The Early Days Of The Blu Cru In Canada
By Mike McGill
Photos by Bill Petro
The history of the Yamaha Motor Corporation’s involvement in Canadian Motocross is long and storied. They have been around since the beginning and indeed led the charge on behalf of the Japanese manufacturers in the early years of the sport. In this, the first of a two-part article, we will look at Yamaha and the riders who piloted them to victory from the early 70’s right up to the turn of the century in the year 2000.
The early years of North American motocross were dominated by European machines. The sport originated in Europe so of course this makes sense but as the popularity started to take off in Canada and the U.S. in the early 70’s the Japanese manufacturers came into the game in a big way and by 1974 the market became flooded with the shiny new Japanese machines, and the hordes of young riders the sport was attracting bought them up like hot cakes.
Yamaha is of course one of the big 4, which consists of Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. Their history in the sport in Canada is, as previously mentioned, a long and storied one. Virtually all of our greatest riders have thrown a leg over a YZ at some point in their careers, so let’s break it down, take a trip down memory lane and examine the place of Yamaha in the history of Canadian motocross.
As mentioned, the European machinery such as the German-made Maico, the Swedish Husqvarna and even the Czechoslovakian-made CZ dominated the competition in the late 60’s and early 70’s but by 1972, Yamaha was ready to enter the increasingly competitive dirt bike market in Canada and Trevor Deeley organization, the who were the current Yamaha Importers for Canada wasted no time in signing Canada’s top rider, Ron Keys. George Davis, Keys mentor and mechanic during his tenure at CZ, had recently left the company and joined the Trevor Deeley organization. This allowed him to continue supporting Keys, only now on the all-new Yamaha. “It was a big deal at the time,” remembers Keys who received a $2,000.00 signing bonus for inking with Yamaha. “The bikes were really trick,” remembers Keys. “All kinds of titanium parts. The, 360 weighed in at 193 pounds. Keys and Yamaha dominated in Canada for the 72 and 73 seasons winning the 125, 250 and 500 National championships over the course of the two years. The 125 and 500 in 72 and the 250 in 73. Keys and his Yamaha also represented Canada well in the US on several occasions during this period placing highly in many Trans-USA races in the States”.
The mid-seventies were truly a magical time for motocross in Canada as all the manufactures got involved in the racing scene in a big way. The Japanese bikes were becoming legitimate contenders and the European machinery was still strong. In 1974, Yamaha Canada decided to go in a different direction in Ontario and Keys lost his ride. At the time the company was headquartered in B.C. and western riders Larry MacKenzie and Bill McLean continued to receive full support and factory OW equipment. Burnaby native McLean was a Yamaha man through and through as he spent virtually his whole career not only racing for Yamaha but later working for them in a managerial capacity as well. Bill was one of the few Canadian riders who could hold his own, and even beat, much of the imported talent in the seventies. In fact, Bill won the 125 National Championship for Yamaha Canada in 1973—his rookie pro season. In 1974, McLean had another great season winning the B.C. Provincial Championship and finishing second overall and first Canadian in the National Championships.
By 1975, Yamaha were back with one of the most innovative bikes in the history of the sport. In 74, Yamaha had been testing and racing their radical new mono-shock design in Europe and it was unveiled to the public in 75. Yamaha jumped back into motocross in a big way in Canada in 75 fielding a team which consisted of BC riders Bill McLean and Larry McKenzie as well as Japanese import Nobuyasu (Nicky) Kinoshita and Finnish immigrant Heikki Ylonen. Kawasaki, with Swedish ace Jan-Eric Salqvist had been dominating Canadian moto in 74 so Yamaha wanted to make sure they had something for them with their new bike in 75. Kinoshita was a fantastic and popular rider during his short stay in Canada finishing 2nd overall in the 250 and 500 Nationals to Salqvist that season. As of a couple of years ago, Kinoshita, who must be nearly 70 years old by now was still apparently working for Yamaha in their road-racing division in Asia.
Al Logue, an extremely talented rider out of Hamilton, Ontario carried the banner for Yamaha in the late 70’s. Al started his racing career on a CZ and battled the U.S. and European imports valiantly throughout the 70’s. He probably should have had a few more to his name but Al won his one National Championship—a 125 title for Yamaha in 1977.
In the early 80’s, Yamaha pinned their hopes on a young B.C. talent Terry Hoffos. In 79. Bill McLean, who had recently retired from racing, came back to work for Yamaha Canada. One of his first orders of business was to sign young up-and-comer Hoffos. Armed with a full factory, and super trick, OW 125 Yamaha, Hoffos, a 125 specialist, did not disappoint and won back-to-back 125 National Championships in 80 and 81. Hoffos, however began to lose interest in motocross after winning his two National titles and by 1984 he was out of the sport.
