If I had to pick the best time of year for riding, hands down it would be right about now. The weather is a bit cooler, so when you hit the track you tend to have a few more laps in you than when you typically would in the summer months. The dirt is like chocolate cake with loads of traction and the dust somehow is no longer a problem. You kind of feel like a hero out on the track, but the sad news is that winter is only a few weeks away! So get out there and enjoy the last few rides before you put the dirt bikes away for the year.
In the racing world it’s also a busy time. The MXON in Italy was a big success for our Canadian team. I have to congratulate Kourtney for pulling off a great experience for Team Canada this year. I heard that the riders and techs said it was very relaxing and a stress-free set up in the Canadian camp. The team rented a house not far from the event, and the riders had home cooked meals as well as their own bedrooms. The team was able to put in a full day of testing at a track that was not too far away from the house, plus the track was a perfect test track for the MXON. Team USA and Team France were also testing there on the same day. Kaven Benoit commented, “It was a good test day when you see your lap times are not too far off some of the best riders in the world.” I am sure this gave the team some well needed confidence going into the race weekend. We all know that the team had one of the best results in all of the years we have sent riders to the one-off event. Tenth overall is pretty incredible. Kaven Benoit looked really impressive holding off the World Champion for many laps. When you get good starts it makes it way easier to ride at the front! I heard Benoit signed his three year contract just before heading to Italy. I am now thinking he should have held off on the ink. Tyler Medaglia had a good moto followed by some bad luck in the final race. When your chain derails two times in the final laps you know your day is not going well. I believe this was Tyler’s fifth time representing Canada at the MXON. New to the program was Shawn Maffenbeier. Shawn did a great job of representing our country with solid qualifying times and he gave everything he had to score some well needed points. Let’s hope we can build on the momentum for 2017 in England guys!
– James Lissimore photo
Another event that is exciting to watch is the MEC event in Las Vegas. The best supercross riders sign up and try to win the big payout of a million dollars! You need to win all three motos to win the big cheque. In the past five years the million dollars was won only once by Ryan Villopoto. Other riders have come close but close doesn’t get you the big cash. This year, Ken Roczen is riding for a brand new team and a new manufacturer. The word out of the pit area is that Ken has only ridden the new Honda CRF450 eight times since signing with the factory team on October 1st. Most factory riders that have moved to a new program don’t usually come out and compete at an event like this. Look at Cooper Webb on the factory Yamaha or Justin Barcia on his new Suzuki ride. Two weeks of testing is not usually going to be enough. The confidence that Ken has right now is unreal. He’s now coming off dominating the outdoor season and winning the championship. If Ken had not miscalculated that rhythm section, he would be one million dollars richer. It sounded like Ken was not too upset with the way the night went. It actually sounded like Ken was pleased with the results after only a few weeks of testing. If I was the competition, I would be a little worried. Anaheim 1 is only a few months away. Talking about the competition, most of the other factory riders were a no show this year. There seems to be a lot more riders waiting for the phone to ring. Dean Wilson is one rider that has incredible speed, but having two bad injury-filled years will scare off potential teams. How about the Stewart brothers? Let’s look at Malcolm first – the Lites east coast champion decided to take the outdoor season off to rest up for the supercross season. Now we are only a few months away from Round 1. Who will he ride for? I hear it’s a Geico Honda deal pitted under the factory Honda rig. Okay, so who will #7 James Stewart race for in the 2017 season? Not many options left for the Florida resident. Is it time for Bubba to hang it up? Does he have any gas left in the tank for another year? Does he start up his own team again? So many questions. He is one special, gifted athlete. There is no question about that. How about Jake Weimer, Broc Tickle, Justin Brayton, Westin Peick and Will Hahn? I’m pretty sure I missed a few riders too. This leads me to the Canadian series for 2017. Maybe we will see some of these riders north of the border next year? I bet you they all took note that Davi Millsaps won the 2016 series and walked away with a good chunk of cash for ten rounds. Why wouldn’t a rider like Wilson or Hahn not come to Canada? A lot of these riders are now racing in Australia…what’s the difference? Money is money in my view.
– Krystyn Slack photo
The Red Bull Straight Rhythm is another event that gives these top supercross riders a chance to make some cash during the off-season. Yes, the Red Bull riders might have to show up to support their sponsor. The factory KTM team and the TLD team will have their top guns. Ryan Dungey and Marvin will be hard to beat. How cool was it to see Travis Pastrana on his Suzuki/Honda CR500 wheeling through the whoops at 60 MPH. This is another event where the factory rider turnout will be low due to contract talks. Tune in this weekend to see where these guys stack up.