Frid’Eh Update #27 | Guillaume St Cyr | Brought to You by KTM Canada
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #27 of the DMX Frid’EH Update, this week brought to you by KTM Canada. The humidity is up and that means we must be heading to the toughest track on the circuit – Gopher Dunes.
We joke about this every year. It’s just like a mud race – you have to tell yourself you love racing in the deep sand or you’re already beat. It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg situation – do you do well in the sand and then decide you like it or do you tell yourself you like it and then go out and do well? You tell me.
As I sit here in my office with the central air conditioning blasting, the temperature is only 28C with 54% humidity. That doesn’t sound crazy high, but you can definitely feel the dampness.
Sunday is supposed to be 26C and feel like 28. We’re going to get off lucky this year! Now, it’s up to Derek Schuster and the crew to decide what kind of track they’d like to give us – deep, endless rollers or square-edged bumps. We’ll see…
Guillaume St Cyr is #27 this season. We haven’t seen him running the digits because he decided to skip the western rounds of the series and wait until we get closer to his home in Quebec. He’s definitely more of an indoor guy so he’s been doing the Quebec Provincials and also raced the Riviere du Loup Arenacross.
Here’s a look at his 2021 season:
We grabbed him for a quick conversation this week, so let’s find out what he has planned for the rest of the summer and into 2023.
Direct Motocross: Hey, Guiillaume. Thanks for chatting with us today. Let’s go back to the 2022 Supercross season. You rode the 250 in the 450 class. Can you take us through your season? What was your best race?
Guillaume St Cyr: Hey Billy, always fun to have a chat with you! My 2022 Supercross season didn’t go as planned. I was supposed to be doing all the East Coast 250 rounds, but with all the money spent on traveling and training it cost me more than I thought, so I decided to switch to the 450 class where you can make bigger paycheck.
I’d say my best race was in Detroit when I qualified for my first-ever 450 night show. I felt like I was riding pretty good that day and the feeling to ride in front of 70 000 people is amazing!
Is the 450 class what you’ll do next time?
Yeah, that’s the plan. I won’t be on a 450 though! But i’ll have a nice KTM SXF 350!
What did you get up to when the season ended?
I came back home and started working the next day! :p It was hard to go from training and riding all week long for 6 months straight then go back to an 8AM to 5PM job and barely riding. That’s the privateer life I guess!
You raced the Riviere du Loup AX in May. Can you take us through how that went?
Yes, I did! Rivière-du-Loup AX is always one of my favourite races. Every year fast guys from around the world come down to race and it’s always a sold out arena. Crowd goes crazy and it’s made for some tight racing. This year I didn’t really get the results I wanted, even if they were my best yet, but still made some pretty good races. 3rd-2nd in the Heats and 6th in Main Event.
How has your racing been going this summer? What have you been doing?
It’s been pretty mellow. I’ve been following the Arenacross Québec championship. This year we only have 3 rounds. First one was Rivière-du-Loup, then we had the second one at Amqui,Qc where I got my first ever AX overall win going 1-1-1. Now we have one round left and I’m second in the championship. They have an outdoor series too that I’ve been going to.
When will we see you on the line in the Canadian Triple Crown Series?
I wasn’t supposed to do any Outdoor Nationals this year. I’m focusing on indoor races only, but if everything goes good I’ll be racing Deschambault in the 450 class. On my 350, of course.
Will you race the SX portion of the series?
Yes, I’ll be there racing the 250 class and i’ll be ready! I’m excited to get back to battle with the guys and I’m feeling confident.
Who’s been impressing you so far in the Canadian series?
T-Dags (Tyler Medaglia) never stops impressing me! He’s been ripping this year!
What’s coming up next for you?
For now i’m just going to keep working making money and trying to find new sponsors to help me finance my 2023 AMA Supercross season. I have some big plans coming but, in the meantime I’ll keep training and getting ready for the AX-SX portion of the Triple Crown Series. You know I always keep it fun! Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing whips, oppos and wheelie videos on the Gram! @guillaumestcyr55
OK, we’ll see you soon. Good luck. Who would you like to thank?
