Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. Our 2018 riding season is now getting revved up right across the country and we’re sure that everyone is excited about it. From coast to coast, Honda Canada has all of your needs covered. With a complete line of motorcycles and accessories, all you have to do is visit your local Honda Canada dealer and they will set you up. Remember to ride safe and ride red.

I hope everyone out there had a great weekend of riding and hanging out. This is the final Honda Canada Racing Gate Drop of April, and then we’re into my favourite month of the year. I have always loved the month of May as it’s not only my birthday month, but it’s usually the time of year when the weather finally improves and the tracks get really good. We didn’t ride this past weekend as my son had his first spring hockey tournament in beautiful Stratford, ON. This medium sized Ontario town is situated on the banks of the Avon River. It’s not only the home of the annual Stratford Festival, but it’s also famous for being the former home of Justin Bieber. While there this weekend I was told that occasionally the Biebs still visits the area as he has family there. I can only imagine the mayhem that a Justin Bieber visit causes in this usually quiet town. Anyway, even though we were only there for 36 hours, I can tell you that Stratford is one of the nicest towns I have ever been to. My son’s final game on Saturday afternoon took place in the older of the two ice rinks in town, the William Allman Arena. Built in 1924, this arena is the oldest working arena in the world (according to Google), so you can imagine how cool this place was. With low ceilings and old style seats, this building was more like a hockey museum than an arena. I love history and I love hockey, so whenever you can combine the two, it’s pretty cool.

After all of our hockey was done on Saturday afternoon, we arrived home just in time to watch the Salt Lake City SX on television. With hot and windy conditions in SLC, the track took a beating and by the time the main events rolled around, things were pretty sketchy. Also, with a smaller than normal stadium floor area, the track designers were forced to use a short start straight. In the past, anytime they had a really short start straight, there were always problems. The riders simply don’t have enough time to sort themselves out prior to entering the first turn, and just like Saturday, a few riders always seem to go down. Unfortunately, the 450 SX points leader Jason Anderson got a bad jump off of the gate, was very tentative entering the first turn, and then tangled with a few riders and went down. By the time Anderson got going he was dead last and staring at a big comeback. However, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Anderson, after lap one he was forced to pull into the mechanics area to change his front wheel. During his first turn mishap, another rider’s footpeg got into Anderson’s front spokes and subsequently ripped out a few. Since you cannot ride with broken spokes, Anderson had to wait for two laps until his bike was repaired. By the time he got going, he was well back and without any chance of a decent finish. With his closet rival Marvin Musquin out front, Anderson’s once secure points lead took a major hit. After battling hard to climb back to 17^th Anderson will now head into the final round with a much smaller 14 point lead in the 450SX class. This is obviously not where Anderson wanted to be with just one main event remaining, but I’m sure his team will be reminding him that he’s still in the driver’s seat for this championship. If you had told Anderson prior to the gate dropping at Anaheim 1 that he’d have a 14 point lead heading into the final round, I’m pretty sure he would’ve taken it. At the very least, this does add a little extra excitement to the final round in Las Vegas.

Also in SLC, I’m sure everyone took notice of Jess Pettis making the 250SX main event by winning his LCQ. Pettis got some love on the television broadcast, as did his hometown of Prince George, BC. It was great to see Pettis riding smooth and in control while leading a SX race. To me, Pettis is looking much stronger and physically fit than ever before. If he can find a way to remain healthy and consistent this summer in the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series then he will be a championship contender. Pettis did run into a few issues during the main event in SLC, but it was still great to see him representing Canada on his way to a solid 18^th place finish.

So as the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross Series wraps up next weekend, and with the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown AXTour now part of Canadian moto history, we can now fully turn our attention to the outdoor nationals, which will kick-off in just 26 days. Wild Rose MX Park will be the site for the opening round, and as long as the unpredictable Calgary weather co-operates, Round 1 of the Triple Crown MXTour should be epic. Over the years, the unique Wild Rose track has hosted so many great races and unforgettable battles. In the past, this race is usually slotted for the third race of the series, so the riders have had time to figure a few things out by the time they arrive in Calgary. It should be very interesting to see how the riders cope with Round 1 being held on this historic circuit. I love watching our top riders race on the Calgary track, with its great soil, massive elevation changes, and stunning views of downtown Calgary. This round has always been one of the best of the series. Also, in case you can’t make it to Calgary for the opening round, it will air on television the following Sunday. In fact, all rounds will be hitting the airwaves just eight days later. This will not only be great for all of the sponsors, but it will also be a great tool to bring spectators to races later in the series.

So with the tracks set in the west for the opening rounds, how are the riders doing? After the final round of the AXTour a few weeks ago in Barrie, all of the riders (except maybe Jess Pettis) turned their attention outdoors. Most already have a good base of training, and after racing some very intense AX races, all are race ready. However, now the shorter sprint motos turn to long and challenging forty minute motos. Also, bicycle rides get longer, gym work changes a little, and of course bike set-up becomes a completely different animal. As we all know, outdoor motocross is a brutal battle of attrition and our riders are very good at it. There is nothing quite like the sound of 40 bikes coming off the starting gate at an outdoor national. As I said, it all gets underway in less than a month in Calgary.

Well, that is it for me this week. If you want to get involved in a cool contest, please visit one of our Social Media channels (@mxpmag.com) to see how you can enter our latest FXR Racing giveaway. I hope everyone has a great opening week of May. In Ontario this weekend, Moto Park is hosting their first event of 2018 as AMO will be holding their second ANQ of the season. Finally, if anyone out there is looking for a used 2017 KTM65, please email me at chris@mxpmag.com. Thanks for reading and please have a great week!