Monday Morning Coffee Opinion Column

By Billy Rainford

OK, I have to admit it, I completely wimped out this passed weekend. I went into it planning to head to Gopher Dunes Friday for Supercross practice, head back again on Saturday for the races, go home for a few hours, and then head to catch the final day of the Corduroy Enduro up in Gooderham, ON.

Gooderham is up northeast of Toronto, north of Peterborough, east of Haliburton. It’s over 4 hours from my place in London. Yes, 4 hours is like a blink of an eye usually, but this past weekend I just couldn’t get myself to do it.

I’ve been having some weird headaches lately. In fact, I had a hard time focusing on what I needed to on my last mountain bike ride around Fanshawe from home with a couple buddies and it actually had me a little worried. Then Emily pointed out the obvious…

I hadn’t had a cup of coffee in a few days.

I woke up this morning and put on a fresh pot of half decaf and guess what? Yep, I’m a junkie. Problem solved – headache and vision issues gone.

We start our days with a bucket of tea every morning and then we eventually make our way somewhere for a cup of coffee or I meet Emily for her break at the hospital, we hit a drive-through and we have a cup at a park. Anyone who tries to tell you tea has an equal amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee lying. It doesn’t do the same thing a nice cup of coffee does.

Anyway, had I been aware of this obvious cause of my problems, I’m sure I would have been fine with hopping in the DMX Van and pounding out a few hours on the 401 and then north to catch the MX Stage on the final day of racing at the 69th Cord.

To add insult to injury, Tyler Medaglia showed up for his first time at the event and took the win! Now I won’t have photos to post on Throwback Thursday in 2030!

Here’s a podium photo from Dustin Heacock:

Pro Men’s podium: Tyler Medaglia, Ryder Heacock, Alexandre Gougeon. | Dustin Heacock photo
Women’s Pro Podium: Lexi Pechout, Rachel Goutish, Melissa Harten. | Taken from Lexi’s IG page

You can find full results HERE.

If the timing works next year, I’m definitely going to be there to check it all out and watch our two Canadians defend their titles!

We’ll try to nail down Tyler for a podcast interview to take us through the entire event.

Triple Crown Logo
Gopher Dunes Supercross 450 podium: Mitchell Harrison, Cole Thompson, Jake Piccolo. | Bigwave photo

It was Round 1 of the 2023 Canadian Triple Crown Series SX/AX schedule at Gopher Dunes on Saturday. We knew going in that it would likely be a battle between defending champion #1 Mitchell Harrison and #16 Cole Thompson, but we didn’t know until not long ago that they’d actually be teammates on the Thor GasGas team. The biggest question was about who would round out the podium in 3rd place.

We were missing Team Canada MXON for this race: Dylan Wright, Ryder McNabb, and Jess Pettis.

Jake Piccolo looked comfortable and fast. | Bigwave photo

Most of us had #4 Jake Piccolo as the rider to fill that spot, but a few other riders were looking very strong and it could have also been #14 Quinn Amyotte, #26 Julien Benek, #22 Tyler Gibbs, or #84 Tanner Ward. Tanner only had a 450 with him for the weekend, so that took him out of contention in the 250 class.

#35 Preston Masciangelo has been looking very fast lately and it was nice to see him get the chance to ride on alongside #25 Daniel Elmore on the TLD SSR GasGas team. Preston would crash pretty hard early in the day and would be left favouring what he first thought was a wrist then a hand then a finger injury. He toughed it out and managed to race the 250 Main to a 9th place finish.

Update: Preston will get some further assessment later this week, but he told us his shoulder popped out in the crash. He doesn’t think it’ll be anything crazy in his hand and hopes to only be off the bike a few weeks.

I did a Walk and Talk brought to you by the Canadian Race Tech service centres at the end of the day and you can check that out here if you haven’t already:

In this post-race show from Round 1 we talk with Jake Piccolo, Tanner Ward, Tyler Gibbs, Blake Davies, Julien Benek, Dylan Rempel, Quinn Amyotte, Daniel Elmore, Devyn Smith, Tommy Dallaire, and Guillaume St Cyr.

