Monday Gate Drop

Monday Gate Drop

Hey MXP readers and happy Monday.  This is the bitter sweet day of the week for most people, the day where we reflect on all of the exciting things we did on the weekend, but the better the weekend the more tired and rundown we feel today as it is back to work time.  I know I am not alone when I say that I am sick and tired of this cold weather that we’ve been having since last fall.  It’s obviously expected through the winter months in Southern Ontario, but here we are in the middle of April and we haven’t had any decent weather.

North of Walton, was without Hydro until Sunday.

This was certainly the case yesterday at Gopher Dunes where most of the Ontario motocross community gathered for the 2013 season opener and the first TransCan ANQ.  The temperature never got above eight degrees all day and it didn’t even feel that warm, but as usual the Gopher Dunes crew did an amazing job on both the main track and the mini track.  It really is a miracle that this race even took place as Ontario had to recover from a major winter storm that moved through on Friday.  As I write this there are still residents without electricity, with the massive amounts of precipitation that fell on the Gopher Dunes track, a lot of water had to be pumped off it to make even rideable.

The man who wears many hats, Gopher Dunes track expert, GDR team manager and RC car enthusiast (just to name a few) Derek Schuster had this to say after yesterdays race, “I thought the day went really good, the transponders worked well and I think everyone was happy.  We worked so hard on the track to get it ready, with all the rain we got, it was touch and go if we would even be able to hold the race.  But, it all worked out and I hope everyone enjoyed the season opener”.

My experience yesterday at Gopher Dunes was unique for sure as I spent it as a 50cc dad over in the “50 pits”.  I am very new to this 50 racing as my son is just beginning to race, so far it is going well as Ayrton can’t seem to wipe the smile off his face when we are at the race track.  We were actually so busy at the mini track that I only got to watch a few races yesterday on the main track.  The Pro-Am class was good to watch as Nathan Bles, Kyle Keast and Jay Burke all looked good.  It’s always fun to watch Keast ride in the sand on a 450, you can tell he is completely comfortable and having fun.  Like everyone in Ontario, I have been  watching Keast since he was a kid, and I am really impressed with how far he has come with his riding, he seems to think more about his lines, his starts are better, he is conserving energy on the track and it really shows in the sand.  Nathan Bles was also very impressive as he actually held Keast off for the win in the first moto,  I think there are very good days ahead for Bles.  Overall the numbers were down a bit yesterday, with just under 500 entries a few riders might have stayed away because of the weather.  Next weekend the ANQ’s moves to RJ’s in Barrie for the second race of this young Ontario season, hopefully we’ll be racing under warm and sunny skies.

Josh Hill

With no live Supercross on Saturday night and not being around to watch it yesterday on CBS, I was forced to watch the 450 main from Minneapolis on Youtube this morning.  Watch a race is all I have to say, the pace at the front looked as fast as it has been all season with Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey duking it out for the win.  After watching the main I agree with Ricky Carmichael’s assessment that it did looked as though Villopoto backed it down a little to secure second place and more importantly second place points.  The Championship is the big prize and few riders have been better at closing out a championship than Villopoto.  But, I also think that Dungey is going to take this right down to the final round in Las Vegas, he had to leave Minneapolis beaming with confidence that he was able to outride Villopoto and chase down him for the win.  It was also great to see Josh Hill have such a good night, he won his heat race and held his own in the main, hopefully this is a sign of things to come.  Chad Reed also had a decent main event coming from behind to finish fifth, considering he wasn’t sure if he was going to race, top five is pretty good.  I actually had a good chat with Reed this past week for an interview that will appear in the next issue of MXP.  We talked about a lot of different things including his year so far, his childhood and his future, I had never really spoke to him before so it was cool to talk with one of this sports icon’s.

In the 250SX class Cole Thompson and Nicky Beatty continued to do Canada proud as both riders had decent nights.  Beatty once again made the night show and Thompson was in contention for yet another top five finish in the main.  He ended up tangling with Vince Friese and finished tenth, but he has to be happy with his riding.  He is now sitting seventh in points with one race left, with a good ride in Vegas he could finish fifth in points. What a success story 2013 has been so far for Cole Thompson, and also how good must Nicky Beatty be feeling right now?.  Not bad for a couple of Sarnia area boys.

Donny Schmit

Watching the race from Minneapolis brought back a memory that I hadn’t thought about in years.  In January of 1996 JSR and I drove his box van to the Minneapolis SX to race.  It was a long drive from Ontario and the fact we drove overnight, through a snow storm made it seem even longer.  Back then as long as you pre entered you could ride a full practice on Friday afternoon.  Well when we arrived the lock on the back door of his box van was frozen shut as it was -20c outside, we had to scrabble to get a torch from one of the factory teams to melt the lock so we could get the key in.  We almost missed practice but made it just in time.  Anyway, I will never forget at riders meeting on the Saturday morning one of the officials began the meeting by announcing that Minnesota native and American motocross legend Donny Schmidt had passed away the previous night.  Everyone was obviously in shocked as his passing was sudden, to stand there and see team officials and also some of the top riders crying was very touching.   We all said a prayer for him,  Jeff Stanton said some words and then the meeting got going.   Looking back, Donny is still missed by the motocross community, he was definitely one of the good guys.  Later that night  JSR made the main in the 125 class although I can’t remember what he finished, I missed the 250 main by more than a few spots but had a good time trying.  It was a long drive and certainly zero money was made, but the experience has definitely paid dividends in the memory bank.

After checking the Weather Channel this morning it looks as though temperatures will finally warm up this week.  This can only mean good things for Canadian Motocross, let the outdoor season begin!! Except for BC, where the motocross never seems to stop. Palms