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.

108,905 Responses

  6. всем желаю счастья! https://anonmdma.shop Хороший,порядочный магазин обращяйтесьперорально – эффекта 0 при меньших дозах, при больших – понос, рвота, чуваку скорую вызывали, давление 40/15

    Reply

  17. Using https://popcopoppers.com/ for movie nights is my go-to routine. I keep an eye on the microwave while the popcorn pops to avoid smoke. Stirring the kernels gently before popping ensures more even results. The container can retain heat, so I use a mitt when removing it. Sharing popped corn is fun, but I make sure everyone handles the hot popper safely.

    Reply

  19. I am really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you
    ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog audience have complained about my blog not working correctly
    in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help
    fix this problem?

    Reply

  21. I’ve been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this
    sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site.
    Studying this info So i am glad to express that I’ve
    an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed.
    I so much for sure will make sure to do not disregard this
    website and provides it a glance regularly.

    Reply

  27. Ищете купить алкоголь в дубае? Платформа drinks-delivery.com — лицензированный сервис доставки премиального алкоголя в Дубае с широким ассортиментом пива, вин, виски, коньяков, текилы и крепких напитков мировых брендов. Компания работает в строгом соответствии с местным законодательством, гарантируя легальность каждого заказа, конфиденциальность и безопасность транзакций. Быстрая курьерская служба, удобная навигация по каталогу и профессиональная поддержка делают покупку алкоголя максимально комфортной для резидентов и гостей эмирата.

    Reply

  41. RMFreelancer.com is your go-to freelance marketplace
    for top-notch services in SEO, digital marketing,
    web traffic, art and design, development and IT, writing and translations,
    audio and video, business and lifestyle, and AI services. Connect
    with skilled freelancers and find the perfect solution for your business needs.

    Reply

  43. Can I simply just say what a relief to discover somebody that actually knows
    what they are talking about on the net. You definitely realize how to bring an issue to
    light and make it important. A lot more people ought to check this
    out and understand this side of the story. It’s surprising you
    are not more popular since you definitely have the gift.

    Reply

  45. Good day! This post could not be written any better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of
    my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this.
    I will forward this page to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read.
    Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  47. Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my
    facebook group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.

    Please let me know. Thanks

    Reply

  49. Предприятие «Валцпроф» выпускает и продаёт первоклассный металлический профиль для огнестойких, фасадных систем, лофт-ограждений, дверных и воротных каркасов. Ищете стальной профиль для окон? На waltzprof.com представлен широкий ассортимент продукции: профили ВП165, ВП150, ВП250, ВП372 с терморазрывом из оцинкованной и нержавеющей стали, оцинкованные профильные трубы, скрытые петли для всех типов дверей, выпадающие автоматические пороги и уплотнители EPDM. Производство применяет современное оборудование, гарантирует оперативный монтаж систем и оказывает экспертную поддержку при подборе комплектующих.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Pinco casino официальный сайт Cancel reply

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