Welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. We are now just under a month away from Christmas Day and all that comes with it. This means that there are not many shopping days remaining before the big day, so now is the perfect time to head to your local Honda dealership to buy that special gift.
This past weekend we saw some incredible racing in Chilliwack BC as Round’s 3 and 4 of the Future West Canadian AX Championships took place. After kicking off last month in the tight confines of the Armstrong, BC arena, the riders were very excited to be racing in much larger Heritage Park arena in Chilliwack. This spacious building allows the track to have good long lap times, and just about every type of obstacle imaginable. Over the years the racing has always been great in Chilliwack and this past weekend appeared to be no different. MX101 FXR Racing Yamaha riders Shawn Maffenbeier and Jess Pettis took turns winning main events on Friday and Saturday, and Cycle North Honda’s newest rider Carson Brown was also victorious. Obviously I was not in Chillwack so I’m not able to comment directly on the race action, however from speaking to a few who were in attendance, these three riders showed incredible speed on the Chilliwack track. This coming weekend the series returns to Chilliwack for Round’s 5 and 6, so it should be another exciting weekend of indoor racing.
Last week the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha Team announced that they have signed Dillan Epstein for the 2018 season. Epstein will ride along side Matt Goerke in the MX1 class, while rookie pro Marco Cannella possibly racing under the tent in the MX2 class (or at least that is the rumour). This a great signing by the OTSFF Team as Epstein was one of the top MX1 riders in 2017. I remember watching his double moto win in Nova Scotia at Round 7 and thinking just how impressive this guy was. In talking with him a few times this year, it became clear that Epstein has seen his fair share of ups and downs over the past few seasons. Through all of this adversity he came away stronger and more focused than ever before. You just know that he and his team will be ready to go when the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series begins on February 24th in Abbotsford, BC.
This past week with the Thanksgiving holiday in full effect down south, the Mini Olympics took place at Gatorback Cycle Park, located just west of Gainesville, FL. This historic track has always provided a perfect backdrop for this event and over the years we’ve seen some incredible racing. This year was no different as a host of Canadian riders headed south to compete against the best amateur riders in the USA. Riders like Tanner Ward, Marco Cannella, Preston Masciangelo, Thomas Rendall, Quinn Amyotte, Riley Clapp, Nathan Snelgrove, Matthew Cemovic, and his sister Estrella, I know I may have left out a few names so I apologize. Anyway, congratulations to everyone who competed last week in Florida and through all of the elements that came with it. Travelling to these big races in the USA is never easy or cheap, but sometimes if you want to be the best, you must compete against the best.
Unfortunately, as fun and as awesome as this sport is, sometimes bad things happen, even to our most gifted riders. Last week at Gatorback, Ontario based rider Estrella Cemovic had a very bad crash and suffered a serious brain injury. At the time of writing this, Estrella is still in coma in a Florida hospital, but is showing signs of improvement everyday. With her family and close friends at her side, everyone is waiting for her to wake up and show them that beautiful smile. Whenever an accident like this happens every single person in this sport pauses and takes stock in their life and their loved ones around them. From the first moment I heard of Estrella’s crash and the seriousness of her injuries, I had such a sickening feeling. I don’t know Estrella very well as I’ve only spoken to her a few times at the track. However, any time she has walked by our pit area at a race she always smiles and says hi to either myself, or my son. At the track, she always looks so focused and determined to win, yet she still manages to smile and talk to everyone. She is so full of life and to see the photos of her from the hospital I’m sure have been tough on everyone. The Cemovic family is one of the nicest families at the track and they not only need our prayers, they need our help as well. Please visit the following page and help if you can: https://www.gofundme.com/estrella-cemovics-recovery-fund . Also, here is the latest on Estrella’s condition posted by her mom this morning:
“We had great news for her yesterday with her trying to breathe on her own and fight to come back. They had to put the ventilator back on her yesterday evening not because she’s taking a step backwards but because precaution that if she did get tired she would be safe. The doctors here at the University of Florida are absolutely amazing in the neurology department they spent an hour with me yesterday night explaining that Estrella’s brain needs to rest. However, she is showing signs that she wanted the ventilator out of her airway that is why they wanted to give her a chance to breathe on her own. They said that when the brain wants to remember and do stuff they want to give the patient a chance to let them remember and do what they want as long as the brain can handle it and there’s no pressure on her brain. They also said to me that the reason that they want the brain to work and do what it’s capable of doing is because there usually are small windows of opportunity to do so. They said that if the brain is actually left to rest and take it’s time to heal, by this time the brain, even though healed now has to start from the beginning to remember and rehabilitation possibly takes longer. They said there’s a lot of evidence and research done to support this. Every case is different and in most cases that they’ve done research on they found that exercising the brain when it presents the opportunity to do so is a lot better than letting it rest and trying to remember and start all over again when the brain is fully rested. Yesterday when she was breathing on her own all her vitals were good including the pressure on her brain, however the only reason they wanted to put that vent to later back on was because of the fact that she was trying very hard to breathe on her own and they could see that she was getting tired. But they assured me that it’s not a step back. She still has a long way to go but she’s getting stronger I believe that she is. Again everybody your prayers your love your support I’m sure means everything from her calls from Canada, South Africa, New Zealand prayers from everywhere around the world. Dubai, Holland everywhere in the states amazing support the love that she has and how many people care about her thank you all for all your positive thoughts xx.”
Well that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a safe week and with the events from last week, don’t forget to give your loved ones a big hug. Next week my Monday Gate Drop will come to you from sunny California as I’m headed there on Sunday to test ride the 2018 Factory Edition KTM’s. It’s going to be a great few day in California and I cannot wait to hang out with the orange crew. Finally, I heard today that Austin Watling has decided to end his racing career and chose a different career path. I have mixed emotions about this news. On one hand I’m sad that we won’t get to see this talented kid race anymore, but on the other, I’m happy for him that he’s found something to do (other than racing) that he enjoys. The fact that I was able to race on the same track as him in September at the Gopher Dunes AX makes me feel honoured. Good luck Austin and thanks for allowing us the chance to watch you ride. Have a great week and don’t forget to keep Estrella Cemovic in your prayers.