Mount Albert, Ontario native Doug “the Sweeper” Hoover was the next great hope for Yamaha in Canada. After a highly successful amateur career with Yamaha, which saw him win the 125, 250 and 500 classes in the Ontario Highpoint Championship as well as the CMA National Motocross Senior 125cc Championship. In 1981, he secured a factory ride for the Pro Class with Yamaha for 1982. Hoover was a fantastic rider and should have won many National Championships, but he had one major obstacle in his way. That being Ross “Rollerball” Pederson. “That guy just never lost,” remembers Hoover. By 1984, Doug had solidified himself as the number two rider in Canada. He finished second overall in the 125, 250 and Canadian Supercross Series standings to Ross, but the actual chances of him de-throning the Rollerball from the top step of the podium seemed to be slipping away.
It wasn’t until the 85 season, his last with Yamaha, that Hoover came to the realization that he needed to up his game. Hoover started developing a Rollerball like training regime of his own. 1985 turned out to be a breakout year for Hoover. His new commitment to training paid off in a big way as he went head-to-head with the Rollerball and won the CMA 125cc National Championship. “I beat Ross straight up quite a few times that year,” states Hoover. “But for me it wasn’t so much about beating Ross as I just had the feeling, especially in the 125 class, that I was going to win every time I got on the bike. Hoover also took his Cycle World Yamaha Canada sponsored bikes to 2nd overall in the 250 Nationals and 3rd in the 500cc division. Probably one my most memorable and satisfying races of that year came for Hoover at the 250cc GP of Canada at Moto Park when Doug was able to score a 2nd overall podium position against some of the top GP competitors in the world.
The following season, Hoover moved to Honda which left the door open for newly-appointed Yamaha Canada Racing Manager Lawrence Hacking to make a pitch to sign the man himself, Ross Pederson, to a Yamaha ride. “The Hoover’s were definitely hard business people,” remembers Hacking. “Every season they wanted more money and it got to the point that we just couldn’t re-sign Doug.” With Hoover out of the equation, Hacking was forced to put together a creative package to lure Pederson to team Yamaha. “I didn’t have the budget to offer him the salary that he should have gotten,” comments Hacking. “My bosses wouldn’t have gone for it, but I knew, and so did Ross, about all of the contingency or bonus money that was up for grabs. And of course, he cleaned that up,” Hacking chuckles. “So, my bosses were happy and so was Ross. It worked out well.” Hacking goes on to mention that it was quite the “feather in his cap” to be able to land Ross for Team Yamaha. The three seasons Ross spent at Yamaha were arguably the best of his illustrious career with 87 perhaps being the greatest.
Riding, that year, for the Yamaha Motor Canada Team, Ross had some of his finest results both at home and on the international stage. Ross was a regular down in the states of course and while he was able to consistently put in solid results in the US, his best finishes occurred during that 87 campaign, when he scored a 3rd overall at the Hangtown National in the 250 class. He backed that up with a 5th at Southwick on the YZ 250 and scored another 3rdoverall at Red Bud on his air cooled YZ 490. He even finished in the top 10. 9th to be precise, that year in AMA Supercross even though he did not attend all the rounds. Pretty impressive. As was normally the case Ross dominated everything in Canada that season including the Montreal and Toronto Supercross’ against some stiff American competition. As Marshall Plumb, Ross’ mechanic during this period recalls, if Ross had of been able access some better equipment during this period, there was no doubt in his mind he would have been a consistent podium threat in the U.S, particularly outdoors. “His bikes just weren’t quite as good as the U.S. factory machines,” he laments. “He should have been a factory guy.”
After the 88 season, Yamaha Canada changed their direction yet again and their budgets for motocross dried up substantially. Ross went back to Suzuki and Lawrence Hacking left his role as Racing Manager in Canada and headed over to work for Yamaha in Europe. Still, Hacking remembers this period as one of the most rewarding of his career. “It was really great,” remembers Hacking. “Working with guys like, not only Doug and Ross, but others as well.” Hacking goes on to mention several other standout Yamaha pilots of the period such as Glen Nicholson, Jeff Sutherland and Serge Gregoire. “It was great fun and we had a really good vibe on that team.”
It was at this time that Yamaha turned to a young 24-year-old Mark Stallybrass to run their racing program. Stallybrass of course will be most remembered in the sport as the founder and guiding force behind the CMRC National Motocross Series in Canada. But before that, he worked for Yamaha in their marketing department and as mentioned, eventually rose to become manager of the motocross program.
The motocross program certainly struggled for a few years, but the hard-working Stallybrass developed several innovative concepts which allowed Yamaha riders in Canada to receive some much-needed support during a down time. Yamaha’s racing budget was extremely low at the time so Stallybrass instituted a delayed financing program for the team riders which essentially meant that they could race their bikes for the season and sell them at the end of the year and then pay for them. This practice is common now but was something new at the time. He also arranged excellent gear deals with several different companies for all the team riders and basically put Yamaha back on the map as far as motocross was concerned. Some of the riders who benefitted from Stallybrass’s programs included Kevin Moore, Brad King, Glen Nicholson and Chris Pomeroy in Ontario and Jason Frenette out west.
