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.

Good Day and Happy Monday to everyone! I hope all of you had an incredible weekend and I trust that all the Dad’s out there had a very special Father’s Day! Before I dive into my column I just want to sincerely thank everyone for the outpouring of best wishes for my wife Bernadette. As so many of you obviously know, she was injured in a freak accident at work two weeks ago, and although there’s very little reason to think that she won’t recover, it will no doubt be a very long road until she’s back to 100%. Over the past fortnight so many people have reached out to us offering assistance in any way possible. It’s awesome to have such a great motocross family.

So as I mentioned above, I hope it was a great Father’s Day for all the Dads out there. My dad had me when he was thirty years of age, so when he was the age that I am now (43), I was 13 years old. During that time in our lives I was just starting to figured out how to go fast on a dirt bike, and while I still wasn’t winning races with any sort of consistency, my best amateur events weren’t that far off. Like so many moto Dads, mine was everything to me in those days. He was my mechanic, my biggest fan, biggest supporter, and really in many ways he was my best friend. There were those long drives to and from the races, time at the practice track, and of course all those hours in our race shop working on bikes. I remember very vividly that 1986 was the first season that all of the hard work was beginning to pay off, and every time we went to a race, things were fun, relaxed, and my results were trending upwards.

Of course in the years that followed and when the stakes began to get higher, my Dad and I didn’t always see eye to eye to say the least. There were the occasional argument and frustration between the two of us, however we still managed to find joy in each other’s company whether we were at the races or doing something else. A few years later in the early 1990’s as I battled back from injuries and was searching for my once so cherished confidence, my Dad and I found ourselves butting heads even more until it became clear that it if I was going to find consistent success in the pro class, then I needed a mechanic. It wasn’t because of anything he was doing, it was just me trying to find myself as a pro rider and as a man. In 1993, we hired retired pro rider Brad King for the summer and my Dad told me that he’d pay for a mechanic for one year and then I was on my own. Brad had not only raced for a long time, but also was fresh off working for Ross Pederson, so needless to say he brought me a ton of knowledge and most importantly a calming and confidence building influence. He was exactly what I needed at the time and that was the first year that my Dad went to track as my new biggest fan and not my mechanic.

Two years later in the summer of 1995 I finally won my first National overall with a 2-1 moto score in the 125 class in St. Hubert, QC. Right after that race my new mechanic Rich Van Poelgest and I drove all night and I made it home just as my Dad was getting home from work and his own all night journey (he spent his adult life flying planes for Air Canada). I remember like it was yesterday him and I arriving home at the same time and him excited to find out how I had finished in Quebec. In a equally excited voice I yelled through the early morning air that I had won! He then dropped his bags and we hugged and then spent the next few minutes wiping away our tears. After all of the up’s and downs of the past five years I finally accomplished something that we both knew that I could. Even though that moment only lasted a few minutes, it somehow made all of the long drives to races as Father and Son and all of the struggles completely worth it.

Fast forward to now and I’m doing my best to build memories with my own son. And while I practice a lot of stuff that my Dad taught me, I love the challenge of trying to figure things out on my own. Being a Father is not an easy job to say the least, especially when sports are involved. On any day you have to be a shoulder to cry on, a disciplinarian, a coach, a chef, and god knows what else. There are endless ways to be a good Dad and it doesn’t matter how you chose to do it. As long as you do your best and your kid knows that at the end of the day, regardless of what happens, their good old Dad has their back. So again, Happy Father’s Day from me to you!

As you all know there was a pretty important dirt bike race in Calgary this past weekend. Yesterday this awesome city played host to round 3 of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals presented by Motovan. Over the past few years this race and this track has produced some of the best battles we’ve seen in the series, and after two very challenging rounds in Kamloops and Nanaimo everyone was hoping for the same this time around.

