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.

22,595 Responses

  1. Fortune Tiger é uma slot digital que atrai muitos jogadores por oferecer simplicidade, visual atraente e muita emoção.
    Com tema asiático e símbolos como o tigre dourado, ele oferece uma
    experiência envolvente que agrada tanto iniciantes quanto veteranos.
    No Tiger Fortune Site Oficial, jogar Fortune Tiger é
    rápido e fácil, com boa adaptação para celulares, permitindo jogar a qualquer hora.
    Apesar de ser um jogo de azar, aplicar estratégias simples como controle de apostas e limites pessoais pode ajudar
    a tornar a experiência mais prazerosa e segura. Casinos confiáveis, como o Tiger Fortune Casino, oferecem segurança e apoio ao jogo responsável, essenciais para uma boa experiência.
    Para quem quer diversão, prêmios e um tema ligado à sorte, naturaverdebiobaby.it é uma excelente opção para jogar
    com moderação.

    Reply

  2. Fortune Tiger é uma slot digital que atrai muitos jogadores por oferecer simplicidade, visual atraente e muita emoção.
    Com tema asiático e símbolos como o tigre dourado, ele oferece uma
    experiência envolvente que agrada tanto iniciantes quanto veteranos.
    No Tiger Fortune Site Oficial, jogar Fortune Tiger é
    rápido e fácil, com boa adaptação para celulares, permitindo jogar a qualquer hora.
    Apesar de ser um jogo de azar, aplicar estratégias simples como controle de apostas e limites pessoais pode ajudar
    a tornar a experiência mais prazerosa e segura. Casinos confiáveis, como o Tiger Fortune Casino, oferecem segurança e apoio ao jogo responsável, essenciais para uma boa experiência.
    Para quem quer diversão, prêmios e um tema ligado à sorte, naturaverdebiobaby.it é uma excelente opção para jogar
    com moderação.

    Reply

  5. Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website?

    My blog is in the very same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you
    present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Thank you!

    Reply

  11. Сайт https://xn--e1anbce0ah.xn--p1ai/ представляет собой сервис, который предоставляет возможность обменять криптовалюту. Каждый клиент получает возможность произвести обмен Ethereum, Bitcoin, SOL, BNB, XRP на наличные. Основная специализация компании заключается в том, чтобы предоставить быстрый и надлежащий доступ ко всем функциям, цифровым активам. Причем независимо от того, в каком городе либо стране находитесь. Прямо сейчас вы сможете посчитать то, сколько вы получите после обмена. Узнайте подробности о денежных перестановках.

    Reply

  17. Купить бетон в Иркутске стало проще – вы можете заказать нужный объем прямо с завода, без посредников и переплат. Мы производим товарный бетон на современном оборудовании, контролируя каждый этап. Наша продукция используется при строительстве частных домов, промышленных объектов, дорог и фундаментов, узнайте больше по ссылке https://proirkbeton.ru/

    Reply

  43. На сайте https://vless.art воспользуйтесь возможностью приобрести ключ для VLESS VPN. Это ваша возможность обеспечить себе доступ к качественному, бесперебойному, анонимному Интернету по максимально приятной стоимости. Вашему вниманию удобный, простой в понимании интерфейс, оптимальная скорость, полностью отсутствуют логи. Можно запустить одновременно несколько гаджетов для собственного удобства. А самое важное, что нет ограничений. Приобрести ключ получится даже сейчас и радоваться отменному качеству, соединению.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to DouglasTwism Cancel reply

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