--press release--

It turned out to be a bittersweet weekend for Team Suzuki OTSFF  Motorsports at Round 6 of the CMRC Canadian Motocross Championships in Joliette, QC. Gavin Gracyk rode a flawless first MX1 moto, taking the checkered with a 7-second lead over second place Damon Huffman. It was the first ever MX1 win for Gracyk, who became only the third rider capable of breaking defending champion Jean Sebastien Roy’s winning streak since the ’04 season.

Team Suzuki’s jubilation turned into dismay, however, when Gracyk crashed hard a few laps into the second moto, which he had holeshotted. Unfortunately, Gracyk was unable to continue the race due to a bruised right knee, ending any hopes right then and there for a possible overall win of the day.

“That’s the rocky road of racing. You never know what’s going to happen. You set a personal milestone one minute and the next you’re on the ground wondering what happened,” said rider manager Ron Ashley. “It came as a real blow to the team that Gavin was unable to prove his mettle again in the second moto, but that doesn’t take away from his awesome first moto win. The RM-Z 450s continue to prove themselves round after round and we know we can win races with them.”

In the first moto, Gracyk got a top three start out of the gate, critical on a track like Circuit de Joliette, which is extremely hard to pass on and difficult to negotiate. Although Craig Decker commandeered the holeshot, Gracyk was in control of the lead on the first lap. From there, he gassed his RM-Z 450 into a comfortable lead and was never challenged for position. Gracyk’s teammates Keith Johnson and Mike Treadwell, for their part, were victimized by mid-pack starts. The stalwart veterans, never intimidated by the competition or the racing circumstances, clawed their way into 12th and 14th place finishes respectively. 

The fateful second moto saw Gracyk rip the holeshot to be passed by Dusty Klatt after drifting wide going into turn two. Two laps later, while running in second and distancing himself from his pursuers, Gracyk went down in the back rhythm section bringing an end to what had started out to be a perfect day. Despite his DNF, Gracyk still carded a noteworthy eighth place overall.

“There was quite a bit of dust being roosted by Dusty and I had trouble seeing where I was going. I hit something on the track but I don’t know if it was a rock or whatever. It came as a real surprise when I went down. Usually you know when you’re in trouble but this just came out of nowhere,” said Gracyk.

KJ and “Iron” Mike, meanwhile, got better starts this time out and ran a real strong second moto that saw them battle hard for the sub-top positions. Johnson carded eighth at the checkered while Treadwell finished two positions back in 10th. They chalked up 10th and 12th overall respectively, and some more valuable points in the title hunt.

In the MX2 East Championship, Team Suzuki’s Charles Ellis and Jean-Yves Allard started around mid-pack in the first moto and basically got bogged down there for much of the race. Although both riders managed to make up some time and move up a few positions, neither was able to get into the mix and score championship points. The second moto proved no better for Ellis and Allard. They were again faced with a mid-pack start. They were over-anxious to improve on their first moto results, which saw both riders push the envelope and exit the track with DNFs.

“This was a weekend to forget for both myself and Charles,” said Allard. “If you don’t start up front here you don’t finish up front and the dust didn’t help any. We both got kind of frustrated and all I can say is that I’m looking forward to Moncton to set things right.”