Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop brought to you by Yamaha Motor Canada. This is a very special day as the entire country is celebrating Canada Day and our 152nd birthday. MXP Magazine hopes everyone has a great Monday and Happy Canada Day from all of us!
It was great to see Hayden Halstead have a career day in Southwick!
To start off with this week I’d like to talk about one Canadian rider who kicked his long weekend off in style on Saturday, and that was Hayden Halstead. During the first three rounds of the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series, Halstead has had some up and down results with his best being a 12th in the mud at Round 3. However, this kid always does better in the eastern rounds as he prefers softer tracks. Well, I think you can add Southwick to the list of his favourite tracks, because this past weekend he had one of the best rides of his career on the famous sand circuit. After a so-so opening moto in the 250 class, Halstead came back strong in Moto 2 and finished in an amazing 19th place, scoring his first ever AMA national points. When all was said and done, his 28-19 moto score gave him 21st overall on the day. What a great day for Halstead and his family, and what a great way to celebrate their Canada Day long weekend. Also, good on him for stepping up and heading to Southwick to compete in the American Series. I’m sure this will give him a huge boost of confidence as he prepares for the eastern rounds of the 2019 MXTour.
Congratulations to Julien Benek on winning the first Yamaha Factory Rider Award of 2019. Photo by Kevin Lefebvre
North of our long and windy border with the USA, there were a few big races going on in different parts of the country. Out in Kamloops, BC, the 2019 WCAN took place at Whispering Pines Raceway about 45 minutes north of the city. Originally, our cherished Friday Flight contributor Brent Worrall was heading to the WCAN to cover it for us, but unfortunately he ran into some health issues, which dictated that he had to remain close to home. So get well Brent and we look forward to reading your next Friday Flight!
After some recent injuries, it’s great to see Jacob Piccolo back on the track and winning races. Photo by Kevin Lefebvre
The racing at Whispering Pines looked to be incredible all weekend long as this famous BC track provided a perfect platform for our western amateurs to battle it out. Over the years, the track was always a great national track and hopefully it finds its way back on to the MXTour schedule in 2020. Judging by the photos and Social Media posts, the action was intense both on and off the track. With this being the first big amateur race of 2019 in Canada, I think the WCAN set the bar pretty high with both the racing on the track as well as the partying in the pits. It’s now up to the ECAN and the TransCan to try to top both later this summer. Finally, congratulations to all of the big winners, and how cool was it to see the first Yamaha Factory Rider Award of 2019 handed out to Julien Benek? The WCAN was most certainly a great way to kick off our summer and to celebrate all that is great in this country.
The racing at Moto Park this past weekend was excellent. Photo by BP Photography
The other big race that took place this past weekend was the final two rounds of the 2019 New Era MP Cup at Moto Park in Williamsford, ON. As I’ve stated many times, the four round series appears to be getting more and more popular each year, and with just under 500 entries each day, this weekend was no different. The weather was perfect, the track was kept in great shape for both days, and as expected, there was some great racing in all classes. We are definitely blessed in this country with some great summer racing and now it’s on to the amateur days at the upcoming MXTour rounds, the ECAN in Deschambault, and then the Walton TransCan in August.
Happy Canada Day everyone! Photo by BP Photography
One rider who was at Moto Park on Saturday was Joey Crown. After his solid summer last year in Canada, which saw him come up just shy of the 250 MXTour Championship, Crown’s 2019 has been anything but successful. After struggling in a few of the eastern rounds of the Monster Energy Supercross Series, Crown left the ClubMX Yamaha Team in hopes of finding comfort on another bike. Unfortunately, a short time later Joey injured his back and was forced to take some time off. He came into Saturday at Moto Park with only a month of riding under his belt, so by his normal standards, he was a little rusty. On the track, Joey looked like a rider who was working his way back from a serious injury as he was fighting to put in consistent laps on the ultra-fast MP track. He mentioned to me after the race that he plans to race the Gopher Dunes National, Deschambault, and hopefully the final round in Walton. I hope he does and gets some consideration for support up here in 2020. Joey has been at this sport a long time and I think he’s earned at least one more chance to find success on the pro level. Anyway, look for the #20 on the starting line at Round 4 of the MXTour at Gopher Dunes.
Well, that it is for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and a very Happy Canada Day! Thanks for reading and thank-you once again to Yamaha Motor Canada and the #blucru for all of the support.
One more weekend off until the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series resumes at Gopher Dunes.
