Frid’Eh Update #28 Presented by Nihilo Concepts
By Jeff McConkey and Billy Rainford
Week #28 belongs to Miami, Manitoba native, Ryan Millar. – Bigwave photo
Welcome to week #28 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update, this week presented by Nihilo Concepts. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the big #28 at a Rockstar Energy MX National this season as he suffered another torn ACL.
Ryan Millar is arguably the smoothest, most naturally-talented riders you will ever see. The Miami, Manitoba, rider has a new family and is busy working on his family farm these days. We last bumped into him the Tuesday following the Regina National at the FXR Ride Day. Of course, he was out on the track putting in some fast laps and looking as smooth as ever with his effortless turn-downs and whips.
We’ll be sure to get an update from Ryan Millar and his growing family and find out when we can expect to see him back at the races. – Bigwave photo
Ryan was busy as we tried to get in touch with him for this Update but we will be sure to fill everyone in on what he’s up to as far as racing goes. When I spoke with him in Manitoba, he said he would take another run at the nationals in 2016 once he’s fully recovered from his knee reconstruction. He should at least have ONE good ACL when he lines up, no?
Good luck with your recovery and your upcoming second baby, guys.
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This week’s Update is brought to you by Nihilo Concepts.
Nihilo Concepts began in 2000 with a group of Motocross enthusiasts both young and old that had a passion for the sport and the ability to design and make innovative billet products that would improve the performance and appearance of their machines.
As a machine shop that is dedicated to making only billet parts for Off Road race machines, Nihilo Concepts is able to develop components that will truly improve the form and function of your race machine. We are partnered with a KTM dealership that operates both a motocross and Off Road race team which gives us the ability to see the machines under the harshest racing conditions. Only under these conditions can our engineers find the areas that need improvements and make the necessary changes fast.
Nihilo Concepts Innovative Billet products are not made overseas with inferior materials and inexperienced labor everything is made right here in our Florida facility with American made machines and materials by a group of dedicated professionals that love what they do. We take pride in the Made in the USA label and will never divert from the philosophy of making it ourselves to assure it will be the best it can be.
The name Nihilo Concepts comes from the Latin EX-NIHILO meaning “Something from Nothing” Here at Nihilo Concepts we create products everyday from a raw piece of aluminum – Something from Nothing focusing on developing parts that are not available anywhere else and parts that will improve the performance and appearance of your race bike. We produce products for the full line of KTM’s as well as the other top brands. Nihilo has focused on KTM because of our relationship with the brand and our ability to test and see the machines first hand under race conditions.
Many of the parts made by Nihilo can be found on the new line of KTM SXS race ready bikes. We are a proud sponsor of the Orange Brigade and also work with the KTM Off Road and Motocross teams in the US and Canada. These relationships give us the ability to be the leader in aftermarket products for the brand. You will find Nihilo parts on the fastest KTM riders throughout the world. We are continuing to expand our product line and will soon have parts for all makes and models of Motocross machines.
Jeff McConkey
Gopher Dunes National
Well, Round 5 has come and gone at Gopher Dunes and we witnessed some amazing racing. In MX1, there were no real surprises. The riders expected to be up front, were, and they put on one heck of a show. Matt Goerke is a sand specialist. He won Southwick in 2009 with a 6-1 for 1st o/a. In 2012 he rode the Gopher Dunes National faster than anyone has ever seen.
In moto 1, Goerke won and didn’t have to push too hard. Moto 2 was a different story. Enter Brett Metcalfe. Brett pushed Goerke to the absolute limits in the 2nd moto. Sitting behind the stage waiting to called up for their respected interviews, Goerke was spent. He admitted that he just had his toughest race, and it showed as he was completely exhausted.
Matt Goerke did it again at Gopher Dunes last weekend. – Allison Kennedy photo
Goerke never let up and he now heads to Round 6 at Sand Del Lee with a nice 18 point lead over 2nd place Metcalfe, and 22 point lead over defending champion Colton Facciotti. So now we have SDL. Yes, it is sand, but not like the Dunes. It has a clay base and some rhythm sections, and gets a different kind of rough. The start will be key and it’s worth hanging it out in qualifying to get that very inside gate. I know the Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha team spent some time on the East/West break at SDL so maybe watch for a repeat performance from the 101 machine. Here are my top 10 predictions for round 6:
MX1
1st Matt Goerke
2nd Brett Metcalfe
2rd Cole Thompson
4th Colton Facciotti
5th Tyler Medaglia
6th Cade Clason
7th Teddy Maier
8th Bobby Kiniry
9th Shawn Robinson
10th Dylan Schmoke
In MX2, we also had 2 guys take off from the pack. Kaven Benoit and Jimmy Decotis were those 2 guys. In moto 1, Benoit took the holeshot and checked out. He rode flawlessly and led every lap. I don’t think he looked bad anywhere, and if he keeps riding like that… I don’t think he can be beat. Jimmy Decotis finished 2nd o/a and had two great rides. People have questioned his heart and fitness, well that has got to stop. He has proven after the first 5 rounds that neither are an issue and he is here to try and win. Jimmy sits 29 points back of the lead and had it not been for a mechanical DNF, it would be a heck of a lot closer. I don’t know if anyone can beat Benoit straight up, but the 105 machine believes he can, and he will try his best for the remainder of the season.
