Yamaha Motor Canada Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. We are currently in the darkest part of winter, in my opinion, as the days are short and the skies are cloudy most of the time. Unless you have studded tires or are incredibly lucky and have decent weather, not too many people are riding these days. So to help create a little extra joy on this cold Monday in November, here is our new MXP Magazine cover with the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series Champion Phil Nicoletti on it. Congratulations to Phil and his Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha Team on their amazing 2019 season. We cannot wait to see what they have planned for next year.

We did have some Canadians racing on the International stage during the past week as a number of them were competing in the International Six Days in Portugal. When all was said and done our talented Canadian group finished with eight medals, including three gold and five silver. Tyler Medaglia was there and he won his class aboard a Kawasaki KX250F, and Shelby Turner finished 7^th overall in her class. What a week, what an experience, and what a great way to conclude their season.

Sadly there will be no Montreal SX in 2020. Hopefully it returns in 2021 and will keep coming back for a long time after that. Photo by James Lissimore

In not so positive news last week, on Friday the organizers of the Montreal SX announced that there will be no event in 2020. This is very disappointing news both for the Triple Crown Series as well as Canadian SX fans in general. However, with a lack of fan support in the Montreal area as well as the exorbitant cost of doing this event inside Olympic Stadium, holding this race in 2020 just wasn’t possible. It’s sad as this event did grow slightly from last year, but not as much as the costs did, and with the addition of quads and cars, the overall quality of the ‘new’ Montreal Supercross suffered this year. I know people have speculated that the Montreal SX wouldn’t work again until local fans have a fast Quebec rider to cheer for. Ironically, the last time this event was very popular was 2008, JSR’s final race in Olympic Stadium. So yes, a Quebec hero most definitely helps with generating interest in and around the Montreal area, but I don’t think it’s a must to make this event gain traction again. Maybe the days of 50+ thousand people attending this event are a thing of the past, but with almost 20,000 this year, interest was trending upwards for sure. We’ll see what the future holds for the Montreal SX. I reached out to Eric Peronnard, the man responsible for bringing the International riders to the Montreal SX, and he told me that the plan is to use next year as a regrouping year and then they’ll hopefully try again in 2021. As I said, this is still the largest attended race in Canada by far, so we need a stage of this size to showcase our top riders as well as the Triple Crown Series.

Jason Anderson came to New Zealand very prepared and ended up taking the win at Round 4 of the Monster Energy Australian Supercross Series. Photo by JSR Media

In other supercross news, the 2019 Monster Energy Australian Supercross Series held their first overseas round this past weekend in Auckland, NZ. This was Round 4 of the series and it was the first one that invited multiple International riders to attend. Jason Anderson, Ricky Carmichael, Josh Hill, Joey Savatgy, and Chad Reed were all in NZ to battle the series regulars. This event used a Triple Crown format so under clear, late spring skies (remember the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite to ours) the fans were treated to three entertaining main events. When all was said and done, Jason Anderson served notice to the world that he’s ready for Anaheim in January as he won the overall. During the final main event of the evening, Anderson had to battle from behind on the technical Auckland track, eventually making a late pass on Dan Reardon to win. Here are the final results from Round 4 in New Zealand:

Chad Reed did not have a very good night in NZ as he was still suffering from the effects of his crash last weekend in Paris. In that Paris crash, Reed suffered two broken ribs, and with a week spent flying from Paris to Auckland, he was still very sore. Reed rode practice and started his heat race in Auckland, but after a small crash on the opening lap, he decided to sit out the rest of the night. Anyone who has had broken or even cracked ribs knows how painful they are. The slightest movement or even a simple sneeze can bring an individual to their knees. I can’t imagine trying to race with freshly broken ribs, but Reed gave it a try and at least he gave the NZ fans something to cheer about. This is a real set back for Reed and his preparation for 2020. What he needs right now is seat time and a lot of practice laps to get his 37 year old mind and body in sync, but with injured ribs all he’s able to do is rest and heal. He’s said in every recent interview that he wants to race in 2020, but if he doesn’t then he’s at peace. Reed is in a very difficult spot because regardless of how good his bike is or how fit and strong he gets between now and Anaheim 1, he cannot get away from the fact that he’s going to be 38 in March of next year. There is a reason why there isn’t another competitive 37 year old rider racing at the highest level of our sport. It’s not because they can’t get fit enough to compete, it’s not because they can’t drum up enough will to compete at that level, it’s simply because nature takes over our brain and our reflexes drop just that little bit. We see other athletes competing in other sports successfully as they near or even exceed 40 years old, but not in the sport of supercross. Now, if Reed was racing against other riders in his age category then it wouldn’t be an issue, but he’s not, and his last two crashes have come during the opening lap when a rider needs his reflexes and split second decision making the most. I love that Chad Reed is still racing and I cheer for him every time he lines up. Right now he’s all that still connects us to the best ever era in Supercross, because when he’s done, the years of him battling James Stewart and RC officially go into the vault. Let’s hope he heals quickly from this latest injury and then has a chance to really prepare for 2020 and one more healthy year of racing before he rides off into the sunset.

To the delight of the NZ fans Chad Reed drummed up enough courage to at least ride practice and his first heat race. Photo by JSR Media

Well, that is it for me this week. Let’s not forget about the opening rounds of the 2019 Future West AX Championships this coming weekend in Chilliwack. These events are always a lot of fun and the racing is always exciting. The opening two rounds are this weekend and then Rounds 3 and 4 are the following weekend. Finally, if you need some suspension work done over the winter, give Adam Robinson a call. Stu, as he’s known to everyone, has just started up his own Suspension business out of his shop in Arden, ON. AGR Suspension is an official Race Tech Service Centre and Stu brings with him over 20 years of experience. If you have any questions just email him at info@agrsuspension.com or for more information visit AGR’s website at www.agrsuspension.com. Have a great week and thanks for reading.

Adam Robinson is starting up an official Race Tech Suspension Service Centre out of his home shop in Arden, Ontario.