Monday Maniac #6

Monday Maniac #6

By: Ryan Gauld

Just when we thought the winter was coming to an end, we get dumped on in Southern Ontario with about 2 feet of snow. It’s actually pretty awesome. My backyard looked like some semi-apocalyptic nightmare; just nasty, wet mud everywhere. I am glad to see us get another batch of snow. If nothing else it gives the local dealers a last shot with snowmobile costumers before season’s end.

Have you visited mxpmag.com lately? I am stoked to say our site has been killing it since the start of the New Year with new features, interviews, stories, blogs, photos, slide shows, videos, etc.  I am proud to have the site doing so well and it really hasn’t been that hard to do. Before I get deep into the Maniac, I want to thank some of the team like Marc Travers, Frankie Bellissimo, Brett Lee and Rich Shepherd for their efforts so far in 2012. Great start to the year kids. It wouldn’t be possible without each of you. Thank you

Whitney Houston dies at 48 years old.

I suppose the biggest news in the world from this past weekend was the passing of musical Diva, Whitney Houston.  Details have not been released yet in regards to how she passed, but if you’ve kept tabs on the tail end of her career, it will most likely be drug related. It’s a shame to have it end for the uber star. Living the star life seems to be tough for some. I remember when I was the biggest fan of Whitney in the late ’80s. My Mom was a huge fan of Whitney too and her songs were played on our hockey road trip. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is the one tune that sticks out in my mind. Then in 1992 when the movie “The Bodyguard” was released along with her song “I will Always Love You”, well let’s just say that I sang that song a few times, for sure. I know that sounds kind of gay coming from a “manly Motocross racer” but I like the ballads. They make ya feel all warm inside (okay, now it’s beyond gay…it’s strange. LOL). She passed at 48 years of age. In her prime she was simply amazing. The last ten years or so of her career/life have been a mess to say the least. From her loser husband, Bobby Brown, to her constant issue with drugs, it was sad to see the career of a goddess go downhill so much, but even sadder on how it ended. R.I.P Whitney!!

Tyler Medaglia is now set for 2012.

Now back to some more upbeat news: Tyler Medaglia finally made the announcement about his 2012 race team – Team Viral Oils, Troy Lee Designs, Powersports Honda, Gopher Dunes Racing. It seemed to take forever but I’m betting the kid is stoked to finally get it done and out of the way. Looks like he’ll be the lone man racing a Honda next summer. I will like to see Honda back in the pits. Though as of right now, Honda is not a National series sponsor so the TV coverage for #11 will be hard to come by. National Motocross has a fantastic television package, paid for by series supporters like KTM, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki.  “You have to pay if you want to play” as they say sometimes in this business. There are rumours that Honda is revisiting their past strategy of stepping away from the series they once dominated and is seriously considering coming back in 2012. After all, there is no other National motorcycle racing series in Canada that travels coast to coast with a top level national TV package. As a fan, it seems like an easy decision, but I’m not cutting the cheques so I guess we’ll see. No matter what happens with Honda and the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals, it’s good to see Tyler find a new home. Now the question is… How will he do? Coming off back to back titles in MX2 you would have to think he will be at the front of the list for contenders to chase down the #1 Royal Distributing KTM Fox Red Bull bike of Colton Facciotti. The gate drops in just over 3 months. What do you think?

Nicky Beatty seems to like his new Yamahas

‘Tis the season for most Canadian riders to head south and prepare for the upcoming season. From the West Coast, riders like Shawn Maffenbeier, Dusty Klatt, Spencer Knowles, Kevin Lepp are all down in California or will be heading down shortly. From the east, it’s Tyler and Jeremy Medaglia, Colton Facciotti, Nathan Bles, Nicky Beatty, Dylan Kaelin and I’m sure I’ve missed a few. The excitement is high with all these riders, as most of them are on new machines with new teams. They have the next few months to iron out any kinks to be 100% ready for round one at Nanaimo on June 3, 2012.

Interesting training outfit for Kevin Lepp. LOL Thanks to Kris Keefer for sharing that on Twitter.

Last week right here on mxpmag.com I had a chance to talk to two of the best riders this country has ever seen – Doug DeHaan and Blair Morgan. Both dudes are class acts. We chatted for quite some time about old days, new days and the future. If you missed either of them click HERE for Dougie D, and HERE for Morgan. They both shared some great stories and memories. Between the two of these iconic Canadian racers, they share over 40 years of racing experience (or click either photo).

Blair Morgan Circa 1995

 

Doug DeHaan in 1992

Two other amazing interviews on the site last week were with Ralph Sheheen and Erin Bates. Click HERE for Ralph, and HERE for Erin. As most of us know, Ralph Sheheen is the announcer for Speed/CBS Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, and one of his partners is Erin Bates who does the trackside announcing for the show. Both were awesome when they talked with Marc Travers and discussed just about anything. Thanks to both of them for taking the time to chat with MXP.

So Round 6 of Monster Energy Supercross wrapped up this weekend. What a night it was for us fans watching at home. I was on the edge of my lazy boy all night with the non-stop action the race served up. In the Lites class, it was Dean Wilson who took the win and the points lead after Eli Tomac lawn darted himself in the whoops and threw away his 22 point lead. For Canadian fans it was the amazing ride from Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki rider Kyle Beaton who won the Lites class LCQ and made his first main. He crossed the line and earned a career best 11th place finish. I chatted with Kyle yesterday about the night. He shared this with me – “What a relief man. I finally got some good starts and rode hard. I’m very happy to be heading into a good break with a solid ride like that.” Look for an interview with Beats on mxpmag.com today.

Solid night for KD Beats. 11th in the Lites main event. Photo by Rich Shepherd

Now the SX class was a whole different story. In the beginning of the main it looked like Ryan Villopoto was going to run away with the victory. James Stewart mowed himself in the whoops just like Tomac. Reed and Dungey started just inside the top five. At about the halfway mark RV was out front by about 5 seconds ahead of Reed. Lappers then started to really play a factor and the wily veteran Reed capitalized on it. With three to go he was on the rear wheel of RV. He made the pass with two to go and looked ready to take control. Then he made an error by going a little too wide in the final turn before the finish. This gave RV the chance in which he took full advantage. He made the pass with one lap to go and hung on till the finish. I had about 10 people at my house watching and we were all screaming with excitement. Add another epic night of the best sport on earth. To think we have 11 more weekends of this coming at us, 6 straight events live! This weekend, Canadians will be watching the debut of Canadian Cole Thompson in Texas in the East Coast Lites class. How is Cole going to do? E-mail me at gauldy@mxpmag.com with your predictions. The person who picks it right will win an MXP prize full of goodies. Good luck Cole!!!

Good Luck in Texas Cole!!

Well that’s all I have for this week. The MXP team is off to the Indy Trade Show this weekend as well as the Canada vs. US Hockey game. We’re a little short on players this year,  but not on skill. Canada should most likely wrap up our umpteenth championship trophy. Though, sometimes ya just never know!! Thanks for reading.

Congratulations to Chris and Sarah for tying the knot this weekend. Have fun in