Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
MARCH 6, 2008 By Danny Brault
Just when things are getting interesting, they get boring again. Watching Chad Reed lose two straight races to Honda’s Kevin Windham and Davi Millsaps shot some much-needed adrenaline into the Supercross series. Unfortunately for the competition, that syringe emptied quickly and it was back to business for Speedy Reedy in Indianapolis last weekend.
It was somewhat fitting that San Manuel Yamaha’s Reed won, since he designed the track. (Just like Windham winning Houston, which he designed.) There’s no questioning Reed’s technical capabilities; the tougher the track, the better he is. With the Progressive Direct holeshot cheque in his pocket, Reed fled from the pack for his sixth win of the season.
The most impressive rider behind Reed was Factory Yamaha’s Josh Hill. He didn’t have the best start, but worked his way past Windham, Andrew Short, and Ryan Dungey to take second. The second most impressive rider: Makita Suzuki’s Dungey. Rather than sitting around, letting Jason Lawrence get into his head, Dungey is racing some East Coast 450 events to keep himself sharp. Dungey rode well all weekend, finishing third in his heat race and fourth in the main event. It probably doesn’t hurt that a handful of riders are out with injury, but you gotta give it to Dungey—he’s got skills.
Kudos to 2007 Canadian National MX1 champ, Paul Carpenter, for putting in his best ride of the year with a seventh! He currently sits 10th in the series and is the top privateer.
Cernic’s Kawasaki’s Dusty Klatt is probably wishing he had of stayed home and rested, rather than give the forums more fodder. From what I hear, Dusty was sick all week leading up to Indy and never got any seat time before the race. The Campbell River Crusher really didn’t crush anything this weekend, other than a bottle of antibiotics. Hopefully he’s feeling better for Daytona, as I’m sure the Ricky Carmichael-designed track won’t offer any room for rest.
Team Suzuki City/OTSFF/Rockstar’s Tyler Medaglia was caught up in more bad luck at Indy. After qualifying 28th for the night show, Medaglia finished 15th in his heat, and then, in the LCQ all hell broke loose.
“In the LCQ I had a really good start,” Medaglia said in his team’s PR. “There was only one guy ahead of me and he crashed and I landed right on him. Unfortunately, it was my teammate, Freddy Karrle.”
Karrle took the blunt of the blow, obviously, and was carried off the track with broken ribs, a cracked sternum, and possibly bruising to his liver. Medaglia managed to get back on his bike and keep racing to finish 13th. The Suzuki City Team still had two riders in the final, with Jimmy Albertson finishing 17th and Willy Browning behind him in 18th.
For the “real” scoop on what went down in Indy, read Obs. And don’t miss Matthes’ Podcast with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Travis Preston right here.
Oh, while we’re on the topic of Double-Stuffed Oreos and Cherry Coke, Matthes checked in with this update from (guess where?) Tim Ferry’s house.
Well, my dear snowbound Canadian friends, by the time you read this I will be at Daytona watching the Supercross in beautiful 80 degree weather (that’s 26.6 C BTW) and basking in the sun’s glow. Jealous yet? I've been in Florida all week at my buddy Tim Ferry's house doing some Merge Racing Technologies work, going to the GNCC (that Pastrana—he's a nut!) some Racer X work and basically making sure the Dog is in comfort at all times. Timmy took a pretty good header a week ago and missed Indy and will miss Daytona as well. That’s a real shame with the RC-old school layout that’s going to be at Daytona, he would have done well. (I don't need to remind you guys that Red Dog is a multi-time podium finisher at Daytona, including a Matthes-tuned third in '03, do I?)
Anyways, when I got here on Sunday he was using a walker and moving like an 80 year old man. Yesterday he rode his pit bike on his new mini-SX track, rode the exercise bike and then went to Dairy Queen (well, I should say WE went to DQ; my diet is now shot.) So I think Minneapolis is a real possibility for the one-five. And in his time honored tradition, he got me to do some bike work for him also; I installed Merge products on his KX450 that he has for guests to ride. Look for an Observations.
