1984-1986 Moto Park Grand Prixs

By the late 70’s the Golden Years of Canadian Motocross had come to an end, as did the boom years of Motorcycle Sales in Canada. The last Motocross Grand Prix had been held at Mosport in 1979. During the mid 80’s thru the mid 90’s sales of Motorcycles plummeted from more than 100,000 units per year to as low as 20,000.

Carl Bastedo had been successful in promoting both a series of National Consumer Motorcycle Shows throughout Canada starting in 1977 as well as Supercross starting in 1980 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Bringing a World Championship Motocross Grand Prix back to Canada was a natural evolution in his mind.

Any Motorsport event requires major sponsorship in order to be successful, this is the way it is all over the World. The Supercross events actually took in more in sponsorship than they did at the gate. The financial success of the Canadian Grand Prix was doomed from the beginning as Yamaha Canada was the only major company to sponsor the event.

In spite of this, a great event was put together in 1984 on an extended Motopark track. Hundreds of loads of dead sand carved out of a “honey hole” found on the property re-surfaced the entire track. Huge D8 bulldozers where brought in to reshape the woods at the south end of the property revealing huge hills and drop offs which where a part of any GP track of the era.

Hospitality wasn’t generally a part of the travelling GP Circus at the time and Motopark was one of the first to introduce a deck overlooking the track with décor and waiters serving up Steak dinners for the local and GP VIP’s in attendance. The Township Reeve and council members where in attendance and Ontario’s Solicitor General arrived for the opening ceremonies via Helicopter which landed in the front yard of Carl’s house.

More than 3,500 spectators paid to get in bringing total attendance close to 5,000. It was the most people seen at a Motocross race in Canada since the great 500cc GP at Copetown in 1975.

All the buzz in the pits was how Canada’s Ross Pederson would fare against the GP regulars, 13 of whom made the trip. Chuckles throughout the pits as the Euro’s looked over Ross’s RM500 “Motocross” bike. On the track it was a different story as Ross challenged many of them finishing top Canadian in 4th place while Glen Nicholson, also on the RM500, was next Canadian garnering 10th.

The podium at the 1984 Grand Prix of Canada was made up of Belgian riders. The victory went to Georges Jobe (Kawasaki) followed by Andre Malherbe (Honda) and Eric Geobers, also on a Honda.

In 1985 the FIM requested that Motopark run a non points paying 250 c.c. GP as the US GP at Unadilla was the following week and they felt the European riders would like to spend the week prior acclimatizing themselves to North America. Only 4 Euro’s made the trip led by Gert Jan Van Doorn who battled with Ross Pederson taking first in Moto 1. Van Doorn suffered a flat tire in Moto 2 allowing Pederson to take the win and become the first Canadian to win a Canadian Grand Prix. American Honda’s Darryl Shultz also showed up in 1985. Shultz finished with a DNF in moto one and 3rd behind Pederson and Doug Hoover in moto 2.

Financially, the Grand Prix’s proved to be to much of a drain and Motopark informed the CMA in the fall of 1985 that it would not run another 500 c.c. World Championship round in 1986. The CMA felt obligated to produce the event and took the production over with agreement that the event would be held at Motopark.

The last Motocross Grand Prix in Canada was held in sweltering heat. The event was well produced but poorly attended. On the Podium in 1986 were Belgians Andre Malherbe, and Eric Geobers while Great Britain’s David Thorpe rounded out the top 3. Top Canadian that year was Doug Hoover and Glen Nicholson in 9 and 10th. Ross Pederson was not entered, I suspect he was injured.

It was the end of an era and the entire World GP Circuit went into a slump during the late 80’s and 90’s as Motorcycle Sales World wide continued to plummet. Slow market growth in the late 90’s led to a revival of the GP scene in early 2000.

112,705 Responses

  6. Thanks for any other informative website. The place else may
    I am getting that type of information written in such
    an ideal manner? I have a undertaking that I’m simply now running on, and
    I’ve been on the glance out for such information.

    Reply

  7. Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading?
    I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  12. DIY dunyas?, yarat?c?l?g?n?z? ortaya koyman?n en eglenceli yollar?ndan biri. Daha once denemediyseniz, iste baslaman?n tam zaman?!

    Зацепил раздел про DIY Dunyas?na Giris: Pratik ve Estetik Cozumler.

    Вот, можете почитать:

    https://yapjust.com

    DIY projeleriyle birbirinden s?k ve estetik cozumler uretmek sizin elinizde.

    Reply

  15. First of all I want to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question that I’d
    like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to find out how
    you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing.

    I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out there.
    I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally
    wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations
    or tips? Many thanks!

    Reply

  16. Hallo Gamer. Stell dir vor, jede Bewegung, jeder Klick fühlt sich direkt an, wie Teil deines Instinkts. Mit https://das-redragon.de/-Tastaturen, Mäusen und Kopfhörern wird das Spiel nicht nur gespielt, es wird erlebt. Das Zubehör unterstützt dich, reagiert blitzschnell und lässt dich in jedem Match die Kontrolle spüren. RGB-Lichter, ergonomisches Design und kraftvolle Sensoren verwandeln jedes Spiel in ein kleines Kunstwerk.

    Reply

  17. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get
    four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
    Bless you!

    Reply

  19. Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite
    reason appeared to be on the net the simplest thing to be aware of.
    I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they plainly do not know about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined
    out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal.
    Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

    Reply

  27. Ищете воздушные шары с доставкой по Москве и МО по выгодной цене? Посетите https://xn—-8sbwhzjq7b3a.xn--p1ai/ и вы найдете широкий ассортимент шаров, для любого праздника или события с круглосуточной доставкой. Быстрый заказ, индивидуальный подход – заказать шары у нас с доставкой просто и удобно!

    Reply

  32. We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
    Your website offered us with useful information to work on. You have performed
    a formidable task and our whole community will probably be thankful to
    you.

    Reply

  38. An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment.
    I do think that you should write more on this subject matter, it might
    not be a taboo matter but typically people do not discuss such issues.
    To the next! Best wishes!!

    Reply

  39. Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout
    and design. Excellent choice of colors!

    Reply

  45. May I just say what a relief to discover someone that genuinely knows what they are discussing online. You certainly understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people really need to check this out and understand this side of your story. I was surprised that you are not more popular since you definitely possess the gift.
    Escort directory listing Rio

    Reply

  48. Yarat?c? ve kisisel projelerle evinize estetik dokunuslar eklemek istemez misiniz? O halde dogru yerdesiniz!

    Для тех, кто ищет информацию по теме “DIY Dunyas?na Giris: Pratik ve Estetik Cozumler”, там просто кладезь информации.

    Ссылка ниже:

    https://yapjust.com

    DIY projeleriyle birbirinden s?k ve estetik cozumler uretmek sizin elinizde.

    Reply

  49. Hey! Quick question that’s entirely off topic.
    Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my iphone 4.
    I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to correct this problem.
    If you have any recommendations, please share. Many thanks!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to драгон казино Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *