Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
MAY 4, 2007

by Danny Brault

Can you believe that the Monster Energy Canadian Nationals are only four weeks away? I personally can’t wait to see the shiny new factory bikes, new numbers (although it seems weird that we won’t see the big #1 of Dusty Klatt on the line), new riders, and all of the great people involved with Canadian motocross.

Looking back at last year’s opener in Ste-Julie, I was filled with the same excitement and anticipation, yet the results looked identical from 2005: JSR and Klatt disappeared in the MX1 class and Willard and Chisholm stole the show in MX2. Now that there’s no Chisholm or Klatt (both are racing the AMA Motocross Lites), who will step up and challenge the King and KTM’s little rock star, Willard?

Some are placing bets on newcomers Paul Carpenter and Jeff Gibson, who are racing for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, while others believe Mitch Cooke and Colton Facciotti have found their missing ingredients. Then there’s the one name who keeps slipping through the cracks, but is unanimously voted for a spot on Team Canada at the MXdN: Blair Morgan.

Blair Morgan says he feels better than ever on his Blackfoot YZ450F.

photo: James Lissimore

After watching Destroyer Films’ video of Team Toyota Yamaha/ BlackfootDirect.com/ Fox Racing testing in Morden, Manitoba, I couldn’t help but notice how smooth and fast Morgan looked. The winter wasn’t too kind to Blair’s snocross results, but his health is finally in check and he’s now on the best equipment in Canada. (He basically rode a stock CRF450 with a pipe and suspension in `06.)

It seems like Morgan has ridden tentatively and cautiously the last few years, but after speaking with him yesterday, he wasn’t shy to admit that a championship—or at least some moto wins—were on his mind.

“My goal is to be top two every weekend,” says Morgan. “I’m hoping it’s going to be like the `01-02 series, where I can challenge JSR. I know JSR had a bit of an off season, not like he’s had in the past; he’s adapting to his bike a little bit. I just feel strong this year, better than ever, and my injuries feel like they are behind me.”

Morgan says he feels in better shape, mentally and physically, than he has in years—if ever—although he is a bit down at the moment—last Saturday his older brother, Grant, crashed right in front of Blair and suffered a compound fracture to his arm. Normally, Morgan doesn’t get up to speed until the second half of the series, but he wants to change that this year.

This comment from Morgan should keep that Cernics thread on Mototalk growing:

“These other guys, I’m not too sure,” he says about the new blood. “You always hear about these guys coming up. They do well in the supercross season and then they hit the outdoor tracks. I think the Americans who come up here are too confident and they think they don’t have to work hard and then they end up not doing so well.”

It’s difficult to argue with that. Craig Decker, Mike Craig, John Dowd, Keith Johnson, Mike Treadwell, Josh Woods, Gavin Gracyk, Damon Huffman, Evan Laughridge, Jason Thomas and Ping are just a few of the hired guns that have failed to dethrone JSR. (Doug Dubach is the only American to win CMRC’s MX1 title, which happened in 2000 when JSR only rode a few rounds.) Morgan thinks a team would need to bring up a big buck guy to beat the King.

“I always think that for somebody to come up and beat JSR, they would have to bring up a factory or top satellite rider, someone like Tim Ferry.”

I guess we’ll find out soon enough if anyone can beat (as Steve Matthes refers to him) the Jesus of Canada.

It was an emotional night in Seattle for the Stewart family.

photo: James Lissimore

Oh, and if anyone is looking for another MX1 rider, France’s Eric Sorby is interested in racing in Canada if the deal is right. If you’re interested, shoot me an email (dannyb@racerxcanada.com) and I will pass along Sorby’s contact info.

It appears that the Americans do have a strangle hold on the MX2 class, however. I couldn’t help but notice how fast Blackfoot’s Jimmy Nelson and Nick Evennou looked in the DF video, especially Nelson. Blackfoot's Dean Thompson said his lap times were only a second slower than Facciotti’s—and Morden definitely favours the big bike with its long straights and huge jumps.

