Frid’Eh Update #12 | Julien Benek | Presented by Leatt

Frid’Eh Update #12 | Julien Benek | Presented by Leatt

By Billy Rainford

Welcome to Week #12 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week presented by Leatt. Week #12 belongs to Mission, BC rider Julien Benek.

Hello from the comfort of my office chair in my own actual home. It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit here and type away. Usually, I’m racing off to Press Day for the next round of Supercross, but this week the series has headed back to the west coast for the Seattle Supercross. I won’t be making that trip this week.

Of course, now we do have a Canadian lining up, so I’m already regretting my decision. More on that later…

Julien Benek is the rider from the Canadian west coast that we’ve all kept a close eye on as he came up through the ranks. He is exceptionally skilled at the indoor discipline of our sport and honed his skills like so many other riders from the left coast, in the Future West Moto Canadian Arenacross Championships, usually held at Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack.

I’ve got photos of him dating back to his little bike days and it was pretty exciting for all of us when we got the news that Julien had signed on with the Canadian-backed-and-owned PRMX Partzilla team for two years which included, of course, AMA Supercross.

I was out in California for the western rounds of the 2022 season and made sure I timed my return home to include hitting the first round of the 250 East series in Minneapolis. It was to be Julien’s first kick at the Monster Energy can.

Julien admitted he was nervous that day and could only manage to qualify in 45th spot which meant he would miss the night show. We had two other Canadians on the track that day: Tanner Ward made the night show in 36th and Guillaume St Cyr qualified 55th out of 65 and missed it too.

Round 2 was a Triple Crown event which meant it was going to be even more difficult to make the night show as they would only be taking 22 riders from qualifying (18 directly and 4 from the LCQ). Julien was 48th and missed it.

Next up was Daytona and I think we all know how that one went. Julien crashed hard in practice and broke his leg. I spoke with him about the whole thing in our interview, so scroll down to that if you are looking for more details.

He’s been off the bike since Saturday, March 5th at The Speedway and he’ll likely wait until the Canadian Triple Crown Series starts at Whispering Pines in Kamloops before he lines up again, but we’ll see how that goes. He’s already champing at the bit to ride again and it’s only been 3 weeks!

He turned Pro in 2021 and raced the entire Canadian series, doing very well, culminating in a 4th place overall at the final round of the MX portion.

Unfortunately, his strength, the whoops, bit him at the final round of the SX portion at Gopher Dunes and he went home early, but it was definitely an impressive rookie season for him.

Here’s a look at his 2021 season:

Direct Motocross: Hello, Julien. Thanks for chatting with us today. How are you doing and where have we found you today?

Julien Benek: I’m doing pretty good. My leg’s getting better. I’m at home in Mission, BC.

Are you guys getting rain? We’re getting rain here in Ontario.

Ya, we’re getting rained on.

Let’s first off back it up to the 2021 season. You had some pretty good results. Were you happy with how your rookie Pro season went? First, let’s talk about the MX portion.

Ya, I mean, considering I didn’t go down south or anything, I just went and rode at the local spots, I amazed myself quite a bit. I was definitely more than happy with my results last year.

Did anything surprise you about racing at that level for the first time?

I mean, there was me and then there was a gap between (Marco) Cannella and (Jake) Piccolo. There was that group of guys that are just really fast and everybody else is just kind of all right.

And then can you take us through the SX portion in Canada.

It was OK, I didn’t really like it that much. I just didn’t have enough time to get ready for it. I just kept getting bad starts and bad finishes. It was fun. If I would have been more prepared for that one it would have been better, but whatever. Everyone else had the same amount of preparation as I did so…

You killed it in those smaller whoops but you just couldn’t get a start. Do you think you had the pace to run with the leaders if you could have started up there with them?

Oh ya, for sure. I definitely had the pace to run with the top guys, I just couldn’t get a start.

And then it didn’t end well. Can you tell us what happened there at the final round?

I got a little sketchy in the whoops and I wasn’t able to turn fast enough to get back on the track and I hit a tuff block and it hit my back brake and it threw me over the bars and I landed into the face of the jump with my knee and I tore my meniscus.

Is that something yo’ve had fixed or are you living with it?

It’s good now. I didn’t have to get it fixed. It fixed itself. I just went and did some therapy. It still pops a few times a day.

So, you were with Al Dyck at Sky Racing for the summer and then Julien Perrier from PRMX Partzilla picked you up for 2 years and off you went to be a professional Supercross racer. Was that everything you’d dreamed it would be?

Ya, it was pretty cool. I was pretty pumped on it. I just wanted to ride, dude. I wanted to just try and get better every single day. I wanted to be like (Justin) Hill. Riding with those guys is sick.

