If you’re a fan of Canadian Motocross then the place to be over the weekend was Gopher Dunes in the small village of Courtland, Ontario, about an hour east of the 400K city of London.
As we inch closer and closer to the start of the 2020 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Tour MX Nationals, riders from across the country and south of the border have migrated to the southwestern Ontario region to get themselves ready.
While the American riders who’ve crossed into Canada are all doing their 14-day self-isolation, riders from all parts of our country were behind the gate to see where they stack up as we head into Round 1, the toughest race of the year.
For the Americans, this season, although condensed, is more of a commitment than in years past. They won’t have the luxury of heading to the airport every Sunday night to fly home to the comfort of their own homes and regular training schedules. Because of COVID-19, they will be here in Canada for the entire series. Criss-crossing back and forth won’t be an option for them.
It would have been nice to have seen some of the top riders from the USA lined up in the sand but that would have meant they needed to be in Canada 14 days before yesterday. That wasn’t an option any of them we willing to take.
It also seems like riders have been given mixed stories and instructions when they did cross into Canada. From what I’ve heard, they were all told they didn’t actually need to quarantine themselves for two weeks because they were here to compete. Fortunately, none of them took this to mean they could race right away, so we didn’t see any riders fresh from the petri dish of coronavirus below us. The last thing we need it for someone to complain, throw a microscope on these local races and get us shut down for the summer, ending our hopes of a series at all.
Hoops, folks, we’re jumping through the necessary hops that will allow us to get a 2020 season in. Follow the rules, no matter what your opinion on the virus is. I had someone come up to me and ask if I even knew anyone who has had the virus, implying that this was, in fact, some sort of wild conspiracy. The answer is yes. Yes, I know someone who has had it, and it was capital U Ugly.
Jump through the hoops and wear a mask in the starting area! You do not want to be the one who gets racing shut down.
Don’t worry, everyone, Derek Schuster has managed to find more sand for the track!
Derek Schuster and the gang have begun digging the front pond deeper to hold even more water to get them through these dry summer months. With this added capacity, there shouldn’t be any worry of running dry in years to come. And the added benefit is he can add some more sand to some of those awful terrible spots on the track! Wink, Wink.
I tried to talk him into starting some sort of beach volleyball league or something, but I don’t think that one ended up anywhere near the top of his list of priorities.
There are too many stories to tell for this Monday Morning Coffee column, so I won’t even try. I shot photos early in the day and then switched over to video for second motos. Actually, I shot video of both Cash Class motos, so we’ll have a full recap of those as soon as I can get to them.
OK, that should have gotten you through a cup of coffee. Now, I’ll start working on the video recaps etc. for this afternoon.
Have a great week, and we’ll see you at the “Mini National” at Walton Raceway this coming weekend for Round 4 of the AMO Ontario Canadian Provincial Championships.
Mike Parliament says, “I hate you sand!” And then, “No wait, I love you sand!” And then, “See you at the races…“
Overall
01 MarMXGP of Great Britain Matterley Basin
08 MarMXGP of The Netherlands Valkenswaard
09 AugMXGP of Latvia Kegums
06 SepMXGP of Turkey Afyonkarahisar
16 SepMXGP of Italy Faenza
11 OctMXGP of Spain intu Xanadú – Arroyomolinos
18 OctMonster Energy MXGP of Flanders (BEL) Lommel
22 NovMXGP of Patagonia Argentina Neuquen
TBAMXGP of Portugal Agueda
TBAMXGP of Russia Orlyonok
