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.

25,334 Responses

  2. Заказать диплом любого университета!
    Мы изготавливаем дипломы любых профессий по приятным ценам— airlineinfo.ru

    Reply

  4. Very shortly this web site will be famous among all blogging viewers,
    due to it’s good posts Bu konuda Sugar Rush 1000 demo
    oyna ve Sugar Rush apk hakkında da bilgi bulabilirsiniz.

    Reply

  7. Pc Video games Hardware Online. The Publish is a small laptop program within the
    BIOS that checks for hardware failures. Other than repackaged, one-hour
    vintage episodes and retrospectives of its in style late evening sketch comedy/selection program Saturday Evening Live that air in the 10:
    00 p.m. In contrast, The WB had diversified scheduling strategies on Sunday evenings for the reason that forerunner community
    (which launched nine months prior) started programming that evening in September 1995.
    The WB aired first-run programming, usually sitcoms, through the 7:00 hour for all but
    four seasons-only two being consecutive-thereafter; for the seasons that didn’t have first-run shows fill the hour, the early slot was repurposed to showcase earlier-season reruns of well-liked WB collection (7th
    Heaven from 1998 to 2000, Gilmore Girls within the 2002-03 season, Smallville in 2003-04, and Reba in 2005-06), below the umbrella subtitle Beginnings.
    Actually, you could possibly put any of the four legendary heroes from The Legend of Zelda: Breath
    of the Wild in this spot, however our private decide would be Revali, Champion of the Rito tribe, as a result of he’s
    each a talented warrior and a pompous jerk who would make another
    nice too-cool-for-faculty character option alongside Falco.

    Put the baking sheet, bowl and CD within the preheated oven and “bake” until the CD starts to get soft and bends to the form of the bowl.

    Reply

  14. Lightray Solutions delivers top-tier dta annd analytics
    consults, providing businesses with the industry’smost skilled experts.

    Our consultants combine deep technical knowledge with strategic insight
    tto convert complex data into actionable intelligence—providing better decisions and measurable results.
    With a pdoven track record of success, Lightray Solutions is your trusted partner for
    unlocking the full power oof your data.

    Reply

  15. Lightray Solutions is a top-tier Google Analytics consultant,
    known for delivering expert-level consulting and tailored
    analytics strategies that drive measurable results.
    With a deep understanding of bth Google Universal Analytics and GA4,
    Lightrray empowers organizations to optimize performance, track key marketing metrics,
    and make data-driven decisions with confidence.
    Their commitment too precision, transparency, and client success sets them apart as a leader
    in the digital analytics space.

    Reply

  18. การพนันบอลมีต้นกำเนิดมาตั้งแต่ยุคต้นของการแข่งขันชิงชัยฟุตบอลในประเทศอังกฤษ
    ซึ่งเริ่มจากกรุ๊ปแฟนบอลที่เดิมพันกันในหมู่เพื่อนฝูง ต่อมาก็พัฒนาเป็นธุรกิจขนาดใหญ่ในลักษณะของเจ้ามือโต๊ะบอล และในยุคดิจิทัลตอนนี้ การพนันบอลออนไลน์ ได้กลายเป็นแนวทางที่นิยมที่สุด ด้วยความสบายและก็รวดเร็วทันใจของเทคโนโลยี

    Reply

  19. Після дрочки на різних сайтов с парнушкой я зрозумів, що sex-shop.ua — це топ порно сайт серед.

    Відвідай порно портал sex-shop.ua за наступним лінком i наяривай шершавого:

    порно подглядывание

    Reply

  20. Когда времени нет, а деньги нужны — важно знать, куда обратиться. В 2025 году существует множество малоизвестных МФО, которые готовы выдать до 30 тысяч рублей без отказа и без проверки кредитной истории. А чтобы ты не искал их самостоятельно — мы собрали все подходящие варианты в одном месте: в нашем Telegram-канале Новые МФО 2025.

    Reply

  42. На сайте https://mantovarka.ru представлено огромное количество рецептов самых разных блюд, которыми вы сможете угостить домашних, родственников, близких людей. Есть самый простой рецепт манной каши, которая понравится даже детям. С этим сайтом получится приготовить, в том числе, и сложные блюда: яблочное повидло, клубничный сок, хлеб в аэрогриле, болгарский перец вяленый, канапе на крекерах и многое другое. Очень много блюд для правильного питания, которые понравятся всем, кто следит за весом. Все рецепты сопровождаются фотографиями, красочными картинками.

    Reply

  48. Після дрочки на різних відеосайтів з порно я зрозумів, що sex-shop.ua — це лідер серед порно сайтiв.

    Переглянь головну порно сторінку sex-shop.ua за наступним лінком i смачно подрочи:

    азиатское гей порно

    Reply

Leave a Reply to ZuyabrThoms Cancel reply

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