Monday Gate Drop

Good morning and welcome to the final Monday Gate Drop of the month of May! I can’t believe I’m saying that as this past month has certainly flown by. I trust everyone had a great weekend; I know I did as the weather in Ontario was finally beautiful. Not only did we get treated with bright sunshine, but there was actually some heat associated with it also, which made it FINALLY feel like summer is almost here.

So here we are now just a few days away from the beginning of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals in picturesque Nanaimo, BC. While some people complain about the series going all the way out to Vancouver Island, I think with all things considered The Wastelands is a pretty good place to launch the series. The city of Nanaimo is about as beautiful as any city in Canada, the people are very nice, and at any moment, you can look around and get an eye full of the lush scenery. The track itself has improve immensely over the past fifteen years and the racing has always been pretty good; that is with the exception of 2012 when it poured rain all day and the track was just soup. Last year I thought the track was as good as it gets as it had deep ruts and actually got a little rough.

For a rider, I don’t think it really matters where the series begins as long as it begins! Most of them have been working and waiting all winter for this day. All of the riders training programs have had May 31st circled on their calendars in hopes of peaking on this day. It is, as they say, Go Time! Now, obviously you can’t win a championship at round one, far from it, but you can gain some serious confidence in your own riding by going there this coming weekend and doing well. It doesn’t matter who you are, every rider has some curiosity about where they fit in and there’s no way to know until the gate drops. Once the first moto begins and the battles ensue, under their helmet a rider will either breathe a big sigh of relief that all their hard work has paid off, or they’ll realize that they may have a little more work to do.

Once the gate does drop on Saturday, one of the most anticipated national series in Canada will begin. With Rockstar Energy Drink as the new title sponsor, the hype has been building all winter. With concerts planned at four of the rounds, an internet radio show, and a host of new riders coming to the series, 2014 is going to be an incredible year in Canadian motocross.

Two of the above mentioned “new” riders, Kyle Chisholm and Mike Alessi, both signed up to race the opening round of the US Outdoor series at Glen Helen Raceway on Saturday. Many of us have been speculating that if Mike Alessi did well at Glen Helen then he might not show up in Nanaimo, instead opting to continue racing in the USA. Well, I think it’s safe to say now that Alessi will be coming to Canada as he came down with a mystery illness on Friday and didn’t end up racing Glen Helen. It will be interesting to see how Alessi fairs up here as it will be like nothing he’s ever seen before. New faces, new tracks, new rules and concrete starts at two of the first three rounds. This will no doubt present a new challenge to one of the greatest starters this sport has ever seen as he’s not the tallest rider on the circuit. However, finding speed has never been a problem for Alessi so look for him to be very fast this summer once he figures everything out. Kyle Chisholm had a pretty decent day at Glen Helen going 15-14 for 14th overall. With a stacked field of 450 riders around him, that was a very good finish for the Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha rider.

So now the stage is set for the opening round of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals and we couldn’t be more excited with some of the best riders in the world all getting ready to travel to The Harbour City to get this series rolling. I even reluctantly looked at the weather forecast for this coming weekend in Nanaimo and for now it looks great. However, I wouldn’t put a lot of credence in this as I think predicting the weather there is a lot like throwing darts. As we sit here now, the forecast looks great and that’s all that matters. If you’re not able to make it to Nanaimo on Saturday, you can follow all the action right here on mxpmag.com. At 11:30am local time, the 2014 Royal Distributing/ Marin Internet Radio Show with Brian Koster will go live. Koster will be calling every bit of action throughout the day, so even if you’re not there, you won’t miss anything. During the first four rounds Koster will have myself and Brent Worrall helping him so all the action will be covered. On the track and off the track, it’s going to be a spectacular weekend on Vancouver Island.

With all the riders taking this past week to do their final preparations, our man out west, Brent Worrall, made the drive to Kamloops to take in the race. Brent went to see Jeremy Medaglia’s very first race on a Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki and by all accounts, Jeremy looked great. Like last week, Brent sent us the following report on exactly what he saw in The Loops. I will leave you with his report as well as my best wishes for a great final week of May. I leave Thursday for BC so stay tuned for reports from round one of 2014 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals. Here is Brent Worrall’s Kamloops report:

Round 6 of the Kawasaki BC Championship made a stop this past weekend in Kamloops and marked the spot where the CMRC Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals will touch down on Sunday, June 8th for round 2 of the 10 round series. I had not yet been to the Whispering Pines track this season and was anticipating what changes had been made, if any, since my last trip there, which was to the previous year’s national event. I was notably pleased with the few minor track changes that had been made since last year’s event, and after speaking with the GKMA’s Willie Watchell have been advised that there are still a few modifications that will take place in the next couple of weeks before the big rigs show up.

On a race track that was well primed and prepped by the on-track crew and aided mildly in the irrigation department by Mother Nature, we were set to go racing. With entries nearing 270 it was evident that this event would be competitive and entertaining in all classes that would be contested as the 6 round of this provincial series race.

As a Canadian motocross race fan I think it is safe to say I speak for many when rumours of our own national #4, Jeremy Medaglia, lining up on a Leading Edge Kawasaki became a reality. Jeremy mounted a green steed with the big #5 on it and looked comfortable and relaxed on the green machine and took 3 moto wins in the 3 moto formatted Pro Am Open, which was contested by 20 participants. Maple Ridge Motorsports mounted Ryan Lockhart was a solid second in every moto. When talking with Ryan at intermission, he stated he was quite happy with the amount of seat time over the choppy race surface on the weekend. Ryan noted that the braking bumps and chop of the track had him hanging on a little tighter than what he had been used to in previous rounds and stated the track was of the toughest he had competed on this season in the series. Ryan also took both moto wins in the BC Legends class on the day.

 Running solidly in the top 5 in the first moto, Prince George’s Todd Minnie, on the last lap, would be unceremoniously catapulted over the bars but fortunately remounted relatively unscathed and finish 9th in the first moto. This is only relevant in the light that over the balance of the race day’s following two Pro Am motos, Minnie would assert himself as he collected two consecutive 3rd place finishes and looked the part of a top notch Pro doing it. The effort would not be enough at day’s end for Minnie to occupy one of the three podium spots, but did warrant him having a smile on his face as he can now focus on something he has not done in many years and that is line up for a Pro National.

Scotty’s Motorports Honda rider number 252 Graham Scott would edge Minnie out for 3rd on the day with Moto scores of 3-4-4. I look to the likeable Vancouver Island rider to turn some heads and have a good day this Saturday in Nanaimo when the gate drops for all that Rockstar Energy glory and gold. Yamaha mounted 2-stroke ripper Tylar Craig would have another solid weekend edging out another 2-stroke rider, Summerland’s Zack Ruff to take 5th overall with 5-5-7 moto scores.

Big thanks to all my moto brothers and sisters that swung by the tower to keep me up to speed on all the on and off track details building up to this weekend’s gate drop in Nanaimo. Special thanks to Camille Bunko for taking the time to fill me in on all the last minute developments surrounding the Western rounds of the Canadian Women’s Nationals, which get underway this coming weekend in Nanaimo as well.

The Kawasaki BC Championship Series resumes in Pemberton on June14th. See you all in Nanaimo!