Podcast version:

250 Main:

  1. 1 Mitchell Harrison GAS
  2. 4 Jake Piccolo HON
  3. 16 Cole Thompson GAS
  4. 14 Quinn Amyotte YAM
  5. 12 Sebastien Racine YAM
  6. 26 Julien Benek KAW
  7. 56 Blake Davies HQV
  8. 25 Daniel Elmore GAS
  9. 35 Preston Masciangelo GAS
  10. 44 Dylan Rempel KAW
  11. 33 Tanner Scott HQV
  12. 50 Austin Jones YAM
  13. 31 Zach Ufimzeff YAM
  14. 299 Konnor Visger HON
  15. 22 Tyler Gibbs KAW

450 Main:

  1. 1 Mitchell Harrison GAS
  2. 16 Cole Thompson GAS
  3. 4 Jake Piccolo HON
  4. 84 Tanner Ward KAW
  5. 14 Quinn Amyotte YAM
  6. 12 Sebastien Racine YAM
  7. 56 Blake Davies HQV
  8. 24 Guillaume St Cyr KTM
  9. 26 Julien Benek KAW
  10. 25 Daniel Elmore GAS
  11. 33 Tanner Scott HQV
  12. 44 Dylan Rempel KAW
  13. 22 Tyler Gibbs KAW
  14. 31 Zach Ufimzeff YAM
  15. 299 Konnor Visger HON

I shot video for highlights and will have that up on our YouTube channel as soon as I get you through this cup of coffee.

Supermotocross Playoffs Final Round in Los Angeles

#300 Drew Adams won the 250 All Star class. | Feld Motor Sports Inc. photo
250 Podium: Haiden Deegan, Joe Shimoda, RJ Hampshire. | Feld Motor Sports Inc. photo
450 Podium: Jett Lawrence, Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb. | Feld Motor Sports Inc. photo