My Observations from Indianapolis got me some good mail from readers. I thought maybe I should share some with you guys:
Matthes,
Balbi is from Brazil man, not Chile!!!
Flavio
From Brazil as well
Sorry, Flavio! I apologize to Brazil for not getting that right. I also apologize to Chili for saying that Balbi is from Chili. I've read so much about the South American people "taking care" of problem people. Please don't send me any packages!
Hmm seems there's some photo evidence of Sipes leading Canard... At least we know the riders are reading, eh? Simon Cudby photo
Matthes,
Just going to let you know you gotta get your facts straight. How could Trey [Canard] have led every lap of his heat races this year when I led him for four of six in Atlanta? Just thought I'd let you know. Love the observations though; you are a funny dude. Later.
Ryan Sipes
Dear, Ryan,
I have no excuses for saying that but here's my excuse: I blame it all on Jason Weigandt. He was going on and on during the webcast, about how Trey has led every lap of everything, except for one during the main at Indy. I didn’t go to Atlanta, so I trusted The Weege on this fact. Obviously, The Weege has a drinking problem and didn’t see you in the lead in Atlanta. He needs to quit drinking the swish behind the liquor mart.
Mr. Matthes,
I love the stuff you are laying down in ink. Good clean fun. I read your Observations every time and I just listened to your podcast for the first time with Preston. Good job. By the way, Sorby is a freakin’ psyco and he definitely has it out for Preston. I remember when he blatantly tried to kill Preston on the finish line jump in the 125 class. (Maybe Dallas?)
Also, you have the job of much envy. I would give my big toe to be able to see every single race in person, get paid to be there, and get to hang out occasionally with any of the pro riders. Even Sorby’s crazy ass would be fun.
I’ll be in Dallas; it is my only chance to really get to see a race that is halfway close for me and I go every year. The trade off is I have to endure the 4-5 hours of shopping with my wife at the outlet malls in Allen prior to the event every year. But, I do get to see the entire race.
If you happen to score an extra press pass or something, I would love to be your man friend for the day and give my wife the keys to the rental and tell her get to shopping solo because I have work to do. What do you say? I could hit the 7 Eleven prior to getting to the track and get you a 44 oz Cherry Coke.
Keep up the good work! I really enjoy it.
Tracy
Tracy,
It would not be fun to hang out with Eric Sorby and his crazy ass. I would prefer to never talk to Eric Sorby ever again. If any of you read Weege's Blogandt Blog, send Weege an email asking him why Eric (the fighter) Sorby wanted to beat his ass. It seems that Soreballs is more worried about challenging media guys to fight than exercising.
Also, the offer to be my manfriend is tempting and I do love Cherry Coke but if you did it, you would then see how pathetic my life is and how people laugh at me behind my back and the riders don't want anything to do with me. Then Sorby and his crazy ass might beat me up and you'll be forced to tell your buddies all about your big let down of a day. I'd rather just let you think that I have a cool job than crush your dream. Thanks for reading!
Thanks, Matthes. I think we may need to resurrect Wash Bay Fight Club for you, Sorby and Weege!
Tonight you have the chance to watch the Daytona Supercross, almost live, on Speed at 11 PM EST. It sure as heck better be more exciting than last year’s race. I remember being so anxious, waiting for Darcy Lange to finally win one, or see a battle between James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael in RC’s final Daytona. We received neither. With Reed’s success on the beach (he won the event in `02 in the Lites class and won the Supercross class in `04 and `05) and his confidence right now, he has to be the favourite. But Davi Millsaps lives down the road from Daytona, so with his family and friends in the crowd, maybe it will give him the boost needed to slow down Reed.
Oh and don’t forget to catch Lites action from Indy on Speed tomorrow at 11 PM EST.
Team Toyota Yamaha/BlackfootDirect.com/Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti is racing Daytona on his YZ450F. I caught up with Facciotti and his teammate, JSR, for this week’s 2 Tribes and I asked him what his expectations are for the Daytona track. “I don’t know what to expect [laughs],” he says. “I hear different stories from everyone on what to expect. I’m just going into it with an open mind and see how it goes.”
