Monday Morning Coffee
By Billy Rainford
It seems we’re saying this a lot lately around these parts, but we are again in the middle of a cold snap. I’m not talking about a little bit below the freezing mark either. We’re talking breaking records daily! I think it hit -27C here overnight and we are currently sitting in the sunshine at a balmy -22! It’s the kind of day that makes me want to sit here at my laptop and spin yarns all day long, but that’s not why you called…
Jeff has given us his McThoughts on the first of 2 Atlanta SX rounds. You can give it a read HERE. It’s huge news that Vicki Golden is giving these things a shot but it’s not looking like she is going to get it done this season. Of course, we all want to see it happen, but the times just don’t indicate that it will be this season. I don’t think I’m breaking any news here, but Hannah Hodges is lurking on the horizon and is probably the next one who will give it a try and odds are will be the first one to make it. It has been tried before but all this attention is undoubtedly going to have a positive impact on female participation in the sport given making a SX Main Event a possible goal. Best of luck to Vicki and the next crop of women riders with SX dreams in their heads.
Amsoil Arenacross – Tampa, Fla
Current Standings
Next round is this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri.
There were some Canadians competing on Amateur day in Tampa: Dave Blanchet, Karl Normand, and Richard Krzemien.
The Toronto Bike Show
I headed across the 401 yesterday to check out the new location of the Toronto Bike Show. We were supposed to go Saturday which would have meant seeing Derek Schuster, Colton Facciotti, Jeremy Medaglia and the entire Honda Canada TLD GDR team, but the weather was brutal in the morning so we decided to put it off until Sunday.
Last time we went to a Bike Show in Toronto at the International Centre, it took us over 3 hours to make the usual 1 1/2-hour drive and then hit black ice on the way home after A1 at 1:00am that lasted from Guelph to Woodstock! We didn’t want a repeat of that adventure.
Anyway, the roads were fine Sunday and we managed to make it to downtown Toronto without incident. Here are a few shots from the day:
The Excel Direct Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto is a nice venue for a bike show.
The first familiar face I bumped into belonged to Peter Derry who was there promoting his next Bike Show in March at the International Centre.
Arguably the most talented 2-wheel rider in all of Canada, Jordan Szoke put on a trials demo for a packed auditorium.
This is a great idea – The Parts Canada TransCan booth was set up to look like a campfire which sums up the feel of the annual event. Mark Perrin later admitted he stole the idea from Racer X.
IMX’s Derek Rockel ‘asked’ me not to use this photo, but, in his defense, he was actually talking business here so nobody should be upset. Plus, he’s very difficult to get a good shot of! 😉
It was Bobby Kiniry’s week for the Frid’Eh Update this week. He was kind of at the show in TO. Watch for an interview with him soon here on DMX.
Hey, Moto Guzzi, I could see myself hitting the races on one of these bad boys!
Ducati was there with their beautiful line-up. Did you catch Kyle’s review on the 2015 Ducati Hyperstrada?
KTM was there too with their line. I’m always drawn to these Dakar-style bikes for some reason.
This futuristic Slingshot was keeping the crowd buzzing around it. I just wanted to know what kind of fuel mileage it got…
If you don’t think this is sexy, you’re in the wrong place.
Here’s the entire MV Agusta Brutale Dragster.
Motovan’s Jamie Ruddock told me to go check out the new Yamaha R1, so I did. Camera backpack and off to the races???
We went into Liberty Village for some lunch and then headed to Burlington for a family visit. Emily’s dad went to the US on a hockey scholarship and still plays so we went to check it out.
They had just returned from a trip to South Africa where they snagged this copy of Off-Road and Adventure magazine for me. I opened it up to find our old friend Kerim Fitz-Gerald featured prominently. Nice.
Grand Prix of Valcourt
We’ll end it with this Press Release from the big, 3-day snowmobile event that just took place in Valcourt, Quebec.
Grand Prix of Valcourt Sunday Report
Malcolm Chartier Wins It All in the Pro Champ 440 Class
Perfect Weekend for Grand Prix of Valcourt Snocross Champion Danny Poirier
Valcourt, Québec – February 22, 2015 — Malcolm Charier of Fair Haven, Michigan was a repeat winner
at the 2015 Grand Prix of Valcourt on Sunday, crossing the finish line ahead of Nick Van Strydonk of
Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Chartier ran flawlessly all week-end long, winning Friday’s and Saturday’s Pro
Champ 440 daily finals. Third on Sunday’s podium was Canadian Travis McDonald of Gonor, Manitoba.
Former Grand Prix winner Dustin Wahl of Greenbush, Minnesota finished fourth ahead of Jason Lavallée
of Drummondville, Québec.
In the Snocross Pro Open Class, Danny Poirier of Saint-Theodore d’Acton, Quebec also ran a perfect
weekend winning on Sunday his fourth daily final in three days to engrave his name on the Grand Prix of
Valcourt Snocross Trophy. After trying to win it for nearly 10 years, the defending East Coast Snocross
Series Champion and current points leader finally put it all together in 2015. Ontario’s CSRA riders Iain
Hayden of Holland Centre and Dylan Hall of Ayr respectively finished second and third.
Back on Circuit Yvon Duhamel oval track, Mike Hakey of Alstead, New Hampshire took the
chequered flag in the Semi Pro Open final ahead of Jamie Bourgeois of Boonville, New York and Curtis
Weatherdon of Barry’s Bay, Ontario. In the Pro Formula 500 class, 17-year old Steven Marquis edged
Cole McMichael of Lefroy, Ontario. Adam MacDonnel of Owen Sound, Ontario finished third, followed by
Mark Donohue of Holland Patent, New York. In the Junior 13 to 16 class, Dale Dingman of Burkes Falls,
Ontario was a winner ahead of Danick Lambert of Sorel, Québec.
Paollela, Vandeborne and Hunt win in snocross ̈
Cody Paollela of Walling Ford, Connecticut savoured a win in the Pro Lite snocross final, crossing the
finish line ahead of Lucas Dubois of Saint-Félicien, Quebec and Joe Bishop of Granville, New York. In
the Sport Class, Vandeborne won ahead of a pair of Saint-Félicien riders, Samuel Caouette and Maxime
Tremblay. Jennifer Paré of La Doré, Quebec took the win ahead of Nykea Williams of Lyndonville,
Vermont. In the 16-17 Junior Class, Ryan Hunt of Toronto was a winner ahead of William St-Laurent of
Saint-Bruno, Quebec.
The next edition of the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt presented by Intact Insurance will be
held the weekend of February 12-14, 2016. Visit the Grand Prix website for more information at:
www.grandprixvalcourt.com
Have a great week. We will be heading down the I-75 later this week to catch all the action at Atlanta 2, then GPF, then Daytona, then Club MX on the way back north. It will be a busy couple weeks so be sure to check in for updates with photos, videos etc.
