Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
MAY 11, 2007

By Danny Brault

Last weekend the Amp’d Mobile AMA/ World Supercross Series wrapped up at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. For most of the riders, they will now look towards the prequel at Glen Helen this weekend and the AMA Nationals. For others, like Chad Reed and Josh Hansen, they will begin their summer vacation, race some supermoto and hopefully get a haircut, while the unemployed are hunting for job opportunities north of the border.

In the last two weeks, a handful of American riders have submitted their resumes to anyone willing to look at them.

The first name that popped up was former Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Eric Sorby. After racing the Montreal SX for Morgan Racing Yamaha last fall, Sorby made contacts in Canada and nearly had a deal lined up to race a Yamaha in the MX2 East series. He even told Steve Matthes that the deal was done, he was coming to Canada to visit the other France, known as Quebec. But within twelve hours, his mind changed when Monster Kawasaki’s James Stewart offered Sorby a position as his man friend down in  Haines City, Florida. I guess that old saying is wrong; you can buy friendship.

Darcy Lange finished ninth at the East/ West Shootout in Las Vegas.

photo: James Lissimore

“It seems that James wants a buddy to ride and train with,” said Matthes on Sorby’s deal, “and the amount of money to hang out in Florida is more than what Eric would have made up north. Must be nice, huh?”

It is ahhh nice, Steven! Had Sorby found a deal with Suzuki, that Stewart friendship-deal might not have been so nice.

After racing a privateer Honda CRF250 in the Western Region Lites series, Kyle Partridge rang up Two Wheel Motorsport’s Ron Ashley to race the MX2 West series on a Suzuki. With Suzuki OTSFF’s resources tapped out, Ashley says it will be his own bank account and a western dealer to make Partridge’s dream of racing in Canada a reality.

It might even come down to Partridge, who finished 14th overall in the West (one spot ahead of Dusty Klatt) with three top tens, to pay his own airfare to each round. That’s not really a bad deal, considering the contingency offered by Suzuki.

Did you know that Suzuki pays $4,000 per MX2 overall and $15,000 for the championship? So that means, if Kyle won every overall and the title, he would bring home a cool $31,000! Go to www.suzuki.ca for a complete listing of the Suzuki pay out; it’s pretty impressive.

Ashley says it’s not for sure yet, there are still some details to work out, but he would really like Partridge to be running the Two Wheel logo out west.

Then there’s little Dennis Jonon who made four Lites main events on the West Coast; he too is interested in racing in Canada. It says in the note from his agent, Danny Rubio, that Dennis would bring podium finishes for any team. Hear that Gas Gas!

Contact Rubio at (818) 739-1375 or shoot him an email at motoxmanager@yahoo.com if you have any job openings for Dennis Jonon.

Michael Willard is racing the prequel at Glen Helen this weekend.

photo: James Lissimore

I have an idea for Americans looking to race in Canada: buy a bike. If you’re confident enough to finish on the podium or win a championship, you will make money—especially if you’re on a Suzuki. And just think how much coverage you’ll get pulling into the races in a pickup truck, wrenching on your own bikes and then kicking ass. Obviously it would make for one long, tough summer, but I’m sure it would pay off when Blackfoot, OTSFF or KTM come knocking in `08. Also, remember that Richmond Kawasaki hired Gray Davenport after the first Western round in Nanaimo, BC and he pitted out of the big rig for the rest of the series. Speaking of Davenport, he's looking for an opportunity in Canada as well...

Consider Mitch Cooke in 2004. He raced out of his own pocket, in the back of a bread van and earned a ride with Blackfoot Honda just for leading an MX1 moto. It can be done.

Here’s a heartwarming story for you: a fellow named William Young from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia called here last week to inform me of a letter his son, Cody, sent to Dusty Klatt back in February. After flipping through Allison Kennedy’s feature on Klatt in the January RXC one hundred times (one with Dusty BMXing in the woods called “North Star”), the clever kid found Klatt’s mailing address.

