Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
The Rockstar Triple Crown Series hit Gopher Dunes this past weekend for the fourth round of the Canadian Outdoor National Motocross Championships. This race weekend has become a tradition for me and my family over the years. I believe that since the National Tour started hitting the Dunes back in 2005, I’ve only missed one event, and it’s always a good time. This year was no exception.
Every year the crew at the Dunes seems to take the facility to another level of professionalism. The place looked great again this year and a neat new addition for the spectators was the installation of an actual grandstand on the north side of the course. For years the berm along the southside has been the prime viewing area for spectators, and it still is, but every year they seem to be opening up more viewing options for the spectators around the course, which is cool. A real luxury that the folks at Gopher Dunes enjoy is the huge amount of space available to them to park all the fans and racers. This is always done in a very organized fashion and everybody gets their space, which especially for the families that are racing is very nice.
It was great to see the GDR Honda Team dominate their home national. Photo by James Lissimore
The Pro Racing this year was dominated by the Honda Canada/GDR/Fox Racing team, and for the first time since the team came into existence, they swept the podium. In dominating fashion, I might add, as Dylan Wright went 1-1 in the 250 class while Mike Alessi also swept the motos, going 1-1 in the 450. More on Alessi in a minute.
While Wright did win both motos, and really has been the fastest guy in the class all season, he did receive some competition. He battled with KTM/Red Bull/Thor Factory Rider Jess Pettis in the first moto. The two swapped positions a few times before Wright took over towards the end, and in moto two Dylan had his hands full with Monster Energy/Alpinestars/Piller’s/Kawasaki ace Tyler Medaglia who kept him honest for the entire moto. Honourable mention as well to MX101/Royal Distributing /FXR /Yamaha rider Luke Renzland who rode hard all day for a 3rd overall podium spot behind Wright and Pettis.
Moving on to the 450 class. As previously mentioned, I have been coming to the National round at Gopher Dunes forever and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone dominate the premiere 450 class the way Mike Alessi did on Saturday. He was on another level. Rockstar/OTSFF/Yamaha’s Phil Nicoletti, who was finishing as high as 3rd overall last season at Unadilla, and ended up 6th in the US Nationals, rode his butt off all day and had absolutely nothing for Alessi who was pulling 2 to 3 seconds a lap on Phil for the entire second moto. Alessi was certainly feeling it, which prompted me to mention in one of my many bench racing sessions over the course of the weekend, that other than maybe Jeffery Herlings, I don’t know if anyone in the world, Eli Tomac included, could have beat the 800 on that track on that day, He was just that good.
Cole Thompson had a solid day at Gopher Dunes going for 3-3 for third overall. Photo by James Lissimore
As mentioned, Nicoletti finished 2nd overall and Factory KTM rider Cole Thompson rounded out the podium in 3rd. Bit of a bummer for the fans who were hoping to see local hero and defending outdoor National Champion Colton Facciotti win his home race. Colt went 4-4 for 4th overall, still very respectable but was never really in the mix. To me he didn’t look 100% but still rode hard and smart, salvaging the points that he could towards the Championship. As far as the title goes, Facciotti is now tied with Nicoletti for the points lead going into next weekend’s round at Sand Del Lee. Alessi, with his win, jumps past Thompson into 3rd, 17 points back I believe.
A fun new addition to this year’s series has been the FXR Premix races for 125 2-strokes. So far the series has been dominated by Ontario rider Nathan Bless who won again this weekend and holds a commanding 105 point lead over some guy by the name of Boston Boots, who only rode the first two rounds of the series. I’m not even sure if that’s real or not. 16 riders lined up this past weekend and it was great to see and hear the 125’s ripping around the Dunes wide open everywhere. There were competitors out there on everything from 2002 Honda CR125’s to 2019 KTM’s and YZ’s. There was even talk in the pits that two competitors. Justin Roney sponsored by Extreme Toys in London, Ontario and veteran Ryan Gauld, who everyone knows, had put pink slips on the line in a side bet of epic proportions. Gauld managed to edge Roney out in the final standings, although you could have thrown a blanket over the two of them for the duration of both motos. They were that close. Never heard if the bet came to fruition but it made for some good chatter in the pits.
On Sunday I had fun riding a brand new 2019 RM-Z 250 on the rough Gopher Dunes track.
I always really look forward to Amateur Day at the Dunes. I have always enjoyed racing there and getting to ride on the same weekend as the Pros for me makes it even more fun. I really liked it back when the Amateurs rode Saturday and the Pros on Sunday. The track would be completely done up for the Amateur competitors. The Pro Riders and team members would all be hanging around, and when you were done you could relax with a cold one or two and bench race a little bit and look forward to seeing the Big Boys race on Sunday. They flipped it around a couple of years ago, and while it’s still a great atmosphere it’s not quite what it used to be.
Speaking of not being quite what it used to be, the actual Gopher Dunes track has certainly undergone quite a transformation in the last couple of seasons. The addition of numerous big jumps around the course, while making the track more visually appealing for the spectators, have made it tough on us old vet riders to get any kind of flow going out there. But, in the end, it’s still Gopher Dunes at heart and it still gets rough, tough and nasty, and that’s what I love about it. Two-classing it might not have been the smartest move for my first race of the year, but I figured what the heck. Let’s make the most of it. I’m paying for it today, but it was definitely worth it. Great weather, a great weekend of racing and good times with friends and family. And that’s what it’s all about.
Family time at the motocross track is always fun.