Our Senior Shooter, James Lissimore, was snapping photos at the Blackfoot test and he passed along this note:

Well, the newly renamed Toyota Yamaha BlackfootDirect.com Fox team had their photo shoot/team test this week in Morden, Manitoba and I was fortunate enough to be tapped to provide the photography services for the team. Driving into the track Sunday evening and seeing the big blue rig and Toyota and Yamaha logos plastered everywhere was quite a change. It’s still business as usual with the Blackfoot boys, though, as everything was perfectly organized and everyone was working hard.
 
It’s really crazy seeing JSR riding a Yamaha with a big number 2 on it but he’s already looking like he’s been on it for years. Everyone on the team was ripping. Blair Morgan is healthy and looking really fast, it’s going to be good to see him come into the season healthy for the first time in a while. It was also crazy seeing Colton Facciotti on a Yamaha. Being from BC, I’ve seen Colt come up through his career on the green bikes so it’s quite the change. He looks to be adapting quickly and will no doubt be a threat at Ste-Julie.

I’d have to say after watching Jimmy Nelson that it’d be crazy to bet against him in the west. The current MX2 West champ was absolutely flying the whole time and put in multiple 30-minute motos—even several with his clutch lever removed!

Nick Evennou is the other newcomer for 2007 and definitely looks to be one of the favourites for the MX2 East title. Despite being sick, he was still turning fast laps. I’d have to say this is one of the stronger teams that Blackfoot has ever fielded; it’s going to make for a great season in all classes.

Thanks, James! (If you still haven’t decorated your desktop with James’ flawless shots from Seattle, you can do so right here.

KTM Canada’s Willard will be hard to catch in the East on his KTM 125 two-stroke. Ha, just kidding! He is already back on his 250 SXF preparing for the East/ West Shootout in Las Vegas this weekend. (Which, by the way, you can watch LIVE at 10:00 PM EST on SPEED. Go, Darcy!) But Willard did say in an interview with me on Tuesday that he wouldn’t mind testing the 125 outdoors.

Tyler Medaglia has the skills to be a contender in the MX2 East.

photo: Casondra Greene

Willard’s biggest challengers will be Evennou and Suzuki OTSFF’s Tyler Medaglia.

Blackfoot’s Evennou was probably the third or fourth fastest 250F rider in the East last year, but crashes and bike problems caused him three DNFs and dropped him back to fifth overall. The Maryland native is a long-time Yamaha rider, so he won’t require much time to get comfortable on his Blackfoot 250F.

Medaglia will be looking to build on his breakout ride at Sand Del Lee last August, where he finished third overall. Plus, he now has a bike with more than a pipe on it, great support from OTSFF and the guidance of Ron Ashley. It will be up to him to hold back the Yanks in the East.

Last weekend marked the final West Coast Lites round of the year in Seattle. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto already had the title wrapped up, so he didn’t have any pressure to win the thing, but he did anyways. Aside from James Stewart winning the 450 main and the AMA and World SX championships (surprise, surprise), the real fireworks came in the Lites class, where a fight broke out between Red Bull KTM’s Martin Davalos and Kyle Partridge and Michael Willard racing—and qualifying—on a KTM 125.

Steve Matthes saw the entire incident and he weighed in on the bout in his Observations from the Space Needle; and Partridge actually posted an apology on Mototalk.

Two champs: Michael Willard (2005 MX2 East champ) sported the Ron Lechien "Dogger" lid in Seattle while racing a KTM 125, while Dusty Klatt represents the Bull (2004 and 2005 MX2 West champ).

photo: James Lissimore

 

If you voted yes, you are correct!

Seattle also meant the return of Dusty Klatt. Even though he hadn’t ridden much SX since the series took a break back in February, Klatt posted his best finish of the year with an eighth. That’s not his best-ever supercross finish, however, as he also scored an eighth in Orlando last year with Blackfoot Honda.

I didn’t expect to see Klatt finishing 15th overall at the end of the West Coast series (he didn’t either), but scanning through his results (DNQ-19-15-17-12-11-11-8) he definitely made improvements every weekend. Allison Kennedy caught up with Dusty for an interview earlier this week.