“He was looking at one of the pictures of Dusty’s house and he could see the house number,” said William. “Then he said, ‘Hey, dad, it says Surfside drive!’ He pieced it all together and sent Dusty a letter. Sure enough, Dusty replied, and Cody couldn’t believe it. Dusty sent him a Star Racing jersey, an autographed poster and a hand written letter, which was really cool.”

In Dusty’s reply, he told Cody that it was the first letter he’s ever received and for Cody to work on his corners, because that’s where you win races. Aww, Dusty.

The Monster Energy/ Cernic's Kawasaki bikes.

The riders: Tucker Hibbert (MX2 West), Jeff Gibson and Paul Carpenter.

photo: Kelly Zawyrucha

 There was a Jolene spotting over on Racerhead today, check it out here.

It looks like Jolene Van Vugt is having fun!

photo: Matt Ware

 

 

The Quebec Arenacross Series began last weekend in Victoriaville. These races are usually pretty full of orange, but Eric Nye and Tommy Lemieux were the only contenders in the pro classes on KTMs in Victoriaville. Nye, who is racing the MX2 West, won the MX2 and Open Pro classes, while Brady Sheren took second in 125 and Lemieux was second in the Open class. Other fast guys included Marc-Antoine Generoux, Carl Normand, Kaven Benoit, Jean-Yves Allard, and Atlantic rider Johnny Montes. For full results go to www.cmrcquebec.com.

This weekend’s round takes place in Riviere Du Loup. Michael Willard was originally planning to race the event, but he decided he would rather get more than three hours of sleep and race the prequel at Glen Helen. His teammates, Matt Barnes and Mason Phillips, will be in RDL, though.

From what Andy White tells me, Tim Tremblay is really moving on his KTM250 SXF. White says Willard better be on his toes, because Tremblay is putting in the hours and has Andy running for parts everyday. You can check out some photos of Tremblay and Phillips practicing at Ste-Julie on www.mxforum.com.

Darcy Lange had one final chance for that elusive SX Lites win last weekend at the Davey Coombs Sr. East/ West Shootout in Vegas. It escaped him, though—and all of the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders. First, the East Coast champ Ben Townley lost his chain, then West Coast champ Ryan Villopoto suffered a rear brake problem and Gosselaar and Lange could only muster a seventh and ninth.

Lange will now chill out on the lake, count his money and wait for Team Canada to be named for the Des Nations.

It looks like little Poto will run big #1 outdoors.

photo: James Lissimore

The entire race was broadcast live on Speed, but I never watched one minute of it. The first Ontario Provincial was that weekend, and I think sleeping was more important for me than watching Bubba win again.

It’s too bad they didn’t televise the provincial; there was some good racing at Gopher Dunes. Trever Hall, Chuck Mesley, Jason Burke, Adam Deakon, Tyler Medaglia, Ryan Blizzard, Marty Burr, Johnny Silegren, Scotty Maidman, Kenny Clark and several others were on the line in the pro classes, which made it feel like a prequel to the nationals what with all of the national numbers on the line.

Go to our provincials.racerxcanada.com for a race report and photos from Gopher. Check back regularly for updates from regional racing across Canada. A big kudos to Lindsey Peters who redesigned our cover on the provincials. Good job, Lindsey!

Ryan Gauld was cheering for his MX Mechanics team all weekend from the sidelines. Gauldy wasn’t racing because he had to have his wrist re-broken. Ouch! If you want to make yourself puke, just ask Gauldy about the horror show he had to endure. It’s too early to tell, but the MX Mechanics Yamaha rider thinks he will miss the Ste-Julie and Gopher Dunes nationals.

