DeCal Works Presents Monday Gate Drop

Good morning and welcome to the first Monday Gate Drop of 2015. This weeks column is again brought to you by DeCal Works. I don’t think anything could ring in the new year better than a brand new set of custom graphics for your new or used dirt bike. All you have to do in visit their web site at www.decalmx.com and within minutes you can design your very own custom set of graphics.

Well folks, we made it to the month of March and for all of us east of Alberta, we could be getting a taste of spring very soon. I say east of Alberta simply because parts of Alberta and BC have been experiencing periods of nice weather on and off all winter. Certainly not like Toronto (just to name one city) as our trusted weather people just announced that this past February was the coldest on record. If you picked last month to head south for some riding or for a vacation, then apparently you definitely chose the right time to do it.

So on to some of the news that highlighted this past weekend in our sport both here in Canada, in the USA and halfway around the world in the Middle East. Let’s begin with the latter as the opening round of the 2015 MXGP World Championships began, and of course, Ryan Villopoto’s first race against his new GP foes. While I’m not sure anyone picked him to run away to an easy victory, I’m sure that no one in their right mind would’ve forecasted RV to not even finish in the top five. RV’s weekend certainly seemed challenging from start to finish as it was a mixture of crashes, mishaps, intense battles with riders I’m sure he’d never heard of before, and also just the general rust of not having raced an outdoor race for two years. As every racer knows, you can practice until your heart’s content, however nothing replaces the raw intensity of actually racing.

For the first time that I can remember, Villopoto looked very nervous as he began what will more than likely be his final season as a professional dirt bike rider. From his uncharacteristic stall off the gate in moto one to simply hitting the ground on a few occasions, RV definitely made his first ever GP a lot harder than it needed to be. The first thing I thought of when I saw his results in Qatar was a moment from the 2011 Great Outdoors video when RV has a very off day at the opening round at Hangtown. After the first moto when he finished well off the podium he was back at the Kawasaki truck and his mechanic simply said to him “You forget how tough it is, eh?” At that time RV was fresh off his 2011 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, however he hadn’t raced outdoors for over a year so he was obviously rusty. In that year it only took RV a few weeks to shake the rust off, because he then went on to win the 450 Outdoor title in dramatic fashion.

Can he do the same this summer in the MXGP World Championships? I certainly don’t see why he can’t once he gets comfortable. If you look at his lap times as he was coming through the pack on Saturday night they were pretty much on par with the leaders, in fact at one point the held down the fastest time. I’m sure RV wasn’t at all happy with his result in Qatar, but you don’t accomplish what he’s accomplished throughout his career without handling adversity well. I’m also sure that RV had a tough time sleeping after the race as his brain was probably buzzing with all of the new knowledge that it had just absorbed. In the past, RV has excelled whenever he’s been put in the position of having to make adjustments and finding the speed necessary to get the job done. I think as this series criss-crosses the Globe this summer, the MXGP regulars are going to be amazed at just how resilient Ryan Villopoto is and at how well he adapts. Having said that, I was honestly shocked with RV’s finish in Qatar, especially when I picked him to win the opening round.

Here is a quote from RV on his weekend:

“Ryan Villopoto: “I haven’t raced since May last year, and it wasn’t a good day, but we scored points and that’s definitively something we have to work on. I never had a schedule like that one for a long time, but I’ve got to get used to that and all the rest, including how the gate drops, how they do everything. We struggled a little bit with the start today, a little me and a little the bike, but we came back and got points. We’ve definitively some work to do, but that’s part of it. We learned a lot this weekend and will be stronger at the next GP; we have to work on setup stuff, which will make things a little bit easier. For me, every time I went on the track this weekend things went better; in the second race I had some issues as my rear brake felt strange; I don’t know if it’s a rock or what, but it’s part of the deal. We can make some stuff this week, even if the team doesn’t go back home, and we will be better next weekend.”

So this week I’m not going to talk too much about Supercross as I thought the evening of racing in Atlanta was a little predictable. Other than the fact that I love when SX does a themed night, not much really happened. With my age, I’m obviously a 1980s and 1990s guy so to see all the riders and teams embracing the 1990s was pretty cool. Chad Reed even went as far as appearing in the opening ceremonies on a KX250 two-stroke; very cool stuff, indeed. Anyway, when all was said and done it was another clean sweep by the Orange Brigade. Now the series moves to the toughest race of the year, the Daytona SX.

Speaking of the Orange Brigade, this past Friday one of my fellow media guys, Jeff McConkey from DMX, and I were invited to the KTM Canada HQ in Saint-Bruno, QC for their 2015 Royal Distributing Fox KTM Team introduction. KTM was also introducing their very first rider for the new Canadian Orange Brigade program in Tanner Ward. Finally, it was also a chance to see KTM’s new Team Manager, JSR, in action as he’s taken over the duties of running the race team.

