Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Considering he’s just 27 years of age, Mark Perrin has seen a lot and has done a lot. After growing up near Sarnia, Ontario and graduating from Lambton College with a degree in Sports Marketing, Mark moved to California and began working in the motocross industry for a number of years. Since those early days down south Mark has moved back to Ontario and created his company MPI Sport Management. After working with the Parts Canada TransCan – Canadian Motocross Grand National Championship for a few years as their sales and marketing guy, Mark took the next step and is now one of owners of the Parts Canada TransCan and Walton Raceway. We caught up with Mark a few days after this year’s very successful TransCan.
Mark Perrin is part owner and the marketing guy behind the Parts Canada TransCan. He also isn’t too bad on the mic either.
Q: Hey Mark, how are things? Are you fully recovered from the TransCan yet?
A: I’m not sure. Does anyone really ever fully recover from it? I mean, there is always a big exhale when the event is over because in the weeks leading to the race it just gets so crazy. I think once the event is over it’s more like you realize how exhausted you are rather than feeling recovered. As far as stress goes though, this year was one of the least stressful TransCans I have had.
Q: I’ve been around you and Brett for the last few years and you’re right, the weeks leading up to the event is nuts. How do you cope with it and not go insane?
A: Well, you try and not leave things until the last minute and you just prioritize things, but like any event there are always last minute things that pop up. Since we’ve been doing this for a few years now we have an idea on what to expect with most things. However, each year we’ve been introducing new things that will enhance everyone’s visit to Walton Raceway, so with those things we obviously don’t know how it’s going to go.
Q: Let’s talk about some of the new things. Last year the pits moved, the start moved and you introduced a concert. This year there was a concert again and a massive television on the infield with live timing on it. First off, is it safe to say that the concert is here to stay and also, how did the television come about?
A: Yes, I think the concert is here for awhile, it seems to go over pretty well. This year we were able to increase the outside attendance numbers by doing a little different marketing and advertising than in years past and the concert helps introduce new people to Walton Raceway and Motocross in general. So as long as we can keep doing that then it’s good for everyone. I think it’s great that we can give all the riders and their families a good concert free of any additional charges to them, so they can be entertained on the Friday night. Also, since we already need to have a stage for the event it makes sense that we use it as much as we can.
As far as the television goes, that was something that we’ve wanted to do for a few years but until this year it just didn’t make sense. This year with the live timing it worked out great with having the television, in fact we just looked at the numbers and we ended up having over 19000 views on our live timing site. So for that and for the spectators to be able to follow the race and lap times on a big LCD screen on the infield, I think that’s huge. It went over really.
Saturday night’s fireworks show is just one of the many things that Mark Perrin, Brett Lee and the TransCan staff put on for everyone’s enjoyment.
Q: This year I got to see the event from all sides: media, a parent and as a rider. I thought everything was great and it seemed like a fairly safe week for everyone?
A: Actually, this year we cut down the major injuries by almost half. We did have a couple of serious ones on Wednesday but other than that there were a few minor injuries. I’m not sure if we we’re just lucky or if it was the track or the skill of all the riders. Maybe it was a combination of all three but either way it was one of the safest TransCans in history and that is always a good thing.
One of Mark’s goal is to have the entire Walton track lined with banners. For him, presentation is everything.
Q: That’s awesome news, I hope the riders who got hurt heal up fast but it’s good to hear that the event was so safe. What about attendance and rider turnout. How were those numbers?
A: We actually increased the number of spectators by 11% in 2013 so we were really happy with that. As far as the rider turnout, it was pretty close to last year. The number of riders who travel from other provinces was up a little bit from a few years ago, which makes the Event a truly National Event, as you saw with the class champions, every province in Canada was well represented. Overall we were very happy with the numbers right across the board this year.
Q: Was there anything that you weren’t happy with this year?
A: We learned a long time ago that you can never rest on what you’ve done so you always have to keep moving forward. One of the things that I’d like to see more of in the future is banners. Maybe it’s from the time I spent working with AMA Supermoto and Motocross or while still assisting AMA Supercross in the winter, but in my eyes you can never have too many banners. My ultimate goal is to have the entire track lined with the banners of all of our sponsors.
Q: That would be cool. I thought it looked good during the whole week. Were you guys happy with how Sunday went?
A: Yes, we thought it went good. We do all our own advertising and marketing and the attendance was fantastic to see. I think the track could have been a little better on Sunday. There wasn’t much time in between the pro motos for track prep so we kind of chased it all afternoon. However, if you measure how good a track is by how good the racing is, then I think we did great. Sunday is always a different type of day because there are suddenly new things to deal with and the CMRC has the Pro National to run with our Staff who are use to our ways throughout the week being on a strict set schedule, but I think our team did fantastic this year. I mean, I don’t think there is a motocross event like this in the world where you run an amateur championship for four days and then a pro national comes in for the final day with different sponsors and how they want things. It’s a very unique situation but that is what makes this event so special over the past 22 years.
Mark received this award earlier this year. Top 30 Under 30 in North American Sports from ESPN – Sports Launch Magazine, Not too bad for a kid from Corunna, Ontario.
Q: You had to have been happy with how companies like Kawasaki and Dunlop stepping up their presence this year?
A: Oh definitely. To have those two step up meant so much to us and to everyone that visited them during the week. Kawasaki had those awesome demo rides all week, Dunlop had their support truck here to help out, it was incredible. All of our sponsors and supporters stepped up this year though. I thought all of the venders looked great and the pits were awesome. I think it speaks well for the future of this event.
Q: Well, I’m glad this year went good and since I raced the TransCan this year, I’m really glad that the weather was so incredible. For being just 27 years old, you’ve come a long way in a short time. How did you get to where you are now?
A: Trust me, I do feel older than I am sometimes (laughs). I don’t know actually, I’ve always been really goal driven and once I set my mind to something I’m able to stay pretty focused. When I went to California and worked with Tony Gardea, Denny Hartwig and Dave Prater, I learned a lot from them and the people they worked with, as they are the top guys running Supercross and Motocross Media. They got me involved with Supermoto, Motocross and then Supercross, so I’ve been really fortunate to have been around good people and see how they do things. I’ve tried to bring some of those ideas and that level of professionalism to what I do in Canada. So far it’s worked well for me and I hope it continues to do so.
Q: Well Mark, I know you’re busy with Walton, you also are contracted for Sales and Marketing with the Sarnia Sting OHL Hockey Team, Feld Motor Sports for Supercross, the Nitro Circus Hamilton Event and a few other things so thank you for giving us your time.
A: Thanks Palms, I appreciate you calling. I figured you’d still be running around Shelburne with your +40 number one plate. Seriously though, thanks for calling and thanks to everyone that made the 2013 Parts Canada TransCan such a success, our job is to continue growing Canadian Motocross for years to come and continuing to always improve Walton Raceway and the TransCan each and every year, both Brett and I are just getting started with our goals and visions and we are already very excited for some of our 2014 Parts Canada TransCan ideas to come to life.