MXGP of Great Britain

MX2 – GP Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total
1 93 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB YAM 20 25 45
2 516 Laengenfelder, Simon GER DMSB GAS 25 18 43
3 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA FMI KTM 18 20 38
4 74 de Wolf, Kay NED KNMV HUS 15 22 37
5 198 Benistant, Thibault FRA FFM YAM 22 15 37
6 72 Everts, Liam BEL FMB KTM 14 16 30
7 39 Van De Moosdijk, Roan NED KNMV HUS 16 14 30
8 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR NMF KAW 11 13 24
9 122 Mc Lellan, Camden RSA KNMV HON 13 8 21
10 132 Bonacorsi, Andrea ITA FMI YAM 8 12 20
11 96 Coenen, Lucas BEL FMB HUS 10 9 19
12 253 Pancar, Jan SLO AMZS KTM 6 11 17
13 44 Elzinga, Rick NED KNMV YAM 12 5 17
14 12 Chambers, Jack USA AMA KAW 5 10 15
15 51 Oliver, Oriol ESP RFME KTM 9 6 15
16 261 Talviku, Jorgen-Matthias EST EMF HUS 7 7 14
17 79 Coenen, Sacha BEL FMB KTM 4 4 8
18 23 Hammal, Taylor GBR ACU KTM 3 3 6
19 64 Ciabatti, Lorenzo ITA FMI YAM 0 2 2
20 125 Weckman, Emil FIN SML HON 2 0 2
21 285 Mitchell, Calum GBR ACU HUS 0 1 1
22 505 Lüning, Arvid SWE SVEMO GAS 1 0 1
23 18 Voxen Kleemann, William DEN DMU KTM 0 0 0
24 106 Scott, James NZL MNZ YAM 0 0 0
25 56 Corti, Lorenzo ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0
26 408 Smulders, Scott NED KNMV HON 0 0 0
27 521 Blanken, Boris NED KNMV FAN 0 0 0
28 123 Tuani, Federico ITA FMI KTM 0 0 0
29 817 Meuwissen, Raf NED KNMV KTM 0 0 0
30 517 Gifting, Isak SWE SVEMO GAS 0 0 0
31 22 Braceras, David ESP RFME KAW 0 0 0
MX2 – World Championship Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total ARG SAR SUI TRE POR ESP FRA LAT GER INA INA CZE BEL FIN SWE NED TUR ITA GBR
1 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA KTM 826 9
20-20		 3
16-15		 6
20-22		 8
22-22		 8
22-16		 6
16-20		 7
20-20		 3
16-18		 8
20-22		 0
20-14		 7
22-20		 10
8-25		 7
18-8		 5
25-25		 8
11-25		 4
22-16		 0
11-16		 7
20-20		 9
18-20
2 93 Geerts, Jago BEL YAM 759 10
25-25		 10
22-25		 8
14-20		 7
25-14		 10
25-25		 10
22-22		 0
0-0
–		 0
8-14		 4
16-20		 10
25-25		 5
25-20		 10
25-25		 8
0-0
–		 6
18-20		 7
22-18		 9
22-25		 8
20-25
3 516 Laengenfelder, S. GER GAS 755 8
13-16		 8
20-14		 0
16-16		 10
12-25		 9
16-18		 8
25-25
–
–
–		 7
18-11		 8
16-22		 9
18-22		 8
20-20		 10
22-22		 7
25-22		 9
25-15		 10
25-15		 10
25-22		 10
25-18
4 72 Everts, Liam BEL KTM 734 7
16-8		 5
12-13		 5
13-15		 6
20-20		 7
0-10		 1
14-15		 8
22-18		 7
18-13		 9
22-25		 8
22-22		 6
15-18		 8
4-15		 6
16-18		 7
20-18		 9
22-20		 8
20-22		 9
20-22		 0
18-0		 2
14-16
5 96 Coenen, Lucas BEL HUS 577 3
0-12		 4
15-18		 0
15-5		 4
14-12		 2
12-14		 9
15-0		 3
14-25		 5
0-22		 7
25-0		 10
25-25		 1
14-16		 0
13-13		 9
22-22		 0
16-20
–		 10
15-25		 6
3-0		 8
16-14		 0
10-9
6 74 de Wolf, Kay NED HUS 573 5
15-11		 9
25-22		 9
22-18		 3
16-18		 5
20-22		 7
18-18		 10
18-16		 10
25-25		 0
10-11		 5
12-12		 4
18-13		 6
20-18		 5
0-0
–
–
–
–		 0
12-18		 5
15-22
7 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR KAW 565 2
12-22		 6
14-12		 0
12-14		 2
10-13		 0
9-15		 3
13-14		 1
15-12		 0
