Frid’Eh Update #12 Presented by Schrader’s

By Jeff McConkey and Billy Rainford

Week #12 goes out to New England rider, Jimmy Decotis. – Bigwave photo

Welcome to week #12. Unfortunately, it’s looking like we won’t be seeing Jimmy Decotis representing the ‘one-two’ this summer in the 2016 Rockstar MX Nationals. Jimmy surprised a lot of people last spring when he came to Canada to compete in the 2015 MX2 championship chase. It was a really big deal for the Canada’s Motorcycle FXR MX101 Yamaha squad to land such a well-known rider.

Jimmy had a reputation of being blistering fast but not in the greatest shape for the grueling demands of Professional outdoor motocross. He made good on his promise to change that situation and came into the season fit and ready to take on all challengers.

He left Whispering Pines in Kamloops, BC after round 1 with 1-1 moto scores and the red plate heading to the Wastelands in Nanaimo, BC the following week. He’s a well-known animal in the sand and the Kamloops track wasn’t supposed to suit his his strengths. MX101’s Kevin Tyler had a good time walking around sarcastically saying, “He’s just a sand guy!”

Jimmy Decotis left round 1 in Kamloops with the red plate. – Bigwave photo

Behind Decotis were Jeremy Medaglia (2-2), Kaven Benoit (3-3), Cole Martinez (4-4), and Blake Savage (5-5).

The MX2 season:

When the dust settled at Walton Raceway in August, Jimmy finished in 2nd place behind Benoit. He then went to the Geico Honda team to race 250 West Supercross and this is where the story gets interesting, as far as his possible return to Canada goes. We grabbed the friendly New Englander for a chat yesterday to talk about all of these things. Here’s what he had to say.

Direct Motocross: Hello, Jimmy. Let’s back up a bit first. Can you tell us a little bit about your yourself?

Jimmy Decotis: I started riding around 4 years old. I got into the sport very young. My dad and older brothers raced so of course I wanted to follow in their footsteps. I grew up living in the New England area with Florida trips during the cold winter months. I always enjoyed racing. I raced every weekend during the summer chasing the NESC series. As I grew up, my dad never pressured me or pushed me to get better, it was something we enjoyed doing and we kept it fun.

A lot of people were surprised to see you actually show up in Canada at round 1 last year. How did that whole deal come together with the MX101 gang?

I heard through the grapevine that MX101 was looking for a guy. I contacted Kevin Tyler and told him I was interested. I had a SX-only deal lined up and my summer was still in limbo. I contacted a few close friends up in Canada and they all believed it was a good decision and fit for me to go up to Canada and ride for the MX 101 team. They have a solid program, good bikes and good people – what more could you really ask for? We did a test down at South of the Border Training Facility and I was happy with the bike and we moved forward from there.

The Benoit/Decotis battle at round 5 Gopher Dunes was one for the ages. – Bigwave photo

Taking your goggles off at The Dunes is rarely a good idea. – Bigwave photo

This is usually the best case result. – Bigwave photo

What was your impression of Canada and the Canadian series?

The Canadian series was such a cool experience for me. I was welcomed in with open arms from the teams to the promoters and all the fans. It really was one of the best summers of my career. Some of the tracks were a lot different than what you’d see in the states, but overall the series was a success and I’m thankful I got the opportunity to race up north.

What was your favourite track last summer?

My favorite track last summer had to be Sand Del Lee (MX101). I may be a bit biased tho (Laughs). I really enjoyed the track. I also enjoyed Gopher Dunes and Kamloops.

“I left everything I had on the track and so did Kaven. Although that weekend we got protested by the KTM team, me and Kaven both left that round with more respect for each other than when the series started. ” – Bigwave photo

What was one thing you noticed different in Canada from the USA?

The biggest difference was the tracks and atmosphere. It’s obviously not as big as some of the U.S. rounds so the series seemed really laid back. I enjoyed that aspect of the series. The tracks weren’t tilled as deep or watered as much, so it opened up the layouts and made for great passing. Sometimes in the states the water and tilling really makes the tracks one-lined.