I was standing beside Rob McCullough on the Plus 40 line at Gopher when this dude on a CR500 was warning everyone that if he pulled the holeshot, he wouldn’t do any of the jumps. I couldn’t help but chuckle that this old man even thought he would pull the holeshot on his `96 CR500. I stopped laughing after Gauldy pointed out that it was Kenny Bland and the #213 Honda finished third. I spoke to John Nelson this week and he says everyone has been calling the shop, asking for a 500. Even McCullough is thinking of buying one … “Wait for me, Kenny! Wait for me!”

Frank Schuster is making some big changes to the Dunes’ track for the national. After last year’s pileup in the first MX2 moto (that took out Cooke and Tremblay), he’s been searching for a safer and more exciting start. His plan is to move the start to the back section along the woods and use the big left-handed bowl corner as the first turn.

I wasn’t so pumped on this idea initially because it would be so far from the spectators and pro pits, but Frank says he will move the rigs over to the west end of the pits and allow fans access to the west side of the track. He’s also going to add in a long straight and 180 turn in the section where the old start used to be (like what they did for the `05 Gopher provincial).

Adam Deakon and I are two good guys.

photo: Rob "Wait for me, Kenny" McCullough

Label It Honda’s Adam Deakon, Rob McCullough and I drove down to the Area 51 motocross track on Wednesday night in New York. It was the first time I had been to the facility and, I must say, I was impressed. The track is situated on a big hill, with tons of elevation changes. It was groomed and watered, and it’s littered with challenging but safe jumps—no huge gaps or stadium whoops.

Deakon is looking really fast right now. It’s obvious in his riding style that he’s paying attention to Colleen Millsaps' teachings. I don’t think he’s listening to Colleen’s suck-it-up mentality however—he never shut up about how slow his practice bike was! I’m still not sure if Deakon wants to be a professional motocrosser or a rock star (he says you can be both), but he’s a good kid who likes to laugh.

Fast B rider Sunny Drake was out on his KX450 and Honda supported Brandon Mays was ripping it up on his CRF150. I really don’t want to admit this, but Mays did pass me. It’s always a little disheartening getting beat by a kid that probably doesn’t understand why photos of Pamela Anderson make him feel warm and fuzzy inside, but he did win the 85cc 12-13 Mod class at Lake Whitney, in my defense.

It looks like Canada will have three Amateur National Championships this year. Along with the WCAN in Raymond, Alberta and the Walton TransCan, MX101 and CMRC Quebec will host a two-day Eastern Amateur National at Sand Del Lee on July 21-22.

With rider entries expected to be high since it’s also a Quebec Provincial that weekend—and there are no conflicting races—they’ve decided to name it an Amateur National Championship.

“There will be six sponsored classes,” says MX101’s Steve Dool. “Where the winner—we want to try and give it to the top three places—gets a sponsor from an aftermarket manufacturer for 2008.” Dool also says that they plan to donate a portion from each entry to Team Canada’s Motocross Des Nations effort.

I see my BFF Steve Matthes has sent along a note ...

Today I showed up at Competitive Edge MX Park and to the surprise of exactly nobody, Tim Ferry was here testing and putting in laps. We had a great time passing each other back and forth on the way from the pits to the track. Once we hit the track my Moose Racing/Enzo Suspension/Scott Goggles/Etnies/Kicker/Maxima KX450 just didn't seem to have the HP to keep up to him. Or maybe it was the right wrist? Anyway, James Stewart was out here and he went around the outside of me so fast I got caught up in the tornado and ended up facing backwards! His official man friend, Eric Sorby, was also out spinning laps. I swear the most impressive thing about watching these pros ride is not the incredible corner speed, not their jumping skills or their fearlessness; it’s the fact that out of five tear-offs, they can reach up and just grab one at a time. My hammocks always seem to rip every single one off every time! [Ed note: did Matthes just admit that he mounted a full set of tear offs for his practice ride??]

