Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to this week’s edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. The Red Riders were in good form during Saturday’s Honda Canada sponsored Montreal Supercross as Malcolm Stewart easily took home the victory in the 450 class. Colton Facciotti had a decent night in Montreal as he finished 7th overall. This weekend the SXTour Series heads to Delaware Speedway for Round 2.
All of us had a great time in Japan testing the new 2019 RM-Z250.
As I mentioned last week, I spent Sunday to Thursday on the other side of the world in Japan. Myself and five other journalists from the USA flew over there to test ride the 2019 RM-Z250 at a very cool track just outside Nara City, a suburb of Osaka. We all arrived Sunday evening, and after spending the day on Monday sightseeing in the rain, Tuesday we drove out to the sandy but wet Meihan Sportsland Facility. This track had hosted a round of the Japan Motocross Nationals the weekend prior so it was in perfect condition for riding. After a wet start to the day we all got comfortable on the new Suzuki very quickly. As you read in my test ride story last week, the new 2019 RM-Z250 was a lot of fun to ride. The bike handled very well, and after a few EFI mapping adjustments, the engine came alive on the hilly and sandy Meihan circuit. It was a great day of riding and one that was slightly more complex than most media launches. Along with the notes that I usually make after each riding session, we were given questionnaires to answer throughout the day. We also had to give our feedback to the Japanese engineers after each session. With a completely new bike for 2019, the Suzuki crew wanted to know exactly what we thought about the 2019 RM-Z250.
After confirming that Chad Reed will ride the Monster Energy Cup for the Autotrader JGR Suzuki Team next month, a deal also appears to be close for the 2019 Supercross series. Photo by Frank Hoppen
After a long day of riding we made our way back to our hotel to get ready for some more unique Japanese cuisine. I’ve never really been a big fan of Japanese food and I must admit that it was a challenge to find stuff that I enjoyed eating. However, like anytime you travel to different countries, you can always find something you like. On this trip, rice and grilled steak did me just find, and so did lunch at McDonalds pretty much every day. It was a lot fun hanging out with my fellow journalists as well as the fine people from Suzuki Japan, Suzuki USA, and Marcus from Suzuki Canada. I was also able to get some Chad Reed news while I was with the Suzuki crew. Obviously, Chad is going to race the Monster Cup and the Australian SX events on an Autotrader JGR Suzuki, but they also told me that they are trying really hard to make a deal happen for 2019 and it’s looking pretty good right now. The final thing they told me was that so far Chad has been incredible at testing the 2019 RM-Z450 for the JGR team. Since the Ironman National a few weeks ago, they’ve already made huge strides with the bike and Chad loves the package. So far in testing, Chad and Justin Hill have been pretty equal in their lap times so the JGR Team is very excited for the upcoming Monster Energy Cup. As I’ve said many times, as the Monster Energy Supercross Series prepares to head to new markets in 2019, it most certainly needs a healthy, fit and happy Chad Reed on the starting gate.
Some people say this is one of the most iconic structures in Canada, others say they can’t believe it’s still standing. Either way, it was great to see dirt bikes once again competing inside Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. Photo by James Lissimore
Although the Montreal SX track wasn’t as big as in years past, it was still cool and very entertaining for the fans. Photo by James Lissimore
After returning from Japan late on Thursday evening and feeling the effects of the long journey, I decided not to travel to Montreal for the opening round of the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown SXTour. As I also mentioned in my Gate Drop last week, the Montreal SX has always held a special place in my racing heart so it was great to see it return. With no live streaming broadcast or any way to watch the racing on Saturday evening, one had to either follow Twitter or log on to the live results on the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown website. From what I was able to gather and hear from people afterwards, the racing was pretty good and the entertainment value of the event was decent. Malcolm Stewart dominated all three 450 main events with Colt Nichols and Matt Goerke in second and third. The top Canadians were Cole Thompson, who finished fourth overall, and Colton Facciotti, who ended up in seventh. With a tight track that appeared difficult to pass on, a good start was crucial if you wanted to finish well. In the 250 class, Jess Pettis picked up right where he left off at Walton Raceway last month and easily took the victory over Logan Karnow and Shawn Maffenbeier. By all accounts it was a good night of racing in Montreal and it definitely provided a good platform to build on for next year.
After doing all of the pre event press in Quebec, and having some good practice sessions during the day, Kaven Benoit’s evening in Montreal pretty much ended before it began. After a crash during the opening main event, Benoit is now out of the MXoN with a broken thumb. Photo by James Lissimore
Even though a few of our top Canadian riders couldn’t find the podium this past weekend in Montreal, their night was still better than Kaven Benoit’s. After being the local Quebec rider that they built this event around, Benoit’s night didn’t last very long. After going down hard in the first main event on Saturday night, Benoit’s camp reported that he suffered a broken thumb in the crash. This is awful news for not just Kaven Benoit but also for Team Canada as he was supposed to be lining up for King and Country at Red Bud in a few weeks. After coming back from a pretty serious ankle injury suffered last season at an indoor event in Germany, Benoit was back to his normal speed this past summer. I know from talking to him a few times since getting chosen for Team Canada that he was really excited to head back to the MXoN to once again show the world what he and his team are made of. Now, for the second year in a row, he will spend the opening months of his off-season healing and thinking about next year. Get well soon Kaven and hopefully you come back stronger than ever in 2019.
Will it be Tyler Medaglia or Cole Thompson who replaces Kaven Benoit on Team Canada. Photo by James Lissimore
With Benoit now out, which rider will Kourtney Lloyd choose to replace the KTM rider? Obviously, it’s really only between two riders as Tyler Medaglia and Cole Thompson have been racing 450s at a high level this summer. Although Cole has the best Canadian finish to date on a 450 at Red Bud and he’s also a KTM rider (like Benoit), and I’m sure KTM Canada has a lot already invested into this event, Tyler Medaglia appears to be the popular choice. If Tyler’s riding this summer didn’t convince people that he should be on Team Canada, his incredible ride at Ironman Raceway a few weeks ago certainly did. Regardless of who Ms. Lloyd selects, it’s not an easy task for either rider’s team to get a bike ready and tested for an event of this magnitude. I guess we’ll be hearing the news in the next few days.
Team Canada still needs you help!
With the MXoN at Red Bud fast approaching, Team Canada still needs our help as there is still fundraising to do. If you haven’t bought a Team Canada Raffle ticket yet then you must do so right now. After you finish reading this and you’ve taken a few minutes to let all of my words sink in, go to https://rafflecreator.com/pages/15213/2018-team-canada-mxon-red-bud-raffle and buy a few tickets. Team Canada still needs your help so whatever we can do will no doubt be appreciated.
That it is for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and I cannot wait to see everyone this weekend in Delaware, Ontario. The weather looks great for Saturday so Round 2 of the Rockstar Triple Crown MXTour should be a great event. Have a great week and ride safe everyone!
