Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. With the race season now underway in most parts of Canada, Honda Canada is right there with a full line-up of off-road motorcycles, as well as all of the dealer support a rider could ever need. With a brand new 2018 CRF250, and a proven CRF450, the podiums in 2018 will be full of Honda riders.
Happy belated Earth Day. I’m definitely missing the beaches and the weather of Mexico.
After a short week in Mexico, I’m now back, tanned, and ready for the early season grind. I use the word ‘grind’ because each year the final six weeks leading up to the opening round of the outdoor nationals has been very hectic. With the next issue of MXP Magazine due in two weeks, as well as the program for the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Outdoor Series due around the same time, my schedule for the next few weeks is pretty much set. It has been like this for the past four years so I’m used it. Also, for as much extra work as the national program takes to put together, I always feel honoured to have my name on it. This year also marks the first ever program for the new Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series, so it definitely has a little extra excitement to it.
The 2018 AMO Ontario racing season finally began yesterday at Gopher Dunes.
Even though my son wasn’t racing yesterday at Gopher Dunes, I still made the two-hour drive down to the Tillsonburg area to watch the first race of the 2018 Ontario motocross season. The beginning of any new season is always exciting as you not only get to see the riders race on the track for the first time, but you also get to see people in the pits that you haven’t seen in months. With the snow and ice storm that much of Ontario received last weekend, the area around my house now has about six inches of snow. However, as I made my way south from Hwy. 401 towards the Gopher Dunes track, the grass was already getting green and the farmers’ fields were looking dry. I absolutely love the Tillsonburg area and if it were 1997 again, I would probably move there and rent a house as it’s just a great area for riding. As I pulled into the gate yesterday at Gopher Dunes and was greeted by a very happy Denise Gauld, the sun was shining and I could hear the bikes already on the track. Yes, the 2018 race season in Ontario has finally, and I do mean finally, begun.
It was exciting to see Mike Alessi at Gopher Dunes yesterday.
Yesterday was also the first time that I witnessed the new track changes that the Gopher crew made late last year. With a new start and a few changes made to the middle portion of the famous track, from my perspective it looked great, and from talking to some of the riders, everyone seems to like it. At just over 300 entries yesterday, the turnout was pretty much what everyone expected for the opening race. With a very dry track, and no way to water it, I’m not sure everyone could’ve handled a 500 entry race day. For the type of day it was, the entries were a perfect number to kick-off a brand new season.
One of the coolest things about yesterday at Gopher Dunes was that Mike Alessi was there to do some early season racing and testing. Mike turns 30 next month and he’s also going to become a father in June. In talking to him yesterday I got a sense that he’s just in a very happy place. He loves his Monster Energy Kawasaki, he loves his new team, and he just appears to be loving life. We all know Mike’s story growing up and his first few seasons in the pro class. Since he was young, his life has been lived under a microscope, with pressures that the rest of us can only imagine. But now, he’s happy and he feels like so much weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. With his experience and his well-known ability to get great starts, I think Mike Alessi could be a real championship contender this summer. I’m pumped to see him back up in Canada for another season, and I know everyone at Gopher Dunes was excited to see the 800 on the track yesterday.
I know this is not the best photo as I took it with my phone. But Evan Stewart was one of the riders who really impressed me yesterday.
Without the stress of having my son racing yesterday, it gave me the opportunity to walk around, talk to people and observe the racing. Obviously, Gopher Dunes is a very difficult track to ride at the best of times. But when it’s the first race of the year it becomes even more challenging and fatigue can set in very quickly. In watching some of the races yesterday, there were a few riders that most certainly stood out. Jake Tricco looked great as he always does aboard his Moto Park Yamaha. Sam Gaynor was another Intermediate rider who looked very strong yesterday. I didn’t know that Sam had been involved in a very bad car accident a month ago when his car left the roadway while trying to avoid some deer. Sam suffered serious injuries to his neck and spine, but thankfully those injuries didn’t affect the stability of his spine. He has been cleared to race and he looked great on the rough Gopher Dunes track. Sam’s dad told me yesterday that they plan to race the eastern rounds of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series in the 250 class, so that is very exciting. However, of all of the riders I watched yesterday, the one who impressed me the most as far as having made a big jump in speed and technique was young Evan Stewart. Now, don’t get me wrong, Evan has always been fast and has always looked good on his bike, but yesterday I notice a different Evan Stewart. I know he has worked hard during the off-season and has spent time down south riding, so I’m sure that has helped immensely. But it’s more than just spending time down south riding and training during the winter months. It’s about talent, it’s about being in the right place mentally when the season begins, it’s about being in good shape, and it’s about totally committing yourself to racing. All of the above leads to unbreakable confidence in your riding and that is what I saw yesterday with Stewart. He just looked confident! Maybe it’s because his dad is named James? Get it, Evan’s dad is James Stewart? Anyway, as a rider who knows how difficult the first race of the year is at Gopher Dunes, great job to everyone who lined up yesterday and ate some sand.
All of us at MXP Magazine want to wish Claudie Lapointe the best for whatever the future holds for her. Photo by James Lissimore
In other off-track news from this past week, everyone’s favourite Orange Brigade girl Claudie Lapointe announced that she has left her job as the Marketing Manager at KTM Canada to pursue other interests. For everyone who has dealt with Claudie over the past few years, I’m sure this comes as very sad news. She has been such a big part of KTM’s success in Canada, especially when it comes to our young riders. Without her, there would be no Canadian Orange Brigade program, a program that has helped KTM riders from all over this country. Tanner Ward got his start in this program and now he is leading the Orange charge this summer in the 250 class as a member of the Red Bull Thor KTM Team. All weekend I’ve been trying to remember the first time I met Claudie and got my first glimpse of her excitement for this sport. Her infectious smile, her ability to be professional one moment and then be one of the boys the next is the reason why everyone loved her at the track. Over the past few years she has made such an impact of our sport and our young riders that when I told my son that she was leaving KTM, tears came to his eyes. With her undying love for motocross and the people involved in it, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen of her. Claudie, you’ve made the sport of motocross in Canada simply a better place to be and you will be missed. Best of luck with your next adventure in life!
Finally, since Saturday afternoon I’ve been getting messages asking me what I thought of Marvin Musquin’s pass on Eli Tomac during the final lap of the Foxboro SX. My thoughts are that if you’re Tomac then you feel as if it was a complete cheap shot, and that before the series is over, Musquin with get some sort of payback. However, if you’re Musquin and you just led 19 laps of a SX main event on a very challenging track, then you feel as if you have some sort of ownership of that race. For that reason, I have no issue with Musquin trying to stuff it in like that for the win. I think I’d be more bummed for Musquin if he didn’t try that as it would speak volumes for what kind of racer he isn’t. Tomac will no doubt get him back and then all will be fine in the world of SX, but for now Musquin did what he had to do to grab the win and take the bonus money that comes with it. Twenty-five years ago, riders would have done what Musquin did during practice! Also, for those who watched the Foxboro SX on television, how cool was it that the Sarnia AX was on right before. It was like the old “Two-Wheeled Tuesday” all over again. I know we sometimes take it for granted, but so many people in America love watching our Canadian series. Every time I go to the USA and talk to industry people, they always know what is going on in our series, and they love how our tracks look.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and please ride safe. After some pretty bad weather in most parts of Canada, it now appears that spring is finally here. See you at the track!
