I hope everyone had a great weekend and to all of our friends south of the border, Happy Memorial Day! Before I get into motocross I want to talk about the Top Gun 2 movie. Now I’m sure most, if not all of you who are reading this have seen the original Top Gun movie a few times. If you haven’t then I’m not sure what to say as it’s one of the most iconic movies of the last 40 years. Anyway, when the first Top Gun was released I was an impressionable 13-year-old who grew up loving planes and dirt bikes. In fact, even before Top Gun came out my younger brother and I used to turn our dining room table into an aircraft carrier and pretend to fly our G.I. Joe F-14 Tomcats off of it and around our living room. This was, of course, much to the dismay of my mom who told us repeatedly that the dining room table wasn’t a runway, and to my older sister who thought her 7 and 10 year old brothers were idiots. Anyway, my dad was the pilot of the family at the time and he thought it was just plain cool. So when Top Gun was released in 1986 we all rushed to see it and it made a huge impact on all of us. So much so that when my dad took me to watch the 1987 Anaheim SX we took a day and drove down to Miramar, California, and stood outside of the gates of the Military Base where some of the movie was filmed. Oh, and for years the male members of my family used to quote the Top Gun movie regularly. I’m sure you can imagine how much my 16-year-old sister felt when I told her that her ”ego was writing cheques that her body couldn’t cash.” Anyway, with that said, on Friday evening I went to see Top Gun 2 (my first time going to the movies in more than two years) and although I didn’t walk out of the theatre wanting to be a fighter pilot like I did in 1986, it was still an epic sequel to a great original movie. Yes, our dining room table is safe now but our son did mention on the way home from the theatre that he wanted to go flying soon!
Now, onto motocross, and first up was the opening round of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships. As we in Canada will witness this coming weekend in Kamloops, the first round of any series is filled with excitement as well as uncertainty. This past weekend at Fox Raceway there was a little added anticipation in the air as the 450 class welcomed back two iconic riders from the past. Ryan Dungey was back after a five-year retirement hiatus and multi-time MXGP Champion Antonio Cairoli was over from his home in Italy to make a two-race cameo appearance. Both riders were fast all on Saturday and were a welcomed sight at Round 1 of this series. Dungey rode to a solid 5-5 moto finish and had fans cheering for him all around the track. Cairoli also rode strong and ended up going 10-6 in the 450 class. Obviously, Dungey’s 5-5 finish was very impressive as he hasn’t raced in a long time, but Cairoli’s second moto 6th was pretty good also. To come over to the USA and race a different bike (he admitted after that his MXGP KTM is quite a bit different than this one) on a track that he’s fairly new to and still finish 6th in moto two is very good. I’d look for both riders to perhaps be a little better this coming weekend in Hangtown. Although, I would also suspect that a few other 450 riders will also be better at Round 2.
Upfront in the 450 class, Chase Sexton and Ken Roczen put on once heck of a show and they battled hard in both motos. Sexton ended up with the victory but his teammate wasn’t too far off. Christian Craig rode to a quiet but solid third overall, while his teammate Eli Tomac battled some handling issues with his bike and ended up going 7-4 for fourth overall. As for our Canadian group of riders, they all had mixed results in both motos. Tyler Medaglia was involved in a first turn crash in the first 450 moto and then decided to call it a day and save himself for Kamloops this weekend. Keylan Meston was the most consistent of the Canadians as he went 31-26 for 28th overall. In the 250 class, Noah Viney got some TV time with a great start in Moto 2, but sadly he suffered a few crashes and ended up going 35-39. It was an entertaining day of racing and now the series moves north to Hangtown for Round 2.
Well, this weekend the wait will finally be over as the gate will drop on the 2022 Triple Crown Series at Whispering Pines MX Park located just outside Kamloops, BC. As we can say with a lot of things in our lives, this is the first time our national series is heading west in two years so that alone is something to celebrate. Also, this weekend will represent the first time since Jetwerx took over our national series in 2018 that we’re having Sunday races and no restrictions when it comes to fans. So coast to coast rounds, Sunday races, and full fans should, in my opinion, represent one of the best national series we’ve seen in a long time. Late last week Steve Matthes over at PulpMX had Ryan Lockhart and Ryan Gauld on to discuss the series and give their predictions on who is going to be fast. Here is the link if you want to take a listen to the MXP Magazine-sponsored podcast. 2022 Canadian MX Preview – PulpMX
Obviously, we have a lot of great riders lining up this weekend in the 450MX, 250MX, WMX, as well as the Pre-Mix classes so it’s hard to pick one rider to win on Sunday. One thing that may throw a wrench into things is that right now the forecast for the weekend is not looking good. In fact, it’s supposed to rain and remain cool on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the Kamloops area. Normally, this race is super hot and a real test for the riders as they kick off their national series. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case for this coming weekend and that should make things very interesting. As we sit here right now if I had to pick who is going to win this weekend I’d say it’s going to be Dylan Wright in the 450 class, Ryder McNabb in the 250 class. I think the 250 class will be a real dog fight between riders like McNabb, Piccolo, Cannella, as well as Gibbs, Racine, and Harrison, but in the 450 class, I think it will be the Dylan Wright show until riders like Pettis, Maffenbeier, and Ward can find their speed. As we know now, Pettis is coming off a wrist injury and has almost no seat time, and this is Ward’s first year on a 450 so he will need some time to feel completely comfortable in this class. Like any series though, I’m sure all of the riders will be cautious during the first few rounds as they don’t want to make a big mistake early.
