Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good Morning and Happy Easter. I hope everyone had a great weekend regardless of what you did. I had an exhausting (but awesome) weekend on my 2014 KX450. Just like last year’s bike, this new version works great and is a lot of fun to ride. With Moto Park only being 50 minutes from us, the Pomeroy family spent all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday up there putting in laps with a ton of other Ontario riders. Both the main track and mini track were in great shape all weekend so here’s a big thank you to the MP crew for working hard all weekend. It was great to see such a big turn out there for a long weekend of practice; even Pros like Kyle Keast and RJ Roy made the trek to MP to do some riding. The only downside of having three days of fun on a dirt bike, every part of my body hurts today! Well, except my fingers, which is good news for the rest of this Gate Drop.
In between my motos and my son’s motos this weekend, I got to sit down and have a chat with Moto Park owner and snocross god, Iain Hayden. Obviously his results on a dirt bike and snowmobile speak for themselves but I think what’s he’s done off the track is equally impressive. He’s been very smart with his money, and with his purchase of the Moto Park facility, he’s set up for years to come. I also think that his biggest attribute might be that he never shies away from a challenge, in fact I think he thrives on taking on something new. Whether it’s doing something new at Moto Park, his own racing, riding a BMX bicycle or learning to fly an airplane, Iain goes at everything he does 100%. With me completing my pilot’s license a number of years ago and Iain currently working on his, this weekend we spoke more about flying than riding. Soon we’ll see Hayden flying the skies all over Ontario, and since there are so many similarities between riding and flying, I know he’ll do just fine.
Tanner Ward was one of the fast riders at Moto Park this past weekend. After injuring himself during the winter, Tanner is now back on the bike and riding very well. photo courtesy of On The Edge Photography
Iain and I also spoke about the upcoming MX season and the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. Iain confirmed reports that Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha riders Shawn Maffenbeier and Bobby Kiniry are both riding very well so far in 2014. With Bobby K taking some time off to get his knee fixed and to recharge his batteries, as well as having a brand new 2014 YZF450 to ride, Iain said he’s feeling really good on the bike and very confident for the summer. Also, let’s not forget Maffenbeier won the final MX2 overall last year at Walton so he took a ton of confidence into the off season. He’s also riding a brand new bike, and by all accounts he loves the 2014 YZF250. With Kiniry, Maffenbeier and Kyle Chisholm, the OTSFF Team is going to be a title contender in both classes this summer. With the amount of time and effort this team has put in for the past decade, they’ve certainly earned any success they have in 2014.
With the opening round of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals just over a month away, I was speaking with Ryan Lockhart last week to confirm our plans to travel to Nanaimo together. Well, the Newf confirmed that he will be racing the first two rounds of the in the MX1 class. This is great news for the series as well as Canadian motocross in general as anytime you have a former top rider come out of retirement to race some Nationals it’s a great news story. Although, it’s bad news for anyone riding Vet Master at this summer’s Parts Canada TransCan as Newf will be faster than ever. I guess the biggest question is: how will Newf do in Nanaimo and Kamloops? If I had to make a prediction, I will say that he will go 13-9 in Nanaimo at round one, and 10-8 in Kamloops. Please don’t ask where I got those numbers, I just picked them out of the sky, I will however revisit this blog after Kamloops to see if I was even close. Go Newf!
Shawn Maffenbeier will definitely be one of the riders to beat in the MX2 class this summer. photo by James Lissimore
In keeping with the subject of Ryan Lockhart, he certainly had his hands full back in his former hometown of Springhill, NS as the annual Josh Damery Memorial AX took place this weekend. On Friday night Newf took a convincing win over Davey Fraser and Brad Lockhart, but on Saturday night Davey Fraser took the win and the overall for the weekend. It was a big win for Fraser and a huge win for the event as the capacity crowd was on it’s feet watching this East Coast battle. This event gets bigger every year and has become a staple of the Eastern series. Not only does it provide fans with some great racing, but it also gives everyone a chance to celebrate the life of one of out lost MX heroes.
That is all from me this week. However, in closing, I can’t not mention the extraordinary efforts of a few Canadian riders at this past weekend’s World Mini GP in Las Vegas, NV. BC’s Casey Keast and Jacob Piccolo both won motos and Championships at this prestigious event. Keast and Piccolo rode very well all weekend and in the process made all of us back in Canada very proud. Also, doing well in Las Vegas were the Lovelock Brothers from Alberta who rode the 65cc and the Pee Wee classes and finished inside the top twenty. Congratulations to all of you on some great riding and one of the toughest amateur events in the USA.
Well, as I said at the beginning of this, I hope you had a great Easter weekend and I hope everyone has a safe week of riding. We’re fast approaching ANQ season so I hope everyone is getting prepared to qualify for the biggest race in Canada. In Ontario, the first one is this weekend at RJ Motosport Park so I can’t wait to see everyone there. Good Luck and ride safe!
Abbotsford’s Casey Keast continued his winning ways by taking victories at the World Mini GP this past weekend.
