By Billy Rainford

A Monday at home…I don’t know what to do with myself! Let’s start this Monday Morning Coffee out with a look at how our two Canadians racing the Houston Supercross did Saturday night. Emily has headed out for some kick boxing with the lady across the street for the first time. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that I mentioned that in my first paragraph this morning. Haha.

Cole Thompson. | Bigwave photo

#83 Cole Thompson lined up at NRG Stadium in the 450 class on his Team Solitaire Heartbeat Hot Sauce Yamaha 250. He drove from the last round in the West to stay with Chloe’s family near Decatur, TX and headed down to Houston to race the 450 class.

I think I speak for all of us when I say I’d like to see what he can do in a full 450 SX series on a 450. Cole rides the big bike so smoothly and effortlessly that he would do very well in a full season against the best in the world.

He actually qualified 20th this weekend which is the same position he did at the first 2 rounds of 250 West. He was under-powered off the starts, of course, but looked good out there and finished 11th in Heat 1. He had to fight his way forward, made a couple passes, but was headed to the LCQ.

Guillaume St Cyr. | Bigwave photo

#551 Guillaume St Cyr hit his first round of the 2023 season on his KTM 350. ‘Guac’ kept things interesting and tense and qualified 39th to head to the night show.

He was in 450 Heat 2 and found himself at the back of the pack early in this one. He crossed the line in 17th and was also headed for the LCQ.

In the Last Chance Qualifier, both Canadians found themselves outside the top 15 early and were in tough to make it to the Main at this round. CT was 15th on lap 1 and GSC was 17th.

Cole sliced through the pack quite well and ended up 6th at the flag (top 4 move to the Main). Guillaume would finish this one in 18th place.

We’ve got a podcast interview scheduled with Guillaume for today, so we’ll get all the details on how his first race of the season went for the rider from Quebec.

Kade Walker Wins NGPC Pro 2 Round 2 in California

Round 2 of the 2023 NGPC Enduro Series was held in Taft, California. over the weekend. Canadian Kade Walker took top spot in the Pro 2 class.

Place Rider# AMA# NGPC# Rider Name Sponsors Brand Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 Lap 7 Lap 8 Lap 9 Lap 10
1 331 5113719   KADE TINKLER-WALKER   BET 0:09:58 (7) 0:19:52 (7) 0:29:40 (6) 0:39:32 (5) 0:49:39 (7) 0:59:31 (2) 1:09:24 (1) 1:19:23 (1) 1:29:27 (1) 1:39:35 (1)
2 526 716121   COLTON AECK 3 BROS, HATCH RACING, KTM KTM 0:09:55 (6) 0:19:46 (6) 0:29:41 (7) 0:39:37 (7) 0:49:36 (5) 0:59:45 (6) 1:09:45 (5) 1:19:41 (4) 1:29:43 (2) 1:39:45 (2)
3 17 5007525   JACK SIMPSON SLR HONDA HON 0:09:51 (4) 0:19:37 (2) 0:29:31 (1) 0:39:25 (1) 0:49:23 (1) 0:59:43 (5) 1:09:46 (6) 1:19:45 (5) 1:29:45 (3) 1:39:46 (3)
4 192 2897265   JP ALVAREZ RPM KTM KTM 0:09:43 (1) 0:19:35 (1) 0:29:33 (2) 0:39:27 (2) 0:49:23 (2) 0:59:20 (1) 1:09:29 (2) 1:19:30 (2) 1:29:47 (4) 1:39:55 (4)
5 39 2120441   Cole Zeller GAINSLINGER FACTORY RACING/MX COACH KAW 0:09:49 (3) 0:19:39 (4) 0:29:37 (4) 0:39:31 (4) 0:49:28 (4) 0:59:39 (4) 1:09:37 (4) 1:19:39 (3) 1:29:50 (5) 1:39:56 (5)
6 31 3982454   KAI AIELLO 3 BROS, KILMARTIN RACING HQV 0:09:47 (2) 0:19:39 (3) 0:29:34 (3) 0:39:29 (3) 0:49:25 (3) 0:59:35 (3) 1:09:35 (3) 1:19:46 (6) 1:29:52 (6) 1:40:07 (6)
7 313 2021201   COLLIER MARTINEZ   HON 0:09:54 (5) 0:19:41 (5) 0:29:39 (5) 0:39:34 (6) 0:49:38 (6) 1:00:00 (7) 1:10:01 (7) 1:20:05 (7) 1:30:15 (7) 1:40:42 (7)
8 172 2268148   THOMAS DUNN Purvines Racing YAM 0:10:01 (8) 0:19:59 (8) 0:29:56 (8) 0:39:55 (8) 0:50:11 (8) 1:00:08 (8) 1:10:14 (8) 1:20:19 (8) 1:30:42 (8) 1:41:02 (8)
9 151 890146   CLAY HENGEVELD Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki YAM 0:10:07 (9) 0:20:14 (10) 0:30:20 (9) 0:40:31 (9) 0:51:04 (9) 1:01:21 (9) 1:11:47 (9) 1:22:22 (9) 1:32:58 (9) 1:43:36 (9)
10 304 890164   PRESTON CAMPBELL JCR/Honda, Fly, Maxxis,VP Racing, JLRay, MP HON 0:10:19 (12) 0:20:32 (12) 0:30:49 (12) 0:41:01 (11) 0:51:32 (10) 1:01:59 (10) 1:12:36 (10) 1:23:29 (10) 1:34:27 (10) 1:45:23 (10)

