Frid'Eh Update #27 Presented by Machine Racing

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Photos by James Lissimore

Hey there! Welcome to the DMX Frid’EH Update #27…yes, that’s right number 27. Now you may be confused because last week’s Update was #29 and your grade 8 math tells you that 29 comes after 27. And you would be right, but y’see, I’m an idiot and a couple weeks back I skipped #27. As many people will tell you, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and this should prove it. So we’re going to make it up to Kaven Benoit and dedicate this column to him because the flying Frenchman is CMRC national number 27.

Benoit came on strong last year at the Manitoba round, riding a Le Chutes Kawasaki, and with his strong rides in the MX2 class, he earned himself a KTM support deal. So far in 2010, Benoit has ended up with overalls of 6-7-9 and 6 and sits solidly inside the top ten in the points. His younger brother, Karel, was a feared racer on the Quebec amateur and pro scene as well, but hung up his boots a year ago. I'm told that both Benoits have impressive skill on the ice as well. Not surprising as Quebec boasts one of the most competitive (and well paying) ice racing series'. Good luck at The Dunes this weekend, Kaven!

Number 27 is making Andy White look pretty smart.

I’ve solidified my plans a bit for later this summer and it looks like I’ll for sure be hitting up Walton and I’m trying hard to get to Sand Del Lee and Moncton, but methinks I’ll only be able to hit up one of those. So I’m looking forward to seeing some good old fashioned Canadian motocross ... and of course, digging my grubby hands into some saucy poutine!!

Speaking of motocross, did you see THIS Manitoba Race Report Recap by Evan Taylor we had up on our site? As a born and raised Manitoban, I always click on these things to see if there is anyone that I know still up there riding. And of course, there’s always Kim Houde in there. I see the old man of Manitoba motocross brought home a +40 championship.

I see a few names that I recognize and it's pretty cool that these guys are still out there giving it hell. Good to see!

I also might be back on the saddle soon as the magazine I write for down here, Transworld Motocross, has offered me a 2010 YZ450F for the next little while. I just have to get down to Southern California to pick it up! Oh and find some springs for the shock and forks that will work for me.

Paul Jordan also contributed to the site this week with his usual stellar work in recapping the Atlantic MX round at Pleasant Valley. That's the home-track of Mitch and Heidi Cooke ... and probably Mitch's new brother in-law, Mr. Tyler Medaglia. Check it out HERE.

As you read this, I’m off to Millville, Minnesota for the Ryan Dungey School of Motocross, otherwise known as the AMA nationals. Last year he was back and forth with Christophe Pourcel all year long in the 250’s and then when he came to his home track of Millville, he smoked CP, going 1-1. Does anyone think, having won five races in a row in the 450’s that RD won’t go 1-1 this weekend? I know I don’t.

In the 250’s, Pourcel hasn’t been setting the world on fire but he has a pretty big lead just like Dungey and is just clicking off his time in the tiddler class until he can go to the class that he wants to. Which is the 450’s. He’d be there this year if he could’ve found a deal that would’ve paid him anywhere near what he wanted.

Want some silly season gossip down south? Well, Josh Grant looks to be out at the JGR team, although the team wants him back and I’m sure Josh is happy there. It’s just that the team is based in North Carolina and Grant is a SoCal guy and is an expecting father. So he’s going to want to move closer to home. Hart and Huntington is most likely switching OEM’s (think orange) and has a big outside sponsor which will allow them to pick up a big-name guy to pair with returning rider, Chris Blose. Look for Grant, Ivan Tedesco or maybe a Jake Weimer to land here.

Dean Wilson is going to re-up with Pro Circuit and most likely Tyla Rattray, which means Mitch Payton needs two more guys (plus Josh Hansen who will most likely stay there for a SX deal). One might be Broc Tickle and the other spot will have about 492 guys vying for it.

Kawasaki is going to stay the same with Reed and Villopoto. Honda has Trey Canard sealed up and is looking for one, maybe two guys. My guess right now is that it might be Pourcel, and maybe Andrew Short keeps his ride if they go three-wide.

Suzuki is looking at Austin Stroupe for the second 450 spot alongside Ryan Dungey but they can go for Andrew Short or Jake Weimer. Larry Brooks told me that they will most likely keep James Stewart but it’s not for sure that they’ll be back on Yamaha’s. I don’t think Josh Hill will be back but who knows, I’ve been wrong before.

After that, it’s a free-for-all for rides and things will start getting sorted here shortly. Everything I’ve said above could change in a moment’s notice by the way. Before I hand this off to Chris Pomeroy for his contribution, I just have to brief everyone on the Team Canada MXDN Fundraiser that was supposed to go off this weekend at Gopher Dunes....

It’s been canceled by the CMRC. And it was canceled because egos got hurt. And that sucks.

