Frid'Eh Update #25 Presented by SIXSIXONE Canada

Hey everyone, welcome to Frideh Update #25. I've been handed the reigns this week to man the Frideh Update ship as Steve “European Vacation” Matthes circumnavigates the European continent in his rental Audi A5 and tries to break new records for speeding tickets. You'll have to bear with me, I'm much better at pushing the buttons on my Nikon's than cranking out editorial but with the help of the entire DMX staff I think we've got a lot of great Canadian MX info to bring your way today.

 

Here at Direct Motocross we like to dedicate each Frideh Update to the rider whose number equates to our current edition and this week our column is dedicated to none other than Chuck Mesley. “The Chopper” is a legendary figure in Canadian motocross, both on the track and off. Anyone who knows Chuck probably has a story or two to share and who can forget some of his great rides? Battling with JSR at Mission in 04 on his KTM, getting on the podium at Gopher Dunes in 2007 as a full privateer or carrying his broken bike across the line at Walton many years ago (I can't remember exactly what year that was). On top of that he's got a great daughter he brings with him and he has a genuine love for riding that shows when he's on the track. Though we won't see him out west, once the series swings east the Number 25 Machine Racing Honda will be on the starting gate and the series will gain another great competitor.

 

We'll finally see the Mez on the line at Gopher Dunes

photo: Sean Bowker

 

As for me, I'm sitting at the Castrol Raceway track here in Edmonton, Alberta typing out this update. To save some money this year, I've been travelling with Jim Small and the Monster Energy/Leading Edge Kawasaki rig. I can't thank Jason Hughes and the team enough for giving me this oppurtunity; with the economy so tight right now it's nice to have some help. I enjoy driving to the races anyhow, it gives you an oppurtunity to see a lot of things you miss by flying and we have such a great country that it's a shame to miss out on all that it has to offer. The last two rounds have been the most spectacular as far as scenery goes. Driving through the massive amounts of mountain ranges that divide my home on the West Coast from Alberta always reminds me that I live in one of the nicest places around. Last night's drive through the northern Rockies was definitely awe inspiring, we saw a bear with two young cubs, an elk, a moose and some deer. Really cool.

Here's a crappy shot of Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. I shot it with my phone because I'm an idiot and left my camera bag in the trailer. Won't be doing that again.

photo: James Lissimore

 

 

The track is looking good. It doesn't look like they've made any changes from last year but that's probably a good thing. The dirt is tilled up nice and deep and they're watering it right now. The only possible problem is that these clouds are looking really dark so the weather could play a factor this weekend. Who will win if the track is a mud pit? All the usual BC favorites have to be considered, Klatt and Facciotti in MX1 and Beets and Hoyer in MX2. Or could we see Mitch Cooke repeat his Morden 07 magic? Kyle Keast was also on fire at that race before his front wheel locked up so it could be the Dozer's time to shine. I'm thinking in MX2 though that rain or shine, Dean Wilson is going to be tough to beat. I guess the big story this weekend is that Deano is going to sign up for MX1 and double class it. Well, he's going to line up for the second moto of MX1 at least. Could we see someone end Facciotti's win streak? Guess we'll find out soon enough. Either way, an already exciting weekend of racing just got that much better!

 

The Edmonton track is groomed and ready to go.

photo: James Lissimore

 

Anyone who's been around the sport for a while know's the contributions that Allison Kennedy brings to Canadian Moto journalism. We're proud to have her working with us, even if it's in a limited capacity while she raises her daughter, Hannah. Here's a little bit of news from AK:

 

Well, two rounds into the Nationals and I am finding that I am spending my Sundays listening for tweets. Never thought I'd be saying that but as it turns out you can leave Canadian moto behind, but you never really forget it. With Steve-O off in some strange land I said I'd get on the horn and make a few calls before the riders all forget who I am. I got to talk to Mitch Cooke, who is crossing the country
in his motor home this summer, and to Kyle 'Bone-chip' Beaton. It was nice to chat with both of them, and it felt like that whole year of diaper changing that fell in the middle of our conversations was only a few weeks. Thanks for the interviews boys and hopefully I can stay in the loop for the rest of the season.

I was also chatting with Andrew Belin this weekend...ahh the wonders of MSN, and it seems that the Vancouver Island former Factory Rider for A Day has banged himself up pretty good. Despite throwing himself into the working world, Belin still rides moto on the weekends for fun. Seems he hit a jump in third gear but somehow the bike shifted to neutral and he had to dismount mid air, landing on his feet and breaking both of them. Andrew is a great guy, and we hope he's back on his feet soon...literally.
 

