Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
JUNE 8, 2007

By Danny Brault

Before I begin, I apologize for the lateness of the Update. It’s been a crazy week in the office and the magazine takes priority over everything else. And come on, even the real Dogger was late for a race once in a while!

With two races in the books, the Monster Energy (Canadian) Motocross Nationals are taking a week off before the series resumes next weekend at the picturesque Shadow Valley track in Morden, Manitoba.  After the drama that has unfolded thus far, the riders and teams are in need of a weekend off to reassess their game plans.

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the craziness we’ve seen so far. I, for one, didn’t expect to see 40 guys on the MX1 line, a real challenge for JSR, Chuck Mesley on the podium or Eric Sorby race in Canada only to be deported back to James Stewart’s Florida home. Thankfully, I was wrong on all accounts. At Ste-Julie we had 59 MX1 entries; at Gopher Dunes we had 54. Monster Energy/ Cernics Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter is the real deal, winning three of four motos and both overalls. And “The Mez” is in shape, hanging in there with the best of them for a 2-7 and second overall in the Dunes—and he doesn’t even like that track. That’s only scratching the surface.

Jacob Saylor (left) shows his love for Canada, while Kyle Partridge eyes up the competition at Gopher Dunes.

photo: James Lissimore

The biggest news heading into Gopher was the discovery that Sorby had, in fact, finished in the top 30 in AMA points on two separate occasions. Under the CMRC’s rules, this is a no-no for the MX2 class and Sorby was asked to move to a 450 or move out. Since Simon Homans didn’t have a 450 for loan, Sorby chose the latter. There was no way Simon could let the Frenchie-tuned YZ250F sit in the trailer, so he called up Freddy Karrle, who finished third overall at Ste-Julie, to join the SMR Team. Karrle didn’t have much time on the bike or in the sand, and it showed as he finished 32-12 for 17th overall. Too bad Simon hadn't contracted a Canadian kid like Davey Fraser to fill in, that would have been cool.

There was also a lonely bike under the Suzuki OTSFF tent, so Ron Ashley and Andre Laurin slapped #150 on Josh Woods’ RM-Z450 and flew up Kyle Partridge for his first Canadian National. Apparently, Partridge thought that because he beat Dusty Klatt in West Coast SX—and Klatt won nearly every moto in Canada last year—that the Dunes would be a cakewalk. Let’s just say those words took such a bite out of Kyle’s butt that he will trouble sitting for a month.

In the first moto, Ashley admitted that Partridge’s bike didn’t boil fuel but it wasn’t until after twenty-three minutes of racing. In the second race, Partridge straight up admitted that he got tired after finishing 16th and then whispered to Ryan Lockhart that it wasn’t the toughest track he’d ever ridden. Will we see the 150 in Morden?

“He called me on Tuesday and I just told him I would be in touch,” replied Ashley.

The whole weekend put a sour taste in Ashley’s mouth and he said he could care less if Woods’ bike sat on the stand in Morden.

Blair Morgan ran out of fuel in the first moto at Gopher Dunes.

photo: James Lissimore

For a moment it looked like Mitch Cooke found a new love for sand, after posting the fastest lap time in Saturday’s practice—just one thousandth of a second faster than Blair Morgan’s best time. He backed that up with a third in the first moto after nearly DNFing when his clutch cable got ripped out on the red flag. From there, things went downhill. Apparently, Cooke, who finished 13th in the second moto, went for blood tests this week after feeling the effects of exhaustion only a few laps into the final race. Here’s hoping Cooke is feeling better; he looks better than ever and sits third in points behind Carpenter and JSR.

Two riders that sure didn’t look tired at Gopher and probably surprised a lot of people with their conditioning, were Machine Racing Honda’s Chuck Mesley and Kyle Keast. Last year, it was Keast who was the hometown hero with his third in the second MX1 moto; this year it was The Mez’s 2-7 scores and second overall that drove the crowd nuts. I heard even Cernics Kawasaki’s Billy Whitley was radioing his team to cheer on Mesley.

Morgan found a really smooth line at the Dunes. Hey, he's still within the banners! photo: Allison Kennedy

The Mez is now fifth in points and says he’s looking forward to Morden and the western tracks. I checked in with boss John Nelson this week to find out why his boys always do well at Gopher.