Here’s the deal, our own Dawn McClintock is on the Team Canada MXDN fundraising committee (it’s true, you can look it up HERE) and came up with a cool idea (that I put in last week’s Frid’EH Update HERE) about a trivia contest where you can form teams to try and answer and win cool donated prizes. All the money would go back to the Team Canada MXDN fund.

Dawn approached the Schuster’s (who own Gopher Dunes) and was told that it was okay to do. Everything was set in motion until mid-week when word came down that Team Canada fundraising was not to be allowed at Gopher Dunes, because the CMRC didn’t approve it beforehand.

I’ve been in touch with people at the CMRC and they immediately got their backs up because they were not asked permission to set this up and Dawn freely admits this. No one in the motocross-loving Schuster family mentioned this to Dawn because, like any good motocross-loving family would do, they thought a non-profit fundraiser would be okay to set up. Regardless, this is something that could’ve been forgiven and the fundraiser could’ve been back on, but nope.

So innocent mistakes were made but there was plenty of time for the CMRC to say don’t do that but it’s ok, go ahead and set-up, but nope. The egos of the CMRC, MXP mag and whomever else were bruised and that was it.

Then it was pointed out to me that MXP Magazine (which we know is partly owned by the CMRC and many CMRC employees contribute to) owns the media rights to the series and wouldn’t allow DMX to come on site to do anything. The only problem with this is that this has nothing to do with DMX. Dawn is on the Team Canada fundraising committee and is doing this out of the kindness of her heart and a desire to help out the boys. There will be nothing DMX related there. So that reason why the fundraiser can’t be run doesn’t fly.

This man is the most powerful member of Team Canada 2010. What he decides will affect everyone.

Then it was explained that I, out of all people, should know that Davey Coombs of MXSports (the American outdoor national promoters) wouldn’t just let anyone set up at a race and to that I say Phooey because I can’t begin to tell you how many injured rider booths, buy a ribbon when you enter the track, etc, etc things I see at the US nationals and I can guarantee you that DC doesn’t know about this stuff and even if he did, it wouldn’t be a problem because no one is profiting from this besides a good cause/injured rider/local club. So that reason why the fundraiser can’t set up doesn’t work.

So then we got to the real reason and that is the MXdN is controlled by the CMA and is the CMRC’s mortal enemy. This is the real reason it got shut down and this stinks real bad to me. Look, there haven’t been too many people who have beaten the drum for Canadian MXdN reform than me. I think it’s simply ridiculous that a non-factor in motocross like the CMA has anything to do with taking this team over to compete against the best. I can't believe that the FIM doesn't pull its head out of its ass and see that the CMRC is the one running things when it comes to motocross in this country.

I don’t agree with the way things are done with Team Canada, I don’t agree with the rider selection, I don’t agree with the manager selection but it is what it is (you think that if last year’s race had even gone ok that Dean Wilson wouldn’t be so on the fence as to what he’s doing? Dean knows the issues we face).

We, as a country, can’t just let the riders down that go and ride their asses off. We have to support them and hope that behind the scenes, people that can make it better are trying to.

Here are the boys in 2008 at Moncton trying to raise some money for the team. I guess the proper forms were filled out back then. On another note, how funny is it that these guys are all teammates now?

If you were Blackfoot Yamaha and on the fence about going due to the costs (and they are) and you hear about some fundraising efforts getting shut down like this, would you want to go that extra mile to spend money to send Colton and Dusty to go along with Dean?

I’m bummed on this whole deal but not as much as Dawn is. She’s been pissed/sad/despondent all week over this small mistake she made. But don't stress too much, Dawn, you didn't do anything wrong, and when you tried to go through the proper channels, no one picked up the phone. It's not your fault.

On another note though, the Ricky Carmichael school that is going on at Gopher on Monday is not controlled by the CMRC and there will be donations taken at the gate to help out the boys. Atta boy Schusters!

I'm sorry that took so long, but something had to be said.

Now, onto Palms and his thoughts:

Good day to you all, I hope everyone is doing well and had a good week. My thoughts today come to you from a Chiropractor’s office as I wait to get some treatment on my messed up lower back. I was very fortunate to get out of Pro racing with limited, long lasting injuries, the one thing I did manage to hurt was my back in a crash in 2000 at Mono Centre. A crashed totally caused by Chris Tyndall, and a crash that managed to take out the top 5 guys in the first turn of the 2^nd moto that day. Racing in Ontario sure was a lot safer the day that kid decided to give up riding a dirt bike. Anyway on to my contribution this week.