Now, you’ve been racing the West 250 SX series. How has that been going?

The west coast 250 series has had its ups and downs. I started out the series extremely well I was strong fast and fit. Unfortunately, I got really sick in between rounds 3 and 4 – I had the flu. As soon as I got over that I got bronchitis because I didn’t listen to my body when I was sick and continued training. It was a bummer because I worked so hard in the off season racing down in Australia and putting the miles in on the road bike. I felt back to normal for round 7 in Arlington but a bad start cost me huge. I really want to stand on that podium, so anything but top 3 was a bit disappointing.

What have you been doing over this little break?

Since the break started I took a week off to rest my body and then I’ve been straight back into the program. I want to make a solid impression at the last 2 rounds for myself and my team so it’s been crunch time for me. I actually just got back from a 4 day trip to Texas with the whole FC Honda team. We did testing and scrimmages together to see how our bikes are under race conditions. It’s really cool that our team invests so much time and effort to make sure we have the best possible setup come race time.

#58 Jimmy Decotis is ready to take a podium position very soon. He grabbed the SupercrossLIVE.com holeshot and said he "got a little pumped up." He finished 5th.

#58 Jimmy Decotis is competing in the 250 West SX for the Geico FC Honda team. – Spikman photo

Where do you hope to finish this SX season?

I really wanted to finish the season in the top 3 but for now I sit 6th with 2 rounds to go. A top 5 overall would be nice and 4th is within reach, so if we can get up to that 4th spot it will be a career best for me and more steps in the right direction.

There was also talk that you were wanting to return to Canada in 2016. I guess it can’t happen due to your Honda contract? What will you be racing this summer?

This summer is still up in the air for me. I’ve struggled with arm pump in my last few years of racing so I may get arm pump surgery and hopefully return for the last 4 or 5 U.S. Rounds. I plan to stay with the Geico Honda team for 2017, although I haven’t signed a contract yet. I’d love to be back here for a full season next year.

What if a team had a Honda for you? Would you come north?

I’d possibly do a deal on a Honda. Like I said before, I plan to be with the Geico Honda team for 2017, so a brand change for the summer just wasn’t in the cards. My initial plan was to continue with the MX101 team for 2016 nationals but with talks of staying with Geico for 2017 that plan didn’t work out. I really enjoyed my time with the MX101 team so I’m a bit bummed, but I wouldn’t want it to jeopardize my chances for another season on the Honda brand.

Good luck in the rest of the SX season, Jimmy. – Bigwave photo

You and Kaven Benoit had some great battles. What stands out the most for you?

Our battle at Gopher Dunes was one of a kind, although we didn’t pass each other much that moto tested both of us. We charged for 25 minutes plus 2 laps all out. I left everything I had on the track and so did Kaven. Although that weekend we got protested by the KTM team, me and Kaven both left that round with more respect for each other than when the series started.

Well, thanks for chatting with us today, and we’ll see you in Santa Clara. Who would you like to thank?

I have to thank Johnny, Kevin, Pete, Cale and the whole squad at MX101. I wouldn’t be in this position I’m in if they didn’t give me a chance last summer. Also, a big thank you to the FC Honda team for all the help this season and giving me the best equipment I’ve ever ridden. My mechanic Keith puts in lots of work during the week so I have to give him a shoutout! Look forward to seeing you in Santa Clara and hopefully I have a trophy in my hand by the end of the night.

This week’s Update is brought to you by Schrader’s in Yorkton, SK. Also, thanks to Rick Bradshaw and the gang for their continued support of Canadian Women’s Motocross and sponsoring the ‘Out of the Blue’ column.

Jeff McConkey

Hi, guys. It is a slow weekend in moto and Supercross with Easter and all. The Monster Energy AMA SX Series takes a well-needed break. It has been pedal to the metal since A1, and the riders need the mental break and physical break to heal any nagging injuries. Some guys will just rest, and others will continue to push harder and try to improve. Last weekend in Detroit, Ryan Dungey was docked 2 positions for jumping on a red cross flag which stripped him of his 6th win of the season. By now everyone has heard the debate over and over again, and has seen all of the videos from every angle. Here is my opinion: The AMA needs better flaggers. Spend the money and train these people properly. There are too many ‘fans’ signing up to do this, so they can get closer to the riders, and get a free t-shirt to go with their free hot dog and pop. Attention all flaggers, you are there to do a job. Your job is to ensure the safety of the riders and track personal.