Another highlight of Stallybrass’ tenure as manager of the Canadian Yamaha Motocross team came in 1989 when he somehow managed to persuade the entire U.S. Factory Yamaha team to come and participate in the inaugural Toronto Supercross at the Toronto Skydome. Making the trip were Micky Dymond, Jim Holley, Mike Larocco and a 17-year-old phenom out of Charlotte, North Carolina named Damon Bradshaw. They put on quite a show and Bradshaw notched his first professional win at the two-day event.
Outdoor motocross in Canada was in a pretty shameful state in the early 90’s. The CMA, who had been running things, basically into the ground forever, were finally out but Stallybrass’s new CMRC Series was struggling to make any real head way or gain any type of serious legitimacy. Needless to say, the manufacturers, Yamaha included were reluctant to become involved. In fact, the first couple of seasons of the CMRC Nationals in 93 and 94 consisted of just one event which took place in conjunction with the Amateur National Championships which Stallybrass co-promoted with the Lee family in August at Walton Raceway.
Championship rounds were added in 95 however with Ste Julie and Ulverton in Quebec along with an additional Ontario round in Barrie at R.J.s Motorsport Park to go along with Walton. It was in 95 that long time Ontario Pro and Yamaha rider Marty Burr pulled off a legendary performance at the season finale where he swept the pro classes winning all four motos on the day. The following season in 96, the series was really starting to build momentum and the paddock was beginning to look much more professional. It was in 96 that Burr finally won his one and only National Championship title for Yamaha in the 125 class.
The series continued to build momentum for the next several years, but it wouldn’t be until 2000 when Yamaha would make yet another huge splash and usher in the 4-stroke era in pro motocross in this country. The North American economy, which so many people were so concerned about in regard to the Y2K bug actually seemed to be growing faster than ever, and in terms of motocross the big manufacturers were finally ready and willing to spend money again. Big money as a matter of fact, and the CMRC National series was about to reap the benefits of this new-found largess.
The really big story that year was the somewhat surprising entry of former top U.S. Pro Doug Dubach into the MX1 class. Dubach was of course well known to any motocross enthusiast, having competed in the U.S. National Series and Supercross for the Factory Yamaha team for many years. In fact, Dubach was arguably the biggest name to ever compete in any Canadian National Motocross Series at that point in time, and even though he was at the tail end of his career and approaching the age of 38, the Costa Mesa, California resident was obviously still a force to be reckoned with. The architect behind bringing Dubach to Canada in 2000 was non-other than Dave Gowland. Dave of course had a long history of involvement with the sport in Canada having raced himself as a youngster growing near Mississauga, Ontario. Dave would later transition to the mechanical side and wrenched for Canadian motocross legends Ross Pederson and Carl Vaillancourt before packing up his toolbox and moving stateside in 95. Of course, it was all pretty last minute for Gowland and his new team. “It was actually after Christmas when I really started to get serious about doing it, so I had to act fast,” remembers Gowland. And so, with the limited support he had been able to secure through an old Indy Car contact at Fed-Ex and new Team Manager John Bayliss, from Yamaha Canada he decided to take a flyer and put in a call to Mitch Payton at Pro-Circuit, to see if he would be willing to help at all. “Mitch was all for it,” chuckles Gowland, “and he also told me ‘Hey, I know just the rider you should hire’.” That rider turned out to be Doug Dubach. It should be noted that Dubach, at the time had fully transitioned from active racer to full-time test rider. In fact, Dubach was pretty much the main test rider in the development of the four stroke YZ program having taken the bike right from its infancy in the early stages of 1996 up until the release of the production YZ 426F in 1999.
“It was really a perfect storm,” remembers Dubach. “I joke around with my old mechanic (Allan Olsen) to this day that we could never duplicate that season again, even if we had a thousand chances to do so.” Dubach showed up at the opening round with handlebars, forks, shock and a bone-stock YZ 426 which caused Gowland some distress. “He was always asking me if we should be doing some motor work or changing pistons or something like that,” laughs Dubach. “I would tell him no, just change the oil and clean the filter. It was pretty-funny,” recalls Dubach. “Back home in California and throughout the States for that matter, the four strokes were already quite popular. They were really starting to catch on but I’m telling you I Canada mine was literally the only one on the starting line. I had the choice between riding the 2 or the 4 stroke but by this time I was pretty much known to be a 4-stroke guy. I knew that was the future, although,” he laughs “apparently in Canada they didn’t know yet.” But they were about to find out.
Dubach won the Championship in convincing fashion and Yamaha was back on top of the motocross heap in Canada. The trend would continue over the next two decades as a veritable who’s who of Canadian and international talent would suit up for Team Yamaha in the years to come. In the next issue of MXP, we’ll look at Yamaha’s continued upward trajectory in the sport. The innovation, the teams and the riders that have shaped the new millennium in the sport of motocross in Canada.