Monday Maniac #45

By Gauldy107

Sponsored by Yamaha Motor Canada

So for the first time since I started doing blogs I have a sponsor. Yamaha Motor Canada has kicked in for a few weeks as MXP hits the road as of tomorrow as we head to Florida for the Mini O’s. I will be traveling with the Scotts and Wards, among others, as we head for the weeklong event at Gatorback Cycle Park. Yamaha will support each and every article that hits the site that comes from my fingers. So here’s a big shout out to Yamaha Motor Canada for the support.

I figure I will start each blog now with some cool Yamaha memories since I have ridden Yamahas since 1993. I will share a personal story and one that sticks out in my mind from back in the day or one from Yamaha racers of today. I’ll start with a personal one first:

The year was 1998 and I was in one of the many meetings at Yamaha Motor Canada with Machine Racing owner John nelson. We were there to chat about the upcoming year with the former Yamaha Race Manager, John Bayliss. It all started off normally but as per usual Nelson and I got into a huge argument over how bad and how much of a wuss I was in the ‘98 season. I finished 6th overall but had many lame rides due to the lack of heart. It was a huge question mark throughout my career. Nelson would just lay into me like some psycho 50 dad on how much I sucked and how weak I was. He grew up in the era when constant bashing would fix the issue. That doesn’t really work as well these days with the “new” soft attitude of racers. Any who, just as the argument got super heated John Bayliss stood up and screamed at both of us to shut up like we were school kids and he was the principal. A vein on Bayliss’ head looked as if it was going to blow his face open; it went so red from obvious anger after dealing with us two knobs. Looking back on it, I bet that’s the first and only time John Bayliss ever yelled at the head office of Yamaha. LOL A couple of days later, we all had a little chuckle about it and I signed again for 1999.

One of the best Yamaha memories I have is of another racer, Marty Burr. He was one of the fastest dudes ever in Canada with zero personality and maybe the worst style on a bike. He was awful to watch but man the guy could go so fast. In 1995, he won all four motos at the Walton Trans Can. It was something no other rider had done for quite some time because the competition was so fierce back then with names like JSR, Carl Vaillancourt, Chris Pomeroy, Bill Wallin, and Blair Morgan just to name a few. Marty didn’t just win the motos either, he dominated that day. He and his Yamaha just clicked on that sunny day back in ‘95. Marty went on to win a 125 class title with Yamaha in 1996. He rode his entire career with Yamaha, which lasted well over ten years.

Just a little Yamaha history to start your Monday.

Okay, now over to present day. So if you are a complete nerd with little to nothing to do on a weekend (like me) then this weekend was the one to sit by your PC and Twitter to watch/follow hours of racing.

In Canada, rounds 5-6 of the KTM Canada Arenacross Series took place. Last weekend it was Washington native Brad Nauditt that dominated by taking all four mains. Unfortunately for race fans but fortunately for him, he was not able to attend because he had Lasik eye surgery to get his vision repaired. I talked to Brad and it all went well so now he can read the “Honey” labels a lot easier now. LOL Filling in his American shoes was Ryan Abrigo who took three of four main event wins. Spencer Knowles grabbed one main event win and has moved back in front of Hoyer for the Open class. He still leads the overall points. KTM Canada brought in Kaven Benoit to take all the money but Kaven never seemed to find his grove and was unable to fight for a victory. I figured he would be a shoe in for some wins but you never know inside the Chilliwack barn. Brock Hoyer had a solid weekend and closed the gap on Spencer for the overall lead in the title chase, which is down to 25 points as they head into a two month layoff. The next event is January 18-19^th in Chilliwack. So far the series has been amazing to follow. We can only hope all of this great coverage and action continues once we get into the New Year. One last announcement from KTM Canada AX: MXP announces that whoever wins the title will get the very first cover of 2013. As it sits right now, that would be GA Checkpoint Yamaha’s Spencer Knowles but there are six rounds remaining – lots of action to go.

If you missed it or live under a rock. Check out this amazing report from Jim Muir from last week’s KTM Canada AX right HERE.

Look for another amazing report from Jim this week right here on mxpmag.com.