Kennedy also checked up on BC privateer, Andrew Belin:

I caught up with Andrew Belin Thursday night as he was gearing up to ride the Nanaimo national track with Milo Christie. Belin has been working his butt off, both at his job and on the track, to get ready financiallly and physically for the nationals. He's been spending a lot of time on his 450 and he admits that, in a perfect world, he'd love to focus on just that class this summer. So far, the plan is to start his National season in Morden in the MX2 West class, and to hopefully ride the second MX1 moto each day to earn some extra points. After the Nanaimo round, he'll see where he is in the standings, and will hopefully make the trip East for Sand Del Lee and Walton in the MX1 class only. After riding the 450 all the time, Belin says his 250F feels like a pedal bike in those 25 minute motos.

Belin made the trip to Agassiz last weekend to race with Brady Sheren and Milo Christie and picked up a win in the 450 class. His goal is to better his current national number, 43. Belin also mentioned that the ultimate road-tripper, Milo Christie, may be driving the Suzuki OTSFF B team truck and trailer cross country as well as racing the entire series. If anyone knows his way around the Trans Canada highway, it's Milo. (Don't forget that padlock for Quebec!)

Jay Moore passed found two cool videos on www.vitalmx.com that feature Klatt. One features him riding SX before Seattle and the other is coverage from the Four-stroke National at Glen Helen.

Denny’s/ Holeshot Racing Kawasaki’s Brady Sheren drove down to Seattle and set the 22nd fastest lap time (just two spots behind Klatt). Sheren holeshot the LCQ, but he struggled to get comfortable on the rutted out track and slipped back to seventh. After the race, Sheren loaded up and drove three hours to Agassiz, BC for the second round of the BC Provincial series, where he took three moto wins and the overalls in the 125 and 250 Pro classes. Also up in the mix were Honda’s Andrew Belin who won the first 250 moto, Milo Christie and Lee Coutts.

This weekend marks the final round for SX in Motoleague, too. Our Production Manager, Christa McCall, has been on fire in her first year in ML--and first year following supercross! First, she (Moto Mag Girl) finished second in San Diego and then last weekend she tied for first. I accept part of the credit since she asks me every Friday who to pick. If you haven't played Motoleague, it's not too late to sign up for the AMA Outdoors or Canadian Nationals, just go to www.motoleague.com.

Let's turn this over to Steve Matthes who just returned from Greg Primm's Motocross Museum ...

Well, thanks, BFF! I got the chance to go to Primm Museum the other day thanks to Tony Berlutti (Tedesco's mechanic). I had been there a few years ago and this time around, Greg Primm really changed it up and made it more "fan friendly." It's still not open to the public, but I guess he's working on it. (When you own a town, chances are, opening a museum isn't at the top of your to-do list). 
 

The first photo is a bike that Danny Brault is a little too young to have raced, but he surely would have chosen this pink beauty. Primm has a whole bunch of weirdo bikes that are brand new. This is an Italian-made TM. They are still around and from all accounts, make pretty good go-kart motors. I am not sure what happened with this model, maybe the designers got drunk on some swish and decided to make the plastic day-glo pink. If you look closely, you can see it's a mish-mash of Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. They had no problems "borrowing" ideas and I don't remember MXA ever testing this thing, but I would have loved to have read how it worked at REM track. Check out the cool kick-stand and the stinger on the silencer. They do get bonus points for the billett rear brake pedal.

The second gem is a photo of the 1983 USGP at Unadilla. Number 31 is none other then the man, the myth and the legend, Ross "Rollerball" Pederson. I believe he went 4-7 or something for sixth or seventh overall. [Ed. note: 6-5 actually, see Dailey's notes below.] Primm has this first turn shot blown up with like 15 guys charging into the corner, and Ross is, without a doubt, the dorkiest looking rider of the bunch! Nice Cooperalls, Ross! Although, he was ahead of the times with his over-the-boots pants. His style is, of course, impeccable. The next rider, #2, is none other than World Champ Georges Jobe. I can practically hear all the maritimers yelling "YES!" and pumping their fists over and over at the sight of Mitchell Cooke's mentor. Hey, guys, turn down the Kim Mitchell and imagine if your guy, Mitch, had that cool JT gear and elbows up style. Jobe looks really good and I am sure that, as we speak, he has Mitch running sand hills in his boots.

photos: Steve Matthes

 

Thanks for the photos, Steve! 

