Jackie Strong’s East Coast Diary

Gopher Dunes

After the last round of the WMX Triple Crown I came straight to Canada to begin preparations for the eastern CMRC rounds. We only had a couple weeks to try to dial the bike in and make the transition from four-strokes to two-strokes. It was quite a challenge with our time frame.

The team did what they could but to say we were winging it at Gopher Dunes is a serious understatement. Most of the parts hadn’t come in for my bike and nobody was thoroughly familiar with 250 two-strokes to know how to set up my Rekluse. We had one brief day of suspension testing before tackling what I’d heard was the most difficult track on the Canadian circuit. Safe to say I was quite nervous going into the first round. I’d never been to Canada and I really didn’t know what to expect, besides a gnarly track.

My nerves began to settle a little once I got on the track Saturday morning for practice. I liked the layout and from what I could see, the top pack of girls didn’t seem quite as deep as the States. It was still difficult to accurately size up all the variables considering we only got one short practice. There were transponder hick-ups and I never had the opportunity to watch the competition from a spectator’s perspective.

When we lined up for our first moto I was shocked to see we were drawing sticks for gate pick. I was used to the standard of picking in order of lap times. Then I drew 19, which did not make me any more thrilled about the situation. Thankfully, I still got a gate on the inside fairly close to where I originally wanted to be. Although once the gate dropped it didn’t matter much where I was because I wasn’t even in gear. Super embarrassing, I know. I swear I put it in gear but my Rekluse still wasn’t tuned properly and we’d been having malfunctions all day. So we’ll split the blame on that one! Either way, I kicked off my first Canadian Women’s moto in last.

The gate was pretty full at Gopher and I was stressing after my awful start. I frantically started to make my way through the pack but the first fly away after the start got the best of me. I landed out of position in a soft spot and yard saled. Take two started from last… and a half (haha). By that point I knew spazzing and stressing wasn’t going to do me any good. I just needed to take a breath, man up, and use it as an opportunity to show Canada what I was made of. I caught up to the back of the pack by the end of the first lap and just started picking them off. We were in lap traffic pretty quickly and it was hard to tell where I was. I knew I was gaining ground but it was tough to identify much more than that.

My boyfriend, Pete, and teammate, Morgan Burger, were cheering like crazy the whole time. Seeing them powered up made it easy to keep pushing. Just before the halfway point they were both signalling me that I was in the lead. I was a tad bit sceptical so I just kept pinning it just in case. The last third of the moto was pretty smooth sailing. After such a hectic race I was pleased to see the chequered flag and have it be over. I was pumped on the win but it was definitely one of the most stressful wins I’d ever gotten.

When we lined up for the second moto, I had my jitters in check. Got off the gate pretty good and had the lead by the end of the first lap. It wasn’t more than a couple laps into the moto when I began to let my mind wander which landed me on the ground in a hurry. Thankfully, it was just a slight tip over and I hardly lost any ground…it was enough to snap me back into the moment and not make any more careless mistakes.

I eventually crossed the chequered flag in first which gave me 1-1 at Gopher. It was an awesome way to start the season and definitely set the tone I wanted for the series. Things went so well that I even convinced the team to let me attempt to qualify in MX2 the next day instead of waiting for Deschambault. It took a lot of begging but I was so happy to finally win them over. I had no idea what the odds of making it in were but I was so anxious to get out there! My speed seemed decent. In my mind one of the best ways to improve is to put yourself in a faster environment.

Unfortunately we didn’t wind up making it in on Sunday. It was a killer experience though. Pro lines versus amateur lines are night and day. Loved seeing the track shape up like it did and having the opportunity to ride with those guys. My biggest accomplishment of the day was NOT wussing out on the finish line with all those ruts. I was proud.

Sand Del Lee

We were quickly welcomed by the rain and tornado warnings at Sand Del Lee! Our track walk led us to believe it was going to be a mud fest, for Saturday at least, but surprisingly the track was mint from the get-go. I loved the dirt and thought it had a fun flow. Wasn’t a huge fan of how short our lap times were and I definitely didn’t like how narrow most of the track was but those were minor struggles everyone had to endure on amateur day.

When we lined up for our first moto, it was apparent that the starting line had taken quite a beating from the rain. There was going to be mayhem. Large puddles paved the way to the first corner. Most of the ruts were off centered with their gates and looked haggard.
I chose a gate just to the right of the box and managed to pull the holeshot. Super pumped! My weakest link is definitely my starts and I couldn’t have chosen a better time and place to nail a holeshot. With the track being so narrow and difficult to pass on, it was critical to get out front quick. I hit lapped traffic on the second lap and it seemed to never end. The short laps really tightened up the racing and kept me on my toes. By the third lap, it was like being in defensive driving school.

