Story and photos by Brett Dailey

On July 16^th and 17^th, 2005 Gopher Dunes will get the opportunity to hold its first Canadian national motocross event. No matter what country a track is located in, most track owners dream of holding a national at their venue. It adds a level of prestige and gives the owner the opportunity (or maybe an excuse) to build additional facilities to accommodate larger crowds and race teams.

I first raced Gopher Dunes in 1990. I was just getting back into motocross and I was very excited to race a sand track since I had grown up riding whooped out sand tracks near Oshawa, Ontario. I crashed a few times and got extremely winded but I still did well. Many of my best races in recent memory have come at Gopher Dunes as well as a nasty ankle break so the track and I have a bittersweet love affair.

Oddly enough, I went to a Gopher Dunes race in 1990 with none other than Jason Griffiths. We met at the University of Guelph that year and travelled to a few Gopher Dunes races in my trusty Astro Van. I won’t forget going to the final round and driving back to Guelph in a snow storm. 

Taking a day out of my hectic schedule to hang out at the track is probably the last thing I should have done today but the Schusters are good people and deserve some recognition and support. Come out and watch the races this weekend—you won’t be disappointed. I was able to get a few good interviews from the riders at the track so check back all week for updates.

Racer X Canada: You finally got your national. How does it feel?

Frank Schuster: I have to be honest, I’m nervous. Even though I have put on provincials and Walton qualifiers … I don’t know what to expect. We’ve made a lot of improvements to the track: a watering system, adding onto the track, moving dirt around. It’s almost like building a new track so it’s been hectic. I mean, I’m confident but there is a lot on the go and I think people are anticipating a good job from us so we want to make sure we deliver.

Just the announcement of the national at Gopher Dunes seemed to raise the prestige for your track this year. You have had some big names practicing at your track all season.

It’s all helped. A couple of things went hand-in-hand this year. We raised the bar at the track here—we have changed how we prep the track, how we water the track—we raised the bar ourselves and then the national was the icing on the cake. Because we have a national here, more pro guys are coming out to train and I think it’s brought everything up a level.

What’s the schedule from now until Saturday?

It’s going to be crazy. We are leveling, watering, packing, leveling, watering, packing … it’s going to be a hectic week. With sand you have to be very redundant and go over things over and over. You have to shape the track, put a layer of water down so it will hold, pack it and reform jumps. The heat is not going to help us either.

How much water will you have to put on the track?

We’re not sure. With Hurricane Dennis down in Florida we are hoping to get a little bit of help … but not too much help. [Laughs] We can throw a lot of water on in three hours [with the in-ground watering system] so we are going to water tonight and throughout the week but we don’t want to over water or we get a lot of ruts.

The jumps are reshaped a bit and peaked up a bit but they all look doable and safe. Is that the feel you were going for with the track?

Exactly. People use clay to sculpt because it holds its shape. Sand isn’t like that. It’s like building a sand castle on the beach—as soon as the tide comes in it’s gone—and the tide will be coming in on Saturday. [Laughs] What we are looking for is to shape the jumps to keep them doable throughout the day so they have safe takeoffs and safe landings and we also plan on keeping lots of lines in the corners for guys to pass. For the rest of the track we are going to let it get as rough as it gets—let the riders build the track. We’ve kind of drawn out a game plan and we are hoping that we stay close to the game plan.

You’ve had quite a few good riders out here since the spring. I’m going to put you on the spot—who is the best rider you’ve seen ride the track so far this year?

There will be some surprises. Gavin Gracyk is an awesome rider; he’s pretty intense. People will laugh when I say this but Brad Lockhart may be older than these guys but people don’t realize what kind of a warrior that guy is. Pierce Chamberlain will put in a good performance if everything holds together for him. Guys like Jay Burke for example—there’s a guy who just won’t quit. He’s one of the toughest performers I know. We had a practice session here on Sunday where we just let the pros out and it was intense. It turned into an all-out battle where these guys went at it and it was quite surprising to say the least. This weekend will show who’s in shape and who’s not.

I heard that a few MX2 West guys are happy that they don’t have to ride this round. You know what? That’s a compliment. I want to make this round something a little different; I want to make the track extremely physical. I won’t be just the machine; there won’t be any excuses after this round. You will have to be physically fit and have it mentally together before this event to have a good showing. 

