By Brett Dailey
Photos by James Lissimore

With five Walton TransCan championships, and the 2007 Canadian National Women’s Title, Brookfield Nova Scotia’s Heidi Cooke has to be considered the fastest female motocrosser to ever come from Canada. She even has a few top five WMA results on her resume, the most recent being 5th in the first moto at Steel City last year. After winning the 2007 Canadian women’s title, Heidi moved to the Monster Energy Cernic’s Kawasaki team with the help of Halifax Nova Scotia’s Freedom Cycle Kawasaki. She has some stiff competition this year from Florida’s Jacqueline Ross, but Heidi is riding well and is having a great season. We caught up with her while she was working at the Cooke’s family bakery.

RXC: How did the race go in Edmonton?
Heidi Cooke: The race was good. It was probably the best round for me, personally. I mean, I didn’t win but I felt like I rode the best I have ridden all season.

Can you take us through the motos?
First moto, I had the holeshot and Jacqueline [Ross] passed me pretty rapidly but she didn’t pull away, which was nice. There’s one section—the high-speed section—where she would pull a bit and then the in the tighter section, I’d pull her back in. We stayed within a couple of bike lengths in certain sections, and in certain sections, a bit further, but I was at least sort of on her. Toward the end of the moto, we started getting into lappers and my arms started to pump up. I missed a couple of jumps due to lappers and she started to pull away a little bit more. But, overall, I was pumped on the first moto. And then, in the second moto, I holeshot again and I led for most of the first lap but I came into a corner a little too hot and grabbed too much front brake and it pitched me over the handlebars. I landed on my head [laughs] but I managed to keep the bike running so I just lost two positions. I caught back up and passed back to second; I charged as hard as I could. I felt good, I felt like I rode well. That’s all you can ask for.

You have a couple of chances left to beat Ross. What do you need to focus on?
I really have to focus on my corner speed for sure. That seems to be where she beats me the most. She seems to get on the gas a little sooner than I do. And, to get used to running that kind of pace for 20 minutes because they are giving us a full-length moto now, whereas sometimes they used to cut it. Randy [McLeod] said that we’ve had them [full length motos] since Gopher Dunes so it’s just a matter of adapting to running a 20 plus moto at that fast of pace.

How is the series going in general, this year and last year?
I think this year I’m having a little more fun. I have more support, obviously. Getting to pit out of a semi is awesome and I absolutely love everybody on that Monster Energy team. It’s just a great group of guys. Every weekend I seem to have more fun and more laughs. It’s my second year [following the national series] so I’m a little more comfortable with everything so it’s been really fun.

That’s nice to hear. What is the background behind your deal with Freedom Cycle Kawasaki and now the Monster Energy Cernic’s team?
Last year, I think Kawasaki kind of approached Randy [McLeod] about maybe bringing me back to run the series and I definitely wanted to run it but I had to do it with a little more budget because I have a little business now so I can’t just go out on the road. Kawasaki stepped up to the plate and worked something out with Randy at Freedom and we worked something out together so I was able to go race the series last year. I got the overall last year and then, from there, it just kind of spiralled into working with the Monster Energy team. Derek Sorenson used to be my brother’s [Mitch Cooke] mechanic and I have always stayed in touch with him. Billy [Whitley] talked with Randy and it just went from there and things just seem to get better and better.

It’s so cool that it turned out to become a factory ride. I know you skipped the first year because you didn’t have enough support and then jumped to Freedom Cycle and Kawasaki and now it’s tuned into a ride in a semi.
Absolutely. The last two seasons of racing have probably been the most fun seasons I’ve had. With that kind of support, it seems like it’s easy to have fun—you have no worries, you just focus on riding.

You’re typically pretty low-key at the races. How do you feel pitting out of rig now?
Well, in all honesty, in the first couple of rounds, I felt like I needed to hide a bit. At the first round I kind of stuck to the sidelines. I had some friends up there so I hung out in their pits but, as time went on, I started to become more comfortable and now I’m fine. I feel really comfortable under there, and they make me feel like I am part of the team—everybody works together. So I’m okay with it now. [Laughs]

Who is impressing you this year in the Women’s class?
Jacqueline Ross, for sure. She’s younger too [laughs]. She’s 20; I feel like an old bird compared to her. Jolene [Van Vugt] has had a few good rounds and Jocelyn Killough and Jessica Foster have been battling it out like crazy throughout the series.

Are you disappointed you don’t get to race Ross at RiverGlade? You might have her beat there.
That’s all right. I like Sand-Del-Lee too so hopefully I can get her there maybe.

How is everything going at Brookfield Bakery and Hurricane Heidi’s Café?
Everything is good. Busy, busy, busy, everyone is working away but it’s been good. It seems like it’s been an extra busy summer but that’s always good, can’t complain about that.

How about Randy? Is the owner of Freedom Cycle actually wrenching on your bike or is that just a façade and he’s just hanging around?
[Laughs] That is a bit of a façade. He just goes into the pits and puts the gear on to make it look like he’s doing something. No, he’s awesome. We have such a good time together; he’s so easy going.

Who do you want to thank?
Freedom Cycle, Cernic’s, Monster Energy, Canadian Kawasaki, Billy Whitley and Derek Sorenson for putting me in the rig and everyone that helps me at the races and that includes our whole team and all the guys because it really is just a wicked bunch of guys.