Mail It In Friday

This weekend’s stop of the Monster Energy Supercross Series will be in Toronto. Unofficially it signals the beginning of motocross in Canada. Motopark and GopherDunes are opening in Ontario, while out west races are already underway. Winter may not want to let go that easily, but spring is here and it is racing season in Canada.

One of the young racers trying to qualify this weekend will be Nicky Beatty. In our books, he has already won. The kid, along with his parents, took a chance in this series on something very hard. Supercross has evolved over the years. The elite supercross field has become much deeper with better bikes, better training facilities, more opportunity, and more riders. Not too long ago qualifying for the night show was as simple as showing up.  It has evolved to today where seconds separate the main event winner from the racers who don’t even make the night show.  Supercross takes skill and speed, and for those guys who race on the qualifying bubble, it takes mental toughness to keep coming back. It isn’t for the emotionally fragile.

Nicky Beatty is a better rider than he was in 2012, and a better rider than he was in Dallas a few weeks ago because he took a chance on himself and made himself better. Good job Nicky.

 

 

The CMRC Monster Energy Motocross Nationals are not far away. Kamloops will be an entirely different track in 2013. Check out this helmet cam of the home of round two of the CMRC Monster Energy Motocross Nationals.

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We have all heard by now that Brett Metcalfe will be riding the 2013 Monster Energy Motocross Nationals. How fast is he going to be? Check out this video of Metcalfe dicing with Marvin Musquin last week. Musquin PEOPLE!  The same Musquin who won the last two Monster Energy East Coast Supercross Lites races.

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Canadian Kade Walker has a skill for getting around the world to race his motocross bike. Check out this video from the Italian National Championships. The first half is the 125cc Senior (18 and over), and the second half is the 125cc Junior class (under 18). Kade went 2-4 for a 2nd overall on the day in the 125 Junior class.  Kade is 15 years-old and is having an experience of a lifetime.

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Steve Matthes and the Pulpmx Radio Show got the jump on everyone with an interview with newly signed Brett Metcalfe. Make sure you have lots of time for the entire show. You can also forward through to the 1hr 27 minute mark of the show. Listen HERE

Token Klatt family photo of the week. Dusty’s instagram, twitter and facebook offer good snooping!

 

Dylan Wright  was very impressive this year at the Nationals in Sand Del Lee and Walton in his first year competing in the MX2 ProAm class. He has been training  in Florida, catching  night races at Dade City. Here is a video from last Saturday night. Dylan is #539 on the YZ250 2-stroke. He won both motos in the B class and finished third overall in the Pro-AM. Pretty sick weight savings on the bike with no graphics on the side!

Here is a link to the video of the Pro/Am heats and main.

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Darrin “Rookie” Sorenson was formerly a factory mechanic at GEICO Honda, Factory Yamaha, KTM and many other teams. He is also a native of Saskatchewan who cut his teeth in Canadian motocross along with his brother Derek. He worked  his way from Two Wheel Motosports in Guleph up through the ranks. He’s one of the best guys in the moto industry. Unfortunately he was involved in a bicycling accident that has left him with a long road of recovery ahead to get back on his feet. Although he has insurance through his present employer, the costs are still high for the ICU and rehab facilities, so the Pulpmx Show is trying to help out Rookie. After all, he’d do it for us.

The winner of this auction will get two tickets to Las Vegas (dates to be worked out between Pulpmx Show and the winner), two nights in a hotel and a spot to sit in on a live Pulpmx Show on the Monday night. And the Pulpmx Show is sure to find you some free stuff from someone as well. The value of this auction is $1500, plus sitting in on a Pulpmx Show is priceless, right?

RULES: Flights will be restricted to anywhere in North America. If you win the auction and you’re from another country, get yourself to your closest city in the USA and Pulpmx will pick it up from there. Click HERE for details.

Favourite Toronto Supercross Memory

Brett — 2006 was my favourite year for a lot of reasons. One, the race was epic. Stewart showed up for the first time with #7 on his bike and went at it with Ricky Carmichael. CMRC had a sponsorship arrangement with Feld that year, which allowed them to have an awesome suite. There was awesome viewing, and was full of great people like Matt Lee, Frank Schuster, Brian Koster, Marc Travers, Earl Doucette, Roland Giroux, and Mark Stallybrass. We had a blast.

Also, that was the year that Kyle Keast became a human highlight reel after his crash off the finish line. He over jumped the jump, hit some breaking bumps and ejected. I think he broke his wrist on that crash, but I think it hurt his pride more when it was shown week after week  on Speed. I still like to bring that up with Kyle.

To cap the night off, the Schuster family had a window-side hotel room in the dome. While we were sipping post race beers, my brother Matt tossed my Dad’s and other guest’s shoes out the window to the floor of the dome. All we could do was laugh as the dozer drove by and buried them. Pretty funny until the shoeless people had to walk home.  That was when the Hard Rock cafe was still open; there were some crazy times there. That year seemed like one giant party in the Roger Center.

Gauldy: For me the Toronto SX has many defining moments: Ricky Carmichael being part of the very first event, the many Canadians that raced it the first few years, and the growing crowd that started from basically nothing. It has now become a race for all of us to watch with pride. My best memory comes from the first year. I raced in the Lites class and finished 6^th. My career had not been on the up and up and I was searching for an answer. Two weeks before the event I decided to race it on a borrowed 2003 “Frankenstein” built YZF250 from Machine Racing. I say the name Frankenstein because this was a bike in the back of the shop that had been parted together from race bikes over the years since 2001. The first AMA sanctioned Supercross in Toronto took place in December of 2004 so a one year old bike with three year old parts was the ideal scenario. I said “screw it” and just rode. The track was as challenging as it is today and I nearly crapped my pants every time I grabbed 3^rd and held it WFO as I headed into the whoops each time. It was a great night, I had tons of family there watching and I rode well so it’s a good memory for me. Of course I killed it at the after-party but that’s another memory for another time. Wait…… I can’t really remember exactly how it went down. Guess it was a really good night. Hahahahaha Bring on 2013 for on Saturday night new memories will be made inside the Rogers Centre. Enjoy race fans.

 

A lot of people liked the history lesson we had with the vintage Daytona video. Here is another dandy. Although this video is not really old school, it is a top 10 moment in our sport.  Moto fan and all round cool lady Dawn McClintock listed this on her facebook as her all-time greatest moto moment. The 2006 Motocross of Nations. I have to agree. It’s up there with some of the best. James Stewart was stepping into the shoes of Ricky Carmichael as the new leader of American Motocross. To everyone, it was the beginning of the James Stewart era. Stefan Everts was stepping down and leaving the sport; two riders at very different points in their careers. Stewart was believed to be  “unbeatable”. Young and fast. But on this day, in his final race, the great Belgian World Champion left a lasting impression of his greatness. He caught Stewart, stood through corners and effortlessly passed him.

 The thing about motocross is no matter where you go in the world there is always someone fast to race against. The Motocross of Nations  is a great reminder of the talent that exists in the world. Although North Americans never really appreciated Everts, he was one of the very best of all time.

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