By Billy Rainford
Happy Easter Monday Morning Coffee. It’s a stat holiday in a couple provinces and an optional one in another. I’m in Ontario and it’s not an official holiday here. If you’re off today, enjoy it. We have made the switch to spring here. In fact, we’re going to be 24 C and sunny for the better part of the week! Greg Poisson and I plan to head over to Gopher Dunes for our first ride of the season on Wednesday, so if you’re in the area and are looking to spin a few laps with us, let’s do it! Our plan is to be there for “first tracks” in hopes of some smooth and easy riding before it gets too whooped out for this wuus.
We’ve got Kate Kowalchuk at the MXGP of Switzerland this weekend and she’s sending photos over as the racing progresses. They did their qualifying race on Saturday, like usual, but then took Easter Sunday off and are racing today.
So far, #39 Roan Van De Moosdijk from The Netherlands has won the first MX2 moto and #61 Jorge Prado from Spain took the first MXGP moto. Kate is living in Europe with Boston Calder from Alberta who is the WP “wonderkid” (Ted Lasso) and is glued to 5-time World Champion #84 Jeffrey Herlings this season.
Have you watched any of the Behind the Bullet videos on YouTube? No? Well, you’ll see the familiar Canadian face of Boston featuring pretty predominantly in every episode as they try to get Jeffrey back up to speed for his return to racing after taking all of 2022 off with injury.
Here’s the latest video from Red Bull Motorsports:
Shelby Turner Headed for ACL Surgery
Shelby Turner from Barons, Alberta, continues to rack up top finishes in her off-road racing for KTM USA but will now have to take a step back to get her knees fixed.
She raced the US Sprint Enduro at Pearl’s Pond Farm in Arvonia, Virginia, over the weekend and placed 4th overall in the Pro Women’s class.
| PRO WOMEN (100cc-Open) – Check-by-Check Score by Place | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event Place |
Bike# | Rider Name | Brand |  C 1 |
C 2 |
C 3 |
E 1 |
E 2 |
E 3 |
Tests | Total Time |
| 1 | 28W | Mackenzie Tricker | GG | 6:22.2 | 6:14.1 | 6:16.9 | 9:15.0 | 9:09.0 | 9:14.6 | 6 | 0:46:31.974 |
| 2 | 650W | RACHAEL ARCHER | YAM | 6:30.7 | 6:24.2 | 6:25.8 | 9:23.7 | 9:23.1 | 9:26.5 | 6 | 0:47:34.393 |
| 3 | 417W | RACHEL GUTISH | GG | 6:42.5 | 6:38.5 | 6:35.2 | 9:38.9 | 9:35.7 | 9:35.3 | 6 | 0:48:46.484 |
| 4 | 50W | Shelby Turner | KTM | 6:43.7 | 6:39.5 | 6:43.5 | 9:58.8 | 9:59.3 | 9:57.9 | 6 | 0:50:02.865 |
Here’s her latest post on IG:
She’s committed to racing south of the border this season, so we weren’t going to see her competing in the Canadian Triple Crown Series WMX class, but we’re wishing her all the best with the surgery and recovery.
Glendale Supercross
I always enjoy going to the Supercross in Glendale, Arizona. From my perspective down on the floor, this one has really easy access. The parking lot is tightly mowed grass and the access points to the photo den, the track, the start line, and the stage are all nice and easy. Also, the sun breaks through the glass in the ceiling in the late afternoon and you can always get memorable photos during practice and qualifying. Plus, you’re less likely to see rain at this stadium than any other we go to. I like it.
Unfortunately, with the way the schedule was this season, I wasn’t still out west and just wasn’t able to make it happen to be at this one.
Our old friend Chris Pawlitsky from Revelstoke, BC was at this one and sent me a two-word text on Saturday that didn’t compute with me when I saw it. All it said was, “I’m here.” Emily and I were busy at the time and I didn’t reply right away. It turns out this was the one event he was able to be at in person and that’s what that short message meant. Sorry, Chris. Hope you had a good time out there in the sunshine.
As always, I was keeping a close eye on the Canadian angle and that meant #83 Cole Thompson in the 250 West class. Here’s how his Glendale Triple Crown went:
Qualifying: 13th
Race 1: 8th
Race 2: 10th
Race 3: 15th
Overall: 11th
The 3rd race was the anomaly, and from my couch in the living room, I didn’t catch the brief moment they showed what had happened early on in the race.
Also keeping an eye on #508 Hunter Yoder on the Partzilla PRMX team, I saw that they were together with really good starts and then they had both dropped back on the live timing. Hmm…
It turns out they got together and Hunter’s leg was caught in the rear wheel of Cole’s bike in a right hand sweeper. It really sucks because they were right up in the mix in this final race of the night.
I’ll get in touch with both of them and see what they each have to say about the incident. Fortunately, Hunter didn’t get injured because it’s always pretty gross to see a leg caught in a wheel like that.
Here is a post from Hunter’s IG page:
2023 Glendale Supercross Results and Points
Results and points from the 2023 Glendale Supercross at State Farm Stadium.
We had a couple Canadians in the KJSX class in Arizona. Check out #5 Owen Rarick from Medicine Hat, AB and #13 Kade Dupuis from Calgary, AB.
I’l be back in action in Atlanta, New Jersey, and Nashville to cover the next 3 Supercross rounds, so watch for that starting Friday at Press Day. I’ve actually never made it down to Atlanta for the outdoor race, so I’m looking forward to checking that out. New Jersey is another good one because it gives Emily and I a chance to take our bikes and cruise around NYC. Did you know there’s a bike path around all of Manhattan Island and you can just dip in wherever you want for a beverage or meal as you cruise around? It’s pretty sweet. And Nashville was a blast last time we were there for the races, so we’re looking forward to that one too.
UPDATE: As I was about to click SUBMIT on this MMC, I received some video from the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Team Solitaire gang that shows another angle of the incident between Cole and Hunter. I told Chris Elliott that I’d wait until they said it was OK to post but I think it shows it was just a racing incident and that nothing was done with intent. Stay tuned…
I did ask Chris if it was them who protested Hunter’s bike and here’s what he said in classic Canadian tones:
I didn’t protest them! I don’t care about any of that, like I said…we are Yoder fans. We think teams like PRMX and us should be able to cheat, we know the struggle.
Chris Elliott – Heartbeat Hot Sauce Team Solitaire
OK, time for brunch. Have a great week and we’ll see you in the sand on Wednesday and then in Atlanta on the weekend.
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