“I think it’s a bit of everything,” he says. “We’ve tested a lot there in the past and Stu knows what’s going on; we have pretty good settings for that track. I’d say those guys ride that track—and Ontario guys are a bit better in the loam. I think the home court advantage is big deal. But if I hear Koster and Travers go on about how if Mesley was on a real team he would do better ... it looked to me like he if he was on a real team last weekend he would have ran out of gas!”

Despite not riding at all four weeks leading up to Ste-Julie—and the entire week before Gopher to nurse his shoulder—Keast bulled his way through the pack to go 7-8 for sixth overall. I spoke to his dad Jamey this week, and they’re very happy to be sitting eighth in points. I figured The Beast from the East would take this weekend off, but no, he’s driving up to the Walton provincial. I also heard on their way to Manitoba, Jamey is going to pull over in Thunder Bay and have Kyle wrestle moose.

Paul Carpenter took his second overall at Gopher, while Chuck Mesley and Marco Dube made it up on the box for the first time in a long time.

photo: James Lissimore

The Blackfoot team may not have ran out of gas, physically, but their bikes might have. In the first moto, Facciotti was struggling and looking down and then finally pulled off. JSR had a sizeable lead over Carpenter and then, on the last lap, his bike just quit. Obviously frustrated, JSR just stood there and waved Paul right by. Then moments later, Morgan’s bike quit. The whole deal felt almost surreal as the most powerful team in Canadian MX seemed to fall apart. Evennou’s bike acted up in his first moto and then again in the second after the team made some adjustments.

“I think our competition knows us by now ... that we are definitely going to regroup and come out swinging in the balance of the rounds” says Blackfoot’s Joe Skidd.  “Quite frankly, this is good for the racing series and the industry as it is not just a one team show.  Actually it makes it very exciting for everyone, doesn't it? Watching the U.S. series all the time with Ricky and Bubba sure gets boring doesn't it?  Hey, we had some fuel consumption issues due to the strength of our motors. Not really a big deal; we are very happy with the Yamaha product, the company and it was our oversight. Unfortunately, we did not get to test in deep sand and that was an oversight.”

The second moto went much better. All three riders finished with JSR nipping at Carpenter’s heels in second, Morgan finished fifth and Colton, after leading the early laps finished in 17th.

Like Mesley’s ride, another heartwarming story came in the MX2 class, where KTM’s newest edition, Tim Tremblay, scored his first win and overall. The lanky Frenchman paced Chris Pugrab in the first moto before passing him for the win late in the race. The points leader and Tremblay’s teammate, Michael Willard, went down twice in the first moto but held on for third. He came out with something to prove in the final race, however, and won by twenty seconds over Tremblay. I’m still not sure how Willard does it; I know he isn’t a training freak but he kept pushing all the way to the checkers without any sign of fatigue.

“Man, I just ride the track, that’s all,” he told me after the race. Willard now has an 18-point over Tremblay in the series.

Tremblay hasn’t just improved his speed, either, he’s improved his English. Check out this interview he did with Allison Kennedy.

Timmy Tremblay is second in the MX2 East after going 1-2 for first overall at Gopher.

photo: James Lissimore

It was also a great weekend for Royal Distributing KTM’s Marco Dubé who had his best finish—third overall—since 2001. The Doob went 6-4 for third overall and moved himself up to fourth in the points. Orange Motorsports’ Mason Phillips moved under the factory rig at Gopher. He was up front early on in both motos, but arm pump set in quickly and he could only hold on for 11-12 for 10th overall.

Team Orange will be a powerhouse come Morden, with Willard and Tremblay joining Dubé, Barnes (not sure if he will be back for Morden), and Phillips in MX1. We’ll also see Kris Keefer, Eric Nye and Michael Sleeter begin their chase for the MX2 West title.

For a full photo report from Gopher, click here.

It was a huge weekend for MX101 Yamaha Canada’s Jeremy Medaglia at Gopher Dunes. After his best pro national overall with a 13th in Ste-Julie, while riding under the Ignition Racing RXC Factory Rider for a Day tent, Medaglia scored possibly the best finish ever as an intermediate in the pro class going 4-6 for fourth overall! His older brother, Tyler, who is now part of the Suzuki OTSFF factory team, also etched his name in the record books when he won a pro qualifier at Walton in 2003 as an intermediate.

