Northern Notes: My first time

OH MOMMA – listen to the roar of this pack of 450s blasting off the line at Sand Del Lee last Sunday!

By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore (see all of his photos here)

Sad to say but last weekend was my first time at a Canadian National this year. Wild eh? And to think that I’ve been telling you readers all these stories, quotes and interviews like I was at Kamloops, Calgary or Gopher Dunes. That’s the beauty of the internet; you can follow along from a remote location, still get in on all the juice and pretend to know what you’re talking about, ha!

Maybe it’s good that I waited so long to finally attend a Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross National, because by the time we rolled into Sand Del Lee on Sunday morning, I was foaming at the mouth like Mile Cyrus for a giant stuffed Teddy Bear covered in maple syrup. Well, not quite, but I was pretty excited.

My good friend Johnny Silegren and I toured up to Sand Del Lee on Saturday morning to catch some amateur and Women’s National race action. Compared to past nationals that I’ve been to, I was happy to see signage posted along the road sides as we got closer to the track. Like most of you reading, I’m a big bench racer too and always enjoy tossing out ideas and ‘how tos’ on making this sport better and getting more people to the track. We’ve got an amazing sport to showcase but it’s always a chore trying to get new eyeballs through the gates.

Of course, a simple thing like posting MOTOCROSS NATIONAL [Arrow pointing to track] signs to direct fans to the event is where we should be starting, but in my experience we don’t see it done often enough or ever (Quebec does an amazing job at road sign racing ads, btw). When entering the Sand Del Lee gates, it was convenient to see two separate lanes for vehicles to access; one for people who had tickets or passes already, and one for those who had yet to buy theirs. Believe it or not, this was the first national this year to organize a system like this. Again, simple and easy but creates a better experience for the customer and improves efficiency.

Inside the gates, the MX101 crew made sure every weed was whacked, tree trimmed and banner hung just perfectly. There’s a group of tracks on the Canadian national schedule that really invest their time, effort and money into putting on a Rockstar Energy Drink event and Sand Del Lee is one of them. It’s true that unlike some others on the circuit (i.e. Regina, Nanaimo), Sand Del Lee is operated as a business and not as a ‘club.’ So there is a different level of motivation and reason for investment. Regardless, MX101 puts in the work and creativity, and that’s why they saw their biggest spectator attendance ever at the 2014 Ottawa Motocross National.

Other interesting things that MX101 tried differently with their National was labeling it as the ‘Ottawa Motocross National’ instead of ‘Sand Del Lee’ or ‘MX101.’ That way, locals could better identify with the event. A great idea and one that could work for other events, where we refer to nearest major city (Moncton, Calgary, London, etc) instead of the small town it’s usually located in, or the track name.

At the track, MX101 had organized a VIP area which was sponsored by Kohlman’s Wheelsport dealership, all kinds of activities for kids and families (there was even a jui-jitsu fighting display!) and a very well laid out vendor row. For the media, track and race team staff, they made sure everyone could connect inside and outside the facility thanks to a WIFI / LAN internet connection. It’s lot of little things that I think make a big impact for racers, fans and everyone involved. Kudos to the MX101 crew for a job well done.

I would also like to bring up the idea of running ALL pro nationals on Saturdays instead of Sundays, but we’ll save that for another day (you’ll see a full feature story on this topic in next issue of MXP).

The second round of the Eastern Canadian Women’s Nationals took place on Saturday at Sand Del Lee, with Quebec’s Eve Brodeur taking the win on her Duroy KTM 250 SX. That’s right, this 14-year-old female is racing a beefy 250 two-stroke! Silegren couldn’t believe she was only 14, but KTM’s race manager Andy White confirmed it. That said, it was a TWO-STROKE WEEKEND for KTM, as Brodeur picked up the win at Sand Del Lee, and then KTM factory racer Kaven Benoit took the MX2 overall on Sunday. Old schoolers rejoice – Two-strokes are more than alive and well in Canadian motocross!

Hometown favourite Allie Argue rode awesome in Moto one, passing Brodeur for a win in front of her friends and family. The second moto saw a reversal with Brodeur taking the final moto win and overall. Still a great ride for Argue, showing that she’s ready to become one of Canada’s next top women racers (well, I guess she already is Danny since she just won a moto!).