Mitch Cooke is the racing Italy GP this weekend.

photo courtesy of 2cmx

 

We finally found out the big news on Mitch Cooke: he’s racing two FIM World Motocross Championships. The Suzuki OTSFF rider made his way over to Belgium for two nationals, and this weekend he will race the World GP in Italy. Our far east correspondent, JF Trottier, who put together the great Dubai feature on Cooke in the May issue, sent us this update:
 
Just one month before the start of the Canadian Nationals, Mitch Cooke and his new training mentor, five-time World MX Champion, Georges Jobe, have decided that a few races across the Atlantic Ocean would represent the perfect opportunity to prepare Mitch for the Canadian National series and also introduce him to European motocross racing.

George Jobe has lined up an impressive series of races that will be for Mitch, in Jobe’s words, “A real eye opener.” On the menu, a total of four International races over a two-week period. According to Jobe, there is no question that the experience Mitch will gain in Europe will be a tremendous asset if Mitch is in the line-up to represent Canada at the Motocross Des Nations in September.

I spoke to Mitch a couple of days after he landed in Belgium as he was actually just returning from the practice track where he rubbed elbows with motocross legends Stefan Everts, Kevin Strijbos, Tyla Rattray, and many more. Mitch was really impressed by the number of fast riders at the track. He used his first day at the track with Jobe to make adjustments to his RM-Z450’s stock suspension. For his two first Belgium Championship races, Mitch rode a stock RM-Z450 with stock suspension, but for the two World GP races, Mitch’s Pro Action Suspension will be waiting for him when he lands in Italy.

Mitch’s arrival in Belgium caused somewhat of a little media frenzy. Given Jobe’s credibility, it was clear that people would be curious to learn about this Canuck Jobe hand picked from a sea of hopeful riders. According to Jobe, everybody already knows Mitch in Belgium. Transcripts from interviews refer to “Machine Gun” Cooke as the latest addition to the International GP scene. Right from the start, Jobe has been very clear with Mitch and the media that he had no big expectations regarding this introduction to racing in Europe. However, Jobe admitted to me it’s clear that Mitch is under pressure because he does not know the riders, or the tracks and also because he does not want to disappoint his new mentor.

Mitch’s first bite at European MX racing took place last weekend at the Moerbeke, Belgium National Championships. Considering that in the current World Motocross GP Championship series, three of the top five riders in the rankings are Belgians (Steve Ramon, Ken De Dijcker and Kevin Strijbos), there is no question that participation in the National Belgian Championships should offer Mitch a serious challenge.

If you venture on the mylaps.com website and select the April 29th Moerbeke race, you will not only be able to view the results of the timed practice and the three 20-minutes motos, you can also track Mitch’s races by having a look at the lap charts. I spoke to Mitch the day after his race and despite his obvious disappointment because of his 18th, 25th and 22nd place finishes out of 48 riders at the gate, Mitch said that he was trying to take it all positively and learn from this experience. Keep in mind that Mitch was riding a stock bike against riders equipped with some of the finest tuned bikes in the world.

“Jobe says this was definitely an eye opener for me and a little blow to my ego,” said Cooke. “I can, without any hesitation, say that this was the toughest track I have ever ridden in my career and compared to this, our most difficult tracks on the Canadian circuit look like a highway. Now I understand what Georges was talking about. Man, I nearly killed myself in every moto, I was really on the edge and never really felt like myself. I was also too tense and I was struggling with my stock suspension. However, Georges tells me that the next race in Tongeren has a circuit that is closer to what we have in Canada, not as easy, but closer.”

On May 1st, I caught Mitch and Georges Jobe by phone immediately following Mitch’s last moto of the International Championship race in Tongeren. By the sound of Mitch’s voice, I immediately knew that he was relieved to have finally broken into the top 10 with a sixth place finish in the second moto.

