Monday Gate Drop

Good morning and welcome to the June 30th edition of Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone had a great weekend whatever it was that you chose to do. As we all know, tomorrow is Canada’s 174th birthday so hopefully you have something special planned, or maybe it’s just a cherished day off work and you get a great opportunity to relax before summer begins. Whatever you’re doing, have fun and be safe!

For me and my family, this past weekend was spent at our motocross home away from home, Moto Park in Chatsworth, Ontario. Since my introduction to this sport some 37 years ago, I have spent a lot of time at Moto Park and over those years I’ve seen many changes to the track and the facility itself. For instance, who remembers when the tower structure wasn’t there? Or who remembers the GP section of the track that was built for the Grand Prixs Moto Park hosted in the 1980s? And finally, one of the most recent changes was relocating the starting line from up on the hill to down beside the pond. Actually, one of my first memories of racing at Moto Park (besides watching my cousin Dean stand too close to a campfire and melt his plastic Scott boots) was lining up behind the old frontward falling starting gate up on the hill.

Although there weren’t alot of pro riders at the Moto Park Cup, the action was intense as Zeb Dennis, Kyle Keast and Liam O’Farrell battled all weekend for the top spot. photo by Randy Wiebe

With so much history at Moto Park, it makes you wonder just what the future holds for the famed facility. Will we see a Pro National there soon? There certainly is the room there to expand the track slightly to increase the lap times for the pros. With all the extra top soil that’s been added in the last two years the surface is almost ready for a day of pro racing. Finally, with the relocation of the mini track from the front (flat) field to behind the barn, it opens up things for spectator parking or the pro pits.

With Rockstar Energy Drink now being the title sponsor of the National Series and Moto Park being a Rockstar supported facility, it really does seem to make sense. However, with the series schedule already jammed packed in the east with other great tracks, where would a Moto Park round fit? Also, with so many events already, two very successful weekends of the Moto Park Cup and weekly riding camps throughout the summer, could MP even find time to fit a national on their schedule? Well, I for one would love to see a round of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals visit Moto Park in the near future, and while I think in some ways it could be very close to happening, in other ways the idea is very far away.

Regardless of what happens in the future at Moto Park, we can only worry about the present and specifically what happened at rounds three and four of the 2014 Moto Park Cup. The biggest thing we had this weekend was heat! For the first time this season everyone in Ontario was racing in some pretty hot conditions on both days. While I can’t speak for everyone on the weekend but riding a dirt bike in the heat is tough! It just takes so much more energy out of you to do anything, and when your body isn’t acclimatized to the heat, it can be extremely tough. It’s pretty easy to see why the riders who constantly train in the heat are the ones who succeed on the track in the summer months. Despite the hot weather, the track remained great all weekend as the MP crew stayed on top of things with watering and track maintenance throughout both days of racing.

Is Moto Park ready for a pro national? By the looks of the dirt it is. photo by Randy Wiebe

In the end, the 2014 Moto Park Cup was a huge success for everyone who attended. Congratulations to not just all the winners, but to all who participated; as in any sport it means something to just show up and “Just Do It! Finally, here’s a huge thank you to all the Moto Park crew, Mikey Walker and New Era Hats, and to everyone who helped out to make this such a successful event all around.

So with the 2014 Moto Park Cup now history it’s time to refocus on the upcoming eastern swing of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. The riders of the series get one more weekend off before they have to tackle the toughest round of the series at Gopher Dunes. As we saw last year when the temperatures rose to almost 40 degrees Celsius, it was so hard to breathe; even walking around the pits was a chore. When you factor in the rough track, it was one of those days where you just try to survive. Hopefully it’s not as hot this year as the level of racing really suffers when the conditions are extreme like that. We know the track will be rough and that will be awesome to see, but no one needs the crazy heat.

Let the east coast nationals begin. photo by James Lissimore

So what riders are going to shine in the east? I think it’s safe to say that the two points’ leaders, Kaven Benoit and Colton Facciotti, will be just fine in the east, as they have proven in the past that they can ride sand. However, who else might step up and possibly grab some moto wins? Two Yamaha riders that I think will be very strong in the east are Jesse Wentland and Kyle Chisholm. Both riders are proven sand riders and I think both will be okay if the temperatures rise. Whatever happens, we’re in for a big treat for the next month and a half as we have sand, heat, maybe some rain, two-strokes, four-strokes, fast Canadian riders, fast American riders, the addition of Liam O’Farrell to the MX2 class, Kyle Keast at Gopher Dunes, John Nelson at the races, and of course the Smart Top MotoConcepts Team who has provided a lot of excitement to the series so far both on and off the track. You could say that they alone are worth the price of admission as you never know what might happen next.

So that is it for me and this week’s Gate Drop. Tomorrow me and Hayden Wolff get the incredible opportunity to fly to California for the 2015 KX250F and 450F press launch. On Wednesday, Hayden and I will be riding all day at the Milestone track testing these brand new bikes out. It’s going to be an awesome experience and I’m sure Hayden is as excited as I am to throw a leg over these 2015 machines. Look for a report next week on our trip and just how cool these new Kawasaki models are. I hope everyone has a great week and please ride safe! Also, good luck to everyone in the west who is competing at this weekend’s WCAN in Lethbridge, Alberta. Finally, I’d like to dedicate my +40 victory yesterday to John Nelson who not only held my bike on the starting line, but actually packed my gate and wished me good luck. For one brief and shining moment, I knew what it felt like to be Kyle Keast, Gauldy or even Jeff Surwall back in the day. Thanks John!!

Is this a track or a war zone? I think some riders would say both! Only 11 days until Gopher Dunes. photo by James Lissimore