15-16		 0
0-0		 6
14-16		 0
12-11		 3
22-12		 4
14-15		 2
18-14		 10
18-2		 1
16-18		 5
15-25		 6
15-15		 0
11-13
8 39 Van De Moosdijk, R. NED HUS 560 4
18-14		 2
13-16		 7
25-13		 5
15-15		 6
18-20		 4
11-13		 5
16-14		 9
20-20		 10
16-16		 0
13-15		 9
20-15		 4
12-0
–
–
–		 3
13-13		 8
18-20		 4
11-0		 7
16-14
9 198 Benistant, T. FRA YAM 533 6
22-13		 7
18-20		 10
18-25		 9
18-16		 3
8-13		 5
20-16		 9
25-22		 8
22-15		 6
18-20		 9
15-18		 3
13-12		 0
0-0		 0
0-0
–
–
–
–		 1
14-16		 3
22-15
10 44 Elzinga, Rick NED YAM 394 1
14-18		 1
0-0		 2
10-10		 1
9-10		 0
14-12		 0
8-11
–
–		 2
3-10		 2
9-8		 5
8-10		 0
11-8		 3
12-16		 6
14-16		 6
20-16		 7
12-0		 0
14-13		 5
13-7		 0
12-5
11 253 Pancar, Jan SLO KTM 348 0
11-9		 0
9-11		 3
11-12		 0
8-11		 4
15-11		 2
5-12		 0
5-10		 0
8-3		 3
15-15		 0
11-13		 0
11-14		 0
6-5		 0
0-0		 0
9-11		 0
9-11		 0
0-9		 0
8-11		 0
10-0		 0
6-11
12 51 Oliver, Oriol ESP KTM 303 – – 0
11-10		 0
8-6		 0
6-0		 0
4-5		 0
10-9		 0
8-7		 4
12-12		 4
14-7
–
–		 0
7-9		 0
13-11		 4
15-12		 4
6-8		 5
10-11		 0
12-14		 0
0-10		 0
9-6
13 122 Mc Lellan, C. RSA HON 267 – – – – – – – – – – – – 0
0-9		 1
10-10		 0
7-9		 3
6-10		 0
10-8		 2
15-16		 0
8-7		 3
11-5		 1
12-18		 0
14-14		 1
7-9		 0
8-12		 0
13-8
14 79 Coenen, Sacha BEL KTM 258 – – – – – – – – 0
5-6		 0
12-10		 0
0-0		 0
11-8		 1
11-8		 1
10-9		 2
9-9		 0
16-14		 0
11-0		 9
12-15		 0
16-13		 0
0-0		 0
9-5		 0
6-6		 6
4-4
15 125 Weckman, Emil FIN HON 251 0
7-10		 0
10-9		 0
9-11		 0
13-0		 0
11-9		 0
6-2		 0
0-0
–
–		 0
7-6		 0
7-7		 0
14-6		 0
6-9		 1
0-9		 2
15-12		 2
8-10		 2
10-12		 2
5-0		 0
2-0
16 517 Gifting, Isak SWE GAS 248 – – – – – – 0
5-9		 0
7-0		 0
3-8		 0
11-4		 0
14-11		 0
9-13
–
–		 7
9-7		 2
10-13		 0
0-13		 3
14-14		 0
11-12		 4
16-4		 3
4-8		 0
0-0
17 22 Braceras, D. ESP KAW 224 0
9-0		 0
4-5		 1
6-8		 0
4-4		 0
10-7		 0
7-7		 0
7-0
–
–
–
–		 0
5-10		 0
9-14		 0
13-6		 5
13-15		 0
9-0		 3
13-10		 0
7-13		 0
0-0
18 11 Haarup, Mikkel DEN KTM 170 0
0-15
–		 4
4-7		 0
11-8		 0
13-8		 0
9-6		 4
12-0		 6
13-14		 5
13-18
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
19 12 Chambers, Jack USA KAW 71 – – – – 0
7-9		 0
0-0		 1
0-0		 0
4-5		 0
9-0		 2
0-7		 0
0-0
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–		 0
2-9		 1
5-10
20 338 Olsson, Filip SWE HUS 57 – – 0
8-0		 0
0-0		 0
0-3
–
–		 0
0-0		 0
6-0
–
–
–		 0
0-0		 0
0-5		 0
8-7		 0
2-9		 0
5-4
–
–
–
MXGP – GP Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total
1 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS HON 25 25 50
2 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS YAM 22 18 40
3 3 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM KAW 16 22 38
4 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV YAM 20 16 36
5 70 Fernandez, Ruben ESP RFME HON 15 20 35
6 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV YAM 14 15 29
7 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF HON 12 14 26
8 226 Koch, Tom GER DMSB KTM 13 12 25
9 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FFM HON 10 13 23
10 61 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME GAS 18 3 21
