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Open House roundup
posted by Roddy
Well, Saturday was filled with tasty food and good friends as dozens of Atlantic Canadian mxers converged at the Swinkels house in Belmont, Nova Scotia for their second annual open house party...
And what a blast it was! You have to give it to Peter and Jan Swinkels for opening their house to 50 some-odd people just before Christmas. As if they weren't busy enough this time of year. What were they thinking?!
It's open to all CMRC racers, so make sure you don't miss it again next year. Okay, onto some of the going's on this past week in MX...
Ben Bostrom takes the win in Bologna
Starting from last weekend saw the big Bologna Motorcycle show and badass Californian Ben Bostrom winning the prestigous Supermotard race on (surprisingly) a KTM four stroke motocrosser fitted with roadracing wheels and a lowered suspension. How trick is this baby?
Interestingly KTM is talking about joining the 2004 GP series with a 990cc V-Four - wonder who they're thinking of getting to ride for them???
And speaking of KTM, they were probably counting on another 125cc World Championship by virtue of their incredibly strong 125 team next year including Steve Ramon and Erik Eggens, but maybe they won't be so quick to count on repeating Jamie Dobb's title if the latest rumours from Europe are true. 2001 World Champs Mickael Pichon (250cc) and Stefan Everts (500cc) are rumoured to be competing in the 125cc class (as well as their own) in the new format for GP's where all three classes race at the same circuit each weekend. Now that'd be cool!
In Supercross news you may have noticed the King, Jeremy McGrath signed on a new sponsor last week in Bud Light. Word is he looks lean and mean and sounds as though he really wants his title back. He said last season was "a rude awakening" and that he was awake now. Should be interesting - let's hope he and AMA's Rider of the Year, American Honda's Ricky Carmichael stay healthy all season and put on a great show.
7 time Supercross Champ Jeremy McGrath
Did you hear Moto XXX's 250 Supercross ace Kyle Lewis is riding a CRF 450 this winter? Ya, he is. Did you also hear notorious SX promoter Mike Goodwin was arrested and charged for the murder of former business partner Mickey Thompson's death? If you don't know who I'm talking about, don't sweat it. If you do, you're old skool.
Lastly on the Supercross thing, ABC's Wide World of Sports announced they're covering four rounds of the supercross season with next day (that's Sunday) coverage at these times:
Anaheim Round 1 Jan 6 3:00 p.m. EST
Indianapolis February 10 5:00 p.m. EST
Houston March 24 3:00 p.m. EST
Dallas April 21 3:00 p.m. EST
Wicked.
Supernewf Ryan Lockhart
Now what about those Canadians? Ryan Lockhart was at the Swinkels' open house yesterday and reported he was having a good time out west competing in the "National" arenacross series, even if he was riding old beat off Kawasaki's. Can't blame him there. He's heading back out after Christmas for the remaining rounds. He hopes to ride red this time. Mitchell Cooke was on hand also, but his van got egged as soon as he arrived. I have no idea who is to blame for this strange behaviour among the more immature of the group that were on hand. Weird. Did you see that pic of Jammin' Jamie Bird on the Yamaha? (if not, look here) That was pretty cool to see him in blue and competing in Rochester, NY. Hopefully a sign of things to come for this rising Atlantic Canadian star. He and Cooke would have had much better finishes in the standings last year if their bikes were as good as their riders. Drew Bezanson reports he'll be riding 80cc 7-12 and Supermini on his new KX 85 from Blair's Kawasaki and Barfin' James Mosher is looking to jump up to the big bikes, he's just gotta convince his parents.
It may be true most mechanics take a back seat in the notariety department to their riders, but not so with Ryan Lockhart's mechanic Nick Aitkens (aka, Hector). In fact, with performances like this we figure Nick is making lots of new friends...
What was that sap Hector thinking?
Almost forgot... I predict Darcy Lange will finish third in the US Arenacross series this year. He's ahead of fourth place Tommy Hofmaster by 16 points after Geneva, but not quite up to speed to give either Damon Bradshaw or Josh Demuth a run for the title. Still, that's pretty decent, and he might even sneak into second place if either of the leaders crash out.
Alrighty then, let's finish this off by providing a little linky to the latest video to come out of the brain of FastbyDesign.com's Paul Smith...
Skitzo Brainiacs (rated "R" for language and stuff)
Roddy
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