Regarding Mitch’s second race, Jobe had the following comments:

“Mitch actually had a terrible first moto. He is visibly very nervous and I barely recognized his riding style and attitude. He made a lot of mistakes and crashed as well. We had a serious talk after moto one and Mitch made significant changes to the way he rode in moto two. His lap times were extremely consistent but Mitch has to learn not to be such a gentleman on the track. This is Europe and the riders have no mercy. He was actually shoved aside a few times during this race and he would have placed even better with a more aggressive style.

“Despite this very promising result, Mitch is still nervous and has to shake this down. Based on what I have seen from him in the past, he is currently riding at 70 percent of his potential.”

By the time you read this, Mitch will be on his way to Italy to race his first GP. Qualifications take place on Saturday and the results can be followed at
www.motocrossmx1.com and www.mylaps.com. It is also possible to purchase live coverage of the races at http://moto.mediazone.com/.

I will have the opportunity to see Mitch in action this weekend in Italy and will cover the race for Racer X Canada. What should we expect from Mitch this
weekend and next week in Germany? To be realistic, given that it will be his first GP experience and that he is riding a stock bike, just qualifying would be a major accomplishment. Do you know how many GP points current World GP leader Josh Coppins gathered during his first GP season? Mitch said none!

GO Mitch GO!

JF

Our Canadian moto-historian, Brett Dailey, did some digging to find out if a Canadian has, in fact, raced or qualified for a GP in Europe.

There is an excellent debate going on over at www.mxforum.com regarding Mitch Cooke’s GP debut this weekend in Italy and whether another Canadian has ever raced GPs in Europe. Of course, Ross Pederson put in some record results at North American GPs in the U.S. and Canada but it looks like Oshawa, Ontario’s Mike Harnden is the only Canadian to go overseas and race GPs.

Mike chose to do his off-season training in Europe rather than the typical Florida and California destinations and it gave him the opportunity to race in several countries and rub shoulder pads with some of the greatest names in the history of the sport. During the years 1983 through 1985, Mike raced a total of 16 GPs and qualified for 14. Qualifications were done the same way as today with timed practice paring the field down to the top 40 riders.

As Mike says, “The GP riders are very good at timed practice and they will cruise around and check out lines for many laps and then blast off one blistering lap to qualify.”

Harnden’s best GP finish came in North America at the Unadilla GP in 1983 where he finished 13-15. It was an epic race where his countryman, Ross Pederson, finished 6-5 and Ross had the leaders in his sights for 40 minutes plus two laps.

Mike Harnden (35) trails Brian Myerscough at the 1983 Unadilla GP. Harnden finished 13-15. photo: Frank Kuhn

“Even after 40 minutes, Ross was jumping into the Screw U and the leaders were jumping out on the other side,” recalls Harnden. “He was that close to winning after 40 minutes.” Mike says he ran in eighth or ninth in the first moto until the 30-minute mark, but fatigue set in and he was pushed back to 13th.

There’s some GP history to get you excited about tracking Mitch Cooke’s results this weekend in Italy!

Thanks for the history lesson, Dailey. If you have more Canadian GP history to add, please email me at dannyb@racerxcanada.com and I’ll include it next week.

Cooke’s Suzuki OTSFF teammate and fellow Maritimer, Ryan Lockhart, is back on the bike after breaking his collarbone back in March at the GPF. The Newf spent a week and half in Calgary working with Drew at Evolved Nutrition, then went home for a few days and drove out to Shelburne, Ontario with his younger brother, Brad. The two Newfs spent some time chasing Chris Pomeroy on their road bikes and got in some time on the Gopher Dunes track. They are returning to Nova Scotia this weekend for a local race at the River Glade track.

“It was actually nice to have some time off,” says Lockhart. “I mean, it sucks breaking my collarbone, but I feel more energized now and I’m really happy to be back on the bike.”

Landon King's field of dreams in Alberta.

photo courtesy of Jess Foster

 

Blackfoot Suzuki rider, Jess Foster, had the opportunity to ride one of Canada’s coolest new tracks in Alberta. Landon King, who used to groom the Wild Rose track, bought some land in Alberta and Foster says it will become something like the MTF. Check out the photos below—talk about old school!

Foster also sent through this cool link--www.mxbikers.com--that covers the sport in Alberta.

That’s all for this week. See you at the races!