Saturday qualifiers should be exciting but I guess the guys that win the qualifiers may not be the ones to win the motos on Sunday. The motos will be long and you can make so many mistakes in the sand.

That’s right. The guys better get a good night of rest because there won’t be anywhere on the track to rest on Saturday or Sunday. It will be rough and they will not find a spot to rest anywhere on that track.

Many times for a track owner, it is a highlight to have a big name rider race your event. Are you excited to have JSR race here?

JSR was here a few years ago but he hasn’t come back since. Obviously it will be an honour to have JSR here—it will be an honour to have any of these guys here. When these guys come out and practice, we feel that it’s an honour. Oh, a guy I forgot to mention before is Dougie DeHaan. He will be a contender in the MX2 class. People that come out on Saturday to watch the qualifiers are really going to get their money’s worth. There are some Intermediate riders that are just about ready to make that step up [to the pro class] and they are good sand riders so I’m expecting to see some neat things from those guys too. Some of the Intermediates could get into the top 10. When this track gets rough, you never know what could happen.

Who would you like to thank that has helped you get the track to this point?

The Lee family has helped me out quite a bit. Chris keeps phoning, Brett phones, Matt phones, they are always calling to make sure everything is okay and to ask if I need help with anything. Mark Stallybrass … whenever I feel a little bit nervous, he reassures me that everything will be okay and gives me that extra bit of confidence. My crew … everyone has picked up a little extra.

Who’s in your crew?

My son Derek, my wife Barb, my daughter Kaitlin and Erick. Brad Lockhart has been a lot of help with certain areas of the track. When I had questions, he came down and took the time to help out. Jeff Sutherland has helped out—there have been a lot of people helping us out here and it’s important.

Well, I’ll let you get back to work. See you on Saturday.

Sounds great. See you then.

We also had the opportunity to chat with Frank Schuster’s son Derek. He’s a fast Intermediate who rides extremely well at Gopher Dunes (home track advantage really is a home track advantage in this case) but won’t get the opportunity to show his stuff at the national. There is too much at stake this weekend so Derek will be manning the dozer instead of his RM-Z.

Racer X Canada: Tell us a bit about the new whoop section.

Derek Schuster: We wanted to build some whoops out of some clear sand to add something a little extra to the track and we wanted to make it a bit longer back here to try to get the lap times over two minutes.

Where did the sand come from? It looks like Daytona sand.

My dad had to move the sand anyway so we thought that we would bring it down here. We know it will get really rutted and rough so we decided to put it in there and see how it goes.

Your dad says that the track will be kept rough throughout the weekend with very little track manipulation. Is that true?

Yes. We’re going to fix up a few jumps but that’s about it for the whole weekend. Everything else will be left rough. We’re going to cut berms in before anyone even practices so that way it doesn’t get one lined. Other than that, we won’t touch the track.

How’s the hype been so far?

Good. We’ve had a lot of pros out lately. In the past week or two, tons of guys have been coming out every day. Yesterday [Sunday] we shut down the track for a while in the afternoon and watered it and let pros and intermediates on the track only. It looked like a little pro moto going on out there.

Who’s been here this season?

Simon Homans, Gavin Gracyk, Doug DeHaan, all of our local pros like Jay Burke, Joel Saarits, Kyle Keast, Pierce Chamberlain. Ryan Lockhart and Boo Green came out on the weekend and Brad Lockhart has been here practicing a lot. Quite a few intermediates have been out here to try to get ready to qualify for their first pro national.

Who’s your pick for the 125 win?

Doug DeHaan looks pretty good out here. Ryan [Lockhart] obviously. I think those two will be up there for sure but Doug looks super fast. He was running the same lap times as Gracyk on his 450 and Doug was on his 250F so he might be a big surprise.

Well, we will see if your pick pans out this Sunday.

[Laughs] Thanks.

Track Info:

http://www.gopherdunes.com

July 16/17 2005

Gopher Dunes

Courtland, Ontario

Support Classes
Saturday Junior GP/Beginner GP. Limited 40 rider entry per class.
Sunday Ladies/Supermini*/50cc GP*.Limited 40 rider entry per class.
First come first serve.