Matt Koeleman put together a nice edit from Saturday at Sand Del Lee, featuring Women’s action:

What’s eating Jeremy Medaglia? Whatever it is, it better like organic because the Kawasaki rider doesn’t eat anything but the real stuff. Jokes aside, what a frustrating a year it’s been for Jeremy. Could it be karma messing with him after his leave from MX101 Yamaha? That’s up for debate, but when speaking with Jeremy last Sunday morning, he says that he still is getting comfortable with the different suspension and components on his Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki (it’s his first time riding Green).

“The bike is great and fast, but I was using Joe Skidd’s suspension for so long and now I’m using the Leading Edge team’s stuff, so it’s taking me a bit to get comfortable,” said Jeremy before the first MX2 moto.

Right after that, I said hello to his father, Derrick, and asked him what his boys, Jeremy and Tyler, need to do at Sand Del Lee and going forward. He usually has something interesting to say and doesn’t hold back. And he didn’t.

“At this point, Jeremy has nothing to lose. It’s time to just go for it,” he commented on his youngest, who does have a moto win and some podium finishes, but it’s been an inconsistent season for the most part. “For Tyler, if he can’t beat these guys now (Facciotti and Alessi), he never will. He needs to win one of these soon.”

Jeremy’s homecoming was up and down. Moto one was something to be proud of, coming from behind to finish third. Unfortunately, the inconsistency we mentioned above crept back into the picture with Jeremy’s bike blowing up and causing him to DNF the second moto. It was a much better scenario for his older brother, Tyler, who rode his KTM 450 SX-F to third overall in the MX1 class. The Royal Distributing KTM Fox Racing rider tried his best to win one, leading the opening laps of the first moto, but he was unable to hold the pace of Alessi and Facciotti. Here’s a great video review of KTM’s weekend from Just Giver Productions.

While making my rounds through the pits, trying to bother everyone who was getting work done, I introduced myself to the Smartop MotoConcepts Team and checked in with the American duo of Mike Alessi and Vince Friese. I can tell you that there are mixed feelings about these two and their team racing in Canada, but my opinion stays the same–especially after watching both of them racing at Sand Del Lee. Alessi is Alessi, but Friese is pretty fun to watch. He’s a true ‘giver’ and never lets off. It’s going to be a tooth and nail battle between Friese and Benoit, right down to the last moto for the MX2 championship. Along with their one-track talents, the MotoConcepts team really adds to the pits. A new look, new faces and their hot tub display begs to be filled up with water and cold beers set aside. More is better in my opinion.

I asked Mike what he really thought about the Canadian racetracks; if it’s been hard adjusting to the smaller and tighter layouts compared to the brand daddies like Glen Helen or Red Bud. “Not at all,” Alessi says. “It doesn’t make a difference to me. We all race on the same track and I just go into everyone with the same attitude. I enjoy the Canadian tracks and racing is racing at the end of the day.”

As someone who has been one of the worst for complaining about tracks (it’s too wet, dusty, jumpy, not enough jumps … the list goes on), it’s good to hear someone remind you that yes, it is racing and just deal with the track. By Sunday morning, the track isn’t going to change, so get rid of the negative mindset or it will show in your results.

If you asked my buddy Kyle Keast how his day went at Sand Del Lee, he might have thrown a hot double-double in your face. The Machine Racing Yamaha rider is not riding at all to his potential right now, with his best finish in two rounds being a 10th in moto one at Gopher Dunes. Starts never change for Keast; he came around the first turn way back in both motos at SDL, but normally he can still work his way up to a top five or podium finish if he’s really angry. At Sand Del Lee, Keast failed to really push through the pack like he normally does. It’s weird seeing him battling between 10th and 20th. I don’t believe his career is coming to an end, but it goes to show you that no matter how tough or strong willed an athlete is, everyone has a limit. Keast is working his butt off trying to grow his construction company and he’ll be the first to admit that he’s the least prepared he’s been in a long time.

Right after the second moto, Keast said “No way” to going to Deschambault this weekend, but with some rest and time to cool down, he admitted that he will be in Quebec and all of the Eastern rounds except Moncton.

Good luck to everyone in Deschambault this Sunday for Round 7 of the Canadian Nationals! Have a beer, poutine and try not to gawk at the French women too much!