Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day everyone! I hope you all had a great opening weekend to my favourite month of the year. In my area of Southern Ontario at least, the trees and flowers are beginning to bloom, the grass is green, and as I write this the birds are chirping loudly outside. If it wasn’t for the large amount of rain we’ve had in the past week, I’d say everything is just perfect.
This past weekend my family and I attended our first AMO Racing event of 2023. Two weeks ago we were in Mexico, and had to miss the opening round at Gopher Dunes. Anyway, on Saturday morning we made the 80-minute drive to one of my favourite tracks, Auburn Hills Raceway. This unique track, located just up the road from Walton Raceway, is a throwback to how a lot of race tracks used to be in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Auburn Hills track basically sits atop the highest hill in the area, and then winds itself up and down the surrounding landscape giving riders just about every type of condition they could ask for. It’s fairly high speed, especially in the practice and the early motos before it gets rough, and if you lose your focus, even for a split second, it can and will bite you. Before taking a long hiatus from the schedule in 2010 or so, Auburn Hills Raceway used to be a regular stop for Ontario riders and I’m happy to see it return last year.
This weekend started off exactly the way we wanted it to with perfect weather and track conditions for Saturday. With open practice in the morning and then a small selection of classes racing in the afternoon, my son was able to race the Youth class and got in his first gate drops of 2023. Then, as we arrived at the track for Sunday’s race schedule, the sky to the west began to darken and as the final practice sessions were wrapping up, it began to rain. Although the rain was light at first, as the gate dropped on the opening motos, it got heavier and heavier until my son and I were sitting on the starting line for his first moto in a torrential downpour. Sadly, the pristine track had turned into a complete mess and things were not looking good for the rest of the day. We’ve all been in these mud motos before and sometimes they can actually be fun. However, when it’s pouring rain and you still have a few more to go, the fun ends the moment you get back to your pit area and realize how much work has to be done just to get your bike somewhat ready for the next moto. Also, for the staff and especially the medical personnel, getting around the outside of the track to tend to an injured rider can quickly become impossible, especially when you’re dealing with a track like Auburn Hills that has multiple steep hills. Because of all of this, the rest of the race day was cancelled right after my sons first moto of the day. Despite growing up in an era where races were rarely cancelled due to weather, I had no issue with the decision yesterday. In fact, I applaud Ryan Gauld and his entire AMO Racing staff for making what was no doubt a difficult decision so quickly. I think I share most people’s opinion that no good was going to come out of continuing to race yesterday, so I’m glad we were able to call it a day and get a head start on the cleanup process. But, I’m also a little happy that my son was able to get at least one mud-moto in yesterday. Once in a while every rider needs one of these to fine tune their mud riding skills. Here is what AMO Racing released this morning regarding the cancelled races at Auburn Hills yesterday:
“Thank you to everyone who shared the cancellation notice over social, via text message, or in person at the track on Sunday after a tough decision to cancel the event after the seventh moto was made. Motocross is not a sport that likes to cancel races, but with the amount of rain coming down and what was on the radar coming, it was the right decision. If there were a medical situation, the existing track conditions would not have permitted our medics to attend to a downed rider safely. The decision was made in the best interest of the safety of our racers and our staff. Once again, thank you to all AMO members and families for their understanding.
How it all works:
1. Classes with the first moto completed: the race has been scored and the points paid.
2. 250 Junior Division/Qualifier races – each will be scored as if it were two classes; racers earn their series points off that Division/Qualifier finish.
3. Classes without a moto: Racers will receive a class credit for a future event. PLEASE LET US KNOW THE NEXT EVENT YOU ATTEND FOR THOSE CLASSES MISSED, AND WE WILL MANUALLY ADD YOU TO THE EVENT.
4. Classes with a Saturday moto only (Or the motos run Sunday AM before Sunday cancellation): A second class credit towards the next event will be implemented. PLEASE LET US KNOW THE NEXT EVENT YOU ATTEND FOR THOSE CLASSES MISSED, AND WE WILL MANUALLY ADD YOU TO THE EVENT.
5. Classes with a Saturday and Sunday moto but missed a third first moto on Sunday: A third class credit towards the next event will be implemented. PLEASE LET US KNOW THE NEXT EVENT YOU ATTEND FOR THOSE CLASSES MISSED, AND WE WILL MANUALLY ADD YOU TO THE EVENT.