Using the word “record” always stirs the pot—and memories—and Canmore, Alberta’s Ian Mellors has challenged Jeremy’s Gopher result:

First, I would like to congratulate you guys for the great job you do covering the Canadian MX scene.  I raced through the late ‘70s and ‘80s and get a kick out of seeing the exploits of some of the guys I used to line up against: Kenny Bland, Marty Burr, Shawn Greenaway ….

But I would like to correct a reference you made in your Gopher Dunes first moto update.

"Jeremy Medaglia finished fourth.  A protest is pending on Pugrab for doubling on a caution flag which, if upheld, would make Medaglia the first intermediate to podium an MX2 pro moto."

Robbie Hodgeson leads Terry Hofoss, circa 1979.

photo courtesy of Mellors

In 1979, Robbie Hodgeson not only finished on the podium as a Senior (as the Intermediate class was called in the day) in the 125 Expert Nationals, but finished second overall in the series to Manitoba's Kim Houde.  Hodgeson was also only 16 years old at the time, having moved from Schoolboy to Senior, and skipping his junior year.  Hodgeson matched his second-place in 1982 in the 250cc class behind Ross Pederson, riding a Kawasaki sponsored by Moto Park.

I know it is going back aways, and that most of your readers probably were not even around in 1979, but thought I should stick up for the old guys.

For your information: Robbie turned his success in 1979 into a factory supported ride from Yamaha for 1980 and 1981, when he finished behind Terry Hofoss in the chase for the 125cc National Championship.  Robbie had a career year in 1982 on a Moto Park Kawasaki, finishing second in the 250cc Nationals class behind Ross Pederson, and finishing in a points paying position at the 250cc USGP at Unadilla, making him one of the few Canadian MX riders to score points in an International Grand Prix. Robbie rode for Suzuki in 1983 and 1984, finishing fourth both years in the 125cc and 250cc classes. Robbie retired after the 1984 season.
 
Actually to highlight the difference between today’s riders and the early eighties, Robbie retired because, as the fourth best rider in the country in 1984, it cost him money out of his pocket to race the nationals.
 
Ian Mellors
1983 Canadian Large Wheel (100cc) Motocross Champion
Canmore, Alberta

Wow, thanks for the history lesson, Ian! You and our on-staff historian Steve Matthes would definitely get along.

Jeremy Medaglia's fourth overall makes him the best finishing intermediate in the CMRC MX2 nationals ever.

photo: James Lissimore

Jeremy’s older brother Tyler had a miserable first moto, going down in the first corner and getting back up with a twisted bike. He soldiered on to finish eighth, and then regrouped for fourth in the second moto. BUT, he—and several other riders—were docked five positions for jumping on a yellow flag. That pushed Tyler back to ninth, but he’s still third in points. Hopefully, Tyler releases his anger this weekend on the Lites class as he’s heading down to Southwick, where he scored points on his privateer CRF250 last year.

Kyle Stephens was our Factory Rider for a Day at Gopher Dunes. While Medaglia had ridden two nationals before joining the FR program, it was Stephens first-ever pro race and we had the chance to document the entire weekend. He took it seriously, too, and spent the week before searching for the smooth lines with Ryan Gauld.

While the first moto didn’t go as planned, Stephens put his head down and scored three points for 18th in the second moto. You can read his complete story here and watch the story by Destroyer Films right here.

Brett Dailey tossed out the word “record” once again when he said that Stephens is the youngest rider to ever score a national point. Sure enough, we received some mail.

Lori Allison from Alberta called and told us that her twin sons, Jared and Parker, had actually qualified at a national in 2005 when they were only 14-years-old.

We’ll have to look into the birth dates and when exactly they qualified; same goes for Colton Facciotti who raced pro when he was only 14.

Either way, it was a record breaking weekend at Gopher Dunes—it was the first time it didn’t rain! To check out the rough and rolly track, visit www.destroyerfilms.com for video coverage.

Our Factory Rider for a Day at the second round, 14-year-old Kyle Stephens may have set a record as well: the youngest rider to score points at a Canadian National.

photo: James Lissimore

We were notified this week that Dyson Fischer of Lloydminister, SK was injured last Sunday at a race in Lethbridge. He suffered severe head and neck trauma and is currently in an induced coma at the Calgary Foothills Hospital until the swelling goes down.

Kyle Beaton is friends with Dyson and he’s planning to auction off his jersey and other goodies in an effort to raise money for the downed rider.

