DMX Frid’Eh Update #10 Presented by Atlas Brace

DMX Frid’Eh Update #10 Presented by Atlas Brace

By Jeff McConkey and Billy Rainford

Week #10 goes to Bayfield, Ontario’s Nathan Bles. – Bigwave photo

Welcome to another Frid’Eh Update here on Direct Motocross. We’ve already hit double digits for 2015. That means we’re at the 20% mark of the year – it happens fast. #10 for 2015 is a rider we’ve all watched grow up. As a young rider, Nathan Bles was always in the radar. He showed promise as a 65cc rider and we all knew that if he could keep his focus and support, he would be one of our best someday.

For 2015, Nathan dips into that coveted top 10 ranking as far as national numbers go, and that’s a huge accomplishment. Keep in mind, he didn’t join the series until Round 5 at Gopher Dunes. Here’s how the rest of Nathan’s summer went:

Gopher Dunes: 8-9 9th

Sand Del Lee: 8-11 10th

Deschambault: 16-9 11th

Riverglade: 11-10 10th

Ulverton: 4-8 6th

Walton: 8-10 8th

For Nathan, the biggest issue for 2015 will be finding a way to crack the seemingly untouchable top 5. With riders like Colton Facciotti, Matt Goerke, Brett Metcalfe, Tyler Medaglia, Teddy Maier, Bobby Kiniry, and Cole Thompson all competing in 2015, top 5s will be even that much more difficult. What is a rider to do who wants to break into that elite group?

Nathan Bles has signed on to race with the Redemption Racing Fly Dragon KTM team for this coming year. Having this level of support means Nathan is able to concentrate solely on reaching his goals this season. In fact, Bles has already been down south training at Club MX for the past month. With all the tools in place, Nathan should appear at Round 1 in Kamloops, BC ready to crack that top 5.

DMX was able to spend a day with Nathan and his Intermediate teammate, Alex Jeffery, down at Club MX last week. Both riders have been buying into the set program and should see the benefits once the season starts.

Nathan will spend his spring down at Club MX getting ready for the 2015 season. – Bigwave photo

This week, the Update is brought to you by Atlas Brace. The research results are in and Atlas Brace has what you need for protection at the races or the practice track. Not only does Atlas Brace help protect you, but it’s built with comfort in mind. In fact, you won’t even know you have it on. Be sure to check out the full line of braces invented by a Canadian. You can check them out HERE.

This week, the Update is brought to you by Atlas Brace.

Jeff McConkey

Hey, guys. Finally, the weather is starting to warm up here in Southern Ontario. We still can’t ride, but fingers crossed we will be riding outdoors soon! Daytona SX went off last Saturday and the Ricky Carmichael Amateur  SX was Sunday and Monday. Congratulations to all the Canadians that competed. I’m sure you all had a blast!

John Sparks Update

There has been some better news regarding fast young Ontario racer Christian Sparks father John. John is currently at a hospital back in Peterborough, Ontario, and it looks like he will be sent to a facility in Toronto for rehabilitation. There is a recovery fund to help this great family in their long journey ahead. If possible, please help out in any way possible.

MMRS

With the weather heating up and the snow slowly going away, I am impatiently counting down the days until the 2015 MMRS race season begins. If you are new to riding/racing or are a seasoned vet, this is a great place to spend your MX season in Eastern Ontario. The club offers Saturday practice to prepare you for Sunday’s big race. It doesn’t get much better than that. Where else can you safely get seat time, break in new bikes/parts or gear at your own pace and have some serious fun with your friends and family? I, myself, find it very hard to learn a new track, new obstacles, while trying to ride your very fastest in 3 short laps, sometimes less. The MMRS Club offers a class for everyone and has a great family atmosphere, as well as a competitive edge. Check out their website, and if possible give them a shot. You won’t be disappointed!

Indianapolis SX

This weekend’s race is at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. I pretty much expect it to be another Marvin Musquin show in the 250 class. In 450 action, I have a feeling both Eli Tomac and Trey Canard will be hanging it all out for the win. I’m just afraid it will be checkers or wreckers for the two as they feel way too much pressure to beat Ryan Dungey. Either way, I am sure we will see some more great racing action like we have all season long. Here are my Indy picks:

Jeff is picking either #3 Eli Tomac or #41 Trey Canard for the win in Indianapolis this weekend. – Bigwave photo

250 East

1st Marvin Musquin
2nd Jeremy Martin
3rd Joey Savatgy
4th Anthony Rodriguez
5th Mitchell Oldenburg

450 Class

1st Eli Tomac
2nd Trey Canard
3rd Ryan Dungey
4th Chad Reed
5th Broc Tickle

That’s all for me this week. I’d like to give a big Happy Birthday to favourite Hungarian, Kornel Nemeth. If you are reading this Kornel, please come back for at least one race this season, Bru! And congrats to my close friend Brad Nauditt for being cleared to get back on the bike after a very serious injury!  Check out my ‘Out of the Blue‘ with Chloe Metcalfe, and if you are down south riding for the March Break, be safe and remember to #smileforBC!

