Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
As all of the riders and teams arrive in England to make their final preparations for this weekend’s 2017 Monster Energy MXON, let’s take a quick glance at the track that they will be racing on. The Matterley Basin track is listed as 1640m in length and is made up of mostly hard packed soil. For this big race, however, the track has been lengthened somewhat and truck loads of loamy soil have been added. Also, to make it more exciting for the riders and spectators, some very large jumps have been put in place. With no banners or spectators lining the track, the Matterley Basin circuit sits all be itself in the middle of a vast English countryside and doesn’t appear to be much of anything. However, as we speak, everything is being set up and with over 20,000 fans expected on Sunday, this circuit will take on an entirely different face.
A lot of jumps have been added as well as a few new sections. This should play into the hands of all three Canadian riders as our trio of stars love to jump. I also feel like the track surface will be exactly what our riders are used to as all three have had success this summer on this type of soil. Of course, as per usual, at this type of event it will all come down to what type of starts Team Canada can achieve this weekend. Coming from behind and trying to get into the top ten is almost impossible for any nation, so a good start is crucial for success.
The final item that could become a huge factor is the unpredictable British weather. As of now the forecast for Sunday is not good as it’s currently calling for cool temperatures and rain. This could change between now and then so we won’t hold our breath. If it rains and the 2017 MXON becomes a mudder, than all bets are off for how Team Canada or anyone else fairs in Sunday. Our team of Shawn Maffenbeier, Tyler Medaglia and Colton Facciotti have all won big races in the mud so they know exactly what they’re doing. I believe that if Sunday’s race is a mudder then Canada is perfectly positioned to finish inside the top five, and perhaps even the top three. In fact, if the conditions are bad I can picture one of our Canadian riders pulling off a moto win against the world’s top riders. Anyway, we’ll see how the weather plays out as I’m sure everyone is hoping for a dry weekend ahead. To get a complete look at how the Matterley Basin track is set up for this coming weekend, here is a video of Dean Wilson, Tommy Searle and a few others testing it out last week.