I also touched base with fellow Campbell River resident Dusty Klatt this week. We were chatting online in between his motos at the CR track, and it seems to me that four straight moto wins for Facciotti have been pretty dang motivating for Dusty. So far, it sounds like Facciotti is the man to beat, and I think chasing his teammate is a great goal for Klatt. He's been there before, with JSR, and it sure sounds like running a strong second isn't what Klatt has in mind for the rest of the season. It would be great to see someone step up and challenge Facciotti soon, and hopefully that someone can be Dusty.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Hope Edmonton is awesome and I'll see everyone in the East.

Allison

 

Thanks Allison, it's great having you back.

Can Dusty finally pull off the win this weekend?

photo: James Lissimore

 

 

Steve Matthes may be doing his best to get thrown in a windowless, Eastern European jail cell this week while he tours around with his own man-friend, Alan Brown, but he still found time to write up something for this week's update:
 

Thanks James and I would like to apologize to anyone that’s feeling left out without being around this week but I think that the DMX crew is handling everything pretty good. It sounds like the battle for the lead in Calgary was pretty boring but the racing behind the leaders was good. Eric Nye has dug himself a little hole and how about the Medaglia’s dicing it out in moto one? You knew it was bound to happen sometime and it’ll be interesting if those two kids can keep it clean all summer. If something does happen, someone rush over to the OTSFF pits as I want to see how pops handles it. Good to see those two go at it.

 

As most of you probably know, I’m in Europe this week and doing some business with some touristy stuff thrown in. Check out my blog at Racer X for more detail if you want to know what I’ve been up to and if you don’t, I understand that also. The trip has been pretty good and whenever I’m over here it reminds me of Canada way more than the USA. Some of the food and customs are very much the same and it makes you remember that Canada is a unique country that isn’t totally Americanized yet.

 

Matthes says these guys are the Van Halen of Slovenia.

photo: Matthes

 

 

I’m going to get to the German GP this weekend at some place that I cannot pronounce and I’m hoping to run into Kornel Nemeth, the Hungarian Warrior from Kamloops. Kornel doesn’t race the GP’s full time as it’s hard to secure an entry if you’re not on an approved team but because he races the German National championships his team, Sarholtz Honda has been granted an entry for him. I spoke to him at Kamloops and told him I would be here and he said to come find him. I’ll try and talk to him about his Canadian race and his schedule for the rest of the year and report back. Man, its pretty cool that seven days ago I was in Mt Morris at the AMA national and six days before that I was in Kamloops for the Canadian race and tomorrow I’ll be in Germany watching the GP guys go at it. Sorry to brag but I have a great job!

 

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back on Tuesday hoping to get all the scoop from Edmonton to you guys and one last thing - GO BEETS!!!!

 

Matthes wants this guy to GO

photo: Lissimore

 

Thanks Stevie, and try not to gorge yourself too hard on Weiner schnitzel this weekend. 

 

Our off-road correspondent, Dan Paris, has also been hard at work this week. First he unleashed his lastest “Off Track” column which you can view here and now he sends along this update: 

Man what a week! Let's start with the gnarliest story first, KTM’s Cory Graffunder. You know him as the kid from BC who smoked a ton of Euros at the North American WEC races, killed Raymond as an amateur motocrosser and hammered the Red Bull Last Man Standing while we watched on TV. Well, his most recent accomplishment is finishing FIFTH overall at the infamous Erzberg hare scramble in Austria. You know the one where guys like David Knight beat their brains out trying to race up a massive rock mountain ahead of 1500 other masochists? All of us Canucks should be proud of him; Erzberg is a Euro tough-guy event to the max, but Cory shocked, startled, and spazzed them out with his amazing ride!

 

Graffunder tackles the Iron Giant

 

Speaking of the WEC stars, former World Enduro Champ/GNCC champ/Australian MX champ SHANE WATTS is making his way to Ontario’s Ganaraska forest to teach his acclaimed off-road riding school June 27/28. If you want to learn how to jump logs with the best check out www.shanewatts.com

Shane Watts is coming to Canada.

 

 

While we are talking about Australians, Toyota/Yamaha Machine Racing’s Aussie-import Jake Stapleton put his WEC experience to good use by winning the Pro-class at the CMA National Hare Scramble at Burnt River last weekend. He beat Chris VanHusky by a couple minutes, with fellow Toyota/Yamaha Machine Racing pilot Brian Wojnarowski coming third 11 seconds later.

