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.

109,988 Responses

  9. I’m now not sure where you’re getting your information, but
    great topic. I needs to spend a while studying more or figuring out more.
    Thanks for magnificent info I was in search of this info for my mission.

    Reply

  12. hello there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up something new from right here.
    I did however expertise some technical issues using this web site, since I experienced to reload
    the web site many times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
    I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not
    that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google
    and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.

    Well I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot
    more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again soon.

    Reply

  14. Main slot online sekarang makin mudah dengan Slot Depo 10K.

    Kamu cukup deposit 10 ribu, tapi bisa spin gacor
    tiap hari.

    Situs Slot 10 Ribu cocok buat yang pengen main cepat &
    aman.
    Dengan RTP tinggi, bonus new member besar,
    dan server cepat, kamu bisa menang lebih sering.

    Kelebihan Slot Online 10K:
    – Bonus langsung aktif
    – Cashback mingguan
    – Provider lengkap: Pragmatic, PG Soft, Habanero

    Slot Depo 10K
    tempat bermain terpercaya 2025.
    Main hari ini dan buktikan cuannya cuma modal receh!

    Reply

  16. I used to be suggested this website via my cousin. I’m now not positive whether this post is written through him
    as nobody else realize such precise about my difficulty.
    You are amazing! Thank you!

    Reply

  17. Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you so much, However I am encountering troubles with your RSS.
    I don’t understand the reason why I am unable to subscribe to it.
    Is there anybody having identical RSS problems? Anybody who
    knows the answer can you kindly respond? Thanx!!

    Reply

  18. Greate post. Keep posting such kind of information on your
    blog. Im really impressed by it.
    Hi there, You’ve performed a great job. I’ll
    definitely digg it and individually recommend to my
    friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this site.

    Reply

  20. I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but great topic.
    I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding
    more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this
    information for my mission.

    Reply

  21. Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess
    I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to
    the whole thing. Do you have any points for beginner blog writers?
    I’d genuinely appreciate it.

    Reply

  22. Здравствуйте!
    Производство из РФ поставляет блины для штанги тренировочной на https://blin-na-shtangi.ru/ по низким ценам с надежной доставкой. Портфолио показывает разные виды блинов. Востребованные снаряды нужны для тренировок дома и в зале. Клиентам доступны блины с разнообразными защитными покрытиями, среди которых стабильным интересом отличаются износостойкие диски в обрезиненном исполнении. Эта категория товаров оптимально созданы для использования в условиях квартиры, поскольку значительно снижают уровень шума при завершении упражнения и прекрасно защищают напольное покрытие от царапин и сколов. Для профессиональных атлетов нередко выбирают классические хромированные диски с диаметром втулки 50 мм, которые характеризуются максимальной износостойкостью и долгим сроком службы. Кроме того, в линейке представлены целевые комплекты для стартовых тренировок, куда входят легкие диски номиналом от 0.5 до 2.5 килограмм, позволяющие плавно увеличивать рабочую нагрузку и оттачивать правильность движений.
    Изготовление блинов на штангу, Блины металлические для штанги, Блины и диски для штанги
    Профессиональные блины для штанги, Блины для штанги разноцветные, Блины для тренировочной штанги
    Всего наилучшего и успехов в спорте!!

    Reply

  30. Hi I am so happy I found your web site, I really found you by error,
    while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a incredible
    post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and
    also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal
    more, Please do keep up the awesome b.

    Reply

  32. Thanks for supporting Kyle’s Football Cards on eBay! Enjoy 25% OFF your
    next order with code KYLETHANKS25. Authentic jerseys, rare finds, and sports collectibles with fast shipping.

    Limited time—don’t miss out!

    Reply

  35. This article explains ai next gen clearly and highlights
    key areas like machine learning deep learning generative
    ai and robotics making future technology easier to
    understand

    Reply

  36. บทความนี้ช่วยให้ตัดสินใจเลือก คลินิกทันตกรรม
    ประหยัด ฟันสวย ได้ง่ายขึ้นมาก โดยเฉพาะข้อมูลเรื่อง ทำฟันปลอม ราคาประหยัด คลินิกแนะนำ และการเปรียบเทียบ ทำวีเนียร์ ราคาเป็นกันเอง คลินิกไหนดี
    เหมาะกับคนที่อยากดูแลฟันโดยไม่เกินงบ

    Reply

  37. After I originally commented I appear to have clicked oon the
    -Notify mme when new comments are added- checkbox and frdom now on each time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment.
    There has to bee a means yoou are able to remove me from that service?
    Kudos! http://boyarka-inform.com/

    Reply

Leave a Reply to mostbet_ocMn Cancel reply

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