11 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU BET 8 10 18
12 151 Kullas, Harri EST EMF YAM 9 8 17
13 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV HON 5 11 16
14 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI BET 7 9 16
15 48 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI GAS 4 7 11
16 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM YAM 11 0 11
17 17 Toendel, Cornelius NOR NMF HON 6 4 10
18 811 Sterry, Adam GBR ACU KTM 2 6 8
19 71 Spies, Maximilian GER DMSB KTM 3 5 8
20 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO HON 1 2 3
21 142 Haavisto, Jere FIN SML KTM 0 1 1
22 371 Iacopi, Manuel ITA FMI YAM 0 0 0
23 103 Meara, Jason IRL MCUI GAS 0 0 0
24 16 Grimshaw, Tom GBR ACU GAS 0 0 0
25 500 Barr, Martin GBR MCUI HUS 0 0 0
26 220 Gabriel, Tanguy BEL FMB KTM 0 0 0
27 337 McCormick, Glenn GBR MCUI GAS 0 0 0
28 162 Edmonds, Stuart IRL MCUI HON 0 0 0
29 303 Forato, Alberto ITA FMI KTM 0 0 0
30 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA FFM YAM 0 0 0
31 141 Purdon, Tristan RSA ACU KTM 0 0 0
32 101 Guadagnini, Mattia ITA FMI GAS 0 0 0
MXGP – World Championship Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total ARG SAR SUI TRE POR ESP FRA LAT GER INA INA CZE BEL FIN SWE NED TUR ITA GBR
1 61 Prado, Jorge ESP GAS 921 10
25-15		 10
25-15		 10
25-20		 1
25-20		 5
25-15		 10
22-16		 10
18-20		 9
22-20		 10
25-25		 7
25-20		 10
25-22		 10
20-22		 6
20-25		 10
20-25		 10
25-15		 8
25-18		 0
8-12		 9
25-15		 10
18-3
2 3 Febvre, Romain FRA KAW 854 6
22-16		 6
10-18		 9
20-22		 10
9-18		 6
22-20
–		 4
20-25		 6
15-22		 6
15-20		 10
22-25		 8
22-25		 8
25-18		 9
25-22		 9
25-22		 6
22-22		 10
22-25		 0
25-20		 8
0-25		 9
16-22
3 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI YAM 759 0
4-20		 4
15-14		 5
1-16		 7
5-16		 7
16-18		 8
13-18		 9
25-22		 0
14-16		 9
22-16		 9
20-22		 7
18-18		 9
22-20		 7
16-18		 6
22-16		 8
20-25		 7
20-22		 0
13-11		 3
22-18		 0
22-18
4 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED YAM 695 4
14-7		 9
16-25		 1
13-1		 2
13-15		 0
18-14		 5
18-15		 0
12-15		 7
18-18		 4
18-22		 8
18-16		 4
20-20		 6
18-14		 10
22-20		 7
18-20		 0
16-12		 9
18-20		 0
15-13		 1
14-12		 4
20-16
5 70 Fernandez, R. ESP HON 654 7
16-25		 5
0-10		 2
16-13		 8
20-14		 10
14-22		 4
16-22		 5
16-18		 8
20-3		 5
20-18		 6
16-15		 9
16-16		 7
15-15		 4
10-15		 8
0-0		 4
15-13		 4
4-13		 0
10-18		 6
16-20		 7
15-20
6 10 Vlaanderen, C. NED YAM 599 5
10-11		 3
20-16		 4
18-14		 0
15-9		 8
13-16		 2
14-13		 6
13-16		 4
16-14		 2
14-10		 5
15-18		 5
14-14		 4
16-25		 8
18-16		 3
16-14		 5
6-10		 0
0-0		 0
18-16		 5
18-10		 5
14-15
7 303 Forato, A. ITA KTM 490 0
12-8		 0
13-12		 7
9-15		 0
16-6		 0
12-6		 6
15-14		 7
0-0		 5
13-15		 8
16-14		 0
14-13		 3
13-13		 2
4-11		 0
15-14		 2
14-3		 2
14-14		 5
15-14		 0
16-14		 10
20-16		 0
0-0
8 84 Herlings, J. NED KTM 456 1
18-22		 8
22-22		 8
15-18		 4
12-25		 9
20-25		 9
25-25		 8
22-0		 10
25-25		 7
1-0
–
–
–
–		 1
13-18		 7
13-18
–
–
–
–
9 92 Guillod, V. SUI HON 363 2
7-9		 0
4-3		 3
14-12		 6
