Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Regina


Brock Hoyer


This weekend saw the Monster Energy/Thor/Leading Edge Kawasaki team at Moto Valley Raceway in Regina, Saskatchewan for the fourth round of the CMRC Canadian Nationals. Considering that the drive into the track is totally flat, it's suprising to find that the track itself has a lot of elevation changes to it. The dirt is really hard packed and it gets pretty windy out here but when it's tilled and watered it's pretty good.

After the way things went at Morden, everyone on the team was looking forward to redeaming themselves at Regina. In between Morden and Regina, Nick Evennou and Brock Hoyer stayed out in Manitoba and rode the local tracks, getting a lot of hard packed practice in. Teddy flew home to Iowa to rest after his bad first turn crash at Morden. Unfortunately, it was not to be for Teddy as his injured leg proved to be too painful for him to ride at Regina. Jim Small, the teams truck driver taped up his injured leg but it was too no avail and Teddy had to sit out the race. The only good thing is that there is now a three week break till Nanaimo so Teddy will have some time to get healed up and back to his usual, fast self.

Nick was hoping to redeam himself after his electrical issues at Morden but the bad luck continued. I'm not sure if he broke a mirror or walked under a ladder but after getting a great start in the first moto and running third, his motor had a crank bearing failure and then in the second moto he got a flat tire. Hopefully he got all the bad luck out of his system and can come out swinging at Nanaimo, he's consistently proven that he has the speed to win this year. Hopefully he'll have his breakout ride soon.

On the plus side, Brock had his best ride of the series, finishing tenth overall. He's been working hard all week and it's starting to show. We're looking for even better things from Brock when he returns to his home turf at Nanaimo.

Here's a few photos from the weekend

James Lissimore Photos:


Brock was solid all weekend.


Teddy tried to ride practice but his leg caused him too much pain.


Jim tapes up Teddy's leg.


Brock Hoyer charging in the first moto.


Nick had a trying weekend.


Brock's second moto 10th was his best finish yet.


Brock skies the step down.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Not So Muddy Morden



Well, we're another round into the Monster Energy Canadian Nationals and this weekend the team was in Morden, Manitoba. Last year this place had one of the worst mud races ever and things weren't looking much better when everyone got up on Sunday morning. It was raining and the track was looking pretty mucky. Luckily, the rain stopped after practice and the track ended up being pretty good.

The team was definately looking for a better weekend than the up and down weekend at Gopher Dunes but it turned out to be another weekend of highs and lows. The riders are proving that they've got the speed to run up front but it's racing and anything can happen.

Teddy gutted out an amazing ride in the first mx2 moto. After going down in the first turn while battling for the holeshot, he got back on his bike with a left arm that was gushing blood and proceeded to blitz through the pack, going from a full lap down on everyone to finish 14th right behind his teammate Hoyer in 13th. If somehow Teddy were still to win the championship, that ride will be the reason why. With his arm bandaged up he went out and finished 4th in the second moto before heading to the hospital to get stiched up. Tough as nails doesn't begin to describe Teddy Maier.

Nick Evennou had a heart breaking day for sure. He ran up front both motos, even leading the second moto before having electrical issues with his bike. Not the way he wanted things to go but he handled it like a champ. If anything, this will give him even more motivation for next weekend in Regina.

Brock continues to have an up and down season. After finishing a respectable 13th in the first moto things were looking up for the friendly Williams Lake native but a first turn mishap saw him have to work his way up to 21st from last. Brock has so much potential, he's just on the verge of having a break through ride. He's had some great motos at Regina over the last few years so hopefully next weekend will see him prove what he's capable of.

Nick and Brock have stayed out in Manitoba for the week to train so look for some more photos on the blog this week as the riders get out and pound some laps at the local Manitoba tracks.

Here's some shots from Morden.....

James Lissimore Photos:


























Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The Sands of Gopher


Well, the roughest track on the National circuit, Gopher Dunes, is in the books now and it was a little tougher weekend than Ste. Julie. You have to expect that though with Gopher, the deep sand allways makes for a challenging race and it was no exception this year. The good new is that none of the riders suffered any mechanical dnf's and both Teddy and Nick proved that despite a couple of setbacks they are both in the championship fight for the long haul.

Saturday practice went well, with Nick logging the fastest lap time of the session. Teddy, admitedly not the greatest sand rider continued to improve his lap times throughout the session, logging the 8th fastest time. Brock was also in the mix with the 13th fastest time. Then, a massive storm blew in after practice causing everyone to scramble to close up the storm windows on the trailer. The wind and rain were unreal and the pits quickly flooded. Billy, Nick's mechanic wasn't deterred and cleaned Nick's bike in the middle of the downpour.
Sunday morning saw more of the same, with Nick logging the second quickest time, Teddy improving to 7th quickest and Brock bumping himself up one spot to 12th fastest.
The motos themselves were a mixed bag. All three riders showed great speed but had a few set backs. Nick hit a downed rider on the first lap of Moto 1 but remounted and still finished on the podium. Teddy went down on the first lap and was forced to make a great charge back through the pack to finish 19th after remounting in last. He was hanging with the lead pack despite being a lap down so it's too bad he couldn't have been up front to show what he was capable of. Brock had a few spills, eventually finishing 14th.
The second moto again proved how cruel the sand can be sometime. For Nick his day would be cut short after he collided with another bike while battling up front. Teddy got a better start and this time finished 5th, a much better result than his first moto. As for Brock, he again had few tip overs but still managed a 13th at the finish.
Now, there's a two week break in the series and the riders will find themselves next at the Shadow Valley facility in Morden, Manitoba, a track that all three riders are quite familiar with. Hopefully we'll see them all up front at the next round.