We will also see a couple of new riders to the series as Mitchell Harrison will be racing in the 250 class, and as of Friday morning, Michigan rider Chris Blackmer will be racing in the 450 class on a TLD/GASGAS/SSR Team bike. For the past few weeks Steve Simms had been trying hard to bring over Evengy Bobrychev to race for him in place of the injured Sam Gaynor. Unfortunately due to some strange motocross geopolitics, Steve got word late last week that the Russian born Bobrychev would not be issued an MRC license.
This decision runs in accordance with a few other sports that have banned Russian-born athletes from competing due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. My own feeling is this. I certainly see why the sporting world wants to align themselves with the rest of the world and push back against Russia and the war they are inflicting on Ukraine. I mean, really who doesn’t? However, to go after Russian athletes, especially those who do not and have not lived in Russia for a long time doesn’t feel like punishing Russia as it feels more like punishing the individual athletes.
While the world remains united against Russia, the sanctions against Russian athletes from competition have begun to be reviewed. True world rankings are skewed without all athletes being allowed to compete. The World Tennis Association (ATP) announced that they will not be giving official ranking points at the upcoming Wimbledon Grand Slam Tennis tournament in England due to that event banning Russian-born players from competing. Like so much in our world, things are always changing and evolving with information and perspective.
Back to Motocross. Originally, the directive re: Russian from the FIM was given to all its sanctioning bodies (AMA and CMA here in Canada). MRC has not been under the FIM and is free to make its own decision on rulings. MRC runs the Triple Crown Series, and has been in talks about partnering with the World Supercross Series, and North American Arenacross series, both part of the FIM. FIM will be eager to establish a pecking order and for MRC to push back on this publically, this early in the relationship may not be in anyone’s best interest this early in the courtship.
I can also understand the MRC wanting to protect the Canadian series and not risk any negative press generated, that is part of their mandate, and also they’re coming off two years of Covid-19 restrictions so they can’t afford any negativity at this point. They need to go racing!
As a fan of sports, I’d like to see all sports in Canada, including motocross, take the lead and do what is best for Canadian sports and Canadian athletes and make decisions based on what is best for Canada, not for a world-sanctioning body. At the end of the day having a talented rider and by all accounts, a pretty nice guy like Bobrychev on the starting line this weekend in Kamloops would be good for the series and great for the 450 class.
What Russia has done in Ukraine in recent months is unimaginable. As a Canadain, we never have worried about war in our country. I also believe that there are many Russian people and athletes, especially those who don’t even call Russia home anymore, who feel as we do that this war is wrong. We need to work towards the right decisions in all aspects of life, not just pick the profile moments to show an un-effective response to a devastating war.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and a fun final few days of May. A lot is going on this week including the gate dropping on the 2022 WCAN, the AMO Racing OPC Series heading to Walton Raceway, and of course the opening round of the Triple Crown Series. Also, this past weekend Josh Cartwright won the 40th running of the Riviere Du Loup AX in Quebec. This long-standing race is a must for every pro rider to attend at least once in their career. Anyway, congratulations to Josh and it was great to see this race back after a two-year hiatus.
Finally, I hate to end this on some sad news but Brett Lee sent over these touching words as well as the above photo to honour the recent passing of Ernie Sundal. RIP Ernie and thanks for your passion and dedication to our sport. You will be missed!
“There are many characters that pass through motocross, it is part of what makes the game special.
Charlie and Ernie Sundal were two such characters. The twin brothers ran a business and worked together, played in a band together, raced and travelled together, and raised fast kids who spent their weekends at the track…together.
Charlie lost his battle with cancer about a year ago and yesterday, Ernie passed away. Racers, musicians, and genuinely great guys. It is easy to imagine them bench racing, jamming to old songs, and enjoying a cool drink trackside on a warm day like today. Ride on guys.”