Thanks again for your understanding; we wish Mother Nature were a little nicer to start the year, but thus far, it’s not been the case. Our next event is at MX101 Sand Del Lee on May 20-21”.
Finally, before I move on to some Supercross news, by all accounts the Regional races in BC and Alberta went very well over the weekend. The tracks in Quesnel and Temple Hill were awesome hosts and everyone had a blast. In fact, even with closed roads and detours Round 2 of the Future West MX Championships had over 400 entries!
Okay, onto the Monster Energy Supercross and the shocking turn of events we witnessed in Denver on Saturday night. As the entire world watched in utter disbelief Eli Tomac, while leading the main event in front of his hometown fans, G’d out between two jumps in a rhythm section and instantly ruptured his Achilles tendon. This put an immediate end to not only Tomac’s main event, but also his SX Series and most likely his entire 2023 season. For a rider that we rarely see get injured or even make a mistake on the track, this was truly devastating to see. With Tomac now out, and Chase Sexton taking yet another win in Denver, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Championship is all his now. This means that the HRC Honda Team will take home all three SX titles in 2023 as Jett Lawrence also clinched the 250SX West Championship in Denver. So what now? As far as, not just Eli Tomac is concerned, but with nine top 450 riders now out with injury, and Ken Roczen announcing today that he’s committed to the WSX Series for at least the next three years, who is left in the 450 class for the upcoming Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships? Only the HRC Honda Team has two healthy 450 riders in Sexton and Lawrence. But as for Tomac, what happens to him moving forward? There was talk this weekend that he was close to coming back next year. There is no doubt, that a ruptured Achilles tendon is a difficult injury to come back from, especially when you’re north of 30 years old, as Tomac is. However, it’s not by any means a career ender, as top athletes in other sports have come back from this type of injury successfully. Athletes such as the late great Kobe Bryant, as well as retired soccer legend David Beckham, who spent their entire playing time on their feet, both resumed their careers after having their Achilles tendons surgically repaired. So it can be done and I have no doubt that Tomac won’t recover from this, but the real question is does he now want to come back in 2024. I’m sure all the fun he was having this season came to a quick end on Saturday, so one could definitely understand if this is it for the second winningest SX rider of all-time. There is also talk that Cooper Webb is headed to Star Racing Yamaha next year, so you wouldn’t expect Webb and Tomac to co-exist on the same team. Not to mention the cost of having these two under the same tent. Anyway, we’ll see what happens in the coming months, but first let’s celebrate the solid riding of Chase Sexton so far in 2023. With how he was tossing away wins earlier in the SX series, I never would’ve guessed that he could outlast Tomac and Webb in the staying healthy department. At times, he seemed lost on the podium when discussing his latest mistake while leading a main event. However, to his credit (and this is a great example to every rider out there) Sexton stuck with it, and never gave up. Yes, Tomac probably should be the 2023 SX Champion as he was the most consistent rider throughout the first 15 rounds, but Sexton was the fastest rider of the series and he certainly deserves this title!
In the 250SX West class, Jett Lawrence capped his incredible season and 250cc career with yet another title. Jett will now move up the 450SX class full-time in 2024 and between he and Sexton, the future is very bright in Supercross. Cole Thompson had another solid night in Denver and with one round to go he sits 9th OA in the 250SX West points standings. It’s been a great season for Cole and hopefully he can finish it off in style this weekend. Round 17 in SLC is the not only the final round but also the second of two 250SX East/West shootouts, so look for a lot of action on Saturday night!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and I also want to send out a big, massive, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Moto Mom’s out there this coming weekend. We love you and we certainly wouldn’t be where we are without you. Finally, tomorrow is a big day, as I’m heading down to Gopher Dunes for their second annual GDR Honda Team Intro and Media Day. Last year this event was a blast, and I’m sure tomorrow will be much of the same. With the opening round of the 2023 Triple Crown Series just a few weeks away this event goes a long way in getting everyone excited. Look for extensive coverage, including web and video interviews from tomorrow and you can follow along on all of our Social Media channels. Instagram: @mxpmag/ Twitter: @mxpmagazine/ Facebook: mxpmag. Thanks for reading and please have a great week!