Just last week while scrolling social media, I stumbled across a few Instagram posts from a flagger in Toronto. This guy had posted a few pictures and videos of the action throughout the night. It kind of pissed me off to see that this guy who was “working” was able to video the start of the main event. Why aren’t you doing your job? Yes, you may have gotten a few extra ‘likes’ to go along with your fresh new flagger t-shirt to wear. News flash… if you are forced to wave the red cross flag, you better damn well wave it so frantically that your arms get tired. There are a lot of blind jumps in motocross and supercross. You are the riders’ eyes, and they are depending on your actions to ensure their safety, and others on the track. Just standing there holding the flag tells the riders nothing. Half of the time the rider can’t even see you, due to your poorly selected track position. But hey, it may have been too dusty or you may not want to get your fresh white shoes dirty. Well, you signed up to do a job. A job that involves standing in, or on a pile of dirt. It’s going to be dirty, it’s going to be dusty, and yes, it will interrupt your texting and social media posts. If you aren’t OK with that, then don’t sign up. Ok, rant over.

McThoughts: Mid-Season SX Report Card

Since there isn’t a race this weekend, I thought I’d give my mid-season report card.

450 SX

1st Ryan Dungey 253 points A+: Ryan’s worst race has been a 3rd. He has not been off the podium yet. The scary part is, I don’t see the dominance ending anytime soon. He is still getting better and isn’t afraid to put in the hard work.

1st: #1 Ryan Dungey.

2nd Ken Roczen 214 points B+: Although Ken has won 2 races, he is still nowhere close to where he expects or needs to be. His starts have been awful and if he expects to run with the leaders, he can’t be spotting them such a big head start.

3rd Jason Anderson 200 points A-: Jason is having a great sophomore season, so far. He is the only rider week in and week out making a lot of big passes. I do feel he needs to back down the aggressiveness just a tad because he has ruffled a few feathers. Jason needs to make life easier on himself and get better starts.

3rd: #21 Jason Anderson.

4th Eli Tomac 186 points B-: Eli is doing pretty well considering he is fresh off of double shoulder surgery and on a new bike/team. I still don’t think he will be 100% by the end of SX, but look out come Outdoors!

5th Marvin Musquin 178 points A: Marvin started slow due to a wrist injury, but boy has he ever turned it on lately. His smooth style combined with his fitness and new-found confidence will get him a 450 SX win very soon.

5th: #25 Marvin Musquin.

6th Cole Seely 173 points B: When Cole starts well, he can run with anyone. When his starts are off, he just doesn’t have the aggressiveness needed to make the passes right away. He is still having a very good season and he will be back on the podium soon. If I were American Honda, I’d be signing this guy.

7th Chad Reed 160 points B: At times Reed looks very good, and other times he looks very average. When the tracks get tough and technical, the 22 heads to the front, and when they are mellow, he’s just another rider in the pack. Let’s hope, for the remainder of the rounds, that they build ‘man-size’ whoops and we will see Chad up front.

7th: #22 Chad Reed.

8th Justin Brayton 128 points B+: Justin has been a very pleasant surprise of late. If it wasn’t for a flat in Detroit, he had a solid 4th in the bag. It looks like he has gotten some of his magic back from a few years ago.

9th Davi Millsaps 105 points B+: Davi really shocked me with how he was riding. I thought he was on the down slope, but he showed everyone that he still has it and more. It’s disappointing that he got hurt at Daytona, as he was getting better each week. Let’s hope that BTO brings him back.

9th: #18 Davi Millsaps.

10th Trey Canard 104 points C+: Poor Trey. This guy has so much speed and talent. yet he can’t seem to put it all together. I really can’t see Honda resigning him, so he may be forced to move on. Maybe a change of colour will be the missing piece?