Happy Birthday to Kornel Nemeth. – Bigwave photo

Billy Rainford

Thanks, Jeff. Does anyone out there care that it’s Friday the 13th today? It’s been a pretty crazy past two weeks for me. I just drove back into my London, Ontario, driveway Wednesday evening after a whirlwind tour of the southeastern USA. It will now take me some time to go over the content from places like Atlanta, GPF, WW, Loudmouth, Daytona, RCSX, Endurocross, GNCC, and Club MX. All I ‘ve really been able to get to so far is a very short video of Nathan Bles, Alex Jeffery, and Sylvain LeGad riding a few sections at Club MX. Here’s that video:

Canadians at Club MX 2015 from Directmotocross.com on Vimeo.

There has been some bad weather down south, so a lot of riding facilities were happy to see the drier and warmer weather. Because of all the rain, the guys weren’t able to ride the front, main track while I was there. The track in the video is what they call the Practice Facility. It’s the one that is open to the public to drop in, pay your fee and ride it. Of course, the main track was going to open up the day I had to leave. It looked like a ton of fun with huge jumps and flowing corners. Maybe next time…Big thanks to Zach Osborne and Brandon Haas for the hospitality while I was there. Be sure to check the Chesterfield, SC facility out.

Top 10 Riders and Teams for 2015

We’re less than 3 months until the first gate drops on the 2015 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals at Whispering Pines in Kamloops, BC. With that in mind, let’s see what we know about who’s going where for this upcoming season:

MX1

1. Colton Facciotti – Honda Canada TLD GDR.

2. Mike Alessi – Rumoured to be bringing his Smartops MotoConcepts ride to the first 2 rounds at least.

3. Tyler Medaglia – Parts Canada Thor Husqvarna.

4. Kyle Chisholm – Not returning to Canada in 2015.

5. Teddy Maier – Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki.

6. Josh Hill – Not returning to Canada in 2015.

7. Bobby Kiniry – The long-time Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha rider says he’s returning to Canada 100% but remains unsigned as of this Update.

8. Dylan Kaelin – Devil’s Lake MX.

9. Morgan Burger – Says he’d like to return to Canada in 2015 but so far will be doing it on his own with the RMX gang in ‘The Black Pearl.’

10. Nathan Bles – Redemption Racing Fly Dragon KTM.

Other notables:

Brett Metcalfe – 2013 MX1 champ will ride for Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki in 2015.

Matt Goerke – 2012 MX1 champ will ride for Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha in 2015.

Cole Thompson – Coming back from ACL rehab, will ride for the Royal Distributing Fox KTM team.

Jesse Pierce – The fast American rider has stated that he plans on running the entire MX1 season in Canada and is looking for support.

MX2

1. Kaven Benoit – Royal Distributing Fox KTM…on a 250 2-stroke!

2. Vince Friese – Will likely come north if #800 does.

3. Shawn Maffenbeier – Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha.

4. Jesse Wentland – Not likely returning to Canada in 2015.

5. Topher Ingalls – Not returning to Canada in 2015.

6. Seth Rarick – Redemption Racing Fly Dragon KTM.

7. Sylvain LeGad – Playground Poker Club JT Yamaha.

8. Austin Politelli – Not returning to Canada in 2015.

9. Dylan Wright – MX101 Yamaha.

10. Jeremy Medaglia – Honda Canada TLD GDR.

Other Notables:

Cole Martinez – Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki.

With all the talk down south about who may or may not be venturing north in 2015, there could be another 10 riders who could fight for top 5 results in both classes! We’ll know more as the season approaches so stay tuned for some more announcements.

Tyler Medaglia

Last weekend, Parts Canada Thor Husqvarna Canada rider, Tyler Medaglia, lined up for his first-ever Amsoil GNCC race in Palatka, Florida. It was round one of the 2015 championship. We rolled through the site of the race at Hog Waller Friday afternoon to see what was up. They were busy setting the course and pits up, but there was no sign of the young Canadian.

I gave Tyler a call today to talk about the race. He was back in Tallahassee doing some cycling and riding some trails. He told me that it was actually Earl May who came up with the idea to give the GNCC a try once he found out Tyler didn’t have to OK to race the Daytona SX. Earl is the 51-year-old who wins every age group race he enters.

Tyler says he “always rode trails as a youngster” and absolutely loves them. He’s done two off-road races in the past couple years out east: one on a 250 2-stroke Husaberg and the other last year on a Freedom Cycle 300 Husqvarna.

While most other riders got the opportunity to walk the Palatka course beforehand, Tyler was busy making graphics for his bike because his Kutvek set failed to ship from Quebec due to yet another storm. He was also out doing a 45 and a 35-minute moto the day before in an attempt to figure out pit stops etc. Not the way a Pro racer usually wants to relax heading into a big race!

“The dead engine start was really cool. You could hear a pin drop,” said Medaglia. He got off to a good start but fell on the first lap. After telling himself to “just have fun,” he began to ride better. He said the sandy course was “like they’d run two days of Pro racing at Gopher Dunes!”