Pro 1 Results (some familiar names):

Place Rider# AMA# NGPC# Rider Name Sponsors Brand Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 Lap 7 Lap 8 Lap 9 Lap 10
1 1 817639   DANTE OLIVEIRA   KTM 0:09:08 (4) 0:18:42 (4) 0:28:11 (1) 0:37:46 (1) 0:47:29 (1) 0:57:21 (1) 1:07:06 (1) 1:16:50 (1) 1:26:38 (1) 1:36:30 (1)
2 77 0733322   RYAN SURRATT JCR,FLY RACING,VP FUEL,JLRAY HON 0:09:17 (7) 0:18:49 (6) 0:28:24 (5) 0:38:01 (4) 0:47:51 (4) 0:57:30 (2) 1:07:11 (2) 1:16:56 (2) 1:26:45 (2) 1:36:36 (2)
3 34 784576   COLE MARTINEZ MONSTER ENRGY,HONDA,FLY,LAVA PROPANE,SKECHERS,SHOW HON 0:09:26 (11) 0:19:02 (10) 0:28:46 (9) 0:38:24 (8) 0:48:15 (7) 0:57:57 (6) 1:07:35 (4) 1:17:16 (4) 1:26:58 (3) 1:36:49 (3)
4 27 1075235   JUSTIN HOEFT PURVINES,JET WORLD–FAST HOUSE YAM 0:09:01 (1) 0:18:36 (1) 0:28:24 (4) 0:37:59 (3) 0:47:39 (2) 0:57:31 (3) 1:07:20 (3) 1:17:08 (3) 1:27:14 (4) 1:37:18 (4)
5 50 275869   AUSTIN WALTON Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing HQV 0:09:19 (8) 0:19:00 (9) 0:28:40 (8) 0:38:20 (7) 0:47:56 (5) 0:58:00 (7) 1:07:55 (6) 1:17:46 (6) 1:27:33 (5) 1:37:27 (5)
6 831 826102   MATEO OLIVEIRA FMF RPM KTM Racing Team, Dunlop KTM 0:09:06 (3) 0:18:42 (3) 0:28:19 (3) 0:37:56 (2) 0:47:43 (3) 0:57:43 (5) 1:07:38 (5) 1:17:36 (5) 1:27:51 (6) 1:38:43 (6)
7 46 1076375   DALTON SHIREY 3 BROS,HATCH RACING,ZIPTY RACING, HUSQ HQV 0:09:15 (5) 0:18:57 (7) 0:28:46 (10) 0:38:44 (9) 0:48:41 (8) 0:58:52 (8) 1:08:52 (8) 1:18:56 (7) 1:29:04 (7) 1:39:11 (7)
8 18 3474057   GIACOMO REDONDI 3 BROS,HATCH, GAS GAS RACING TEAM GG 0:09:38 (12) 0:19:24 (12) 0:29:18 (12) 0:39:18 (11) 0:49:17 (10) 0:59:33 (9) 1:09:32 (9) 1:19:26 (9) 1:29:24 (8) 1:39:18 (8)
9 24 884636   TYLER LYNN CHAPARRAL MOTORSPORT,PRECISION CONCENTS, KAWASAKI KAW 0:09:24 (10) 0:19:15 (11) 0:29:08 (11) 0:39:07 (10) 0:49:10 (9) 0:59:45 (10) 1:09:38 (10) 1:19:34 (10) 1:29:56 (9) 1:40:26 (9)
10 259 2813018   TALLON LA FOUNTAINE MONSTER ENRGY,HONDA,FLY,LAVA PROPANE,SKECHERS,SHOW HON 0:09:15 (6) 0:18:48 (5) 0:28:26 (6) 0:38:05 (5) 0:47:57 (6) 0:57:32 (4) 1:08:27 (7) 1:19:15 (8) 1:30:25 (10) 1:42:02 (10)
11 100 2008759   ZACH BELL Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Kawasaki KAW 0:09:03 (2) 0:18:39 (2) 0:28:15 (2) 0:38:11 (6) 0:50:36 (11) 1:01:06 (11) 1:12:10 (11) 1:23:12 (11) 1:36:41 (11)  