Updated points after 6 rounds of KTM Canada AX:

Pro Am Lites Standings

Pos.       #             Name                                    Points

1.            28           Spencer Knowles             128

2.            1              Brock Hoyer                       106

3.            2              Ryan Lockhart                    105

4.            402         Ryan Abrigo                        87

5.            620         Brad Nauditt                      72

6.            96           Jake Anstett                       70

7.            54           Josh Allen                            63

8.            476         Collin Jurin                          57

9.            33           Eric Jeffery                          49

10.          8              Dylan Delaplace                37

11.          96           Kirk Hawes                          36

12.          22           Dylan Kaelin                       36

13.          12           Kaven Benoit                     30

14.          380         Kevin Lepp                          25

Pro Open Standings

Pos.       #             Name                                    Points

1.            28           Spencer Knowles             116

2.            1              Brock Hoyer                       113

3.            2              Ryan Lockhart                    104

4.            402         Ryan Abrigo                        70

5.            33           Eric Jeffery                          69

6.            96           Jake Anstett                       67

7.            476         Collin Jurin                          60

8.            620         Brad Nauditt                      50

9.            12           Kaven Benoit                     40

10.          380         Kevin Lepp                          38

11.          22           Dylan Kaelin                       34

12.          88           Shane Wiebe                                     29

13.          4              Brayden Stuart                  28

14.          96           Kirk Hawes                          28

 

 

Now across the pond, both the Bercy SX in Paris, France and the Stuggart SX in Germany were live. In Stuggart, the gate was full of riders that have raced in Canada: Teddy Maier, Cole Siebler, Bobby Kiniry, Jason Thomas, Daniel Blair, and our own Tyler Medaglia.

Look for a report from Stuggart by Tyler Medaglia this week on MXP. I chatted with him this morning and he said it was the trip from hell. Stay tuned for more on that from Tyler.

ADAC Supercross Stuttgart

Stuttgart, Germany

SX1

1. Florent Richer

2. Mickael Musquin

3. Dennis Ulrich

4. Jason Thomas

5. Tyler Bowers

6. Flip Neugebauer

7. Vince Friese

8. Joaquim Rodrigues

9. Ben Lamay

10. PJ Larsen

11. Gareth Swanepoel

12. Teddy Maier

13. Daniel Blair

14. Cole Siebler

 

In Bercy, there was an American invasion of Wil Hahn, Kyle Chisholm, Justin Brayton, Eli Tomac and eventual winner Jake Wiemer. Tyler Villopoto was also there riding the Lites class. Both of these events looked to be super fun. The Bercy SX marked its 30th year of operation. I have watched it before but this year’s just looked like such a cool event to attend. I have to put this on my bucket list.

King of Bercy

1. Jake Weimer

2. Eli Tomac

3. Justin Brayton

4. Cedric Soubeyras

5. William Hahn

6. Cyrille Coulon

7. Kyle Chisholm

8. Fabien Izoird

9. Charles Lefrancois

10. Christophe Martin

11. Loic Rombault

12. Nicolas Aubin

13. Greg Aranda

14. Jason Clermont

15. Eric Sorby

16. Alexandre Lefrancois

17. Alexandre Rouis

18. Cedric Mannevy

19. Jack Brunell

20. Davide Esposti Degli

21. Arnaud Aubin

22. Guillaume Darriet

23. Adrien Lopes

24. Christophe Pourcel

I had a chance to catch up with CMRC President Mark Stallybrass last Friday. He had mentioned that they just had their first manufacturer meeting to discuss 2013 plans. It seems like some big changes may be in the works for next year – all positive things.  They may be switching venues in Quebec, and the thought of letting two-strokes in MX2 for more than just Intermediates was talked about as well. Nothing confirmed on that but Stallybrass seemed more open again about it. The last thing that was mentioned was a schedule change. The west rounds will be in the same order but there will be some changes in the east. Once again this is a projected theory and nothing is concrete but so far I like it. Look for more confirmation on these topics in the coming weeks.

We leave tomorrow for Florida to race and work the Mini Olympics. I couldn’t be more excited as I have never been to this event and I haven’t been to Gatorback since 1997. I will be racing the Plus 25 and 30 classes as well as posting photo repots and helmet cams footage whenever I can. Plus, I’ll be cheering for any other Canadian racer that is in attendance.

One last thing: Look for a very cool contest involving Matrix, 100%, Atlas and more starting this week and running for four weeks straight on mxpmag.com as we head into Christmas. Stay tuned for your chance to win some free stuff.