Since I brought up racing in Ontario, I will stay on that subject. I had a good chat with Chris Lee today and he mentioned how impressed he was at the number of entries already for the Walton Trans Can in August. Most of them are entries that have already qualified, but what has impressed Chris the most is the number of riders that are on waiting lists for classes. This is a great sign for not only the event but for motocross in Ontario and right across Canada. Add this with the number of pro entries at the first 4 rounds of the Monster Energy CMRC Nationals and you have some real important numbers. Now I realize that we are still not out of the woods yet with the recession (I’m sure the new HST with slow the recovery down), but, the fact that people are still going racing really bodes well for the future.

This positive conversation with Chris Lee came on the heels on my first motocross day camp for all the local kids from the area where I live (Dufferin County). I ended up teaching about 15 eager kids, it was incredible to see their enthusiasm for riding and for racing. All the kids I taught race at either CMRC races or CMX or both, they all live and breathe the sport and at the end of the day, isn’t that what it is all about? It is great to see kids having fun riding dirt bikes. In the mid 1990’s there was maybe 5 guys from my area that raced MX, now there is about 20 and the number is growing all the time. Hopefully this is the trend all over the Country.

The CMRC Nationals get back to business this weekend at Gopher Dunes and I’m sure everyone enjoyed the break. A week before a tough race like this is a stressful one in a racers life. Trying to balance getting enough riding and training with getting the proper rest and hydration is a tough act. Every rider is different of course, some feel the need to ride their butts off before a race like Gopher Dunes, some feel they need rest.

To get some more insight into this, I spoke with 3 different riders about how they handled the break since Manitoba, and how they are preparing for the toughest race of the season. Mason Phillips, who currently sits 6^th in points has had a relaxing few weeks off. He did some wake boarding, some jet skiing, he raced in Raymond to stay sharp and of course he did some training. A rider like Mason probably needs a little rest before a race like Gopher, after all he has been riding since last November back home in New Zealand and to him, feeling fresh is important. 

Kyle Keast on the other hand told me that he has taken the last 2 weeks off work and has been riding and training hard. Kyle is sitting 5^th in points and hearing him say this is really no surprise as Keast feeds off this type of preparation. Pounding hard laps at a super rough track just days before a big race like Gopher, gives Keast the confidence he is looking for.

The third rider I spoke with was none other than our Champion, Colton Facciotti. Colton is even in a different situation than his fellow riders as he is coming off a huge crash at Round 3 in Calgary. Although he came back and amazingly won both motos the very next weekend, the kid was still hurting pretty badly. For Colton, these few weeks have consisted of rest, more healing and some more training and riding. Colton is under the guidance of famed trainer Todd Schumlick and the moment Colton got injured, the two of them came up with a recovery plan. Even though all 3 riders have prepared differently for this weekend, the one thing they could agree on is that they’re ready to go. Confidence is a wonderful thing.

So there you have it, that’s all I got for this week. I’m sure the Chiropractor is going to call my name soon, I sure hope she is anyway. Oh, one more thing, did anyone catch Josh Hansen on The Hills the last 2 weeks? He was alright, but it did prove that the show is totally scripted; I can’t see him talking like that. Either way, it was good to see some SX riding on that horrible show. See you all at the Dunes…

Thanks Chris and now this from some guy named Bigwave:

Thanks Matthes, here is some info on what I did this week!

Colton roosting the woodpile! Photo by Bill Rainford

-Drinkwater's private track just outside Delhi Ontario. All the guys said it was a very rough track but great for practice.
-riders there: #1 CF, #47 Jr rider Hayden Halstead, #143 Pro rider Eric Thiessen, #215 Intermediate rider Bobby Davies, Ryan Macfarlane showed up near the end.
-Mr Drinkwater (dammit, I THINK his name is Brent or Brett) said his grandson phoned and was 'super-pissed' to find out Colt was riding at his track. Wanted them to drive the hour to pick him up.
-as soon as Halstead drove in and saw the plain white van he said he KNEW a fast pro was there.
-Colt says his ankle is still pretty sore but that he is ready for Gopher Dunes.
-he put in a very solid 40 minute moto and then did some shorter laps on the front section so I could get some video.
-thanks to the Drinkwaters for the use of their track.
See everyone at Gopher Dunes!

Facciotti deserves a ton of credit for toughing it out in Morden. Photo by Bill Rainford

Thanks Bigwave and now here is James Lissimore with his take on life and motocross:

Finally, we are getting back to racing! After three weeks that went by too fast I'm now in SWO getting used to this humidity and excited to get back to racing. I'm typing this from Pam Moore's parent's beach front home in Long Point and I've got to give big thanks to them for all the hospitality. This place is beautiful!

First off, I have to apologize for my lack of content this week. On Monday, I went to plug my mouse into my computer, saw a big flash, and everything went black. Not good. I learned a valuable lesson about keeping everything backed up, that's for sure. I always have multiple copies of the photos I shoot but I'm a little more careless about the rest of the data on my computer and you don't realize how important that stuff is till you can't access it. No emails, word files, image catalogs, etc. In this digital age it's a major problem. Luckily for me, the local computer shop was able to fix it and in time for my Thursday flight so that was a major relief. I now will be performing regular backups on all my data.

