one bad moto. Last year’s 6 moto format left little room for error, but this year the addition of two races will help.

How to Pre-Register for the EAST WMX Nationals: This is not mandatory, but saves volunteers time and saves you $10. Pre-register by Wednesday 12am EST, or Friday night 7-9pm(ish). Everyone must sign the waiver Friday night at the CMRC trailer. There will be no late sign in Saturday morning. French version included in the post! http://www.cdnwmx.com/#!HOW-TO-PREREGISTER/c1iu8/5773e25e0cf2e26a99865450

For Details about Gopher Dunes, Please read this post about attending this Round, it includes important information about race day format and sign in: http://www.cdnwmx.com/#!EVERYTHING-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW-BEFORE-RACING-GOPHER-DUNES-NATIONAL/c1iu8/5773dfc60cf231749dca4734 http://www.cdnwmx.com/#!HOW-TO-PREREGISTER/c1iu8/5773e25e0cf2e26a99865450

Keep an eye out for more news in the next few weeks as we get closer to round 1! If you are interested in more information, please visit cdnwmx.com !