11th Jake Weimer 103 points C+: Jake is having a very solid season. Not many guys could switch brands and teams mid-season and still do well. The talent is there, all he is missing is the good luck.

11th: #12 Jake Weimer.

12th Weston Peick 79 points C-: Not the season people were looking for from Peick. I don’t think his ‘plow through everything’ style is working anymore and he is looking human. He needs to worry about top 10’s and let Barcia worry about podiums and wins.

13th Christophe Pourcel 77 points B-: Some of Pourcels main events have been pretty forgettable, but you can’t overlook the fact that he is able to set the fastest qualifying times over and over again.Maybe this little break will spruce him up a bit.

13th: #377 Christophe Pourcel.

14th Mike Alessi 73 points B+: I, personally, think Mike is having his best SX season yet. In Detroit where the whoop section was the one of the trickiest we’ve seen this season, Mike actually looked good all night long. We all know he prefers outdoors, but he really does have some nice SX skills too.

15th Vince Friese 56 points B+: Despite all of the early season drama, Vince is having a good SX season. His skills and speed keep improving, and add in the fact that he has zero fear, means he will continue to get better.

15th: #55 Vince Friese.

16th Will Hahn 56 points D: Poor Will. Just when it looked like Will was getting back to form, he was involved in a nasty crash that wasn’t his fault at all. He really needed to finish SX strong and have a solid outdoor season, but it looks like he will miss it all.

17th Justin Bogle 53 points C: Justin came in with some injuries, but has ridden well. He needs to impress as his deal is up at the end of the season and it looks like there are twice as many riders as rides. Let’s hope he can finish strong.

17th: #19 Justin Bogle.

18th Blake Baggett 26 points C-: Blake was hurt before the season and that put him behind the eight ball. He has never been super-strong indoors, but I do expect him to get better before we head outdoors.

19th Nick Schmidt 25 points B+: Nick seems to be the guy with the least, doing the most. Let’s hope he has done enough to maybe get a look for next season or even a shot as a fill in rider

19th: #79 Nick Schmidt.

20th Phil Nicoletti 25 points C+: Phil was thrown into the fire and forced to race the majority of the season so far. I just hope he survives all of the bad luck, so we can see him where he excels…the outdoors.

That is it for me this week. Look for my ‘Out of the Blue‘ with Sabrina Bastien brought to you by Schrader’s in Yorkton, SK. And also check out this weeks ‘On the Radar‘ with Hayden Wolff. I’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to GDR Honda’s Jeremy Medaglia. I hope you have a great Good Friday and I’ll see you next week.

Billy Rainford

Thanks, Jeff. Yep, we’re gonna keep things a little brief this week. I didn’t think it was appropriate to be calling people and bugging them on Good Friday, so we’ll have to get back to our regular pestering ways next week. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Eve Brodeur Feature on Women’s Pro Motocross

Give this interview on two-time Canadian Women’s East champion, Eve Brodeur, a read over on www.womenspromotocross.com. Eve is challenging herself at the WMX series south of the border and has the speed to match some of the fastest women riders around, she just needs some good starts and some good luck.

#141 Eve Brodeur is challenging herself in the WMX series this year. – Bigwave photo

Tim Tremblay Finishes 2nd in Amsoil Championship Snocross

Amsoil Championship Snocross

68 Tucker Hibbert 636
11 Tim Tremblay 539
311 Adam Renheim 493
13 Lincoln Lemieux 486

So, what’s Tim going to do next? Well, I saw this photo and caption on his Facebook page:

Got my new truck and my new bikes today. Thanks to ‪#‎stcesairemotosport‬ ‪#‎yamahacanada‬ ‪#‎gytr‬ ‪#‎motovancorporation‬ ‪#‎kyb‬ ‪#‎michelintires‬ ‪#‎renthal‬ ‪#‎did‬ ‪#‎twinair‬ ‪#‎kutvekamerika‬ ‪#‎axxelsuspension‬ ‪#‎torcone‬ Daniel Lapalme

My guess is this high roller is heading to a motocross track near you! Congratulations on another successful snocross year, Tim. And when is this ‘Tucker’ fella going to retire? He’s Ricky Carmichael to Tim’s Kevin Windham!

