Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone had a great Father’s Day weekend. As is the case with most of us, our Dads play such an important role in our lives. For me, my Dad was the one who not only introduced me to this sport, but has also been my biggest supporter for forty years. So for not only my Dad, but to all of the Dads out there, I hope you had a great day yesterday and have a healthy year ahead.

I’m currently in the midst of my busiest travel month of the year with trips to not only the pro nationals but also to a couple of media launches for 2019 dirt bikes. After travelling to the first three rounds in Calgary, Popkum and Prince George, last week I headed out to California to test ride the 2019 Kawasaki KX450. The test ride was at Pala Raceway and was attended by most of the North American media, as well as Kawasaki’s Brand Ambassador, 7-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath. As you can imagine the track was prepared perfectly and we all had a great day. The new 2019 KX450 is pretty much all-new from the ground up with features like a hydraulic clutch, electric start, a redesigned chassis, updated engine, and Showa coil spring front forks. Yes, after a few years of having air forks on their 450, Kawasaki has now followed a few other OEMs and has returned to spring forks. With all of these changes, it was great to hit the track and see how all of the changes work as a package. I can report that this new green bike works very well and is extremely rider friendly. It handles great, the new engine is very smooth, and just like you’d expect, the new Showa spring forks with A-kit technology are awesome. Also, the hydraulic clutch and electric start help to make this new bike very easy to ride. I had a great day of riding at Pala and it was very cool to be on the same track as Jeremy McGrath. Obviously, with the 1990s being my best decade of racing, McGrath was a rider that all of us from the era looked up to. The best part of the day came when during the final 30 minutes of our riding session, it ended up being just McGrath and I on the track. Just a couple of 40 plus old guys out on the track riding, trying to miss all of the bumps, while doing our best to stay low off of the jumps, even though we both can’t scrub very well. When the day was done McGrath even gave me thirty minutes for an interview, which will appear in the next issue of MXP Magazine. It was definitely an unforgettable day of riding and hanging out with my fellow members of the motocross media.

I returned from California on Thursday evening and then this morning I boarded a plane to Orlando for the media launch of the 2019 Husqvarna off-road models. Thankfully, California was hot last week and it’s been hot in Ontario, because I can only imagine how hot and muggy Florida is going to be in June. One of the interesting things about this week’s Husqvarna ride is that it takes place at Aldon Baker’s famous training facility, the Baker’s Factory. I have only seen this place in videos so I’m very excited to travel there tomorrow to ride. Hopefully Aldon will be in attendance and will take us media guys through a workout, or at least a warm-up before we ride. This is also an International media launch so it will include media from around the Globe. Stay tuned to mxpmag.com, as well as our social media channels for updates from Florida; it should be another incredible day of test riding these new 2019 bikes.

Because of my trip to California last week, and then my Florida trip this week, I decided not to attend Round 4 of the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour in Manitoba. I did, however,  gather around my computer on Saturday to watch the races on live streaming with Kyle Thompson and Brett Lee calling all of the action. The McNabb Valley Raceway was one of the new tracks to the MXTour Series and by all accounts the McNabb family did a great job with hosting the final western round. The track looked great, and in talking to a few riders yesterday, most thought it was fun to race on. This new national track certainly provided some great racing as we witnessed intense battles in almost every moto. The final 450 moto was off of the charts as the top five riders were just going for it all race long. After the 35 minute battle royale, Kaven Benoit took his second overall win in a row aboard his Red Bull Thor KTM. If you’ve ever sat there and wondered just how important confidence is to an athlete, look no further than Benoit in the past two weeks.

After his incredible ride at the 2016 MXoN in Italy, Benoit was on Cloud 9 and also on the radar of some MXGP teams. At the time his confidence was obviously high and I’m sure he thought he could do no wrong. A few months later he was attending a SX in Germany when Benoit crashed hard and broke his lower leg and ankle. It was a devastating and painful injury that took a long time to heal, thus cutting into his preparation time for the 2017 national series. As you may remember, Benoit started off the 2017 series at the opening round in Kamloops, but his ankle was still too sore and he quickly pulled out of the series in an attempt to fully heal for the eastern rounds. Benoit would return at Round 5 at Gopher Dunes and ride okay, but then a high speed crash at Round 6 (his home track) caused yet another injury, and just like that he was done for the year. In less than a year, Benoit had gone from battling with the likes of Davi Millsaps and Antonio Cairoli, to wondering if it was time to maybe go and find another occupation.

After taking most of this past fall and winter off to heal and regroup, Benoit also made the courageous decision to sit out the AXTour series earlier this year. This decision was definitely met with some raised eyebrows as he was the only one of the top level riders to do so. Benoit wanted to be ready for the opening outdoor round in Calgary, and he didn’t want the unpredictability of indoor racing to hamper that. Unfortunately, though, just a few weeks before Calgary, Benoit would suffer a practice crash, and crashed while practicing. He wasn’t seriously injured in that crash, but I’m sure it raised a small amount of doubt in his head.

However, this story appears to have a happy ending. After coasting through the opening two rounds in the 450 class on tracks that he thought were in awful condition, Benoit showed up at Round 3 with little to lose and everything to gain. The track in Prince George instantly suited him and he felt comfortable right away. After his impressive and strong opening moto in which he finished second, I even made mention on the live streaming broadcast that day to my co-host Kyle Thompson to look out for Benoit in Moto 2. My feeling was that after the opening moto where Benoit had battled right to the end and was not far off of race winner Matt Goerke, he would head back to the pits and feel like a massive weight was just lifted off of his shoulders. For the first time since that unforgettable race in Italy twenty months ago, he finished a tough 35 minute moto strong and well within sight of the lead. Having been in his shoes many years ago, I recall just how uplifting a moment like that can be for an athlete searching for a spark. Well, not only did Benoit get a spark in PG, but it appears as though he has lit an inferno as he came out this past weekend and won both 450 motos. He’s definitely on a roll right now and it’s great to see him back riding like he was in 2016.

Benoit’s success in the 450 class, as well as the multiple battles we witnessed this past weekend in the 250 Pro/Am class, most definitely bodes well for the final five rounds of this series. As of right now, Shawn Maffenbeier will carry the red plate into Round 5 at Sand Del Lee in the 250 class, while Matt Goerke and Colton Facciotti will share the red plate in the 450 class. All three riders are just where they want to be as the series heads east, but so are a number other riders in both classes. Jess Pettis, Joey Crown, Josh Osby, Dylan Wright, Cole Thompson, Tyler Medaglia, Mike Alessi, and obviously Kaven Benoit have all proven capable of running up front. The final five rounds of this 2018 MXTour series are going to be incredible.

Well, that is it for me this week. As I said, tomorrow we head out to the Baker’s Factory to test ride the entire 2019 Husqvarna off-road line up. It’s going to be a great day of riding with my fellow members of the media from around the world. I hope everyone has a great week, and if you live in Ontario then I will see you this coming weekend at Walton Raceway for their annual ANQ. Summer officially begins this week so get out and enjoy what always seem to feel like the shortest season of the year. Have a great week and ride safe!