Five Minutes with … Guy Giroux
SEPTEMBER 26, 2007

Suzuki Canada's Guy Giroux

photo: Bill Petro

By Danny Brault

 
With Canadian off-road racing slowing down at this time of year, Guy Giroux loaded up his van and headed south to New Berlin, New York, for the tenth round of the Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC). Armed with his RM-Z250 in the XC-2 class, Giroux worked his way up from 17th to finish eighth, his best ever GNCC result. Giroux’s summer was full of highlights; he won the FMSQ championship, was the second best Canadian at the WEC in Parry Soun,d and he won the second round of the two-race Canadian Off-Road Series. We figured it was time to get  “Little Guy” on the phone and see how things are going.


RXC: Guy, that was pretty impressive to see you finish top 10 at the Unadilla GNCC!
Guy Giroux: It was good, man. I rode really well.

I’m assuming that wasn’t your first GNCC.
No, no. I’ve done a couple. Every year I do one or two, but last year we didn’t do any because we go to Morocco now instead of Florida for training. So I skipped the first one the last two years. This year I said, ‘Screw it, I’m going back to Unadilla,’ because it’s so good. But there are so many people to pass. It’s tough out there. It was perfect this year; the weather was perfect. The other year I did it, it was really muddy and usually when I race GNCCs, it’s in the spring and I’m not in shape.

For those of us who don’t know much about off-road riding, a GNCC is a harescramble, basically one long moto through the woods, right?
Yep. It took me three hours and 15 minutes.

What do you go through in a typical GNCC?
It’s a dead engine start. XC-2 are on the second line, the pros are on the first line, which is now like 20 guys because they split the classes. Before it was like 40 guys, now it’s 20 and 20. Then right from the start, everyone is just going crazy. I was a little surprised they would go that fast on the first lap. So on the first lap, I just tried to find my pace and relax and not lose the pack.

Did the course include the Unadilla track?
Yep, but mostly in parts. We ride all of it, but in two sections. We use the first section of the track and then go into the woods and then we come back and into another section. We rode the track backwards this year. It was bad, because we were going backwards on the big tabletop and Gravity Cavity and Screw-U.

What was your start like?
Oh, mid pack. There were a bunch of crashes in the first two corners, so first lap I got around 17th. Then I moved up each lap, passing one or two guys each lap.

So is your 8th place in the XC-2 Lites class at Unadilla your best ever GNCC finish?
Yes. My next best finish in the pro was a 23rd.

When Giroux isn't racing enduro, harescrambles or motocross, he's working full-time with Elka Suspension Canada in Boucherville, Quebec.

photo courtesy of Guy Giroux

You’ve raced motocross, supercross, and just about everything on two wheels, but it seems like you’re favouring off-road …
I started with the off-road [laughs].

Oh, shoot, sorry Guy!
That where I started and then to go faster in off-road, I went to motocross. Then off-road was dead in Canada, so I said might as well just do motocross. From `94 to 2000 I just did motocross and then I came back to off-road, but that’s where I’m good because I think I pace myself really well.

Are you racing Montreal?
Nope. It’s the first year I am not racing the supercross. I didn’t jump anything this year; I just rode some sand tracks.

Are you going to watch at least?
Yep. I might be [Ronnie] Renner’s bitch [laughs]. He’s supposed to show up on Friday, so we might go riding.

What are your predictions for Montreal this year? Is JSR going to take it?
Well, he’s been training with a bunch of kids and my friend was there and he said JSR was so much smoother than everyone else. He’s going really well and it’s Montreal, so … I’m putting my money on him.

I’m placing bets on Facciotti, but I would definitely like to see JSR end his season with the win. So back to off-road, you won the FMSQ series championship.
Yep, I won the championship.

Giroux's next big race will be next March, when he and Quebec's top motorsport racers will line up at the Baja 250.

photo: Danny Brault

The FMSQ is a Quebec based series, and we have the two round Canadian National Series, but it just doesn’t have that true “national” feel to it since it’s only two races in two regions. What do you think needs to happen for a four or five round national series to launch in Canada?
Money, support or something. I’m by far the biggest, how can I say it, rider with the most support and I can’t afford to go out west or that will screw up my whole budget. We get nothing compared to the motocross guys. Distributors, manufacturers—everybody—need to step it up.

And are you still racing the Baja 1000 in November?
We were supposed to, but last night we had a meeting; we might skip to the Baja 250 in March instead. Rallyman, Eric Dubeau that came with me at Dakar and was the brain behind the deal tore a muscle last weekend, so his arm is not 100 percent. JSR might have a SX in Europe and after watching the map and the logistics needed to spread the team across 2000 km with parts and everything, it might not be the race we want after all. The 250 would be really easy logiistic wise, also for our own sponsors, since we would all ride different bikes.  It will be Gaetan Lemelin, Francis Martin, Eric Dubeau, and JSR. The plan was more for us to have fun a bunch of guys together, kind of a motorcycle holiday, but this won’t happen at the 1000, since will all be spread across the Peninsula.

Cool! See you in Montreal, Guy!
Thanks.