GDR Honda’s Jeremy Medaglia had a nice moto 1, but a first turn crash in moto 2 had him working his butt off to make it back to 12th. He lost valuable points in the title chase but he had one hell of a ride on some seriously twisted equipment and half of a rear tire.
Going into SDL, young Dylan Wright will no doubt be riding high and looking for his first career win at his home track. Also keep and eye open for sand specialist Seth Rarick this weekend. Seth has had about the worst luck possible, and he was putting in one of the best rides of the year after going down in the first corner of moto 2 before his bike quit on him. Seth is due for some serious good luck, and pair that with his love for sand and we should have a top 5 ride, and maybe even a podium.
A few of you will be asking who’s on the #108 Monster Kawi. Well that’s Ohio’s Shawn Rife. Shawn is on a 2 race deal filling in for the injured Cole Martinez. Not too long ago Rife was a front runner in this class before battling an achilles injury. Keep an eye on him as he’s looking for a reason for the Monster boys to keep him. Here are my MX2 SDL predictions for this weekend:
MX2
1st Kaven Benoit
2nd Jeremy Medaglia
3rd Jimmy Decotis
4th Dylan Wright
5th Blake Savage
6th Seth Rarick
7th Brad Nauditt
8th Liam O’Farrell
9th Shawn Maffenbeier
10th Jess Pettis
Women’s East Nationals
In Women’s East National action, it was the ‘Eve Brodeur Show.’ Eve was on another level and was never really challenged. Word on the street is that American Brittany Gagne will be making the trip north. She had some hard fought battles with our champ at the Vurb Classic last fall, so it should spice things up a bit.
Will the Women’s East Nationals continue to be ‘The Eve Brodeur Show’ or can someone step up to challenge her for this title? We’ll see Saturday at Sand Del Lee. – Bigwave photo
Behind Brodeur, #6 Kim Normandin is the next fastest in my eyes. Should Brodeur falter, Normandin will be right there to strike in this short series.
One thing I have noticed, and I’m not 100% sure all of the ladies have yet, is that without Sylvain Brodeur, Leah Clarke and all of the rest of their sponsors and supporters, you ladies would not have a series at all. These people aren’t getting paid for any of this, same as Denaye Arnett and Camille Bunko. It’s not that the series wouldn’t be as good, it’s that you wouldn’t have a series, period. So if you bump into any of these co-organizers, be sure to let them know how grateful we all are.
Here are my SDL predictions:
Women’s East
1st Eve Brodeur
2nd Kim Normandin
3rd Allie Argue
4th Cassandra Belanger
5th Abbrielle Tardelli
6th Alexandra Raymond
7th Madi Seguin
8th Nikki Voorhees
9th Robin Hutchinson
10th Heather Bennett
Lucas Oil AMA Outdoor Championships
The AMA Nationals fire back up this weekend in Millville, MN. You’d be crazy to bet against a Martin brother or both Martin brothers (Alex or Jeremy) on the podium. You see, their family owns the track and nobody knows it better. Marvin Musquin should be better after healing up on the break, and Cooper Webb will be looking for the top step of the box.
In 450 action, I believe it will be a 3-way battle between Ryan Dungey, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia. No matter who it is, it will be great racing as everyone loves Millville.
After a week off, the Lucas Oil AMA Championships takes place in Millville, MN. Can anyone beat the Martin brothers at their home track? – Bigwave photo
MMRS Summer Challenge Series
In Ontario action, the MMRS gang is at Cochranes MX for round 4 of their Summer Challenge Series. The club also put out the details for their 5th annual Motocross National. This is the Friday, Saturday, Sunday right after Walton, August 21-23. And it honestly is a ‘can’t miss’ event. They have a class for everyone, and it’s not often that the entire town of Madoc opens its arms and welcomes all. Do yourself a favour and get your butt to one of the best events of the summer!
That’s it for me this week. Have a great weekend and always remember to #smileforBC!