“Party for Marty” Halmazna is tackling the Iron Giant again this year at the Erzberg Rodeo this weekend. Keep an eye on http://www.erzberg.at/, www.dirttv.ca, and www.racerxcanada.com for regular updates on Marty’s results.

Ryan Lockhart’s man friend Chris Pomeroy was victim of bike thieves Monday night, when they broke into his parents shop and stole his 2005 Rockstar Energy/ OTSFF RM-Z450 replica. The Palm says it has #52 on it and for anyone with info to contact 905-867-2095. Apparently the bike was lent to him by Two Wheel's Ron Ashley so Chris better get it back!

I came across this old photo this week, which features the 1997 Machine Racing Dream Team of Ryan Gauld (9), Jason Thorne (11), and The Palm (4). I thought it was pretty interesting, since all three were present at Gopher Dunes and each has a different role in the industry; Gauldy is doing the TV gig with CMRC and SPEED, Pomeroy is teaching MX schools and keeping Lockhart hydrated, and Thorney is busting big with his freestyle gig. His latest show took place at Gopher where Thorney and his crew set up his Ozzie Osborne-inspired ramps.

Class of 1997: Ryan Gauld (9), Chris Pomeroy (11), and Chris Pomeroy (4).

photo: Jason T. Griffiths

Oh, Steve Matthes just sent me something. Please, if you do not have a sense of humour, DO NOT read this:

After a week off, the AMA Motocross Series presented by FMF comes to the shifty sands of Southwick. It should be a great race with RC and Stewie going at it. They are both un-freakin-believable in the sand and should beat third place by 14-minutes. What will happen in the Lites class? I don't know but I'm thinking the smart money is on Ben Townley. Ryan Villopoto didn't look that good here last year and you know that the former Belgian-based Townley has lots of practice in the sand. Maybe some weirdo will come up and surprise; if that’s true, look for King Weirdo Jason Lawrence to pull it out. (By ‘out,’ I mean a win.)
 
I am out here now hocking pipes and the weather has been great. Living in the hell-sands of Las Vegas, I forget how nice and green almost everywhere other than the southwest is. Seriously, there are so many freakin’ Dunkin Donuts out here you cannot swing a Gnome statue and not hit one. They have also taken the only drink that I ever ordered from them off the menu: the delicious Dunkin Donuts Dunkachino. But enough about that, last year the promoters ran the track backwards to almost universal dislike from the riders. This year it is also going to be backwards—way to listen guys! Look for some changes in the timed practice in the coming weeks as well, at least that’s what I hear.
 
Did anyone read that little piece that I wrote on Racer X Bench Racing Ammo, comparing RC and The Rollerball? You can check it out yourself here.

Last week we published a letter from an angry American. This week, some guy from Quebec named Carl Vaillancourt wrote in:

I wanted to give my .02 cents 'cause I think there is a few mistakes in his article. First, I used to go watch the nationals in Quebec (like Ulverton) when I was a kid and I don't remember guys doing six 40-minutes motos in one day!  I remember four 40-minute [motos] in one day, that was brutal enough, but not six. Secondly, in 1989, the story everybody got when I was out west doing the nationals is that he went back in that bar and got beat up, not the other way around.

And last, Ross throwing the bone at me … well, I remember in 1992 and 1993 Ross had a nice CR500 engine in that Suzuki frame that ran just fine and wasn't a piece of s***! And those 2 titles were not given to me! And with all due respect to what Ross did, guys like Hoover, Harnden, Dyck, Zoli Berenyi, JSR and myself all beat him fair and square at some nationals. He wasn't making perfect seasons, Carmicheal-style, but he sure was beating us most of the time though.
My hat’s off to him—GOAT, in Canada, yes, but world's GOAT? Come on, that's an insult to RC.
 
Thanks for the letter, Carl. Like you would know anything about Ross or what he did … wait … oops!

Maybe the english term "tongue in cheek" is not something the French say. Okay everybody, please stop writing in—I was joking about Ross being better then RC. Please stop sending ticking boxes to RXC, I didn't mean it!
 
I know the RXC shield looks cool, even cool enough to get it inked onto your flesh! Now that's total devotion!

All right, I’m off to prepare for my first Harescramble ever at RJ Motorsport Park on Sunday!

Willard's better half, Tiffany, takes to the limbo at the Royal Tavern.

Amber Giroux won the ladies limbo class.

Monster's Rico took the win in the men's class.

Frank and Derek Schuster definitely deserved a drink at the day's end.