Entry $30.00

NATIONAL SERIES Plaques for Top 10

Gates Open Friday at 12:00pm-11:00pm
Saturday 6:30am-11:00pm
Sunday 6:00am-4:00pm

Amateur Sign in
Sign in Saturday 7:00 am until 8:30am
Sign in Sunday 7:00 am until 8:00am

* Open to all 60cc,and 80cc bikes.
* 50cc GP will ride on the BIG TRACK. NO REFUNDS AFTER PRACTICE.


NO CAMP FIRES. Gopher Dunes has a municipal burn ban in affect.

GATE ADMISSION:
Saturday or Sunday: $20.00 per adult
$10.00 under 12
Free preschoolers

Weekend Package: $30.00 per adult
$15.00 under 12
Free preschoolers

Camping Fee: $10.00 per vehicle per night

Saturday:

7:30 am 9:00 am Pro/Amateur Sign-in

8:30 am 8:45 am Amateur Riders Meeting

9:00 am 9:15 am Pro Riders Meeting Mandatory

9:15 am 9:30 am Team Faith Devotional Service

9:10 am 9:20 am Beginner Practice

9:20 am 9:30 am Junior Practice

9:40 am 9:55 am MX2 Pro/Am practice group 1

9:55 am 10:10 am MX2 Pro/Am practice group 2

10:10 am 10:25 am MX2 Pro/Am practice group 3 (if necessary)

10:30 am 10:45 am MX1 Pro practice group 1

10:45 am 11:00 am MX1 Pro practice - group 2

11:00 am 11:25 am Track Maintenance

11:25 am 11:35 am GP Beginner Moto #1

11:40 am - 11:55 am MX2 Pro/Am practice group 1

11:55 am 12:10 pm MX2 Pro/Am practice group 2

12:10 pm 12:25 pm MX2 Pro/Am practice group 3 (if necessary)

12:30 am 12:45 pm MX1 Pro practice group 1

12:45 pm 1:00 pm MX1 Pro practice group 2

1:00 pm 1:20 pm Lunch Break/Track Maintenance

1:20 pm 1:30 pm GP Junior Moto #1

1:40 pm 1:55 pm MX2 Pro/Am Qualifier #1

2:00 pm 2:15 pm MX2 Pro/Am Qualifier #2

2:20 pm - 2:35 pm MX2 Pro/Am Qualifier #3 (if necessary)

2:40 pm 3:00 pm Track Maintenance

3:00 pm 3:10 pm GP Beginner Moto #2

3:15 pm 3:30 pm MX1 Pro Qualifier #1

3:35 pm 3:50 pm MX1 Pro Qualifier #2

3:55 pm 4:05 pm GP Junior Moto #2

4:10 pm 4:20 pm Track Maintenance

4:25 pm - 4:35 pm MX2 Pro/Am Last Chance Qualifier

4:50pm 5:00 pm MX1 Pro Last Chance Qualifier

Sunday:

7:00 am 8:00 am Amateur Sign-in

8:00 am 8:15 am Riders Meeting

8:30 am 8:45 am MX2 Pro/Am - Practice

8:50 am 9:05 pm MX1 Pro - Practice

9:10 am 9:40 am GP 50/Ladies/Super Mini - Practice

9:40 am 10:10 am Track Maintenance

10:10 am 10:20 am GP 50cc Moto #1

10:25 am 10:35 am Ladies Moto #1

10:40 am - 10:50 am Opening Ceremonies

10:50 am 10:55 am MX2 Pro/Am - Hot Lap

11:00 am 11:30 am MX2 Pro/Am - Moto # 1

11:35 am 11:45 am Super Mini Moto #1

11:50 am 12:00 pm GP 50cc Moto #2

12:10 pm 12:15 pm MX1 Pro - Hot Lap

12:20 pm 12:55 pm MX1 Pro - Moto # 1

1:00 pm 1:30 pm Track Maintenance/Lunch

1:30 pm 2:00 pm Freestyle

2:05 pm 2:15 pm Ladies Moto #2

2:20 pm 2:25 pm MX2 Pro/Am Hot Lap

2:30 pm 3:00 pm MX2 Pro/Am - Moto # 2

3:10 pm 3:20 pm Super Mini Moto #2

3:30 pm 3:35 pm MX1 Pro Hot Lap

3:45 pm 4:20 pm MX1 Pro - Moto # 2