Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to this edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. Today is not only the first day of April but it’s also the day that we all refer to as April Fool’s Day! Considering that we in Ontario woke up yesterday morning to a blanket of fresh snow, it definitely felt like the joke was on us. However, this time of year it’s usually gone the next day. Let’s hope this is true as we’ve had enough of this awful white stuff.
I’ll begin this week’s Gate Drop by talking about Saturday night in Houston. This race was the third Triple Crown event of the 2019 season, which meant that the riders in the 250SX West and 450SX classes had to race three very entertaining main events. With the two prior Triple Crown events providing some of the best racing we’ve seen so far in 2019, the race in Houston fell into the exact same category.
Dean Wilson had a great night in Houston and ended up finishing on the podium with an impressive third overall. Photo by Matt Wellumson
In the 250SX West class we saw Yamaha rider Dylan Ferrandis have another great weekend as he took his second win in as many weeks. With the points leader Adam Cianciarulo having a drama-filled night in Houston, Ferrandis was able to close up the points to five with two rounds remaining in the 250SX West Series. Heading into Houston, it appeared that Cianciarulo had the championship completely under control as he’d been the dominant rider all series long. However, as we’ve seen so many times in the past, anything can happen in this sport.
In the 450SX class, Cooper Webb continued his very fortunate season by once again reaping the rewards from mistakes made by his competition. Webb’s teammate and closest rival in the 450SX series, Marvin Musquin, had an awful night in Houston as he got bounced around like a pinball. First he got knocked off the track by Webb in the first main event, then he came together with Dean Wilson. To top it all off, he made an error in the sand section and crashed all by himself. Musquin did come back and win the final main event of the evening to salvage a hard earned second overall. With four rounds to go, Musquin trails Webb by 17 points. Webb has proven to be one of the only riders incapable of making large mistakes. When others have struggled, Webb has been there to capitalize on the situation. Even in the few races where Webb hasn’t had his A game, he’s still been able to scrape together a good number of points. People always say that those who win championships are the ones who manage their off days the best. This can definitely be said for Cooper Webb in 2019.
It was a difficult evening for Marvin Musquin as he found himself getting knocked around by a few other riders. Photo by Matt Wellumson
From one energy drink sponsored series to another, this coming weekend is the opening round of the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown AXTour Series in Abbotsford, BC. The sophomore year of this new series has come up fairly quickly as it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were standing in Hamilton crowning Cole Thompson and Shawn Maffenbeier as class champions. However, with all of the drama that clouded over the conclusion of the 450 class in 2018, this weekend represents a welcomed fresh start for our National Series. The weather forecast for the Abbotsford area is calling for rain on Saturday, but the temperature will be nowhere as cold as it was last year. Also, the dirt will be night and day better than last year for this opening round, so we should see some great racing inside the Abbotsford Event Centre.
Some very big news was announced last week!
This past week it was announced that the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series will be live on Fox Sports beginning this weekend. I first heard about this deal a month ago so it definitely has been in the works for some time. With Fox Sports not having Monster Energy Supercross to air in 2019, they were looking for some high quality and high energy motocross racing to fill that void. The Canadian series is a perfect union for both sides as Justin Thompson has stated that one of his goals was to bring live television to this series. Well, true to his word, live TV is now a reality and it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression with a new show. Since you cannot hide any mistakes with live TV, this show has to be good right from the start. People have always loved watching Canadian motocross on television so hopefully they love the live version. Also, since a lot of households in Canada don’t get Fox Sports as part of the package, stay tuned for the announcement of an app that can be downloaded. For a fee you’ll be able to watch the races live. It all gets underway this weekend in beautiful Abbotsford, BC.
Thanks for your amazing effort Kourtney! Photo by James Lissimore
In Canadian motocross news, it was also sadly announced late last week that Kourtney Lloyd has resigned from her role as Team Canada’s MXON Manager. For the past three years Kourtney has led our MXON effort, first to Italy in 2016, then England, and then last year to Red Bud. Each time Team Canada’s presence has been first class and our riders have had everything they needed to succeed. It’s unclear exactly what happened between Kourtney and the CMA, but if you read her press release, obviously the relationship had soured. At this point in time I’m not really sure who would want to take this project on as not only is the cost of sending a team to this event huge, but also the CMA really does appear to be impossible to work with for any sustained period of time. Regardless of who has tried to run Team Canada in the past, there always seems to be some issues that sucks the enthusiasm from that individual. However, the unfortunate reality is that whomever takes on the role has to work with the CMA, and while the relationship always appears to start well, it never seems to end well. So as we look ahead to the 2019 MXON in Assen, is anyone going to step up and will we even send a team? Those are the two big questions that will take some time to answer. For now, let’s just take a moment to congratulate Kourtney on her incredible three year run as Team Canada’s Manager. From fund raising, to getting our team to the event, to spending her own money to make sure our riders had everything they needed while there, she has most certainly left some pretty big shoes to fill.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a good week and a safe week of riding. After our long off-season, it’s finally time to drop the gate this weekend in Abbotsford. Thank-you for reading this week’s Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop, and if you have some more time on your hands, check out this very cool James Stewart interview from last week. I thought this interview started off a little slow, but once it got rolling he told some pretty cool stories. See you at the races!
