Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone had a great weekend doing all of the things that we as Canadians love to do. With the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series taking a weekend off, it ended up working out perfectly as my son had baseball tournament up in Bracebridge, ON. For those of you that don’t know Ontario geographically, Bracebridge sits pretty much in the heart of Ontario’s cottage country, so during the summer months it’s both beautiful and very busy. Anyway, we had a great weekend away from the motocross track and now it’s time to prepare for the final month of the busy MX summer season.

With just six motos remaining in the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series, can riders like Dillan Epstein climb back into championship contention? Photo by James Lissimore

For both amateur and pro riders, this next month is ‘go time’ for their championships to be decided. On the amateur side of things there is both the Deschambault ECAN as well as the Walton TransCan Grand National Championships. Both events are going to be huge and both will no doubt be very competitive. Also, we cannot forget the US Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn’s as we have a number of very talented Canadians competing there next week. On the pro side of things, our MXTour riders now have just six motos remaining in their series to decide who will take home the 250 Pro/Am and 450 class titles. Round 7, yes I said Round 7, is this coming weekend in Moncton, NB. This is the best time of year to be a motocross racer in Canada, so good luck and be safe.

So as I just mentioned, there are just three rounds remaining in our national series. First we have Riverglade this weekend, then it’s the sand of Deschambault, and then two weeks after that we travel back to Walton Raceway for the final round of the MXTour series. Three rounds, three completely different tracks in three different Provinces; it’s going to be a pretty special finale for this new series. In the 250 Pro/Am class, Jess Pettis now has a slim eight point lead over Shawn Maffenbeier as the riders head east to Moncton. In the 450 class, Colton Facciotti’s lead is slightly bigger at 25 points over Tyler Medaglia and Kaven Benoit. As we’ve seen a few times this summer, no lead is safe in either class as anything can happen.

With the east coast being Tyler Medaglia’s home now, I bet he’s very much looking forward to this weekend at Riverglade. Photo by James Lissimore

With just six motos remaining there is now no room for error or any mechanical issues. With Pettis and Maffenbeier being the two top riders in the 250 class, and riders like Dylan Wright and Joey Crown showing that they can also win motos, these final three rounds are going to be very entertaining. This coming weekend at Riverglade Raceway the winners will definitely be the riders who can lead the pack early. This is most certainly a good starters track as it has been for many years. With its tight corners, high speed straights, and clock-wise direction, Riverglade has always been difficult to pass on for a rider going close to the same speed. Don’t get me wrong, every rider loves going to Riverglade and enjoying all of the awesome east coast hospitality, but if you don’t get a great start and you get stuck behind someone for 20 minutes, you quickly begin to get frustrated with the Riverglade track. Also, the roost hurts like hell so it’s hard to follow closely to another rider while you’re waiting for a mistake. As I said, a holeshot here is very important, so look for all of the top riders to really focus on getting out front early. So far during this series we’ve seen Jess Pettis as one of the best starters in the 250 class, and in the 450 class it’s been a different rider each weekend that has been the holeshot king. Anyway, get comfortable and get ready for an exciting final three rounds.

Is everyone ready for the Deschambault ECAN? Photo by James Lissimore

As it’s been for the past number of seasons, the ECAN in Deschambault, QC will precede the pro national next week. There will be open practice on the full track on Tuesday, and then racing will begin bright and early on Thursday morning. Each class will get three motos throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then everyone can stick around to watch Round 8 of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series on Sunday. I feel like each year this awesome event is trending upwards as more and more riders from outside of Quebec are making their way there. I believe 2018 will be this event’s largest year and it should provide some incredible racing.

Over the years racing in Quebec has always been very special and something that every rider should try at least once. As you know, Quebec is rich in history and culture, and racing dirt bikes there is unlike anything else in Canada. Yes, at times for English only speaking Canadians there is a large language barrier, but as long as you prepare for it and embrace it, this really isn’t an issue. My first ever race in Quebec was the Montreal SX back in 1989 and since then some of my best motocross memories have been from racing there. It’s just an experience that every Canadian racer should try at least once in their racing career. I believe this one of the big reasons why the Deschambault event has been growing each year. Almost every rider I’ve spoken to about it raves about the track and the atmosphere of the ECAN. If you like racing, travelling and adventures, it’s not too late to make plans to attend the 2018 ECAN at the beautiful Deschambault track. Here is the link to all of the information you need to know: https://motocrossdeschambault.com/en/contests/national-amateur-ecan-en/

Good luck to Ryan and Randi as they get ready to tie the knot this weekend.

In other moto news, everyone’s favourite Vet rider Ryan Lockhart is getting married this coming weekend in Victoria, BC. So good luck to Newf and his bride-to-be Randi on this very special day. Since I first met Newf back in the spring of 2000 he has always been like my little brother. Since 2000, I’ve cheered for him, coached him, celebrated with him when he won his first national and when his son Meston was born, and we’ve yelled at each other in pain after some pretty long road bike rides, or in frustration after a missed putt on the golf course. We’ve been through a lot over the years and I feel bad that I won’t be there this weekend when he and Randi tie the knot. Good luck to Ryan and Randi and I will be thinking about both of you on Saturday.

Well, that is it for me this week and my Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone has a great final week of July and a safe week riding. I also heard this morning that Mike Alessi will not be back for the remainder of the MXTour series as his injured shoulder is still not healed enough. As stated in a press release today, Jacob Hayes will be filling in for Mike in the 450 class so that should be interesting. Hayes has some good speed outdoors and he did well on a 450 last month at the Muddy Creek National. Finally, one of our fast Canadian kids who was headed to Loretta Lynn’s next week, Preston Masciangleo, suffered a broken wrist this past week and sadly he won’t be able to race now. Hopefully Preston will be back for Walton and for the rest of his season. Have a good week and I will see all of my east coast friends this weekend in Moncton, NB.