This week’s Monday Gate Drop is once again brought to you by the fine people at Honda Canada Racing. With their lead rider, Colton Facciotti, already training for the 2017 season, Honda Canada and the GDR Fox Racing Team is very excited for what lies ahead. We at MXP Magazine are very proud to have the backing of Honda Canada and wish them luck on the race track in the future.
Hello everyone and welcome to yet another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. It has been quite a busy weekend in the motocross world with major events in Europe, the USA, and of course out in Armstrong, BC. Aside from the racing there was also a big event down at Monster Mountain MX Track in Alabama, so let’s talk about that first.
With a new 2017 CRF450 set to be released to the public in early December, the North American media was flown to Monster Mountain for a chance to ride this all-new bike. I flew out on Thursday with photographer Bill Petro, journalists Guy Caron and Brad Coles. Also joining us was Honda Canada Fox GDR Racing’s Colton Facciotti. As we gathered at the Toronto airport Thursday morning, I think each of us were equally excited at what type of adventure lied ahead. After a very short stopover in Atlanta, we touched down in Montgomery, AL and were met by Honda Canada executive Kimberly Moore. If you’ve never been to Alabama then you certainly are missing out on the site of some very interesting American history. Not only was the famous singer Nat King Cole born there, but so was the Civil Rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. For a relatively small city in the deep-south, Montgomery, AL has a lot to see and do.
After a presentation by Honda on Thursday evening, which included a short speech by the new Honda America Ambassador Andrew Short, we all went out for dinner and then headed to bed so we could rest up for what was going to be an epic day of riding. As we drove into the Monster Mountain MX track and saw the big Honda Racing semi-truck with ten shiny new 2017 CRF450s sitting under it, I think even Colton was excited to get dressed and hit the track. As expected, the track was in great condition. If you’ve never been to Monster Mountain before, just imagine closing your eyes at night and dreaming about the absolute perfect track to ride on. I will go into much more detail tomorrow about the new Honda, but for now I will say that this new 2017 CRF450 is exactly what the doctor ordered. This next generation 450 is new almost from the ground up. With engine changes, a new chassis and a switch to 49mm KYB spring forks, this new Honda is ready for riders like Ken Roczen and Colton Facciotti to win on.
As you can imagine, our day of riding was incredible from start to finish. The data acquisition company LitPro was on hand to gather data from all the riders so we knew exactly how fast we were going and how many laps we did. The data showed that on the fastest section of the track my top speed was 56mph (compared to Colton, who was going 62mph on the same section), it was actually kind of freaky to learn that I was going that fast. I guess when we’re riding we never really think of the speed we’re going, we only look at lap times and try to best each one. There was also an ‘Ironman’ competition in which LitPro was giving away one of their units to the rider who put in the most laps. I thought for sure that Colton was going to win this as he must have burned through four tanks of fuel. All our four-time champ did was ride all day with a huge smile on his face. However, it was not to be as some kid from dirtbike.com outlasted everyone and won the competition. The good news was that Colton did receive a new LitPro for winning the start contest they held. The LitPro guys were pretty impressed with Colton’s starting ability as they said it matched that of Roczen’s and Andrew Short’s. Colton was pretty happy to win one of these cool LitPros as I’m sure it will make his practice sessions more exciting. But, as I told him, I’d be shocked if he didn’t win at least one of the two competitions we had. So, all in it was great day of riding and a great trip to the southern region of the USA. Obviously, Honda is very excited about this new CRF450, and after riding this bike for a day, I think Honda has every reason to be excited for 2017.
Also happening this past weekend was the two opening rounds of the Future West AX Championships in Armstrong, BC. This long running series kicked off in grand style with some great racing and a large amateur turnout. MX101 Yamaha rider Jess Pettis was the big pro winner as he cleaned up in both classes. I obviously wasn’t there so I had Brent Worrall send me his thoughts on what happened in Armstrong. As the Future West AX Series and the AX Tour set to merge this weekend in Kelowna, BC for what will no doubt be the largest AX ever in Canadian history, here are Brent Worrall’s thoughts on this past weekend.
“Hello friends, Brent Worrall here to check in this Monday with a quick recap of Round 1 of the Future West Moto AX series. The gate dropped this past weekend on the opening two rounds in the small North Okanagan community of Armstrong BC. The opening weekend’s action was supported by 440 race entries over the two nights of action. At the top level there was no shortage of high profile talent that showed up in quest of all of the 2016 Future West Moto bragging rights and gold. To put it into perspective, we had 5 top 10 ranked riders in the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals in attendance as well as two riders ranked in top 100 of the AMA.
The rider who absolutely stole the show was none other than up and coming fast guy, Prince George, B.C. native and MX-101’s Jess Pettis. Pettis ran the table at the top level and went home a perfect 4 for 4. Jess got amazing starts on his way to the Lites and Pro Open main event scores both nights. The only hiccup was a bit of a get together with RTR Performance’s Shawn Maffenbeier. Maff rode solid at the opener and collected two main event second place scores on the opening night. The race surface was very compact and slick and saw many riders make the type of contact we race fans come to appreciate indoors. Reigning 5-time Future West Arenacross Champion, Cycle North’s Ross Johnson, was one such rider that was on the receiving end of a solid block pass by CMRC Nationally ranked #8 Keylan Meston. Johnson found his groove Saturday night hitting the podium and will be a force to be reckoned with as this series moves forward.
With a total of 18 top level riders, which included AMA ranked #59 Noah McConahay and #87 Chris Howell and many others, this series promises to be a beauty. Noah McConahay took home a sizeable chunk of change by winning the highly entertaining Dash for Cash both nights. Future West gets together this upcoming weekend with the AX-Tour in Penticton B.C., and it promises to be one of the best Arenacross events this country has seen. How will the likes of Jess Pettis, Shawn Maffenbeier, Noah McConahay, Ross Johnson, Davey Fraser, Ryan Lockhart and others stack up with the cream of the crop of the AX Tour? You guessed it, I cannot wait to be in attendance this weekend at Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre. It will be a beauty. If you are anywhere in the Western part of this country, you need to be there as this racing has to be experienced firsthand to be appreciated. See you in Penticton friends, Saturday night only.”
Let’s Go Racing – Brent ‘Airmail’ Worrall
Thanks Brent. Well, that is it for me this week. Thanks again to Honda Canada for the invite down to Alabama, and also for sponsoring this Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone has a great week, and if you’re around Southern Ontario on Saturday, don’t forget about the Vet and Vintage race at Gopher Dunes.