Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
As much as I love travelling and experiencing new places, it feels good to be home and back in my office writing this column. As many of you know, for the past three Monday’s I was on the road and doing my best to find a quiet place to sit for a couple of hours to compose this. However, my family and I are now home from out West, and on Friday, my son finally had surgery to fix his broken collarbone and correct his scapula positioning. The surgery went well, and although he was in a ton of pain over the weekend, the healing can now officially begin. As I mentioned again last week, thank you to everyone who has reached out and offered their help or support during the past 17 days.
Well, after three weekends of being at the track and watching our top pro-riders compete in the 2023 Triple Crown Series, this past weekend most certainly felt less exciting. With the next round being at the uber-challenging Gopher Dunes track, I think everyone needs a little reset before tackling the deep sand. I did see though, that a few of our top pro riders were out there racing yesterday, including Kaven Benoit. I’ll talk more about Benoit in a moment, but it was good to see that he didn’t take a weekend off and is still trying to improve heading into the East rounds.
In other news, the opening round of the 2023 WSX Championships goes this weekend in Birmingham, UK. Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that they scheduled this race on the same weekend as the biggest outdoor national of the year at Red Bud. Oh, the wonderful politics of motocross. Heading into Birmingham, Ken Roczen is the obvious favourite, and I also think that Dean Wilson may challenge for wins and podiums. Our own SX hero Cole Thompson was supposed to be competing this weekend in England but, in recent weeks he’s developed some serious issues with his back. Here is what CT16 texted me last night, “Sadly, I won’t be racing this weekend as I’m currently recovering from a disc herniation and compressed nerve in my lower back. I’ll be off the bike for a while, but I’m hopeful I can return for Round 2.” Oh man, I feel bad for Cole, as I had a similar issue with my right S.I. Joint in 2009, and nerve pain is definitely no joke. Picture lying in bed and unable to move for a day or so. It’s debilitating, and I hope Cole is feeling better soon. Anyway, this weekend should be interesting as it’s the opening round, and they will have Chad Reed in the booth as well as in the paddock conducting interviews. Also, Round 2 in France apparently has been cancelled, but another round has been added on the first weekend in November in Abu Dhabi. Hopefully, nothing will change with the Canadian round in Vancouver in October, as it will be exciting to have this type of event in our backyard.
Now, back to Kaven Benoit and why I believe he’s been so good in the opening three rounds. When I heard that he was planning a full comeback, I can honestly say that I wasn’t surprised. Maybe it was the unfortunate circumstances that caused him to step away in the first place back in 2018, that made me think he’d be back at some point. Or the fact that after taking a year or so off to heal his injuries, Benoit was back racing locally on a regular basis. So, in reality, he never stopped riding and racing, which makes a big difference when you’re 34 years old and trying to get back to the level you were at 26-27 years old. Finally, whenever I spoke to Kaven in the past couple of years, I sensed that there was still a lot of fire burning within him, and all it needed was a spark. Late last fall, when he received a call from his good friend Matt Deroy (Matt also runs the KTM Canada Factory Team) asking if he’d be interested in going racing and being a part of the team again, Kaven was obviously excited but said that he needed some time to think about it. After a few weeks, Kaven decided that he was all in and that not only did he have some unfinished business in the sport, but that racing again and the process of preparing for racing at the highest level, would help him through some of the personal stuff he had going on at the time. In a nutshell, Kaven Benoit was back, and he was once again part of the KTM Family.
The first clue I got that Kaven was taking this comeback very seriously, was when he began making Social Media posts while training in the gym. From there, Kaven transitioned from training in the gym at home in Quebec to riding down south in February. After getting his feet wet at some local tracks in Florida, he made his way to the ClubMX Training facility, where the really important work occurred. At the time, he was still riding the new KTM 250 two-stroke, and when I asked Steve Simms (who was also at ClubMX with his TLD/GASGAS/SSR Team) how Benoit looked? Steve said that Kaven was looking really good and would definitely win a moto or two this summer. Well, as of now, he’s won two motos and one overall, so Steve was correct. Obviously, one of the first things that Benoit took care of, with regard to his comeback, was his fitness. Over the years, he’s always been one of the fittest riders on the track, but at 34 you have to do things differently than you did at 27. Kaven knows this, and has scheduled more time for recovery into his training program.
Along with his pre-season training, one thing that I also think has helped Benoit is that he spent a lot of time riding with fast riders. Whether it was the group of talented riders at ClubMX or riding with his teammates before the opening round of the Triple Crown Series in Edmonton, he was always chasing someone or being chased himself. Whether you’re 24 or 34 (years of age), riding with fast riders is crucial for your intensity. The next thing that Benoit has in his corner this summer is his motorcycle. Two months ago, he and his team decided to switch from the 250 two-stroke to the 250 four-stroke, and Benoit admitted that it made a big difference. As cool as it would’ve been to see and hear him race a two-stroke, Benoit had better lap times on the four-stroke, and his team had more access to parts to make his bike competitive this summer. Considering he and teammate Ryder McNabb have gotten six of the seven holeshots so far this summer, and have won six of the seven motos, the factory KTM’s appear to be working quite well. Actually, stay tuned this week as we’ll be profiling Ryder McNabb’s red-plated KTM 250SX-F in our Matrix Concepts Pit Story feature story.
So, Benoit’s fitness was great coming into the 2023 Triple Crown Series, his preparation was great, his bike is working great, and obviously all of that has led to his overall confidence being high. Finally, like everyone who is at the top of their game and is then forced to take a step back into the shadows and re-evaluate their profession, this break gave Benoit a chance to fully appreciate how enjoyable not just racing dirt bikes is but, how rewarding the process of getting better can be. I was talking with Kaven after his opening-round victory in Edmonton, and he told me he’s enjoying the little things now. For instance, years ago, he would fly in and out of the Western rounds in order to return home to train and be in a familiar environment. This year was different, as he remained out west for two and a half weeks, rode with his teammates, hung out with his team, and did cool things like mountain biking in Banft. This new mindset has translated into some solid results in the opening rounds, and I think Benoit could be even better in the East. As I mentioned above, he won the opening round, he was fast at Round 2, and then at Round 3, he rode smart and took home another podium finish. In the East, Kaven will feel a little more comfortable hanging it out, and that should help him close the gap in raw speed to his teammate (who every 250 rider is chasing right now when it comes to speed). Also, if healthy, I’m picking Benoit to win the Deschambault National, as you never bet against a fast Quebec rider racing in front of their hometown fans. Heck, they were going nuts last year when Benoit was racing the pre-mix class. As you can tell, I’m excited that Kaven is back and doing well. I hated to see his career cut short years ago, so I’m glad he’s been given this great opportunity to rewrite the ending to this chapter of his life. Everyone loves a good comeback story so I hope he can remain healthy and find some more success this summer. Welcome back Kaven!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great final week of June, and also, Happy Canada Day this coming Saturday. It’s also my Mom’s birthday weekend, so Happy Birthday to her! Finally, congratulations to our off-road legend Trystan Hart, who successfully defended his AMA Hard Enduro Championship in the USA this past weekend. Also, it was good to hear that Wyatt Kerr’s surgery went well last week in Calgary, and now he’s on the road to recovery. Thank you for reading, and if you have any comments or questions, please email me at chris@mxpmag.com.
