In a recent issue of MXP Magazine, we not only featured 2014 Canadian MX1 Motocross Champion Colton Facciotti on the cover, but we also looked back to Mike Harden’s unbelievable 1984 500cc Canadian MX Championship. These two championships for Honda Canada are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Honda and winning titles in Canadian motocross. In the 1990’s it was Carl Vaillancourt and Marco Dube who rode a Honda to their Championships. From 2001 to 2006, it was Blackfoot Honda’s Jean Sebastien Roy and Dusty Klatt who reaped the rewards of riding red. Fast forward to 2016 and it’s the Honda Canada Fox GDR Racing Team of Colton Facciotti and Jeremy Medaglia looking to add to Honda’s rich history of success on the track. We would like to welcome Honda Canada as a proud new supporter of this Monday Gate Drop column. If you want to see all of Honda’s line up for 2016, just log onto www.motorcycle.honda.ca.
Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing rider Jeremy Medaglia is primed and ready to battle for the 2016 MX2 Title this summer at the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. Photo by James Lissimore
Happy Monday and Happy Victoria Day to everyone in Canada! I hope all of you are having a good and safe weekend doing whatever you’re lucky enough to do. I know from Social Media posts that the weather hasn’t been great in some parts of the country, however, here in Ontario, where it’s been hit or miss for the past month, so far it’s been a huge hit. I love how we humans are programmed to (in most cases) erase pain or bad memories. For instance, as I woke up this morning and went outside, the birds were chirping and singing and the temperature was perfect. It’s definitely going to be a beautiful day and thankfully our cold Canadian winter is now a distant memory. With only a week and half left in the month of May, it’s officially time to bring on the summer of 2016.
First, lets talk about an event that in the past three years has grown into one of the ‘must attend’ race series in Ontario. The four round New Era Moto Park Cup Series began on Saturday with over 550 entries from as far away as Michigan and the Ottawa region jammed into the hallowed grounds of Moto Park to, in my mind, kick off the summer. With full gates in most classes and the solid pro line up of Shawn Maffenbeier, Dylan Wright, Zeb Dennis and Joey Crown, the racing was great right across the board. There was even a decent spectator turnout to help compliment the entertaining racing that was taking place on the track. Other than a few very unfortunate injuries over the course of both days, the opening rounds of the 2016 New Era Moto Park Cup went off without a hitch. For those riders who weren’t able to walk away unscathed this weekend, I’d like to send them all a huge get well! With over 1000 entries this past weekend and massive track changes on the horizon, rounds three and four in July are sure to be even bigger! Here is a collection of photos courtesy of Doug Mochrie from Saturday at Moto Park, and also here are the results from Saturday and Sunday: http://www.tracksideresults.com/motopark/liveresults.asp
In the USA it was the opening round of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships in Hangtown. Although I haven’t had a chance to watch the motos, congratulations to Joey Satvegy and Ken Roczen on their big wins. After playing second fiddle to Ryan Dungey during the Supercross series, Roczen looks to be healthy and very comfortable on his RCH Suzuki. This will no doubt be a season long battle for the championship between Roczen, Dungey and Eli Tomac. The series now moves to the infamous Glen Helen Raceway this weekend for round two. Here is the first 450 moto from Hangtown:
Well, that is it for me this week. I know this is relatively short Monday Gate Drop, but it is a holiday after all and I need to get out and enjoy some of this awesome weather. Please stay tuned as this week we will be looking ahead to the opening round of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, which begin in less than two weeks. All of the riders and teams and us media folk are all making our final preparations before we head to Kamloops for the first gate drop of the 2016 Nationals. Finally, we want to give a big hug to Team Canada MXON Manager Kourtney Lloyd who together with Ross Johnson and Gavin Faith held a motocross riding school in snowy Chetwynd, BC this past weekend. When all was said and done, the 2016 Team Canada team was $5000 richer as they raised money for the MXON in Italy in September. Great job Kourtney and thanks to everyone that helped out. I hope everyone has a great week and please ride safe.