There were so many battles going on throughout the pack that I interrupted…nearly went for a swim on the infield a couple times and I knew I needed a strategy to keep myself upright within the craziness. Passing became strictly based on timing and done during the 2-3 second stretch of wide track. It wasn’t worth the risk of tangling up with someone when I had a good lead. Luckily, I crossed the finish line only having one small tip over in a corner.

Second moto’s start wasn’t as good as the first but I still came out top three. I took the lead by the third corner and resumed the defensive riding position. There were more crashes this moto, which really complicated matters. Certain parts of the track were nearly impossible to get through because so many girls were on the ground.

I still really enjoyed riding Sand Del Lee. The lapped traffic made the race much more exciting and kept me occupied. Happy to come out 1-1 again and stretch out the points lead.

We tried qualifying in MX2 again but it was short lived. I blew up my bike on the second lap of my timed session. ): Blowing up a bike is never good but I was grateful it happened then and didn’t affect the championship. It was still a bummer though. I felt a lot more capable at Sand Del Lee and would’ve liked having some more time on the pro track. Instead, we spent the rest of the day cheering on my awesome teammate Morgan Burger and packing up my motor to be flown to the shop.

Deschambault

I’d never been anywhere with so much French! It was quite a task to do anything if you didn’t strike gold by finding a bilingual person. We struggled to even find tracks throughout the week with our GPS. Once we made it, the tracks were great and the atmosphere was by far the best in Quebec. The turnout was amazing, people were powered up to have us there, and this track required the most varied skills, in my opinion. You had a little bit of everything: hard pack ruts, sandy berms, and a bit of elevation to make things interesting.

My team owner, Monte Gamble, flew in Thursday night with my refreshed motor. They got the bike back together in time for me to race a couple motos in the Youth class on Friday. That was a blessing. I had been off the bike all week so I was really thankful to be able to break in the motor before Saturday. This was the first round without my boyfriend, Pete. He had flown home after Sand Del Lee so I was missing my professional gate packer and breakfast maker at Deschambault. My teammate, Morgan Burger, and Team RMX filled in for him quite well.

Morgan took me to the line and helped me get off to a good start for the first moto. We didn’t grab the holeshot but I moved into the lead quickly and started to pull away. The bigger, more technical track offered a great separation of the field and the lap times were long enough that the lapped traffic didn’t get out of hand, which was nice. With that being said, I spent the majority of the moto by myself. I tried to use my time wisely and prepare for qualifying on Sunday. When I crossed the finish line I actually didn’t even know I had secured the championship. Morgan was pretty disappointed I didn’t fist pump or anything.

When we lined up for the second moto, everyone kept telling me to just have a good time. I knew the title was locked up but I wanted to have a good time winning no matter what. On the line, the excitement of it all got to me a bit and I got a pretty ugly start. I wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out with the track being a bit rougher this time around so I just tried to be patient and safely get into first. The odds were in my favour sooner than later and I was in the top spot once I passed the green flag.

Everyone savoured the moment during the second moto, there was no pressure and we had fun. Every lap my pit board messages gave me the giggles. In the end I was able go 1-1 at Deschamabult to complete my undefeated season. (: I even rolled the finish line to throw up a quick double fist pump for Morgan).

All in all I had a killer time in Canada. It’s one heck of a change from the States but it was a refreshing change of pace. I’m glad I had the opportunity to come up here and compete for Sewer Rat. I hope to get a chance to come back again! In the meantime, I’ll be sticking around to play with the MX2 boys at Moncton and Walton. Feel free to come by and say hi! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or visit my website www.jacquelinestrongmx.com to stay up to date on what I’m up to.

Thanks again to Sewer Rat for bringing me here, Canada for welcoming me, and all the CMRC guys for making the series possible. It was tough being up here the whole time without having my family. I’m so grateful to Pete, Morgan, Steve, and Team RMX for being there for me. Fox, Rockwell, Rekluse, Utopia, and FMF rolled with the punches and continued to give me the best support, even with my last minute decision to race another series in another country. I honestly can’t thank everyone enough; friends, family, and all the team sponsors give me the motivation to do this week in and week out. I appreciate it!