Billy Rainford
Thanks, Jeff. I’m sitting in the comfort of the #dmxvan’s back seat as Emily and James sit up front and deal with this rain and Toronto-area traffic. We almost couldn’t get to the van in our own driveway this morning as a few wild turkeys decided they’d rather we didn’t get to the van at all!
Have you ever tried to stay cool while a wild turkey runs at you? It was something that should have gotten us over a million views on Youtube! We stood on the porch and waited until the 4 birds wandered off down the street and we were able to finish loading the van and hit the road. Oh, then Emily forgot her phone so we had to go back and take our chances with the angry birds again.
Stage Quotes – They Said it on the Podium
Jeff gave us a quick rundown on the Gopher Dunes round of the Rockstar Energy MX Nationals last Sunday, so we’ll leave the race recap at that. If you missed the racing, be sure to head back to the site and watch the videos and photo reports that will get you caught up.
Instead, I always try to scribble down some of the more memorable quotes form our riders when they get the chance to speak to the crowd on the stage. Here are a few:
#3 Abby Tardelli – Dunlop Hard Charger Award
I’m sorry to whoever it was that I took out (in the first turn crash).
I just need to stay consistent.
#887 Madi Seguin
My endurance is there but my starts aren’t.
#79 Kassie Boone
Anything to do with jumps is my favourite.
I enjoy being in the air more than on the ground here.
I felt better in the first moto.
I got tired pretty quickly in the 2nd moto.
I’m going to try to get to the next rounds.
#6 Kim Normandin
She got on the stage and when Brian Koster asked her a question she replied in only French. Koster quickly replied, “There you have it!”
Then he asked her how her race went and she again answered in only French. To that, Koster said, “I’ll take that as “A shit start.”” It was pretty funny.
#1 Eve Brodeur
I love my 2-stroke!
I spent a lot of time at JWTF over the winter.
#20 Dylan Wright
I was able to ride all the outsides because I was all by myself!
#105 Jimmy Decotis
That was the hardest I’ve done 25+2 in a long time!
I have to give it up to Kaven (Benoit).
I thought I had him early…I thought I had him in the middle…I thought I had him at the end!
I love it here in Canada.
I asked Kaven at the line, “when are we going to battle for an entire moto?” They got it!
It was mostly just the sand coming off my front wheel. (Jimmy removed his goggles and struggles with vision.)
I hit my face on the bars.
#1 Kaven Benoit
I was pushed to my limits, thanks to Jimmy!
When asked what he’s going to do with the Royal Distributing Triple Crown money: I’ m a grown up now, so the money goes to the house.
There were a lot of lines but there were a lot of BAD lines.
#1 Colton Facciotti
I was happy just to line up for the second moto.
I cartwheeled pretty hard in moto 1.
#3 Tyler Medaglia
It was tough on my little legs.
Because my legs are shorter, I get kicked in the butt a lot and have to hang on tight with my arms.
Getting up here (on the podium) is tough. These guys are riding so damn fast!
That 2nd moto was more like work.
#123 Brett Metcalfe
Whatever was in me earlier, I blew it out after first moto (he was sick Sunday with some sort of bug.).
You need big cahoonies to ride the dunies! Come on, people!?
I didn’t have enough in the tank. Not the gas tank, my tank.
#101 Matt Goerke
Man, that moto was tough with Brett!
We went 1-1 but man that was tough!
I wanted to, and expected, to win.
Good stuff, everyone.
The Rider Revolt
OK, so maybe ‘revolt’ is too strong a word for what happened Sunday morning at the riders’ meeting, but there was definitely some concern shown as head referee Paul Kingsley was going over the usual things.
#30 Honda Canada TLD GDR rider Kyle Keast is never shy about voicing his opinion and so he spoke up about the finish line approach and narrow-looking finish line metal sign that riders pass through. We all knew it was going to be a hot topic because as we arrived at the track Sunday morning, everyone (riders, teams, crew members) was standing atop the grassy knoll pointing at and talking about it.
Head referee Paul Kingsley said he was happy with what the crew had done to address the issue (they made the entry corner to the table more direct) and that they were going to move forward with the races.
Kudos to Kyle for speaking his mind. And for those riders who walked away, it was pretty hypocritical to complain about the situation and then not be there when it was being talked about. If nobody voices their concerns, nothing gets done.
Fortunately, the day went on without incident as Paul said he would assess the situation as the day progressed.
#30 Kyle Keast voiced the opinion of most when he discussed the finish line approach situation with CMRC Head Referee, Paul Kingsley. – Bigwave photo
KTM East Supermini National Championships
To nobody’s surprise the first round of the KTM East Supermini Championships was won by young KTM Fox rider #184 Tanner Ward. The thing that kept the racing interesting was the performance put in by #198 Nick Cryer.