Thank you! I would like to thank
@junior_mecanique_plus @ktm_canada @berubegm @peakouterwear @ride100percent @guts_racing_inc @mobiusbraces @fctn_14 @dirtbikesforpresident @kdeam_optics @estickygraphics @pirellimx @mxboot.com_ @alienlab.cbd @distinctionconstruction @mxtechsuspension @motostar_wheels @stoneysockco @drinkhydropower @bblplombingservices @sobmx @williams_motowerx
Gopher Dunes Back Track on Thursday
Greg Poisson and I headed over to Gopher Dunes on Thursday. Colton Facciotti was hooking Greg up with some sweet SSS stuff and Derek and GDR had some spare trick parts to bolt on Greg’s bike so we made our way over to Courtland, ON.
We’ll have a full article on the bike set-up but riders were also riding the back track, so we headed over there to check it all out.
We’re heading in to the sand this week. There is great racing in all 4 classes you’ll see at a national.
Thor WMX:
We’ve now got #49 Jamie Astudillo to challenge 7-time champion #1 Eve Brodeur. Somehow, they seem to be the exact same speed! It was amazing to watch at Walton Raceway last week as they took turns falling and splitting moto wins to head into Round 2 tied in points. Be sure to check them out.
FXR PreMix:
This is what this class was made for: former and current Pro riders looking to have some fun revving 125’s and 150’s to the moon. #28 Sam Gaynor took the win last week while #807 Drew Roberts suffered a mechanical that took him out. His brother, #810 Travis Roberts picked up the slack and looked great. It’s great racing and it sounds amazing, so be sure to check them out too.
250:
This is where the action is! We’ve now got 4 riders who will be fighting for wins as we head toward the finale at Walton. #1 Jake Piccolo headed into Walton with the red plates, but #229 Mitchell Harrison left with a 10-point lead after Jake fought through a rear brake mechanical issue and took a 13th in moto 2.
Newcomer, #533 Josiah Natzke from New Zealand showed up and went 1-1-4 to take the overall. #64 Ryder McNabb looks to be back in top form and will be looking for a win at his team’s home track, decked out in 1999 Fox Racing Canada gear on bikes that look like Ezra Lusk‘s.
We’re hoping #46 Marco Cannella can get himself in this conversation but he took a nasty fall last week on the final lap and will look to have a reboud race this week.
450
There really isn’t a whole lot of action at the front of the 450 class this year. The only thing we have to keep an eye on is the possibility of #1 Dylan Wright having a perfect season. Barring incident, we’re pretty sure he’ll win every race, but there’s always the unknown in racing.
#5 Tyler Medaglia showed us he’s the one to be there should Dylan falter. Keep in mind, it’s at Gopher Dunes where Tyler won overalls 10 years apart, so he’s good here!
#16 Cole Thompson showed up and put his Yamaha in 3rd place. He let it be known that he really didn’t think he’d be racing MX in Canada again, so this was a cool chance to see the smooth rider in action again. He’ll throw his leg over a 125 in the 250 class for some “fun” this week, so add him to the mix.
Gopher Dunes Weekend | Need to Know
| Click HEREto purchase your tickets for this weekends event |
GATE TIMES
Friday: 9am – 10pm
Saturday: 6:30am – 10pm
Sunday: 6:30am – 3pm
PRO RACING BEGINS AT 1PM ON SUNDAY, JULY 10
Camping is available in our grass field for $25 per vehicle, per night
*Primitive Camping only – No water or hydro hook ups*
Rules
* NO Pitbikes
* Cars, SXS, ATV’s are also NOT to be used as pit vehicles
* NO Ground fires, they must be in a raised fire pits
* ALL Golf cart drivers must be signed in – $30/weekend wristband, drivers must be 16 years of age or older, as many people as there are seats and parked by the last checkered flag at the last moto of the day.
* Anyone riding the bicycle track, on a motorized vehicle, etc. MUST wear a helmet at all times.
All other general riding rules are posted on our website, please read through them thoroughly before you arrive: https://www.gopherdunes.com/facility
Parking
* Our staff will park you.