 

Quebec motocross/Off-road legend, Guy Giroux, has been busy blowing minds by jamming his BMW Canada 450X through the trees to his second FMSQ victory last weekend. He tells me he’s got the Beemer just about ready for the Canadian Enduro Championship series, which starts July 4 in Blairmore, Alberta.

 

Speaking of the CEC, things are coming together nicely as Canadian Off-Road racing finally hits the spotlight after decades of living in the shadows. At last count there were over 20 confirmed entries in the Pro Class, plus a bunch more Pros that may do Western or Eastern rounds only. The series sponsor list is growing too. Royal Distributing is the title sponsor, with BMW Canada, Yamaha Canada, Honda Canada, KTM Canada, Kawasaki Canada, Suzuki Canada, Inside Motorcycles, Metzler, Weisner Insurance, WestJet, Rekluse, Kurtz trucking, TecMate and MXP all providing support. Anyone who rides a dirt bike should make it a point to watch at least one of the eight rounds. You can see the details at www.worldendurocanada.com

 

Thanks Dan, it's always good to find out what's going on in the world of Bark Busters.

Last week in Calgary, along with myself, Shane “Eddie” Eaton was also out shooting photos at Wild Rose. Along with this huge photo gallery, which you can check out here, he also sent along some notes:

 

Here is my meager attempt at a report , and like I said tons of photos to follow soon. Cheers.

The racing turned out a fairly predictable outcome I would say. Heidi, Colt and Dean are all on a different level than everyone else. Dusty and Paul Carpenter can stay close to Colt for awhile but he owns them in the second half. He rode flawless all weekend and barring a crash, a great race from the Hungarian warrior, or a really, really bad start, I could easily see him going undefeated this season. Colt needs to move up to the big leagues, either AMA or the world GP's. He simply has nothing left to prove here in Canada .

Dean Wilson got a bad start in the first MX2 moto, didn't have any trouble moving through the pack and he put it into cruise mode when he got the lead. I think Dean has even more speed in him and his future is brighter than any Canadian's has ever been in professional motocross. The other most impressive rider in my opinion, was Kyle McGlynn, he has taken a big step up this year and was right at home battling with Nye, Maier, Evennou, Beets and Harvey. McGlynn was about the only bright spot for the KTM guys , who had a very rough weekend. I guess it was their turn this weekend.

Heidi was Heidi. Clearly, the best women's rider in Canada by quite a margin. I expected Jocelyn and Missy to be a little closer this year than they were, but if anything it seemed like it was Heidi that has picked up the pace even more from last year .

This just in from Label It Guy(Brad Coles):

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the bike that may never get raced. Other than not seeing #10 at the National you won't see #41 on this bike as Matt Eastman, Jason Burke's replacement, got injured at High Point last weekend. It looks like I'm back on the prowl for a rider. Please try and protect Troy Adams for me as he will be making a cameo appearance for the Label It/D4/FXR racing team at Walton.

Brad-The Label It Guy

 

Jay Burke's unused steed

photo: Label It Guy

 

 

 

While I'm at the controls of this Frideh Update I'm going to plug my website again. Check out all my nationals photos at www.lissimorephoto.com under “Image Database” or you can check out the direct link here.

 

A jet car just went down the track here in Edmonton. With the dragstrip mere feet from the Moto pits we've been treated to a host of cars out doing some testing today. The jet car definitely takes the cake though, it just shook the Leading Edge rig as I sit here typing.

 

The Blackfoot Yamaha team has a new racing website, check it out here.

 

Hey everyone, did you know that today is the last day to sign up for our Factory Rider for a Day program? But because we're such good guys, you can still send in a story and some pics over the weekend. We'll be announcing the team next week at some point. Good to see privateer intermediate riders, Jesse Pearce #206 and Kyle Ward #321, chasing the national series. Both are from Ontario and both have signed up for the FRFAD program. They have the results, they have the potential, they have desire .... could they be selected? Stay tuned!

 

Check out my wallpapers from Calgary last weekend

 

I also caught up with Brock Hoyer this week. I've been watching this kid since he was an intermediate in BC and I've always tried to help him out as much as I can. It's great to see the progress he's made over the last year. I think the best is still to come for the William's Lake native. Check out his interview here.

 

Angie Parker has a new “Out of the Blue” column up, check it here.

 

Well, that's it for me this week. Thanks for every who got me stuff to stick in this thing, I think it actually wasn't too bad for my first attempt. I'll be doing my best to get updates up all weekend so stay tuned to the site. We're in for another great weekend of racing! Thanks for reading.