With my computer out of commission, I was forced to pull an old desktop of mine out of storage at my dad's place that I hadn't used in 4 years or so. After getting it running I actually found some old photos I haven't seen in a long time so it was pretty cool, like an old time capsule. One folder in particular I thought I would share some shots from, they are from the BC Championship race at Kamloops in 2005. It was cool looking at some of the riders who now populate our Nationals. You never know how things are going to work out, some riders who seem like they're can't miss never make the jump while others who fly in under the radar end up being solid pro's. Then there's Dean Wilson who you knew was something special from day one....

A Yamaha mounted Brock Hoyer was a rookie in the pro class this year. I like the custom helmet lettering, where'd you get that, Home Depot?

 

This is none other that legendary Canadian racer, Al Dyck in his controversial return to racing and the Intermediate class. Al was granted an Int license that year, won both the classes at the Championship and then was DQ'd for, well, being a multi time Canadian National champion. The whole situation was a bit of a cluster.

 

This little guy on the KTM 80 now races for the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki team. Yes folks, that's Spencer Knowles! Odds are that he will probably grab at least one holeshot this weekend at Gopher Dunes.

This kid from Alberta came out to Kamloops and laid waste to the minicycle classes. I heard he still goes pretty good.

 

Even bad hair can't stop future champ, Colton Facciotti, from getting the girls.

 

Now as far as this weekend goes, I can't wait to get things going! The sand is my favorite surface to shoot and I always end up with a large portion of Gopher Dunes images in my annual “Best of” folder. Throw in the fact that the Schuster's pour their heart and soul into this event and you can't help but have a good time. The one constant at Gopher every year is the weather will be unpredictable. So far since I got in yesterday we've already had a couple thunderstorms and it looks like we may get more before the weekend is over. Luckily with the sand it just soaks it up and everyone continues on their way so it's no big deal. And boy, it will be rough this weekend. We'll find out who did their homework during the break and who lounged at the beach.

The race has been actually garnering some positive local media attention. Check out this piece that aired on a local channel about the family aspects of the sport and featuring the Allison's, Frank Schuster and Liam O'Farrell. It's great to see the race getting some solid local coverage. Heres the link: http://www.atv.ca/london/news_73192.aspx

Also, this weekend is the first round of the Eastern Women's series so I'm sure they're all chomping at the bit to race after following the activities of their Western counterparts over the past two months. It will also be the renewal of the rivalry between reigning champion, Heidi Cooke, and 2008 champion, Jackie Ross, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. I know that Heidi has been training hard with her boyfriend, MX2 points leader Tyler Medaglia, so this should be a good race.

While I was going through photos on my old computer I also found this shot of Ryan Lockhart showing how pumped he is to see Brady Sheren air out his brand new Honda, in Richmond, BC back in early 2006.

Ok, that's it for me this week. I'm going to hit send and head to the track. Can't wait!

Thanks Liss, let's turn things over to Dawn McClintock to give us an update on what's been going on at DMX this week.

Thanks Steve. It's been a busy week here at DMX as everyone prepares to get back into the swing of things for the national this weekend. There has been tons of great regional stuff going on across the country and we had a couple of contributions from the east coast and from Manitoba. We also had a great photo report from the CMRC Walton Provincial by Sean Bowker right here and it's so super to see Jay Burke back in top form after his long recovery from his big break. Angie Parker's Out of the Blue column featured preview Part 1 of the east coast women who are geared up for a good battle. You can read more about her report right here. There was a cool product introduction of emerging Canadian company called Kermaxx that designs and manufactures top of the line bike accessories and you can check them out here. Lissimore added a Privateer wallpaper section this week and he's been doing a fantastic job doing his weekly glance into a top privateer. Check out his wallpapers here.

It's also been an up and down week with a few 'complications' and unfortunately, one of those complications has wreaked havoc with our planned MX Trivia Night at Gopher Dunes this Saturday. Being a Team Canada fundraiser committee member, we each have to commit to doing some form of fundraising to help out the team and so the Trivia Night idea was born. Unfortunately, in my excitement to help the team (as has always been my priority) I didn't follow the proper channels for CMRC approval with Mark Stallybrass. With tables, chairs, prizes and plans, but without the proper approval, the Trivia Night has been cancelled, and rightfully so. I'm the first to admit it was my oversight, and my apologies to Mr Stallybrass, and the Schuster family and especially to all those who have been in Canadian-moto Jeopardy-style training. We'll hang on to the planned prizes and find a way to reschedule the fundraiser for all those who share the common goal of sending our best team to Colorado in September!

That's all we got here at DMX, good luck to everyone at Gopher Dunes and see you next week!