By Danny Brault

Photos by Allison Kennedy and Jason T. Griffiths

Every motocross fan has reason to be excited for the opening round of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim this weekend but, for Canadians, there is more than just the Carmichael, Stewart and Reed drama to lose sleep over.

Darcy Lange

After taking home two U.S. Arenacross titles, Richmond Racing Team Green Kawasaki’s Darcy Lange will take a run at the West Supercross Lites series in 2006. While Lange has raced a handful of supercrosses in the past, he never really put in the preparation required to be a factor. After taking the summer off to allow his injuries to heal, Lange spent his weekends in the fall battling with Marco Dubé, Ryan Lockhart, Colton Facciotti and Kyle Beaton in the Canadian Arenacross Championships and his weekdays testing and training for supercross in California. It paid off. At the second round of the WSXGP series in Vancouver, Lange went on to beat Josh Hansen, Jake Weimer and Ryan Morais to finish sixth in the Lites main event. Despite his strong performance in Vancouver, the true test will come when Lange lines up with a much deeper talent pool at Angel Stadium this Saturday.

Doug DeHaan

A long-time follower of the AMA Supercross Series, Doug DeHaan will embark on his second season with the Butler Brothers team. Despite lack of seat time on his CRF450R last year, DeHaan finished 17^th at Indianapolis and Pontiac and picked up the Wonder Warthog Most Improved Privateer Award at the Pontiac round. After spending time training on supercross tracks in the fall, and becoming more accustomed to the four-stroke in supercross conditions, DeHaan will be aiming for top 15 results in the Supercross class.

Colton Facciotti

Colton Facciotti is riding a wave of momentum. Following his victory in the 125 class at the Montreal SX, his wins in the Canadian AX Championships, and his wins overseas at Sheffield and Cardiff in the 250 class (he also finished second between Mike and Jeff Alessi in the 125 class at Cardiff), the 17-year-old BC phenom hopes to ride this success through the West Supercross Lites Series. His only supercross experience came at the Vancouver WSXGP in December and, although Facciotti showed speed to finish well within the top 10, an early crash in a rhythm section put him back to 16^th. Facciotti will share many of the same sponsors as Lange, but will pit out of a box van with his mechanic.

Marco Dubé

Like DeHaan, Marco Dubé has spent many winters following the AMA Supercross Series. For 2006, Dubé has made an agreement with the Yamaha of Troy team to race the West Supercross Lites. In exchange for testing YOT bikes, Dubé will be given a bike to race and a spot under the team’s awning. After finishing second place in the 125 class at the Montreal SX, taking a win in the first 125 main in the Canadian AX Championships at Toronto and spending time in California testing for YOT, Dubé should be well prepared for A1. Watch for #241 in the Lites class.

Be sure to check out the live webcast of A1 on http://www.supercross.cc.com/ and watch the next day television coverage of the Supercross class on CBS at 12:30 p.m. The Lites class will be televised January 14 on SPEED at 6 p.m.