Did being down there with a Pro team heading to the #1 series in the world feel any different to you?

Not really. It’s nothing that I’m not used to. I’ve always been OK with having a trainer but going down south was different because I’ve never been anywhere other than California. It was fun. I liked it. The tracks were fun.

Once everybody left for the west coast everything kind of slowed down because there wasn’t everybody there. There wasn’t the need for [the track] to be prepped 120% every day. There were only 2 or 3 guys going out every day so the track kind of got a little shitty.

They didn’t have a skid steer for like a month but then once they got one the tracks were just so much better.

South of the Border is a complete tourist trap. If I went to your house would I find any t-shirts or shot glasses or anything?

No. Actually, we bought a shot glass for my uncle but that was it.

No stickers or anything?!

Actually, we got the stickers.

I knew it! And then you head to Minneapolis for Round 1 of the 250 East. Were you nervous? How did the first one go?

Ya, I was pretty nervous, like, I just tried to think of it as a local race. If you blow it out of proportion you can scare yourself. You’ll be too worried that you’re not going to be able to keep up with these guys. You have to just think of it like a normal race where everybody’s the same speed as you and you just have to go out there and ride. You have to be calm and don’t over-think it.

We’ll skip Dallas because it was a Triple Crown and I wasn’t there. Next up was Daytona. I didn’t see it happen but #500 was down early at the triple that not everyone was doing. Can you take us through what happened?

So, I was wondering what rhythms I should do and where I could make up time. I didn’t see anyone hit that triple besides Hunter Sayles. He did it right in front of me and he cleaned it perfectly. He didn’t case it or anything. I thought it couldn’t be that hard because he’d done it so I thought I could do it.

In that next lap, I case another triple and messed up my wrist and I was off the track for probably 2 minutes. I got back on around the sand and hit the triple and then that elevated corner turned left and then I went up the face and the front tire hit a different rut than my back tire did and I just spun. I endoed and the bike was pretty much upside-down so I ditched the bike. I cased the jump with my feet and that was it.

I didn’t see it happen but I got there when you were sitting on the mule with the medics and you indicated that you could move it and knew it was broken.

Ya, it was the most pain I’ve felt in a long time. It was killing me.

Take us through how you got it fixed. Did you get it done in Daytona?

3 hours after it happened they got me in the operating room. It was pretty good. They got me all situated when I was at Daytona. They have a little mini hospital there and they put a brace on my leg and shoved me in the ambulance and took me to the hospital. That’s when the pain kicked in. It was bad. I was screaming like…I don’t even know…shaking.

Normally, at Daytona, they’ll have an IV in you before you even leave the track sometimes.

Ya, they put me on an IV when I was at Daytona and then they gave me some more stuff at the hospital and it didn’t do anything. I asked for more medicine like 5 times. At the end, right before surgery, they gave me some really strong stuff. It calmed me down but it still hurt like so bad.

Was it an ugly break or a clean break?

It was pretty clean. It was kind of chipped off the inside of the tibia but other than that it was just a clean break right above the ankle.

How did you get home?

We drove back to SOBMX. That was 6 hours. We chilled at SOBMX for 3 days and then flew to Seattle, my dad left his car there, so we drove back from Seattle.

I can’t believe Daytona was only 3 weeks ago. What have you been able to do since then?

I’m already trying to walk on it. I can walk on it but it’s not good. I’ve been going to the gym a lot and doing upper body stuff. Other than that, not much. I can’t really do anything. I’ve been taking my little brother to ride his bicycle and stuff but that’s about it.

6 weeks puts us right at Atlanta. I guess I have to ask you, what’s the comeback plan?

I don’t think I’m going to be racing Supercross this season. I’ll just wait for outdoors.

I know you’re on a 2-year deal with the team, what’s the plan to get closer to those top couple guys you mentioned in the 250 MX season this summer?

I don’t know. I’m just going to try and get in the best shape I can. Being where I am, it’s all mountain biking so I’ll try and do that a lot and get back in shape, ride 3 times a week at least. There are some spots around here that you can go to and nobody really cares, so I’ll go ride. I just have to get my cardio back. I’ll be going up a few flights of stairs and I’ll be gassed!

It comes back pretty quickly. Don’t worry about that. What is the training plan? Will you do your own think at home or will you meet up with the team before our season starts?

I don’t have a bike yet, but we’re trying to get one soon. I think I’ll be able to ride in a couple weeks. I just have to get the motion back because I have no motion in my foot at all. I have my [old bike] here right now so if I can’t get my Kawi I’ll just ride my [old bike] around.

But your plan is to stay in BC until Kamloops?

Pretty much. Julien wants me go down [to SOBMX], but I don’t know what I want to do yet because I don’t really even know when I’m going to be good to go.