* Please do not block the fire hydrant/laneway, pull up as close as you can to avoid others having to park on the side of the road.
* Anybody arguing with our staff over parking/rules will be removed immediately. No exceptions.
Click HERE for the rest of the links you’ll need.
MAVTV Plus Moving to “MAVTV on FloRacing” for AMA MX
To the Motocross Community,
The 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has been an exceptional series so far. We’ve seen massive crowds at every round, great racing on perfectly prepped tracks, and the competition in both classes has been exciting and entertaining. The series is celebrating 50 years of AMA Pro Motocross, and the 2022 season is shaping up as one of the best we’ve ever had, with one glaring exception, and that is the train wreck that’s been our live streaming package.
In our failure to have dependable livestream coverage through the first half of the series, we have let down a large segment of very loyal motocross fans. MAVTV Plus simply did not work. The app could not handle the global traffic load that came with Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, and no one felt that disappointment more than we did at MX Sports Pro Racing and MAVTV. With both Ryan Dungey and Antonio Cairoli joining the rest of the stars in this series, we knew the whole motocross world would be watching this summer. Unfortunately, MAVTV Plus was not up to the task, and the problems and inconsistencies with the service gave the series a black eye—several, actually. We have been working diligently with MAVTV to find a fix, and after five rounds of frustration, they made the difficult decision to move the streaming coverage to an entirely different (and much more dependable) platform in FloSports, on a new “MAVTV on FloRacing” channel. They are honoring the existing MAVTV Plus subscriptions through the end of this month, and MAVTV Plus will soon be refunding the balance of their annual subscriptions.
Lucas Oil has been our title sponsor ever since MX Sports Pro Racing took over the reins of the series in 2009. They have also partnered in broadcast production with Lucas Oil Studios and through television coverage through their MAVTV network, showing the first motos while NBC Sports Network aired most of the second motos, with a few on NBC proper each season. NBC Sports Network had also been our commercial partner in the series for more than a decade. But last year NBC decided to shutter the sports channel in the wake of the troubled 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, which were postponed for an entire year due to COVID, and then finally held last summer with no fan attendance permitted. NBC still airs motocross—Saturday’s first 450 moto at Southwick will air live on the network channel—but not the vast majority of the series.
With NBC Sports Network out of the picture, that meant our previous streaming platform, Peacock, was no longer an option either. At that point MAVTV offered to step in and make Lucas Oil Pro Motocross their #1 priority, offering to show all four motos live from each round, with no preemptions for other sporting events or shows. They also had their new streaming platform, MAVTV Plus, to replace Peacock, at a similar price point for fans: $6.99 a month. Unfortunately, MAVTV Plus did not work the way it was supposed to, and for that we are truly sorry. It was a disaster, and it could not have come at a worse time for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, which has otherwise been humming on all cylinders. I appreciate all of the people at Lucas Oil and MAVTV who tried to fix the problems, and I also commend them for coming to the very difficult decision that they were better off moving to FloRacing than to take any more time trying to fix a much larger problem that could not be rectified quickly. And yes, FloRacing is honoring the $6.99 per month price that MAVTV Plus originally offered, which is significantly lower than their regular monthly subscription. MAVTV Motorsports Network will also continue airing Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
On a personal level, I would like to apologize to all of the fans and viewers who have struggled to watch with MAVTV Plus. I hope the change to watching “MAVTV on FloRacing” is as seamless as it is easy. I also want to apologize to all of the competitors and race teams, as well as the event promoters and sponsors, who have all worked so hard to make the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship the success that it’s otherwise been. The effort that everyone has put into motocross deserved better streaming coverage than we have given them this summer, and for that I am truly sorry. One thing that has remained true since Round 1 and will continue through the rest of the season is our commitment to providing our audience with the best coverage and easiest access to watch the races from anywhere you might be. We hope you continue to tune in to see these amazing riders on these great racetracks.
Sincerely,
Davey Coombs
President, MX Sports Pro Racing
OK, I’m off to pick up James Lissimore at the airport. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see everyone over at Gopher Dunes.
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