Mid-Week Report by Andy White

It was quite a battle at Gopher Dunes for MX1 supremacy. These three riders fought hard to get the three spots on the podium. photo by James Lissimore

This year’s race at Gopher Dunes probably marks the roughest motocross track I have ever seen. I have been to a lot of MX tracks in my career and this sand box wins hands down. Talking with some of the riders, it was clear that there wasn’t one section where you could relax for a second. John Dowd (Mr. Southwick) said he had nothing for this track. It was a challenge to get around. Kyle Regal said this track makes Southwick feel like a hard pack track. Then you talk to a guy like Matt Georke, he just said “I love riding in sand”. We all expected the track to be rough and the racing to be exciting and I believe the spectators got what they paid for.

When I think of this event at Gopher Dunes it kind of reminds me of Daytona Supercross. It’s a supercross track but it’s not like the other supercross tracks in stadiums. Gopher Dunes is one special track that looks really fun to ride in the morning, but by noon you want to pack up and head home. I watch pro riders that are skilled professionals on hard pack, but they have no idea how to ride in the sand. You need to be super aggressive and point your bike and hold on tight. The faster you go the easier it is…I think!

Former USA Yamaha Factory rider and motocross legend John Dowd showed up at Gopher Dunes with his son Ryan and finished an amazing 10th in the final MX1 moto. photo by James Lissimore

No big surprise, Matt Georke showed everyone in the MX1 class why he has the red plate on his Rockstar/OTSFF/ Yamaha. From the minute the gate dropped, Matt knew what the game plan was and made it look easy all day long. Brett Metcalfe looked good on his Monster Kawasaki. The news in the pits was that Metty woke up feeling sick, with no energy. It’s hard to believe he was able to go 2-2 for the day and it shows that he has heart. Tyler Medaglia was 9th fastest in practice. I know this means nothing, because Tyler proved that by going 4-4 for a 3rd overall for the day. He just gets faster and faster as the race goes on. He had that Parts Canada Thor Husky working really well in the sand. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in Ottawa next week. I am sure Colton Facciotti would like to start the day over in Moto 1. Colton looked steady and smooth in the moto until he was thrown to the ground. The GDR Honda took a few kicks to get going, and once back on the track Colton was able to recover a few spots and finish 6th. The report from the pits claimed Colton was a little banged up from the first moto crash. The 4-time champion wasn’t going to let this stop him. Colton hung in there for Moto 2 and was able to leave Gopher with a 6-3 for a 4th overall for the day. Rounding 5th overall for the day was Bobby Kiniry. Great starts and it looked like the old Bobby K was back. I heard the team did lots of testing over the break and I think it’s paying off. Shout out to Hayden Halstead, local Yamaha/FXR rider. Solid 8th overall for the day that he must be happy with.

The sand box was tough on the MX2 guys with lots of DNFs and crashes. One guy that didn’t have any issues was Kaven Benoit on his Royal Distributing/Fox/KTM 250 two-stroke. Kaven nailed down both holeshots and went 1-1 on the day. It was text book, he looked smooth and in control. Not too far behind Kaven was Jimmy Decotis on his Canada’sMotorcycles/FXR/Yamaha. Jimmy didn’t get a great start in moto one, but was able to work his way up to second. Moto two was different; for the first time in the series, Jimmy and Kaven would battle for the win. Kaven had the holeshot and was leadin, but Jimmy was not going to let Kaven pull away. They started lapping by lap 4. This helped Jimmy get close to the leader. While following so close you end up using lots of tear offs, Jimmy said. With a few laps to go Jimmy had no more tear offs and pulled the goggles off and made a last ditch effort to make a pass. Kaven was too strong and didn’t make a mistake and took the win. Jimmy stated, “I tried everything I could, but I just couldn’t make the pass. Kaven rode well today.” Jimmy’s teammate, Dylan Wright, had a solid weekend by going 5-3 for a 3rd overall. Dylan is looking much more comfortable on the sand tracks. With a podium finish, this moves Dylan up to 5th in the championship. Blake Savage on his Devils Lake Yamaha scored one of his best results by going 4-4 for a 4th overall. Rounding up 5th for the day was Jeremy Medaglia; a solid 3rd in the first moto.

Your happy but exhausted MX2 podium from Gopher Dunes. photo by James Lissimore

In the second moto Jeremy went down hard in corner one, bending up his GDR Honda. After picking the bike up he was able to push and rebound with a 12th with no breaks and a smashed up muffler. I am pretty sure most of the riders are happy Gopher is behind them now. Sand Del Lee is next on the list. See you there.