Monday Morning Coffee
By Billy Rainford
Can you believe we’re finally just one week away from the start of the 2015 Rockstar Energy MX Nationals?! Teams from all over Canada have just raced their final races to get their riders, bikes and mechanics ready to do 10 rounds of intense battle. Some teams and riders are looking to win this thing, while others just want to see their riders do the best they can and finish each round.
It’s an interesting difference between the teams, if you think about it. Teams that have riders who stand a legitimate chance of taking victories have a different approach to the season than others who have put together programs whose main goal is to get enough funding to pay for gas and entry fees to make it to all 10 rounds.
The sport, obviously, needs both. But when you think about it, the sport needs the riders who make up the 15th-40th positions on the line equally. The top guys are what people tune in to TV for while the rest of the field is what the families and friends of the majority show up on race day to watch.
Here’s another issue that just came up after we learned of Redemption Racing Fly Dragon KTM’s Nathan Bles‘ arm injury this week: who do you get to fill in for the fast Canadian on the Canadian team?
Nathan was the 4th fastest placing Canadian in the series behind series winner Honda Canada TLD GDR Colton Facciotti, Parts Canada Thor Husqvarna’s #3 Tyler Medaglia and Devil’s Lake MX rider #8 Dylan Kaelin. We had 4 Canadian riders in the top 10. Redemption also has American #17 Seth Rarick in the MX2 class on a 250 2-stroke and they expect pretty big things from him this season. How do you fill the MX1 ride to keep pace?
Well, I know for a fact that they looked first at the results sheets to see which Canadians would suit their needs. There were none who could spare the time from work or who could battle for the coveted top 10 places. So, where did they go? The United States.
This is Pro sports, folks. They are not running a charity for wayward Canadian riders. You hear it every time a Canadian team hires someone from beyond our borders: why don’t they hire a Canadian??? To use the cheesy cliche: don’t hate the player, hate the game. It actually fits in this situation.
I think the days are gone when we get mad at the Toronto Maple Leafs for hiring players from down south or Europe (we hate them for entirely other reasons) – you just want your team to win. It’s the same thing. The problem isn’t the team hiring riders who aren’t from Canada; its bigger. We need to develop riders who can actually compete more regularly on the big stage against the best and then, and only then, will teams have more than 3 riders to look at who can battle for top 10 places. But that’s another very lengthy conversation for another day…
Anyway, Redemption Racing has hired a great guy and fast rider in Cade Clason. I got to know him as a fast B rider when I stayed down south for the winter with MX Ranking. He was a super-nice, polite kid who showed great promise. Even though he was training with future stars Zack Freeburg and a tiny phenom named Adam Cianciarulo, he worked hard and improved to the point he’s at today.
He will fit in perfectly in Canada and you’ll all get to like the friendly rider from Ohio who calls Chesterfield, SC and Club MX home when he’s not at…home. Welcome to Canada, Cade.
Let’s have a look at some of the weekend’s results:
MXGP of Great Britain
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 35 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 31 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 27 p.; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 25 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 22 p.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 44 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 39 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 36 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 36 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 29 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 23 p.
You know who’s going to win the championship, right? Yep, Mr. Cairoli will find a way to win AGAIN.
Mountaineer Run GNCC – West Virginia
Lucas Oil AMA Motocross
Glen Helen
Quebec Supercross Series – Riviere Du Loup
Full results HERE.
Parts Canada TransCan – ANQ’s
Here’s where they were over the weekend:
BC South – GNC Allocation (3)
ANQ Events = 3
Saturday-Sunday at Kelowna – Bear Creek Motopark
Saturday-Sunday May 2/3 at Kamloops – Whispering Pines
Sunday, May 23/24 Williams Lake – Williams Lake Motocross Track
Alberta North (ADRA) GNC Allocation (2)
ANQ Events = 4
Saturday-Sunday, May 16/17 at Valiant Memorial, Fort McMurray
Saturday-Sunday, May 23/24 at Valiant Memorial, Fort McMurray
Saskatchewan – GNC Allocation (2)
ANQ Events = 4
Sunday, April 26 at Swift Current
Sunday, May 3 at Saskatoon
Sunday, May 17 at Yorkton
Sunday, May 24 at Weyburn
Manitoba – GNC Allocation (2)
ANQ Events = 3
Sunday, May 24 at McNabb Valley MX, Minnedosa
Sunday, May 31 at GMX, Grunthal
Sunday, June 21 at Farmboys Raceways, Brandon
Northern Ontario – GNC Allocation (1)
ANQ Events = 1
Saturday, May 23 at Atikokan
South Western Ontario – GNC Allocation (10)
ANQ Events = 4 with AMO
Sunday, April 26 at Moto Park
Sunday, May 24 at Gopher Dunes
Sunday, May 31 at Motopark
Sunday, June 14 at Walton Raceway
Eastern Ontario – GNC Allocation (5)
ANQ Events = 4
Saturday , May 2 at Sand Del Lee – MX101
Sunday, May 3 at Sand Del Lee – MX101
Saturday , May 23 at Sand Del Lee – MX101
Sunday, May 24 at Sand Del Lee – MX101
Atlantic – GNC Allocation (4)
ANQ Events = 3
Sunday, May 17 at Mill Hill, NS
Saturday, May 23 at Riverglade, NB
Sunday, May 31 at Mount Thom, NS
I hope everyone achieved their goals and we’ll be seeing you in Walton this year.
We’ll have photo reports from Sand Del Lee and Baja Acres later on the site so be sure to check back. I need to cut this short today because I’m pointing the new van west first thing tomorrow morning in order to make it to Whispering Pines outside Kamloops, BC in time for round one of the Women’s West on Saturday and then round 1 of the Nationals Sunday. There are just a couple things left on my ‘to do’ list. See you there!
See you at the races…
