Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Hello MXP readers, I hope everyone is ready to get rolling as this nice weather means great riding. I have been training down at MPCL in Florida since January 10, 2017. I have also been working hard off the bike with Drew Robertson from Evolved Nutrition with lots of circuit training and rode bike riding. The next step will be doing six weeks of the MCR boot camp with Matt Crown to prepare for the Spring Nationals. Obviously, it was a lot of hard work, but I really wanted to improve and be ready for 2017.
After a hard few months of training, Marco tackled two of the toughest amateur races in the USA in Freestone and Daytona (pictured). Photo by Krystyn Slack
It was nice to see so many Canadian faces in camp and riding at the new Moto Park County Line. Iain Hayden worked hard to get the facility moving forward with some cool track changes and the addition of an AX track. At the beginning of March my race bike arrived with some exciting additions thanks to SSRacing. I spent a few hours testing my MCR suspension and working on my starts. I also did some different types of motos to make sure I covered all of my bases. After a long few months of working hard, eating right, and preparing myself the best I could, we headed over to Daytona.
We arrived on Saturday night excited to watch the pros and see what the track would be like. This year I was racing Schoolboy2, 250B, and 450 B in the US. These classes have a lot of talent and fast riders with exploding numbers. After two days of racing I ended up second overall in Schoolboy2, and 9th in 250B. With both races being back to back my job was done. I was happy with my results, but I knew there was still room for improvement.
The next stop was Freestone in Texas; this event was more of a national with longer outdoor motos, not to mention that all the top racers from California would be there. This event is the first of the year where most of the USA’s top amateurs are in attendance on a tough outdoor track. In Texas, the weather was good and the track was very rough, however, with all of the training that I had done, I felt ready. During the races there were definitely some ups and some downs, but I worked through it and tried my best. The top five kids in my classes were full factory riders at the amateur level, so the competition was very tough. When all was said and done, I placed 5th in the 250B and 450B classes. I was very happy with my performance and so was my family. My hard work was paying off with some very good results. As we left Freestone, I knew I would be close and now I had a very good idea on what I needed to work on before racing all of these fast riders later this summer at Loretta Lynn’s.
With my winter USA training over, I will now focus on Canada, as well as qualifying for Loretta’s through their areas and regional events. I will be racing the two Moto Park Cup weekends before beginning my summer boot camp with the folks at the Moto Park Academy. Then it will be time to head to Loretta’s before returning to race the Parts Canada TransCan. Unfortunately, with the new rule in the AMA regarding B riders racing the MX2 pro class at the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, I don’t think I’ll be able to race any Canadian Nationals until 2018.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this. I will be back in a few weeks with another update. In closing, I really want to thank Iain Hayden for all his support on and off the track. I also want to thank Fox Racing for always making me look good, and also thanks to MCR suspension, Evolved Nutrition, FMF, Motopark, Yamaha Canada, Rockstar Energy, SSracing, Scott Canada, New Era, JBR Designs, and of course OTSFF and Andre Laurin. Finally, I wouldn’t be where I am without my incredible family, so thanks for everything. I can’t wait to see everyone at the track in 2017.
