JULY 17, 2008
Hills in the flat lands of Regina? You bet! photo: Brault
By Danny Brault
National Track Tour Presented by Sturgessonline.com
Moto Valley Raceway in Regina, Saskatchewan, has been on the CMRC Canadian Nationals schedule since 2001. That year, hometown hero, Prince Alberta’s Blair Morgan won the 250cc class and Blackfoot Honda’s Mike Craig won the 125cc class. You’re probably thinking flat, flat, flat! Well, the funny thing is, that Moto Valley might be the only parcel of land in all of Saskatchewan with elevation changes.
The track is a little bit of old and new school, combining hard, flat, chopped out corners and off-cambers with several floating man-made jumps that are fun for racers and exciting for spectators. When the ground is ripped and watered early in the day, the dirt is black and tacky and deep ruts form. But by the end of the day, when the winds kick up, the dirt dries out, the corners get slick and ruts turn into concrete. It takes a lot of finesse and throttle control to win at Moto Valley. This year it was Colton Facciotti showing the greatest control sweeping both MX1 motos, while Kyle Beaton and Tucker Hibbert traded MX2 wins.
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Daryl Murphy's legendary "Moto-X Van" still sits in the Moto Valley pasture. |
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photo: James Lissimore |
For one reason or another, I struggled on the Regina track in Saturday’s practice. (I suppose I struggle at every track, but I was struck with the “fear” at Moto Valley and refused to jump some of the obstacles.) So rather than watching me roll the jumps, we bolted our Sturgessonline.com Helmet Cam onto a guy who is never shy of jumping, Chuck Mesley. Enjoy!