While Facciotti has been working on his outdoor game in Georgia with JSR, he has raced a few British SX events and the Canadian AX Series. He’s also ridden the supercross track at GPF for the last week. “JSR’s been helping out quite a bit,” Facciotti adds. “He’s helping me on the track with my corners and starts—the start is going to be really important.”
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Ignition Racing's Johnny Silegren has earned #83 for 2008. |
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photo: James Lissimore |
Facciotti will have JSR in his corner, along with Blackfoot techs Andrew McLean and Joe Skidd. They won’t have the rig, however, just JSR’s pickup and trailer—privateer style! What does JSR have to say about Colton’s first 450 supercross and Daytona experience? “The main goal is not to get hurt,” JSR says. “I told him to be prepared; it’s going to be really, really rough. He’s prepared for the worst, which is good. It’s basically just to keep his supercross eligibility for 2009.”
Don’t expect to see JSR on the line in Daytona. The only things left on his to do list, are setting up the Blackfoot bikes, training Colton, and working on his film with director, Felix Trepanier. JSR says the video is coming along well, and we can expect to see some footage of him and Mitch Cooke in the Dubai sands. We should see the DVD, which captures most of JSR’s career, released at the Montreal Supercross this fall.
In last week’s Frid’Eh Update, we went a little retro with our photos. We posted a start shot that I said was from 2004, but it was actually 2003. Todd Kuli was kind enough to correct me.
Hey bud,
The pic in your ever excellent Frid’Eh Update of the “2004” national at Mission is actually 2003! That was the first year Huff Daddy was in Canada, hence the #120. Just thought you would want to know!
Thanks for the correction, Todd! Now where is that new edition of Unruly with Kuli?
Did anyone happen to guess who was the rider featured on the Bell Moto 8 box? Well, the photographer chimed in with some background on the photo …
Are there any prizes if I guess right? If you want to make it interesting, don’t just ask who it is (Lockhart) ask where the picture was taken (RJ in Barrie). Or how cold was it that day (cold and rainy!). Or maybe what part of the track (he built a spine on the single after the finish line jump).
If you didn’t guess, that’s my pic from the team photo shoot. I thought it was cool Bell used it for an ad, but now for their boxes, and it’s featured on the Racer X Canada web site!! I think I should retire on top! Anyway, just thought I'd let you know. See you at the races!
Paul Mason
With last Friday being the coldest day of the winter, my buddy Mike Ackerman, Jay McKinnon and I figured it would be an ideal day to do some dirt bike riding. Yes, what a wonderful idea, Danny! Ha, actually it wasn’t too bad. We drove down to the Val Des Monts Indoor Track in minus-20 weather, but fortunately, the thermostat only read minus-4 inside the building. Track owner, Yan Gendron, had the facility in pristine condition with fresh tractor tire marks still covering the track and the berms were perfectly shaped. Give Yan a call at 613-282-5713 or email him at axdm@hotmail.com if you’re interested in trying out his indoor track. You won’t be disappointed!
Also, the Tillsonburg Indoor MX Track is still open. Check out their website, www.chesterman.ca, for complete info.
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The AX Des Monts Track is a great way to warm-up. |
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photo: Danny Brault |
#128 Steven McLean is the winner of the Scott Goggles.
Last week we ran a bit of a contest with our In the Moment feature. We asked readers to name as many riders as they could in the above photo, as well as the track and the year. We got a ton of cool entries, but as it turns out, it was one of the riders in the photo who had the most complete entry. The winner of the Scott goggles is Steven McLean, #128 in the photo. Here's his answer:
"It was the 2003 Regina National, 125 moto, first one of the day. 39 Todd Minnie. 12 is Dusty Klatt, 134 is Kyle Beaton, 44 is Brad McLean, 119 is Lance Rickard, 84 is Dustin Pretty, 237 is Bart Stephenson, 181 is Jimmy Nelson, 128 is Steven McLean (ME), 52 is Matt Prochnavy, the white helmet behind Bart is Kevin Humeny #291 , 925 is Jarod Johnsgaard, 284 is Kyle Murphy, 156 is Tracy Johnson, 199 is Brody Chelsberg and 17 is Nick Dunn, behind Brad McLean's head."