After keeping Tanner in his sight for most of the second moto, Nick has got to feel that he’s in this fight for the KTM ride that awaits the winner of the 3-round series.
Watch for Nick and Tanner to grab an extra gear this weekend at Sand Del Lee. The series then takes a couple weeks off and finishes at the beautiful natural terrain of the Ulverton, Quebec, track. It follows along with the Women’s series.
#184 Fox Racing KTM rider Tanner Ward is going to be tough to beat in the East Supermini Nationals. – McClintock photo
The Jimmy Decotis Bike Teardown
As most know by now, Canada’s Motorcycle FXR Yamaha rider #105 Jimmy Decotis had his bike torn down at the ‘request’ of the KTM Canada team to check that the motor was within pre-set specs. The CMRC tore down Kaven Benoit’s KTM 250 2-stroke at the 2nd round in Nanaimo.
We spoke with someone at KTM Canada about the situation the other day. Yes, it sounds strange to finish 1-1 and then tear down the rider that finished behind you…on his practice bike.
Well, we were told that the reason for throwing down the required $400 to have the Yamaha looked at was just to get the ball rolling on ensuring nobody is cheating. Their hope was that Jimmy’s team would take that $400 and force someone else to pull their motor to prove it is legit.
It sounded like sour grapes at first but this sort of makes sense. With the new rules in place, there could be elevated temptation to bend the rules and so it would be comforting to know that everyone is abiding by them.
Anyway, that could just be the PR spin on the whole situation, but it’s the story we got straight from the horse’s mouth and we’ll have to take them at their word. Let’s just say that their point was made and there should be some more nervous MX2 riders out there if they are taking liberties with their bikes.
Jimmy’s biggest problem with the decision was that he had to wait at the track for a few extra hours before making the long drive home to the Boston area.
The KTM gang paid $400 to make sure Jimmy Decotis’ Yamaha 250F was to spec. It was. – Bigwave photo
Team Canada at the FIM World Junior MX Championships in Spain
Team Canada riders Jake Tricco and Marco Cannella are at the El Molar track in Spain for this weekend’s Junior Chapionships. Carl Bastedo is over there with MotoPark’s Zeb Dennis and has promised us rabid moto fans 4 written reports. He’s already sent us the first one that outlines getting there. Be sure to check back over the weekend for his next few installments.
The first installment:
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Good luck, team!
Marco Cannaella (left) and Jake Tricco are in Spain ready to take on the world at the World Junior MX Championships this weekend. Zeb Dennis and Carl Bastedo will keep us posted on their progress. – Zeb Dennis Facebook photo
MMRS Madoc National
The date has been set for the 5th annual MMRS Madoc National. If yo haven’t been to one of these things yet, be sure to put it in your race schedule this year. It takes place northeast of Toronto in the small town of Madoc, ON and gets the full backing of municipality. The track is only 2 minutes from the town centre, so it’s imperative that they back the race.
2016 Amsoil Arenacross Schedule Announced
Allison Kennedy Davies is Back…sort of.
The sport of Canadian Motocross was lucky enough to have one of the greats at the Gopher Dunes National last week. You may not even realize, but Allison’s photos have captured some of the greatest moments in our sport over the past decade or so. Unfortunately, with the demise of Racer X Canada and just life in general, Allison’s focus shifted away from the sport. She was back this past weekend and was kind enough to let us post some of her photos on the site. If you didn’t get a chance to see them, here is the link:
https://www.directmotocross.com/gopher-dunes-emotion-through-the-lens-of-allison-kennedy/
Be sure to click the above link to see some lifestyle shots by Allison Kennedy Davies who was back at the track last weekend at Gopher Dunes. – Allison Kennedy Davies photo
DMX Canadian MX Weekly Wrap-Up Show – Round 5 Gopher Dunes
2014 Scott Solace For Sale
2014 Scott Solace 30 for sale. XXL $1699.00. Email Billy@directmotocross.com. Bike is in London, Ontario.
OK, I apologize for being so late with this week’s Update but that drive from London to Ottawa took about twice as long as it should have. Pouring rain + Friday afternoon rush + Pan Am Games = a terrible trip across the Greater Toronto Area! It was brutal. And to think Emily asked me if it would be worth the $20 to take the 407 toll road…
It is raining steadily here in the Sand Del Lee area but is supposed to stop some time around 10am. Of course, the track is mostly sand, but there is a limit to how much that place can take. Let’s just hope we get conditions that allow for this amazing series to continue in both classes. It has been great!