Some of us may think it’s a more relaxed form of racing but Tyler said it was just like racing a 3-hour motocross race – no time to relax. It was extremely intense and he’s pretty sure he ‘bonked’ the last lap, as he was completely spent. Bottom line: he said “it’s not easy!”

Guess what? He’s lining up again this weekend for round 2 at Aonia Pass Motocross Park in Washington, Georgia. Here’s the track description from the GNCC website:

Georgia’s distinctive red clay makes “The General” what it is. If there’s rain, the soil gets soft, builds deep ruts and can be very slick, so be careful when approaching traffic and bottlenecks. But when it’s dry, this course gets hard and fast.

This course offers a motocross track with some decent jumps at the Aonia Pass Motocross track, but if you’re not an aerialist, don’t worry, the jumps are tamed for the GNCC. The motocross track makes for a good passing spot if you can’t get around someone in the woods, but remember, you can only make up a few seconds out of the two-hour race there, so don’t take too many risks. 

The trails range from fast and flowing, to tight and twisty, and there’s typically some short sections of single track for the bikes. Exposed roots are common on the course at The General and can make for a rough ride as the race day wears on, but can also provide the chance to be used as a take-off to jump over other roots.

Hill climbs aren’t an issue at The General as the land rolls very gently and any hills are usually short. As the race weekend wears on, small rocks will become exposed too, so be careful of the roost from other riders when following closely. Not just because of the pebbles, but also because washing the red clay from rider and machine can be the biggest challenge!

Tyler said it’s supposed to rain, so it should be interesting.

What’s next for Tyler? He says that if things go well this weekend he may just race his way north to Nova Scotia! Thanks for the chat today, Tyler, and good luck this weekend. You can actually watch the event live Sunday on Racer TV.

Tyler Medaglia will line up again at round 2 of the Amsoil GNCC in Georgia this weekend. – Bigwave photo

Topher Ingalls Update

Motocross is and has always been full of colourful and unique characters. It’s safe to say, Topher Ingalls holds up his end of the deal in both categories. We got to know the fast northern Californian a bunch of years back when he showed up and went so fast he got himself a ride on the new GDR Suzuki team. Since then, he’s been a mainstay at or near the front of the MX2 races.

Topher Ingalls will be missed in Canada this summer. – Bigwave photo

We gave him a call today to find out what his future plans are and we were disappointed to hear that he won’t be making it back up to Canada in 2015. He broke his fibula (outside stabilizing bone of the lower leg) before A1 and was forced to take a month off the bike. He’s been riding a 450 lately and his local bike sponsor is heavily involved in off-road racing, so he will be lining up for his second race this weekend out in California.

I asked his, straight-up, if that kind of racing is fun and he was quick to respond, “it’s pretty awful.” Topher is a wide-open type rider and says having to keep the bike more upright as you negotiate trees and rocks isn’t exactly his first choice of riding but he’s been having fun. He made it 2 1/2 hours into his first race at Clear Creek but then hit something and his bike started to shut down forcing him out of the event.

This week, he’ll be in Gorman, California, for the 3rd round of the 2015 Kenda/SRT West Hare Scramble Championship.

Topher said he’ll try to line up for the final two rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross in Santa Clara and Las Vegas. Good luck this weekend, Topher, and we hope things work out for you as you try to sort out your program for this coming summer.

Amsoil Arenacross Heads into Southaven, Mississippi

Friday, Saturday, Sunday
March 13
March 14
March 15

Show Times
Friday – 7:00 PM
Saturday – 7:00 PM
Sunday – 12:00 PM

Doors Open
Friday & Saturday – 6:00 PM
Sunday – 8:00 AM

Council Bluffs 60-Second Wrap

MXGP Of Thailand Highlights

By now, we all know that Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki rider Ryan Villopoto took his first MXGP overall last week in Thailand. If not, give this highlight video a click and check out what should be the first in a long line of probably wins:

Donk in France

When I spoke to Scott ‘Donk’ Donkergoed last Friday afternoon in Daytona Beach, the Husqvarna USA mechanic mentioned he might be heading to Europe for a race with Colton Haaker. Well, it looks like that has happened and Donk is currently Tweeting and Instagramming from France. Here is his latest:

From @donk122:

We’re over here in France racing the last round of the Super Endurocross series getting this guy back to 100. Got the bike handled today and we’re looking forward to racing tomorrow.

Donk is in France with Rockstar Husqvarna rider Colton Haaker this weekend. – Bigwave photo

Josh Hill Injury Update

#75 Cycle Trader Yamaha rider Josh Hill crashed last week in Daytona and was taken to hospital. Josh mentioned he “collapsed both lungs, got a few broken ribs and a snapped clavicle.” Best of luck with your recovery, Josh.

Good luck to Josh Hill who was injured in Daytona last week. – Bigwave photo

OK, that will do it for week #10. We’ve got Canadians scattered all across the snow-less USA. Good luck to everyone riding and training in preparation for the upcoming season. Have a great weekend and enjoy the coverage of the Indy SX Saturday night.