14-10		 1
11-12		 1
12-10		 3
14-14		 0
6-13		 3
13-8		 1
11-12		 6
15-15		 1
10-0
–
–		 3
0-2		 0
6-8		 0
12-3		 0
11-13		 6
10-13
10 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA YAM 314 8
20-12		 0
18-20		 6
22-25		 9
22-22		 0
8-10		 0
0-0
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–		 0
8-20		 1
14-15		 0
20-22		 0
3-9		 0
0-0
11 243 Gajser, Tim SLO HON 298 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 5
12-16		 1
6-8		 0
15-15		 9
11-16		 6
16-16		 0
22-25		 7
12-22		 8
25-25
12 6 Paturel, B. FRA YAM 277 0
8-10		 1
8-7		 0
11-6		 0
11-0		 0
10-7		 3
0-12		 0
0-12		 3
0-0
–		 4
13-10		 2
12-11		 0
11-0		 0
8-10		 4
0-10		 1
0-7		 3
0-9		 0
11-9		 0
13-6		 3
11-0
13 919 Watson, Ben GBR BET 252 0
9-6		 0
7-8		 0
10-11		 0
10-8		 0
9-9		 0
0-0		 0
0-0		 0
10-0		 0
7-13		 0
9-9		 0
3-9		 0
7-5		 0
12-9		 0
3-6		 0
2-0		 0
10-10		 0
5-5		 0
8-5		 0
8-10
14 101 Guadagnini, M. ITA GAS 249 9
11-13		 2
11-9		 0
12-9		 3
18-11		 3
15-13		 7
20-20		 2
15-0
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–		 0
14-10		 4
10-8		 0
0-0
15 189 Bogers, Brian NED HON 243 0
5-14		 0
14-1		 0
0-5		 0
0-12		 2
5-8		 0
10-2		 0
10-10		 2
12-0		 0
0-0
–
–		 0
8-1		 5
11-11		 0
11-9		 0
0-9		 2
12-11		 0
7-8		 0
7-3		 0
5-11
16 43 Evans, M. AUS KAW 235 – – – – – – – – 0
3-0		 0
8-8		 0
9-6		 0
4-10		 1
12-15		 3
12-14		 0
9-12		 0
14-10		 0
13-5		 0
10-11		 0
12-4		 0
11-6		 0
9-4
–
–
17 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE HON 209 0
6-5		 0
5-4		 0
4-2		 0
8-4		 0
6-5		 0
3-0		 0
6-5		 0
0-11		 0
5-6		 0
10-11		 1
11-10		 0
3-7		 0
5-3		 0
9-12		 0
0-6		 0
9-7		 0
6-7		 0
4-0		 0
1-2
18 226 Koch, Tom GER KTM 187 – – 0
6-5
–		 0
2-2		 0
0-3		 0
9-9		 0
7-11		 0
7-5		 0
11-11
–
–		 0
5-12		 0
1-4		 0
8-5		 0
7-8		 0
8-4
–		 0
5-7		 0
13-12
19 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT HON 185 3
15-18		 0
9-11		 0
0-0
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–		 0
18-11		 0
13-12		 0
1-15		 2
15-14		 2
12-14
20 77 Lupino, A. ITA BET 184 0
0-4		 0
2-6		 0
6-10		 0
6-7		 0
7-0		 0
11-11		 0
8-7		 0
11-12		 0
8-0		 2
3-0
–		 0
1-9
–
–		 0
9-0		 0
0-0		 0
4-6		 0
6-11		 1
7-9

Next up: MXON in Ernée, France October 7-8

It sounds like a few of us from our local MTB group are going to sign up for a 50K MTB race at Turkey Point the week after we return from France. I just spoke to one of the guys and he said he’s going to wait until a little closer to the event to make his decision. Why, you ask? He wants to see a better weather forecast before committing to it. I laughed at him but I haven’t officially signed up yet, myself. He’s not interested in a 7C and rainy day on the trails. He also used to carry his bike across the tiny creek crossing at Fanshawe Lake, too, so… No names…no names…

OK, I’ll get to the Supercross highlights video and then I guess I have to go for a cycle and overdo it before I leave for France and can’t ride for a week. Have a great week, everyone.

Greg Poisson can smell the fact that he lost a bet with me on Saturday. “See you at the races…” | Bigwave photo