Honda Canada Racing Presents The Monday Gate Drop

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.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop brought to you by the awesome people at Honda Canada. As I sit here in the Vancouver International Airport waiting for a flight down to San Diego to test ride the 2017 Husqvarna’s tomorrow, I honestly can’t imagine how tired and drained the riders are who competed yesterday in Kamloops. To say that it was hot is just a gross understatement. I’m not sure exactly what the temperatures got up to yesterday at Whispering Pines Raceway but as you know, anytime it gets above 30c, any physical activity is more difficult. For the riders at round 1 of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, yesterday was a true test of utter survival. Yes, some riders had better days than others, and some might be feeling like they need to train just a little harder this week. However, I don’t think any rider who toughed it out on Saturday and Sunday shouldn’t feel bad at all, if you woke up this morning and can function, then you did your job. When you compete in the conditions the everyone faced yesterday, it’s so easy to get hot and over heat, regardless of the shape you’re in. One minute you can be feeling okay, and then before you know it, you start to get hot and you’re not able to cool yourself back down. Especially when you’re trying to navigate a 200 lbs motorcycle around a rough track.

So as I mentioned above, the opening round of the Canadian Nationals is now in the books. I can’t remember a series that had this much hype and anticipation prior to the first gate dropping. With the line up of riders (especially in the MX1 class) that arrived in Kamloops, fans from near and far were waiting impatiently for this series to begin. And while a few questions were answered yesterday, I think a lot still remain as anytime you have extreme conditions like we had on Sunday, most riders are just trying to make it through the day. As we saw in the motos yesterday, some of the riders decided it was best to back it down and live to fight another day so to speak, while others had their machines make that decision for them. Either way, round one was very tough for everyone who was in attendance.

For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to be there or see the race on Live Streaming, let me tell you a few things about yesterday. Okay, so we’ve covered the fact that it was hot as hell in Kamloops this past weekend. Well since this area is considered the desert of Canada, the fortunate part of the heat was that it was a dry heat. If it was a humid heat like in Eastern Canada, I feel like the riders would’ve been dropping like flies and there would’ve been real trouble. Basically, it felt hot, but as Davi Millsaps told me after his second moto, “It was warm, but it didn’t really feel that hot, I’ve been riding in this heat for a month.” Now I’m not a genius but maybe that is one reason why Millsaps won yesterday?

Another thing that the heat did was dry every inch of soil out very quickly, so it was extremely tough to keep the track well watered. I must say that the track crew did an awesome job yesterday keeping the dust down and although I would’ve like to see a little more track grooming, I totally understand the task they had at hand. Because of the lack of grooming the Whispering Pines track got rough, as in very rough. To once again quote Davi Millsaps, “This was one of the roughest tracks I’ve ever raced on, there was bumps everywhere and it was almost impossible to find a smooth line.” When you consider how long Millsaps has been racing and the number of tracks that has entailed, the track must’ve been rough!.

After two very long MX1 motos it was Davi Millsaps who came away with the win. In moto 1, he got off to a bad start before quickly charging through the pack. During the final few laps, Davi charged right to the back wheel of race leader Matt Goerke but wasn’t able to make the pass. In moto 2, Millsaps pulled an early lead and never looked back. The new KTM Thor Racing rider rode flawlessly for the entire moto and managed the exhausting race perfectly. Even when our Canadian hero Colton Facciotti made a late charge in the closing laps, Millsaps stayed cool and didn’t seem to mind winning by one second, instead of ten. In saying that though, I must make mention of how great Facciotti’s final few laps were in moto 2. Even though Matt Goerke logged the fastest lap of the moto early on with a low 2:34, Colton’s final five laps averaged 2:35. It was a very impressive performance by the GDR Honda rider and it definitely proved that Colton is ready to challenge for this championship.

Another rider that stood out and had one of his best days as a pro so far was MX101 FXR Yamaha’s Dylan Wright. I say one of his best because after blazing to the first moto win in the MX2 class, something happened to his decision making process that led to him ruining the second moto. Maybe it was the fact that he got very lucky in moto 1 when he timed the gate perfectly and got a massive holeshot? This might’ve prompted him to give Lady Luck another try in moto two? I’m not sure what he was thinking, but I am sure that his Team Manager was not happy that Dylan threw away what could’ve been a great day and perhaps the red plate heading into round 2. Now I’m a huge Dylan Wright fan and have been for a few years, but my neck is sore today as he left me shaking my head in disbelief. Anyway, hopefully Dylan left the track feeling good as he now knows he can win, that is the best feeling an athlete can have.

Dylan’s miscue off the gate in moto two left the door open for Cole Thompson to take home a well deserved victory. However, Cole’s 4th place in moto one pushed him back to second overall for the day in the MX2 class. This allowed fan favourite and all around good guy Shawn Maffenbeier to take home the overall win in Kamloops with a solid 2-2 moto score.

So two KTM riders will wear the red plates in Nanaimo this weekend for round 2. With much more moderate temperatures expected for Sunday, as well as a much smoother track, fitness and trying to survive shouldn’t be an issue. That should make this weekend a true test of speed, as well as the riders ability to find traction on the slippery Wastelands track. Even though we’re only one round into the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, it’s clear that this series is going to be everything that we expected it to be.

I also want to take a moment and congratulate our Canadian riders that made it through to the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National this past weekend. Brenner Lemmens, Tanner Ward and Austin Watling and Kennedy Lutz are a few of the names that I saw who received their ticket to Loretta’s this past weekend. Good luck to all down in Tennessee later this summer.

Finally I want to leave you with a quote from 5-time Canadian MX1 Champion Jean Sebastien Roy. At the end of yesterday I asked him what he remembers most about really tough days like Sunday was, JSR replied “I was always really prepared so days like this weren’t that bad. I think with the guys that came into today really prepared, it probably wasn’t as bad as it might’ve looked.” Very wise words from one of Canada’s best riders. I hope you all have a great week and we’ll see everyone in Nanaimo.