Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to this week’s edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. We are now into the second half of October so realistically there is a only a short time remaining in our riding season. So now is the time to get out to your favourite riding spot and do a few final laps.
As I’m writing this my son and I are currently sitting at the Toronto airport waiting to fly to Calgary to visit my brother. This was a last minute trip as I had a few days free and I haven’t seen him since June. Thankfully the snow in Calgary has melted and the weather this week looks great. While in Calgary we’re also going to go and visit our good friends at Blackfoot Motorsports and Fox Canada so it will be great to see them also.
This past weekend my family and I made our way down to Gopher Dunes on Saturday for the final AMO race of 2018. Although the turnout didn’t seem great, those riders who were there were giving it their all and having fun. We didn’t stay for the dinner and banquet but from what I heard it was cold, but a lot of fun. During the day there was a jump contest in which Derek Schuster asked me to help judge. Nicky Beatty, who won the Baja Brawl jump contest last month appeared to be a shoe in for the win, but Ontario whip master Cooper Larche surprised everyone, including myself to take the win. Each time I’m even near a jump contest my wonderful wife reminds me of the time I entered the jump contest at the Uxbridge Ministade in 1997. I cannot remember who I was up against but my whip was so bad that no one even cheered, actually it caused the crowd to just stare awkwardly at each other. I quickly sensed that I hadn’t won them over with my aerial antics so I then decided to throw my gloves into the crowd. Obviously this technique of trying to win fans over hadn’t reached Uxbridge yet as someone picked them up and threw them back at me. To no one’s surprise, I didn’t win the contest and after my Machine Racing Honda boss John Nelson came up and calmly asked me how much was it to win the jump contest? When I told him it was $250, he (with a straight face) told me that next time he’d pay me $250 to stay at my truck and not embarrass him. I wish I was exaggerating with that story, unfortunately though it’s true and I love how my wife never lets me forget it. I guess it wasn’t her proudest day either. So yes, I’m awful at jump contest and always have been, but I sure love watching them. Anyway, congratulations to Gopher Dunes and all of the tracks across the country, and congratulations to all of the AMO year end award winners. I can’t believe another season of Regional racing has now come and gone.
Eli Tomac was a man on a mission at the 2018 Monster Energy Cup. Photo by Matt Wellumson
After getting back from Gopher Dunes on Saturday we then got comfy on our couch to watch the 2018 Monster Energy Cup. For different reasons I love the MEC each year when the race comes up. I think it’s because by this time of year I’m a little over watching outdoor motocross and I’m excited for some supercross. Also, who doesn’t love going to Las Vegas for a few days and supercross provides everyone a perfect reason to head to the City of Entertainment. This year I thought the track in Vegas wasn’t the most exciting and certainly not the most technical. Basically, the supermini riders, as well as the amateur all-star riders were all doing the same jump combo’s as the Cup class riders. I guess it has to be that way to keep it safe for all of the riders. For fans, the Cup class riders were still doing a couple of things differently and they were riding at almost twice the speed in some sections. During the broadcast they showed some telemetry from practice and it was amazing to see the speeds that the top riders were travelling. I went to the MEC a few years back and I can tell you that this event is a lot more exciting in person than it is on television. The sounds, the smell, just about everything is so cool when you’re actually sitting in the stands. I remember how exciting it was to hear the national anthem, have some fighter jets fly over and then boom! The gate drops on the first Cup class main event. If you’ve ever thought about going, I would definitely recommend that you go at least once.
The racing was certainly entertaining for the most part on Saturday evening with Eli Tomac pretty much dominating all three main events. The third main event did get a little annoying as we had to watch not just the racing on the track, but also some guy who was also set to win a million dollars if Tomac was able to get the win. I suppose the concept of this makes for exciting television if you’re not a supercross fan and you just think it’s cool. However, for any SX fan this just appeared to be so hooky. But I guess so was Joey Savagty moving over on the final lap for Tomac to cruise by. Joey is obviously new to the Monster Energy Kawasaki Team and he wants to show that he’s a good teammate for Tomac. As good as this television moment might have been for some, I honestly would’ve liked to see Tomac have to make a banzai pass in the final corner on his new teammate. That would’ve been good entertainment, especially for those fans in the stands who paid big money to be there. Anyway, it’s over now and Eli Tomac is even richer than he was before this weekend.
It was great to see Ryan Villopoto come out of retirement and race the MEC on Saturday. Photo by Matt Wellumson
Well my flight is leaving soon so that is it for me this week. Look for a complete Monster Energy Cup photo report tomorrow as one of our photographers Matt Wellumson was in Vegas enjoying the festivities. I hope everyone has a good week and I hope you’re able to get some more riding in before the weather gets really cold. Thanks for reading and have a great week.
