Honda Canada Racing Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. With March now upon us, it will soon be time to fire up our bikes and hit the track. If you’re still looking for a new bike, Honda Canada has a complete line of motocross and off-road motorcycles for riders of all ages and riding levels. So if you want to become a Red Rider, visit https://motorcycle.honda.ca/ to see their full line up of bikes and all of their dealer information.

I guess I will jump right into the Atlanta SX and what went down at the new and luxurious Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I will say that from watching the Superbowl last month and then watching the SX on Saturday evening, this new stadium in downtown Atlanta looks amazing. I remember racing the Atlanta SX back in 1994 in the then brand-new Georgia Dome and I thought that building was nice. These new stadiums with their big windows and retractable roofs are amazing feats of design and engineering.

Inside this new stadium the racing at Round 9 of the Monster Energy Supercross Series was decent as not only did the usual suspects battle in the 450SX class, but Atlanta was also the site of the season’s first 250SX East/West shootout race. This meant that the best riders from both coasts would be battling it out to see who was the best 250SX rider. While egos and bragging rights were on the line, the 250 riders also had to keep in mind that they were still trying to score points in their own series championship. The big question heading into the 250SX main event was which series points leader was going to come out on top, Adam Cianciarulo or Austin Forkner? Both Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders have dominated their respective series races and at Round 9 it was time for them to go head to head to see who was faster.

When the gate dropped the fans got exactly what they wanted as both Team Green riders were up front ready to race. I thought the Atlanta track had a lot of potential with its soil and cool layout. However, once again I hated the sand section, and like always I questioned why they even use sand on a SX track, especially in a corner like the one in Atlanta. That long corner had such great potential as a passing spot on the soft and one-lined Atlanta track, but to fill it with deep sand and turn it into a just-try-and-survive corner made very little sense. Anyway, I guess that sand corner did provide what it was supposed to be as over the course of the evening it was the sight of numerous mistakes by the riders.

Anyway, the battle up front in the early laps of the 250SX main event was intense as Forkner grabbed the early lead and tried to break away. When he couldn’t, his Pro Circuit teammate Cianciarulo found some better lines and proceed to pass Forkner and then pull away. After two hard practice crashes earlier in the day, Forkner admitted that he had nothing for his teammate and all he wanted to do was gain points in his own series. Well, that he did as his closest 250SX East rival was Chase Sexton who ended up finishing fourth. I thought for a young rider, Forkner showed a lot of patience and maturity as he backed it down and took the points over trying to beat his teammate. The kid is obviously full of swagger and confidence, but I was interested to see how he would handle some adversity. Well, I would say that he passed the test with flying colours and he managed the difficult day very well.

In the 450SX class it was once again the big #2 of Cooper Webb who grabbed the win, his fifth of the season. I would argue that Webb wasn’t the faster 450SX rider in Atlanta. That honour went to his teammate Marvin Musquin, who in my opinion really messed up a great opportunity to win his first main event of 2019. Musquin appeared to really excel on the soft and rutted track when the leaders were forced to start jumping through the whoops instead of blitzing through them. This technique is right up Musquin’s alley, so for once he was the fastest rider in this difficult section. After a few laps of hanging onto Webb’s rear wheel, Musquin appeared poised to make the pass and take off for the win. But then it went wrong as Musquin made a big mistake in the sand section that allowed Blake Baggett to move by him and into second. The one mistake I thought Musquin was making when he was right behind Webb was that as they entered the sand section, for three laps in a row, he followed Webb’s exact line. As they both rolled over the little jump right at the beginning of the section, Webb got on the throttle hard and each time he would inadvertently roost Musquin with a large blast of sand to the face. At best, this had to be a little distracting for Musquin, and after once or even twice you’d think he would move his line over to the left to avoid the heavy part of Webb’s roost. But he didn’t and I believe that is what caused him to really mess up this section and allow Baggett to get by. This was a perfect example that even the best riders in the world sometimes get fixated in the heat of battle on taking the fastest line instead of the smartest line.

Regardless of Musquin’s mistake, how about Cooper Webb? Can he really win the 2019 450SX Championship? After nine rounds he has a 13-point lead over Ken Roczen, and a 17-point lead over Musquin. With Daytona coming up this weekend I think it is a huge race for Webb and his title hopes. With Daytona being so tough, anything can happen, and it usually does. Last year we saw Justin Brayton outlast everyone for the win. I can’t wait to see what happens this year. If Webb can make it through the year’s most difficult supercross then I think he has a real shot at the Championship, and what a story that would be!

Last week it was announced that Sam Gaynor, who had just signed a support deal with OTSFF Yamaha, crashed hard while riding down south and injured his back and neck. Unfortunately, Sam will be off the bike for a few months while he heals. This is very bad news for this hard-working Ontario rider, but when you’re dealing with these types of injuries, it always could be worse. With Jess Pettis out for a few weeks, and now this news about Sam, let’s hope the rest of our riders remain healthy in the coming weeks.

This is a tough time of year for those who are trying to prepare for the upcoming season. Most arrive down south at different times and obviously all of them have their own way to prepare. If you’re a rider who wants to take their time and ease into getting up to speed, it can be difficult to sometimes have one of your competitors (who have been down south riding already) blow by you and disappear. At that point it takes a lot of discipline to chill out and just follow your set plan. Going too fast too early is the worst thing you can do. I’m not saying that is what happened to Sam, but I’ve seen it happen numerous times over the years. As I mention, this is why, regardless of your age or skill level, you should always have a plan when you head down south and then try to stick to it.

As I also mentioned earlier, the Daytona SX is going on this weekend. This is one of my favourite races of the year to watch as I love the backdrop of the Daytona International Speedway. If you’ve never been to this race, then it’s definitely one you should try to attend. The track, the atmosphere, and just about everything about this race is cool. Daytona also hosts the Ricky Carmichael Amateur SX, which makes this weekend even better. There was a rumour that Cole Thompson was going to race this weekend, but I’ve since confirmed that he is not. Last year we saw Facciotti line up at Daytona and ride really well, so it would’ve been cool to see our 450 Triple Crown Champion do the same. However, with the opening round of the Triple Crown Series just a month away, I totally understand why our top riders want to remain focused on Round 1 in Abbotsford. Also, stay tuned to mxpmag.com for the next month as we will be checking in with all of our series’ top riders to see how they feel heading into 2019. It’s definitely time to start getting excited!

Well, that is it for me this week. Now that we’re into March the sun feels a little warmer and the days are getting longer. This week in Ontario, at least, it’s still supposed to be freezing cold, but then it’s forecasted to warm up. Spring definitely can’t come soon enough! I hope everyone has a good week and of course a safe week. I will leave you with some very cool news coming out of the Jetwerx camp. Stay tuned for some details coming out later this week regarding live television at the 2019 Triple Crown Series. This is amazing news and it’s sure to change how we view our Canadian series.