Wow, anyone who can name people based on their helmet alone is something. Steven McLean, there is a job waiting for you as a statistician at the CMRC.
We got another cool entry from Trent Hoffman, who offered this bit of moto-history on the photo: "It's a "sea of blue" at the start because Yamaha was the first to come out with the 250F and everyone else on the 125cc's were left in the DUST on the start....Blackfoot Honda had an 04 250F at the Calgary round in 2003 (but the ignition was removed so it was just a show bike)." Ah yes, the death of the two-stroke...
BC’s James Lissimore has emerged into one of the best moto-photographers out there. We’re proud to say that Lissimore has a played a huge role in making our website and magazine visually appealing and we look forward to seeing what he has up his sleeve for `08. Never one to stay put, Lissimore is constantly on the road, following the action. To keep track of Lissimore’s work and to see where he’s headed next, check out his new blog http://jkliss.blogspot.com/
Ignition Racing is becoming a player in Canadian motocross—and international motocross. The creators of the noise reducing dB Dawg, Ignition’s Justin Moore says the insert is lowering decibel levels everywhere, especially England where the dB Dawg has really caught on. For 2008, Ignition will once again back Johnny Silegren in the MX1 class. Silegren returned to racing last year, after taking a year off, and grabbed top-20 moto finishes at Ste-Julie, Gopher Dunes and Moncton, and earned national #83.
I've also heard that Dylan Langlois, national #82, is going to ride the entire MX1 series as privateer rider. He's been working hard, riding down south and hitting the gym.
While we’re always updated on who is riding for the factory teams, we don’t always know who is riding for smaller "shop" teams. It’s tough trying to keep track of everyone. So, if you’re a privateer or dealer or team supporter, please email dannyb@racerxcanada.com and we’ll put together of a list who’s riding for who this year at the nationals.
Destroyer Films Helmet Cam Contest comes to a close this Sunday. Go to their website, download This Is It, and get your name into the contest. They’ve also added a “Factory Rider” archive to the site, where you can view every FRFAD video. Like DF said in their update, “It’s cool to watch the videos and then see where the riders are now.”
We ran across this interview with Kyle Beaton on Motocross Action’s website, motocrossactionmag.com.
ATTN: Business Owners and Advertisers!
For the upcoming round of the Monster Energy Supercross that is to be held in Toronto, Ontario on March 29, Racer X Canada is holding a contest to give away three, one-month advertising prizes consisting of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Marketing Packages as outlined in our 2008 Media Guide. For a copy of this guide, please email our marketing rep, Dan Stenning (dstenning@racerxcanada.com) and he will forward you one.
It's really simple to enter: open the pdf document below and decide which spot you would like on the contest board. Then, pick up the phone and call Dan Stenning to reserve your spot. You must call though; no email entries will be accepted. You will be filled in on how the contest works when you call Dan with your entry.
Be sure to enter today for a chance to see what marketing with Racer X Canada can do for you! Contact us now at 519-457-2178.
The Atlantic Region got a little love this week. Check out this 5 mins with Ryan Lockhart and this one here with Davey Fraser. Both found jobs for 2008! No easy feat this year.
Braap295 passed along this cool video from www.vurbmoto.com of Team Green Xtreme’s Hunter Hewitt and Dean Wilson. The two riders look like they’re healing up nicely from their injuries.
If you’re in Vancouver this weekend, check out Bernie Ryan’s annual fundraiser for the BC Children’s Hospital on Sunday at the Shark Club. Doors open at 11 AM. If you can’t make it, you can still contribute by visiting http://bcchf.kintera.org/balding/bernieryan
Before we go here, check out these pics of Trailer Park Boys stars, Jim Lahey, and Randy, who were spotted in London, Ontario last weekend. Our production manager Christa's husband, Aaron, and his buddy, Shannon, bumped into the two at a local bar. Check out Randy chewing into the chicken wings and Lahey looks like he's just "had a couple of drinks."
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I think Lahey must have made a lil' trip down to the LC. |
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Randy enjoyed a few chicken fingers, the good kind of course. |