Well I can tell you that once again Calgary did not disappoint as fans got to witness some of the best racing so far. In the MX2 class it was once again Cole Thompson who showed everyone the way around the track as he went 1-1 for a dominating win over Shawn Maffenbeier and Mark Worth. Cole has won 5 of the first 6 motos of the 2016 MX2 series and has shown that he’s no doubt the rider to beat. Cole is smooth, fit, confident and he appears to be at one with his Thor Racing KTM, so far this has been an unbeatable package and it will be very interesting to see if he can continue this domination as the series keeps on heading East. Fellow KTM rider Shawn Maffenbeier also had a very strong day at round 3. In moto one he chased Cole all the way to the finish, and in moto 2 Shawn had to charge from way back to again finish in second place. This coming weekend we head into Maffenbeier’s back yard so he will no doubt be looking to take the win in front of his friends and family. Also, I have to give a huge shout out to Maff’s mechanic Josh Cox who did triple duty this weekend. After spending all week in Calgary building Shawn’s race bike, Josh flew home on Friday for his Brother’s wedding. To make his life more complicated, Josh had to check himself into the hospital Saturday morning with kidney stones. Honestly I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. So after he got feeling better in the hospital, Josh made it to the wedding and then caught a late night flight back to Calgary, where he helped his rider get a solid 2nd overall. That’s dedication folks and if there was a mechanic award for the weekend, I’m sure it would go to Josh Cox.

Just like his teammate Cole Thompson, KTM Thor Racing MX1 rider Davi Millsaps has quickly shown everyone that he is the man to beat. I’m sure everyone knew that Millsaps would be good when he arrived on Canadian soil, but I’m not sure too many people (including myself) knew that he’d be this good. His arsenal is very deep and during the first 6 motos, he has not only proven to be the faster rider, but he’s also proven to be the smartest. Just in the past four motos alone I’ve seen him make well thought out passes on whomever has holeshotted before the moto is 30 seconds old. I can see him doing it a couple times and surprising your fellow, talented competition, but Millsaps did it again yesterday in both motos when they had to be expecting it. This takes talent and confidence and Millsaps appears to have both to spare at the moment. From his opening lap heroics, he then sprints for five laps before settling into a pace that no one can match right now. Heading into Regina for round 4 this coming weekend, Millsaps is without a doubt in the driver’s seat as he’s just been flat out better than everyone. Maybe the sand tracks in the East will slow him down a little? I guess we’ll find out in a few weeks, however, until then the Millsaps train appears to be full steam ahead. On Sunday, Mike Alessi was close, Brett Metcalfe was close, Matt Goerke wasn’t far off the lead pace, but no one could match Millsaps pace for 30 minutes plus two laps. As a media guy and as a true fan of the sport, watching the high level of racing so far has been very entertaining.

Other than the incredible racing this past weekend, a few of us were also given a glimpse of Canada’s 2016 MXON Team Manager Kourtney Lloyd’s plan for this year’s event. First off, if you don’t know Kourtney then you’re really missing out. This passionate women loves motocross, and when she’s not wide open running the massive Cycle North Motorports shop in Prince George, BC, she’s trying to figure out ways to help the sport and the people in it. For this year’s MXON she has got everything planned out to the finest details, and when the team is finally picked later this summer, our riders will have everything they need and more to succeed in Italy. I will not go into too many details as I’ll let Kourtney tell everyone when she feels it’s time but for now all we can do is keep trying to raise money so our team can go over to Italy and kick butt. Thanks Kourtney for all you do to try and help the sport that we all love.

So that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and remember to please ride safe. If you’re reading this and you live near an upcoming round of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals then you have to make plans to attend. The racing thus far has been World class in both classes, and I can see it only getting better as the series moves East. In closing, I also want to send a big congratulations out to Canadian Orange Brigade rider Jacob Piccolo who clinched his second CMRC West Supermini Championship on Saturday in Calgary. Jacob has been absolutely flying in the West and I can’t wait to see him do battle with the kids in the East later this summer in Deschambault and Walton. Have a great week and we’ll talk in seven days.