With James Stewart needing a mechanic now that J-Bone has left to run Gibbs Racing new team, Kawasaki has decided to switch Mike Williamson from Tim Ferry to James. Red Dog will now have a Team Green wrench named Ryan Collins to work for him for the outdoors. Too bad for Mike and Timmy, as they made a pretty good team, managing to tie mine and Timmy’s SX podium streak. I know Mike will do a great job, but if something does happen to go wrong, the comparisons to J-Bone will start. Have a low pressure summer, Mike!

JMB's 1988 CR125.

photo: Steve Matthes

Here is a shot from the Primm museum for your eyes only…. This is the 125 that the French legend Jean-Micheal Bayle rode to the 1988 125 World Title. It has upside-down forks, the paint taken off the stock pipe and of course, the works Honda front number plate. I remember when I was at FMF/Honda in 1998, Scott Sheak’s mechanic, Tom Wallace, used to run his front brake line guard at the top of the number plate and when I made fun of him, he said that was the way JMB did it. When I was at Primm the first time, I could have swore that it was George Holland’s bike as he was also #3 in `88 and won the 125 outdoors that year. But then the Motul stickers gave it away. Remember when Renthal handlebars were all the rage?

Thanks, Steven. Now help Timmy remove his boots and put his bike on the stand.

I was joking around with Brady Sheren that he should hook me up with some free Grand Slam breakfasts from Denny’s since he’s sponsored by the restaurant chain now. Well, I guess it’s not such a joke; he will be handing out thousands of 2-for-1 coupons at each round!

Stop by Brady Sheren's pit for a Denny's breakfast coupon!

And now this from flawless James Lissimore …

Well, I made my way down to SoCal again after the Seattle Supercross. Last Thursday, myself, Dusty, his girlfriend Kayla and his mechanic Glen headed out to Las Vegas. Dusty wasn't racing, as he had elected to focus on the upcoming outdoor season, but decided to go check out the festivities and take in the race from the stands, something he doesn't normally get to do. I took them to the Pirate Mansion out in Boulder City that I profiled in last year’s trip to Vegas, where we met up with the usual Ogio crew of Andy Bell, Erin Bates, Cam McQueen and Jeff Williams. Jeff's cousin, pro snowboarder Travis Williams, had also come out to see what all the fuss was about. To say that Dusty and crew were impressed would be an understatement. It's certainly hard to not have fun at that place. We also ran into Ping as we were leaving, as usual he was late to the party. Dusty had the bright idea that we should climb the mountain behind the mansion, which ended up giving us an amazing overview of the surrounding area. It wasn't until we got back and Andy pointed out the large rattle snake in the tank by the pool and mentioned that the owners had caught it up there that I thought maybe it might not have been the best idea.

Dusty Klatt and his mechanic Glen check out the view from above.

Dusty shows off his new BFF, Bunny, and his handlebar 'stache

photos: James Lissimore

This week has been a flurry of activity at the local tracks here in SoCal, as everyone is scrambling to get in some last minute testing before the Nationals start next weekend. Spotted over the course of the last week were RC and crew out at Competitive Edge, the KTM Canada boys of Michael Willard and Eric Nye out at Perris, and at Glen Helen yesterday I saw pretty much everyone and their dog there, including Joaquim Rodrigues on his new Factory KTM, Villopoto out on his #1 Kawi, and the Cernic's Kawasaki boys were there with their new Canadian numbers on their bikes, including new member, Tucker Hibbert.
 
Tomorrow is the Prequel at Glen Helen and Dusty and the rest of the Star Racing team will be there. Dusty's definitely ready to get outdoors where he's a lot more comfortable. Also racing is Salt Spring Island's finest, Howie Spencer, who is looking really good right now after spending the winter in California. Missy Hackett was supposed to race the WMA race but I guess they wouldn't give her a pro license. Hmm … sounds like the Kyle Beaton deal all over again.

Dan "there was tape on my skates, I swear" O'Reilly and his new bundle of joy, Lucy.

photo: Liz O'Reilly

 Thank you, James. And thanks to everyone for reading. See you at Auburn!