Shelby Turner 5th at US Sprint Enduro Round 1

Round 1 of the 2023 US Sprint Enduro Series was held back on January 28-29 at SOBMX in South Carolina.

From https://ussprintenduro.com/round-1-sobmx-2023-race-report/ :

The Women’s Pro class, Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Kori Steede split day wins with
AmPro Yamaha’s Rachel Archer, with Steede taking the overall win by 11 seconds over
Archer at the end of the two-day event after a 1-2 performance.
“Saturday, I had a really solid day,” said Steede. “I ended up winning the day by 25
seconds. But then the track started to get a little rough on Sunday. I made a few
adjustments to my suspension during the day and I ended up winning the last cross
test. Then in the enduro test, I was feeling really good but I made a couple mistakes and
Rachel ended up grabbing it. But I’m pretty pumped to start the season like this.”
Engineering/Fly Racing KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker finished third, with Rachel Gutish and
FLY Racing/KTM’s Shelby Turner rounding out the top five.

Round 2 is February 11-12 in Hephzibah, Georgia.

Nitro Rallycross Takes Over Calgary

How about Calgary showing up and selling out the place for the Nitro Rallycross over the weekend?! I’m sure Travis Pastrana was the big draw with his Ken Block tribute car. They were racing electrics so the sound isn’t what you’re expecting. You can watch the full finals live stream here and fast forward to whatever you want to watch.

2023 Houston Supercross Results and Points

Next round: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida – Feb 11

Rumours of Max Anstie being Protested after Houston SX

If you’ve been anywhere near social media the past 24 hours or so, you’ve heard the rumour that Max Anstie was protested for potentially running an illegal engine in his bike when he finished 2nd in the 250 East Main. Well, it turns out to be a false claim. Michael Lindsay over at Vital MX said this on his forum:

“There was no protest lodged against Anstie or Firepower Honda. I just checked with AMA officials. They also never heard anything about a potential protest until they saw it floating around on social media today.

“However, Anstie’s team did get a warning for not directly bringing the bike to impound after the race (I think HRC got the same warning for Hunter’s bike).“

Haters can say there’s still a chance it was an illegal engine, I guess…

OK, it’s time for a chat with Guillaume, so we’ll tip this cup up and get the last few drops and say have a great week.

Joe Butas says, “See you at the races…“