Don’t you have to go get your pick-up anyway?

I don’t know what I’m going to do. We’re probably going to just leave it down there for a while and get it next time I go down, which shouldn’t be too long. It’ll probably be after Nationals at the latest.

Going into next year’s Supercross season, what can you say you learned this season that you can put into practice next time?

I’d say to just be patient. Like, being patient is what’s going to save you. There’s so much time after Nationals to get ready that you don’t have to rush it. Now that I know mostly what to do in the whoops and the rhythms and I learned to chill the f!@k out because I was going crazy.

OK, so do you play video games or watch movies?. What do you do in the down time?

Ya, I’ve been playing video games – MX Simulator.

OK, thanks for taking the time with us. Good luck and we’ll see you soon. Who would you like to thank?

Ya, for sure. I’d like to thank PRMX, Partzilla, Oneal, HJC helmets, Kawasaki, OGs…

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Jess Pettis Joins Fellow Canadian Noah Viney to Train with Ryan Hughes

I think the person happiest about the news that Jess Pettis will train with Noah Viney with Ryan Hughes is Ulf Viney! Ulf is happy when he has as much Canadian contact as possible out there in Murrieta, California.

Jess, well, Ryan announced that Jess will train with him for this upcoming season as he gets ready to hit the 450 class in Canada. He’s been off since his practice injury out in California this winter at State Fair MX but he’s ready to get back on the bike and try to dethrone 2-time and defending 450 champion Dylan Wright.

We’ll grab him for a conversation in the next few days to find out how he’s coming along and how this relationship came up.

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Introducing the 2022 Central Canadian Amateur National (CCAN)

From:

GrassRoots Motocross

Manitoba welcomes another National with the Central Canadian Amateur National slated for June 24 – 26 at Transcanada Motopark in Brandon, MB the weekend following the Pro National.

From:

Triple Crown Series

Central Canadian Amateur National! Amateurs and Pros, lock in June 24-26, for the First Annual “CCAN” at TransCanada Moto Park. The TransCanada facility is minutes outside Brandon, MB, and offers every convenience needed while traveling cross-country.

You won’t want to miss it!

Looks like we’ll be spending a little more time than we thought in Manitoba this summer. See you there!

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Parker Eales to Race Seattle Supercross this Weekend

To quote Mark Twain, “Rumours of no Canadians at the Seattle Supercross have been greatly exaggerated.” He said it…you can look it up!

#518 Parker Eales will line up and try to qualify in Seattle Saturday. With only 42 riders on the entry list, he stands a pretty good chance of heading to the night show! Oddly, there are fewer 250 riders signed up this week at 41.

Apparently the “crossroads” have led Parker to the #1 series in the world! It will be fun to follow along as Parker tries to make his way through practice, 2 qualifying sessions, and into the night show.

Good luck, Parker. We’ll all be cheering for you from our couches.

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MX Caught between Spectacle and Legit Sport

I’ll end this with a bit of an opinion piece. I’m always interested to look the photos over any time Bill Petro posts an old Canadian MX one on his Facebook page. If you haven’t checked his page out, be sure to do so.

The most recent one shows the the first turn at Copetown back in 1981. Dave Beatty is out front in the black and white photo. Yes, that’s cool enough in its own rite, but if you look over his shoulders you’ll see a packed hillside. There were a lot of people out to watch…more than you’ll find at our Nationals these days!

So, what’s the deal? What happened? I was mulling it over briefly today and came to one possible conclusion that Motocross is stuck somewhere between spectacle and legitimate sport. Does that make sense?

Back in 1981 and the years before that, Moto was a spectacle. People who did it were “crazy” and people wanted to be there in person to see what was going on. It’s the original “extreme” sport after all.

As we progressed through the years, we all sort of tried to legitimize the sport and stop trying to always focus on the death-defying aspect of what happened after the gate dropped. I believe this puts us where we are today.

Sure, Supercross is selling huge crowds at their events each week, but I’m talking about outdoor MX, specifically here in Canada.

Most people now know what the sport is, so that’s a positive. However, I don’t think we’ve made the next step to making it legit in the eyes of the general public.

I, myself, try not to focus on the injuries or the perceived “craziness” of us all, but we need something that pushes us into the next category of Sport. The one where people don’t show up to watch crashes but they are genuinely interested in who wins and how the actual racing goes. That seems to be the tough one for us, if you ask me.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we need to somehow promote our top riders in the country to a bigger audience. People need to know the names Dylan Wright and Jake Piccolo. We’re still just too niche to move forward, in my opinion.

I don’t have the answer but I bet money is involved. The problem is, that’s where we seem to fall short, so let’s take one step at a time and try to get this sport growing.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the races on Saturday.