SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
The Montreal Supercross is the single biggest motorcycle race in Canada each year. Since 1977, the event has kicked off inside Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec (except `91 when the roof of the stadium collapsed), with everyone from Marty Tripes, Mark Barnett, Jim Holley, Ross Pederson, Al Dyck, JSR, Jason Thomas, and most recently, Dusty Klatt, standing in the winner’s circle. The Montreal SX holds a special place in many people’s memories, for various reasons, so we thought it would be interesting to speak with a few different industry folk to get their best memories from the Big O … Dusty Klatt was somewhat happy when he won the MX1 class at Montreal last year. photo: Allison Kennedy To really find out what the Montreal SX is all about, you need experience yourself! photo: Allison Kennedy
“For me, the best memory was winning the MX1 class last year. I knew I could win it, I just had to get a good start and stay up and I ended up winning with a pretty good lead. It’s a big race to win because there are so many people there, and there’s so much TV and media coverage. It’s also a big accomplishment because there are usually some good riders from the U.S. who come up to the race, as well as a full Canadian class. When I won it last year, it was a really good feeling; it was almost like winning my first Canadian National. I had won the MX2 class before but winning the premiere class was a really amazing feeling and a great way to end my year.”
2007 Montreal MX1 winner, Dusty Klatt
“One year I raced and they handed out yellow and purple JSR signs to all the fans. When we were on the line and the camera is scanning across the riders, when it hit JSR, they all stood up and put their JSR signs up and they were banging their feet on the ground so hard that it just sounded like complete thunder. Then when you were racing out there—I actually got lapped by JSR—I could tell when he was coming because the crowd was so freaking loud. Even when you were racing, you could hear him getting closer because the crowd was following him and getting louder and louder and guess who was right on you. And then another year, I crashed there and separated both my shoulders, but that wasn’t that great of a memory.”
CMRC Regional Race Director, Brett Lee
“It was one of the highlights of my career, doing freestyle at the Montreal Supercross with four other Canadians, two from the Montreal area, two from BC, and I was the only guy not back-flipping and I beat them all by crowd response. It felt great to have 50,000 people cheer more for me more than the Canadians and the backflip. But my show was maybe a little better, I landed no hands and I crashed and landed side saddle and did big whips and just put on the show that I was there to put on, and that’s what it’s all about. That’s me having fun in a town that knows how to have fun. I would say in Montreal they are very crazy, they are very into their motorsports and I would definitely say Montreal is top three in the world for crazy crowds.”
2004 Montreal Freestyle champ and former pro racer, “Mad” Mike Jones
“My most memorable moment was winning Montreal for the first time. I was so nervous on the last lap, I was worried about stalling the bike in the corners, I was revving the bike like crazy for the last lap, using the clutch and revving the bike so high. After I won, I think I seriously barely slept for a few days after. We went out until 5 in the morning, I went to bed at five and I was up at six, wide open, I went down to the hotel lobby looking for the newspaper. I couldn’t sleep at all. That’s what I remember the most, the adrenaline rush, I was really, really hyper. My family was pretty much crying, we had worked so hard and I had trained so much for the three or four weeks before, I was running up and down the hills by our house, doing sprints, every morning, my heart rate was through the roof, I wanted to train my hearts for sprints. When I won, it was amazing.”
Four-time Montreal winner, JSR
“This will be our 25th year racing Montreal. I’ve got some good ones, some bad ones. Our first one, when we raced there in 1987 when Allan King won our Tide Honda. Then I’d say the Kit Kat one with Dean Matson because we didn’t really know what he had. A couple of sad ones would be Larry Ward with a flat tire, and he could only finish up with fifth. I guess, a couple times with .. well, Pedro Gonzales when he had a huge lead in 2000 and then went over the bars and crushed the silencer and couldn’t get the bike going. And then `97 with Jean [Sébastien Roy].
“My most favourite would be the 1987 event because we finished first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. That was Allan King, Tom Carson, Andy Stacey, Arnuard Bernard … And that night, Tom Carson, raced a quad as well and finished second. They raced back-to-back that night, so he got right off his bike and raced his quad.”
Morgan Racing’s Team Manager, Chris Morgan
“I think I’ve only missed one since `95. Podiuming with Simon was always fun, as his mechanic. Some of the good racing I’ve seen is when JSR has a bad start and has to work to his way to the front. The intensity of the crowd just blows the roof off the place! I think that’s the biggest thing—the electricity in the building for the Quebec riders versus the U.S. riders or anyone else. When JSR is going for a pass, people just go off for him.
“I don’t remember the year, but the other rider was Kyle Lewis, and JSR had a poor start and worked his way through everybody and on the second last lap he caught Lewis. I don’t remember if he passed him—but the people were going to rip the seats right out of the place! You couldn’t even hear the bikes anymore! Plus, the party after the race is always a blur [laughs].
Simon Homans Racing Yamaha’s crew chief, Pat Cyr
“All of the best supercross riders in North America were racing against the larger crowd in Canada then. The fans were always awesome. From what I can remember, it was always humid inside the building and being from the West Coast, it felt claustrophobic, I guess you could say. Boy, the nerves!
“I won the Montreal Supercross I won in 1986, with those races there, we had come off of the Vancouver Supercross; Ross [Pederson] was ahead of me and I just about passed him at the finish line, so coming into Montreal I was pretty confident. It had rained. The first night I won my qualifier and then I holeshot the main event and pulled out a lead. Then I fell with four laps to go and Ross passed me and I got up to finish second.
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Ross Pederson (1) and Al Dyck (3) had some epic battles in the Big O. |
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photo: John Denniston |
The second night was pretty crazy. It was a little muddier; it was really rutty so I decided to put a 125 tire on my bike. With the ruts, I figured more pounds per square inch and narrower tires for the ruts. I remember the Dunlop tire guy coming up and saying that was an interesting choice. On the start line I had a flat tire, but I was pretty confident—Joe Skidd was my mechanic—so I just told him to fill it right up! I was so confident, I thought I could win with a flat tire, because I was from BC, right? We don’t slow down for flat tires. I got the holeshot and I was gone. I could see the battle behind me of Ross and Guy Cooper and I didn’t know, but the stands were going crazy. That night, we loaded up the bike and the tire was flat.”
1986 Montreal winner, Al Dyck
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The Montreal crowd always goes crazy, especially for hometown heroes like Ben Milot (here), JSR, Dube, and Homans. |
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photo: Allison Kennedy |
“My best year was in freestyle, when I won in 2002. I can’t even remember my best results in the race, it’s been so long. I think the last time I raced it was in `01. Last year was a good run for me—and a good show too with [Ronnie] Renner!”
2002 Montreal Freestyle champ, Ben Milot
“Probably holeshotting the 125 main event in `03 or `04. I always remember it raining and being muddy; it didn’t have a roof then. I remember once driving there and racing and then driving home and racing Moto Park on Sunday.”
Multi-time Vet National champ, Rob McCullough
