Five Minutes with ... Carl Bastedo
APRIL 17, 2007
By Danny Brault
MotoPark's Carl Bastedo photo: Brett Dailey
The 2007 Motocross Des Nations isn’t until September 21-23, but now is the time to start saving. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to have the Olympics of Motocross basically in our backyard, so take advantage and make the trip down to support Team Canada. The backbone of our team for the last three years, Carl Bastedo already has a coach and hotel rooms set aside for 45 fans. It’s a great deal that includes transportation to and from the event, accommodations, food and a guaranteed good time! We checked in with Bastedo to see how things are going for the Des Nations and to find out what happened to one of his MotoPark instructors, Zeb Dennis, who was seriously injured in a car accident last week.
RXC: Carl, first off, what happened with Zeb Dennis?
Carl Bastedo: He came back from Georgia because he had a Panasonic commercial. He hadn’t been back down to Georgia yet, so he was hanging out with buddies and old friends. They were out, there were three guys and two girls in the car, and the guy driving was speeding and he flipped the car into a ditch full of water. Zeb got hurt the worst; a tree hit his side. He was able to crawl out of the car and up out of the water. It’s just one of those things.
How did Zeb get involved with the Panasonic commercial?
There are a number of commercials that are done here at MotoPark. There is an agency in Toronto and they have all of our guys listed as stunt guys.
That’s definitely a good gig for Zeb—he doesn’t have any fear!
Yes, and it’s some good income for him, too. Iain Hayden got a couple as well. There’s actually a major reality show to take place this summer at MotoPark.
And that’s to do with motocross?
It’s to do with our summer camps and our whole summer, basically. The director and a couple of guys from California are coming up in here in a few days.
Onto the 2007 Motocross Des Nations. How are things coming along with your moto-coach that is heading down to Maryland?
The coach can hold 45 people and we have 17 deposits so far. I think the real interest will come in July and August; everyone will wait until the last minute. We’re quite confident; we’re going regardless, even if it’s only 17 people. We have rooms booked and a special arrangement with the promoter down there for a tour of the place. The bus will take everyone to and from the track—it will be a party bus [laughs].
Yeah, well it sounds like a great idea to help get fans down to support Team Canada.
I’m thinking of holding a Canada party on either Friday or Saturday night. I’m going to do a pre-trip down there and see what facilities are available. It might be a thing where we have a dinner and party and have the riders show up for a half hour to say hi to everyone.
With the Des Nations just across the border, it will obviously be much easier to find support, resources and equipment for Canada.
Yeah, I’ve already been offered more support than we have for the other events. There is no need to rush into anything, we’ll see how things develop and see how the riders do in the spring. Obviously we want to consider our main guys like Roy, and Morgan would be hard to turn away, as he has been Captain Canada the last few years. Then, of course, Dusty, and now Lange. He’s [Lange] always been a big supporter of the event and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him there on a 125.
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Blair Morgan is on the shortlist for `07 Team Canada candidates. |
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photo: Dawn McClintock |
Well, [laughs] no, whatever class that is. I know that Mitch [Payton] certainly supports the Des Nations and he was there in England last year. He would be happy to have rider on there and with the way Darcy’s been riding….
I never really considered Darcy a candidate because he has been shying away from the outdoors the last two years.
He was ready to go last year, except he didn’t feel like he was in good enough shape. He was going to be our 250F rider.
It’s awesome that everyone is hopping on board to support the team, but with it being so close to home, it’s not quite as important to have so much support opposed to when the race takes place overseas.
What I am trying to do is make it a two or three year deal. So it’s great that you’re helping us here, but why don’t you help us in Ireland next year or where ever it is the following year?
How many Canadian MXdN team’s have you been a part of?
I just started into it a few years ago. I was at Holland, France and Great Britain. This will be my fourth year.
Pride is a heavy factor with the Des Nations, but what else motivates you to take such a large role in getting a Canadian team to the event?
I was just always disappointed that Canada didn’t have good representation and there was no support for the event. What I wanted to do was, first, make sure we had quality riders or as good as we could put together. It’s very rare that you will get your “dream team.” But we’ve had good riders at the events who are top Canadians. I made the commitment to ensure they would have proper transportation, accommodations, pit facilities and we’ve done that every year. I always try to have their mechanics there with them; I feel that is important.
Who would be your “dream team” this fall?
Again, you do have to wait and see what happens when you start racing. A guy like Mitch Cooke could come along and blow everyone out of the water. You don’t know. But it will probably be the same old guys. Based on that, I’m looking at Dusty, JSR, Blair Morgan and Darcy Lange. We want to pick the guys by July 1st and do a Canada Day-type thing. They should have three or four nationals in by then. Then the next thing that comes into play is if they are going to get any support from their sponsors. If JSR is one of our guys, but Blackoot says we’re not providing a motorcycle or support, that might knock him out. I’m not saying that will happen, but you have to take it into consideration.
Hopefully it all works out and we do get to send out best riders. But this is motocross and you never know what can happen.
That’s right.
