After several weekends off from racing, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to travel up to Montreal, Canada for a chance at earning the lion's share of the $40,000 purse posted for the 29th annual running of the Montreal Supercross. Having not competed in this event for the last several years, I was excited to see what it had in store for the riders.
I flew out of Phoenix on Thursday to meet up with my mechanic, Jesse Black, who had gone up a day earlier to prepare the motorcycle we shipped up for the event. Jesse and my good friend, Danny Nappi, picked me up from the airport in Albany, NY and we drove three hours north to Montreal through the cool night air.
After a good night's sleep, I had two practice sessions on Friday that both went very well. I had to run number 23 on my bike instead of the usual 32, as my AMA number was being used by a rider in the Canadian National Series. Dirt Wurx had built the track, so it was very similar to the US Supercross tracks that I am accustomed to. I posted the fourth fastest time in my first practice and second quickest in the final session. We left for our hotel in the early afternoon and settled down for a nice dinner and another night of rest.
Saturday began with two additional practice sessions, where I posted the second fastest and then fastest time in the final session. This would determine our gate pick for the heat race and in which heat we would be competing. I was the first pick in the first heat race.
When the gate dropped on my heat, my front end came up a little and had to feather the clutch just a bit. As a result, I was around seventh through the first corner. Within four corners I was up to third, then quickly displaced Jeff Northrop for second place. I took over the lead a lap later and pulled out to a six second gap over Sean Hamblin in the six-lap race to take the win.
The main was for all the marbles and the biggest chunk of the very lucrative purse money. Since the racing was so tight, I knew the start would be critical. This time I nailed the jump and rounded the first turn in fifth place. I moved into fourth quickly and passed my teammate, Jiri Dostal, for third on the next lap. On lap three I skimmed by a quick-starting Jeff Northrop in the whoops and into the runner up position. Bryan Johnson had pulled out a decent gap in the opening laps, but I began to close in over the next several laps. I was riding extremely tight and making some mistakes, but I was still keeping Bryan close enough to feel comfortable about my position. I could see Eric Sorby and Jason Thomas coming from behind, so I knew I would have to make a move soon or risk having them to hot on my heels. With two laps to go, I took the line from Bryan just after the mechanics area thus securing the lead. I rode the final two laps conservatively and took the win over Jason Thomas and Bryan Johnson.
The podium not only consisted of all American riders, it was also all Honda and all FLY Racing as well. We definitely dominated the event in front of a nearly sold-out Quebec Park-Olympic Stadium.
I would like to thank my mechanic, Jesse Black, for his efforts in preparing for this race. Also, thanks to Danny Nappi and Pete Aceto for organizing everything up in New York and to Pete for letting us take his van to the event. RideNow.com/Metro Motorsports assisted in shipping the motorcycle to New York, and all of our team sponsors contributed in supporting us at this event.
My next race is at the US Open the weekend after next. I am prepared and very excited to go to Las Vegas and see how I stack up against Ricky, James, Chad and the other competition. I hope to see everyone there!
Ryan Clark
Team Solitaire/MB1 Racing