Kieran Doherty’s Final Podcast from ‘Across the Pond’

For those of you who have been following young Kieran Doherty‘s inaugural Pro season, here is his final podcast summarizing his experience racing the Arenacross UK championship across Britain this past winter. He may not have won any races, but the experience he just had makes any result irrelevant. Congratulations on putting yourself out there, Kieran. You will be talking about these past few months for the rest of your life. Also, great job on these podcasts! You sound like a natural.

Marco Cannella Injury Update

We posted this a couple days ago updating everyone on the condition of Hamilton, ON rider, Marco Cannella. Marco is one of our top amateurs rising through the ranks and he took a scary fall at the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross.

#46 Marco Cannella is on the mend.

Fast up-and-coming Intermediate rider, #46 Marco Cannella, is on the short list of riders to keep a close eye on rising through the amateur ranks here in Canada. The 15-year-old Hamilton, Ontario, rider has been down south training at GPF in Cairo, Georgia, getting ready for the upcoming season.

He was entered in the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross at Daytona International Speedway March 6-7. Marco was racing a Schoolboy 1 moto late Sunday afternoon when he fell hard over the finish line jump. Here’s what Marco had to say about the incident.

The Crash:

It was my second moto and the last moto of the day. On the second lap, some kid just cut over in the air on the finish line. My front tire hit his back wheel and that’s all I really remember.He tried to scrub and moved about 10 feet over.

Marco scrubbed the finish line jump at the RCSX, clipped the rear wheel of another rider, and went down hard.

The Injuries:

I have a fractured scapula, a broken rib, and a mild concussion. It could have been a lot worse. I heard it was a pretty good crash. It was pretty painful for the first little while, but it’s just my shoulder that’s still a little bit sore. I’m starting to work out again now.

My trainer, Drew (Robertson), has had me doing a lot of running to test it out and see how it’s healing and if I get sore when I run. I’ve been doing that and some cycling, too.

The Plan:

We’ll see how I’m feeling. Probably in the next week or two I’ll start riding again and then I’m not sure if we’re going to stick around Canada and ride or if we’re going to go back down to GPF or something. We’ll take a month or so and just get back into it and then do our Area Qualifiers (for Loretta Lynn’s). We still have a decent amount of time to hit the ones we want to hit.

[He’ll be getting ready for Loretta Lynn‘s, the Parts Canada TransCan, and] I’m not sure if Iain Hayden will be taking us to Russia to race the World Juniors again, but hopefully, because that would be awesome.

I can race Schoolboy 1 in Canada for the AMO, they changed the rule. I’ll race Schoolboy 1, Schoolboy 2, and then 1 Intermediate class. In the states, I’ll just do Schoolboy 1 and 2 because there are 2 Schoolboy 1 classes now, so I’ll have 3 classes to race there and I don’t have to go into the B class yet.

They will still have time to hit the Loretta Lynn’s qualifiers and get ready for the TransCan. Good luck, Marco.

Marco’s sponsors: Yamaha Canada, Motopark, Atlas Brace, Fox Head Canada, Tigwell Motorsports, MCR, Canadian Tire, New Era.

MTA 2-Stroke MX Championship

It’s time for the 7th annual MTA 2-Stroke MX Championship at Glen Helen Raceway! Here’s a video of the 2014 event I found on Youtube. There was another one from the 2015 event but I just couldn’t subject anyone to the horrible flute rap music they drowned out the beautiful sound of 500 2-strokes with.

Happy Birthday to Jeremy Medagila. – Bigwave photo

And to everyone who is going to attempt to beat #84 Jeffrey Herrlings on a sand track in his home country, we say, “Good Luck!”

Thanks for reading and have a great long weekend. The weather around here (Southwestern Ontario) is a little unsettled in certain areas but I think it should be OK for riding starting Saturday. Enjoy some well-deserved seat time no matter what part of the country you’re in.