During the afternoon on Friday, we all gathered for a presentation on a number of key topics, including the introduction of team riders Cole Thompson, Kaven Benoit and of course Tanner Ward. JSR and Clody Lapointe went over how they would like to work with the media as far as interviews with their riders in 2015, and finally there was a slide show on the KTM brand and how to improve everyone’s interaction on Social Media. Jason Moore from Fox Canada was on hand to share his insights as Fox Canada is a title sponsor and obviously a proud supporter of the team as well as Canadian motocross.

After the presentation, we all convened for dinner and then the main event of the evening, a trip to a 24 hour indoor go-kart facility for a little competition. It has been over half a decade since I’ve driven a go-kart, and man it really showed as I struggled in both qualifying and the main event. The karts we were using were gas powered and ran about 9HP on the dyno, so they were pretty quick and not easy to drive. When the gate dropped for the main event, Kaven Benoit picked up where he left off last year at Walton Raceway and rocketed to the lead. Behind our 2014 MX2 Champ was the freight train of Eve Broduer’s Dad, Jason Moore, Tanner Ward and JSR all trying to keep Benoit in sight. Since I qualified badly I started the main near the back and had to work my way through the pack. By the mid-way point I had passed my way up to 7th. I was in my elbows-up-groove and channeling my inner Ayrton Senna quite well. At that point I got the blue flag waved at me as Benoit had caught me and was ready to put me a lap down. I couldn’t believe my eyes, and when I moved out of the way to let the quicker MX2 Champ by, I accidentally brushed the tire barrier with one of my red hot tires and boom!! The tire barrier sucked me in and I blasted through about three rows of it, and went completely off the track, much to the delight of my competitors.

In the end Kaven Benoit continued his winning streak that dates back to last August, the rest of us were just pawns in his four-wheeled game. After the race we all gathered for some serious bench racing and laughter (at my expense), and it came out that Benoit’s friend owns a karting place and he drives all the time in the summer. Can you say ringer? After go-karting, it was quite late so we all retired to the hotel for the night so we were fresh for Saturday’s appearance at the Montreal Motorcycle Show. A show that we all spent most of Saturday. I couldn’t believe how busy it was. I’m not sure of the exact attendance numbers but it was hard to even move inside the Montreal Convention Centre. It’s clear everyone is getting excited about spring and riding motorcycles.

It was a great weekend all around and a great chance to catch up with everyone. When I asked Kaven how his training was going and what bike he would ride this summer, he replied “Everything is going great so far. I’m heading back down south this week so there will be a lot of work done in the next few months before Kamloops. Also, I’ve decided to ride the two-stroke in 2015, I obviously had a lot success on it last year so I think the bike will work well again this summer.”

I also asked Cole Thompson how his return to riding has been. “Riding has been going really well so far. I waited a long time until I was fully healed to begin riding so there would be no issues at all. After riding a little down south, I recently moved back to California to train there. I’m glad I did some riding before heading to California because practicing out there is very intense with so many fast guys riding on any given day. Anyway, everything is good and we should be ready to go by round one in Kamloops.”

So there you have it, the Orange Brigade is ready to go for 2015! Cole Thompson is all healed up and will make his first visit to the western tracks beginning in Kamloops on a KTM 450. His teammate will once again ride a KTM 250 two-stroke, which I think is great news for the sport and the 2015 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. Just being around these guys this past weekend made me excited for the season to begin in Canada. Thank you again to KTM Canada for their awesome hospitality while I was in Montreal, it was a great two days!

So that is it for me this week. I will leave you with the announcement of a contest that MXP will be running for tickets to the upcoming Detroit SX. Beginning today and running for the three week, I will be asking a trivia question in my Monday Gate Drop. Each week, the first person to email me at chris@mxpmag.com with the correct answer will win two tickets to the Detroit SX on March 21st. With no Toronto SX, this is as close as the 2015 AMA Monster Energy SX comes to us in Eastern Canada. The trivia question this week is as follows:

Who were the two main event winners and what year was it the last time the Supercross Series visited the Pontiac Silverdome?

Anyway, good luck and I hope everyone has a great week. Next Monday my column will hopefully come to you from sunny South Carolina as we’re headed down there to do some riding and have a short vacation. After this long winter it’s going to feel good to fire up the bikes again and hit the track. I know it’s been cool down there but the forecast looks great for the week that we’re there. Thanks for reading this and don’t forget to order your 2015 graphic package from DeCal Works.