Well, another Canada Day weekend has come and gone, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. This year, our July long weekend was a tad different as Walton Raceway didn’t host a pro-national for the first time in a few years. However, they hosted an AMO Racing event; by all accounts, the weather cooperated mostly, and the track was in great shape. Canada Day is always exciting for us motocross enthusiasts as it kicks off our summer swing of racing. With upcoming east rounds of the 2023 Triple Crown Series, the ECAN, and of course, the Walton TransCan, the next six weeks are wide open. I love summer, but it always goes by so damn fast.
After two weekends off (well, not every pro-rider took time off of racing), we’re back to racing as Round 4 of the Triple Crown Series will take place at Gopher Dunes this coming Sunday. Every Pro has been preparing hard for this race for over a week with extra sand practice and perhaps a little extra off-the-bike training. Last week, Daniel Elmore and I headed to Gopher Dunes so he could ride some sand motos and get reacquainted with the challenging track. There were a bunch of other pro-riders there, such as Dylan Wright, Shawn Maffenbeier, Sebastien Racine, Austin Jones, Tyler Gibbs, Devyn Smith, Tyler Yates, as well as Marcus Deausy. It was a great day of riding, and it was cool to see each rider’s technique as they attacked the rough Gopher Dunes track. Obviously, Wright looked great, as he always does in sandy conditions, but Maffenbeier wasn’t far off Wright’s speed as he looked great on his new 2023 YZ450F. I’m expecting big things from Maff in the coming weeks, as he appears happy and very confident. I love the Gopher Dunes national, and my favourite part is watching the final two motos of the day. As Ryan Lockhart pointed out in his Matrix Concepts Canada 3 Q’s Story on Friday, regardless of how well-conditioned you are, at some point on Sunday, you’re going to get tired and suffer. So whether you’re leading or sitting back in 12th place, you have to stay in the fight, as you never know what will happen.
If we look back to 2005 and the first year that Gopher Dunes held a pro-national, the winner that year in the premier class was JSR. Since then, there have been nine different riders take the victory at what has become the toughest race in pro motocross anywhere on the planet. Matt Goerke has the most wins at four, and over the weekend I reached out to the multi-time Canadian Champion to get his top five tips on how to have a successful day at Gopher Dunes. Here is what Matt had to say:
1.Take it really easy this week and conserve energy. Getting good rest before Sunday is important.
2.Drink tons of fluids all week. Hydration is a key for success.
3.Only do a few fast laps of practice. Don’t waste precious energy on trying to get a fast lap.
4.If you get a good start in Moto 1, try to pace yourself and conserve energy. If you get a bad start or fall in the first turn, the rest of the day will be brutal. So hopefully you’ve done what I mentioned above so you have lots of energy.
5.When you start getting tired at the end of the motos, use the bumps instead of your leg muscles to stand yourself up exiting turns. This may sound strange, but it honestly works very well.
As I mentioned above, a few of our top pro-riders spent this past weekend racing at various regional events. Mitchell Harrison even took his race bike to RedBud to race Round 5 of the Pro Nationals. Harrison rode brilliantly to finish 12-11 for 11th overall in the ultra-fast 250 class. At times, he even ran inside the top ten, which was amazing. Harrison is currently 56 points behind points leader Ryder McNabb in the 250 class, so he definitely has some work to do in the coming weeks. Speaking of McNabb, he raced in the first of two Scouting Combine events of 2023 on Friday at RedBud and had a solid day. After two mediocre starts, McNabb charged incredibly hard to finish second in the opening moto and third in moto two. This gave him an impressive second overall in this class of future superstars. I’m sure Ryder was disappointed that he wasn’t able to win a moto, but he certainly put himself on the radar of some of the top teams. This kid deserves a top-level ride in the USA, so I hope he gets the opportunity very soon. However, until then, let’s enjoy having him in Canada and, if you have the chance to attend one of the Eastern rounds of the Triple Crown Series. Also racing in the Combine event at Redbud was Preston Masicangelo, who finished 14th OA, and Noah Viney, who ended up 16th OA. The second Scouting Combine event is coming up at the final round of the Pro National Series at Ironman Raceway on August 26th.
Moving on to some sad news, former Hully Gully track owner Randy Collins passed away last week. For many of the old Ontario MX fraternity, Hully Gully and the Collins Family were a big part of our youth. I personally raced numerous events there from 1982-1986, and although the track had an extremely small window for being in great condition, it was still fun to ride, my Dad and I made a lot of solid memories there. Ironically, Hully Gully Raceway is really where it all began for me and my riding as my Dad purchased my first-ever bike from the Suzuki dealership they had at the track. At one of the races we attended, we were in the process of searching for my first-ever bike. I remember the salesman was gracious (or foolish) enough to allow me to take the brand-new JR50 out for a short test ride in the field in front of the pro shop. I rode around for ten minutes, and then we handed the bike back, and my Dad, much to my displeasure, said thank you, and we walked back to the track to watch some more racing. After about an hour or so, my Dad told me to stay put as he was going to get us some lunch. We stayed there for most of the day, and then drove home with me most likely making multiple inquiries about if and when we might be picking up the JR50. My Dad, to his credit, kept a straight face and suggested that maybe later in the summer we’ll get the bike. When we arrived home, I remember rushing into the house to tell my Mom all about our day at Hully Gully, including my ten-minute riding session on the JR50. My Dad then threw me the keys to our car and told me to go and bring stuff in from the trunk. You know where this story is going right? Well, thankfully, I obeyed, and when I opened the trunk of our red Dodge Dart, there was a shiny new Suzuki JR50. I was obviously ecstatic, but since there were no cell phones, this was the first my Mom was finding out about my Dad’s latest purchase, so I can only imagine the look on her face. The rest, as they say, is history, so when I think of Hully Gully and Randy Collins, this is by far my favourite memory. RIP Randy!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great first week of July, and I cannot wait to see most of you this weekend at Gopher Dunes. Over the years, this race has been synonymous with misery and suffering and everything that is special about outdoor motocross in the summer. But, oh, how fun it will be to gather at one of Canada’s most famous tracks to watch our best riders perform. Thank you for reading, and if you have any comments or questions, please email me at chris@mxpmag.com.