Seeing Orange in 2014

SEEING ORANGE IN 2014

BY ANDY WHITE

PHOTOS BY JAMES LISSIMORE

he road to victory in 2014” started only a few days after the final round in 2013.

Kaven calls me and says “Let’s test the 250SX two-stroke! I thought about it for about two seconds before I replied, “Sounds good to me.” The day after, we pulled out two 2014 KTM 250SXs from our inventory. Joe Skid from SSS built the suspension and Kaven’s mechanic started on framing the two-strokes. This was going to be fun. The CMRC rules state that you can use either a 250 fourstroke or a 250 two-stroke in the MX2 class.

A few days later, Kaven was out pounding laps on his favourite MX track.

The report I was getting from his mechanic sounded like Kaven was having fun chasing down 450s on the sand track. All reports showed that this might be the secret weapon for the 2014 series. We really needed to be sure that this was the right direction before investing too much money into the two-stroke project.

The next few days of testing would be crucial.

Time to head south to do some testing; we will focus on whether or not we race a two or four-stroke for the upcoming series. How do we do that? Easy, with lots and lots of laps on many different tracks! First we need two brand new, fully built race bikes to test head to head. This means we need to invest in testing with the best equipment to get the answer.

Right from the first day, Kaven said the two-stroke is so light and nimble but hard to be super consistent on each lap. On the other hand, the fourstroke is the opposite; it felt heavy but it is way more consistent on each lap on the hard packed track. Lap times proved the four-stroke is the better choice. Okay, so now let’s try the same test at the sand track. Just as we thought, the two-stroke is a little faster on the sand. Kaven said the twostroke is easier to flick around in the whooped out sand track. Jerome and Kaven did the Pepsi Challenge for the balance of the month at just about every track east of the Mississippi and south of the winter snow. One month later we had our answers to the question - do we go two or four-stroke? “Let’s use both!” Kaven shouts out.

Leading up to round one of the series, we needed to make sure we didn’t have any second thoughts on which of the 250 bike we were going to use on the west coast’s hard pack tracks. The decision was made; we loaded the four-stroke and left the two-stroke back at the race shop for the six eastern rounds. Was

Above: Throughout the 2014 MX2 series, KTM mounted Kaven Benoit and Vince Friese were this close.

Below: Kaven’s best ride of the season came in front of his hometown fans at Deschambault.

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this the right move? Has anyone ever done this before? Time will tell.

Round one of the series kicks off at The Wastelands in Nanaimo, BC. The weather in June in BC is usually pretty wet so fingers crossed for some good weather to start off the series. Our goal was to get as many points as possible. You can’t win the series the first weekend but you can lose the championship if you don’t ride smart on the rocky track. Kaven road smart and checked out and won both motos, leaving Nanaimo with 50 points and the leader plate.

Round two’s track is based in the interior of BC. Kamloops is a fun, rough track with lots of ruts. You better have your bike dialled-in or your weekend is going to be a long one. Kaven has ridden Kamloops a few times in the past so he knew it wasn’t an easy track to ride. The best part of the weekend was Kaven got to run with the red and white number plates as he was leading the MX2 series.

This is the round where Kaven meets Vince Friese. This dude has a rap sheet as long as his arm when it comes to taking out his competition. We knew this going into the series so we told Kaven to keep his distance and stay clear of him. Not that easy as from the minute

the gate drops Vince likes to get into your head. As a team manager for a rider that’s leading the series, this is not what you want to happen. Kaven’s 4-3 for a 2nd overall was good enough to keep the lead in the series.

Round three moved to Calgary, a track that is not an easy one to ride.

Kaven’s main competition started up with his usual antics in practice. Thirty feet out of the gate, Vince bumps Kaven directly towards the pond. Kaven had a GO PRO camera on at the time, so when he returned after practice we had the evidence in HD. Kaven is not a rider that likes to play head games, his only focus is to win the championship. The main goal was to get as many points as possible in the west, as we know Kaven will be very strong in the east.

This weekend Kaven was able to finish 2nd overall again with a 2-3 for the day, which is good enough to keep the red number plates moving forward.

Round four in Regina is a weekend I think all the teams and riders would like to forget. It’s too bad Mother Nature had to spoil a good weekend of racing.

The volunteers at Regina did a great job preparing for the weekend. I don’t think anyone expected that much rain in 48 hours. After getting towed in for the weekend, Kaven had the fastest lap times in practice. I was pleased to see that Kaven had really impressive lap times; these types of races can go either way for a rider, plus I was hoping for lots of points. Well, the gate dropped and Kaven was sitting around 14th on lap one and he was on the move. There was only one major line around the track. If you tried making a pass you better be sure or you were going to be on the tow list at the end of the moto. Kaven tried an inside move on the off-camber section before the finish line when the KTM stopped dead, fell over and was upside down on the hill.

Kaven couldn’t pick it up as he had slid to the bottom of the hill. That was it for Kaven. No points. The only good news from the weekend was his competition failed to gain any real points. Good news, Kaven keeps the lead going into the east.

Round five - finally back in the east coast. Gopher Dunes is one of the toughest tracks on the circuit; Kaven has had some really good motos here in the past. This weekend is going to be special as we wheeled out the 250SX two-stroke from the factory race truck. The rumours were right; Kaven is going to race an old-school 249cc two-stroke against fire breathing four-strokes. First practice went really well with Kaven putting down the fastest lap times. Practice two started well until Kaven lost his footing on the face of a step up. Kaven ended up

doing a full-on Superman and landed on his back beside the KTM. The information I received was that Kaven was walking back to the semi really slowly. This is not the plan, now we have to regroup and figure out a new strategy. Kaven said he can ride but it’s not going to be easy. All we needed was some solid points to keep the lead in the series. Kaven dug deep and put in some solid laps resulting in a 2-2 finish for a 2nd overall.

Round six, another sand track. Sand Del Lee has been on the schedule for a long time. Kaven knows this track real well. This has to be our weekend; it’s time to win an overall. Kaven was feeling much better after his superman crash the previous week. Jerome had the 250SX all dialled in for the weekend with a Dunlop MX11 paddle tire. Practice went well, trading fastest lap times with the local hero, Jeremy Medaglia. Inside gate is the ticket at the sand track for holeshots.

Moto one, Kaven had an intense battle with Politelli, the two riders gapped themselves from the rest of the field.

Moto two, Kaven pulled the holeshot and checked out. Vince was close but Kaven knew when to step it up to keep his gap.

Above: After an intense ten round battle in the MX2 class, Benoit proved that he deserved the #1 plate for 2014.

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The checkered flag came out and Kaven finally showed the Canadian fans that a two-stroke could win.

Round seven in La Belle Province; Deschambault is a unique track with lots of sand. The #24 rider has put in a million laps at this track over the years. This weekend the pressure was on. We knew if we could win this event we would be sitting in a good position to win the series.

Sunday morning, we woke up after a full night of rain showers. The track is now flooded with puddles and little rivers of water everywhere. Not what we were looking for, but it’s the same for all the riders today. Kaven’s mechanic, Jerome, prepared the KTM for a very wet day of racing. These wet events are more of a survival race than anything.

Holeshots are mandatory today. Kaven knew that getting a start meant the difference of winning or losing. His fine-tuned two-stroke rocketed out of the gate. Before we knew it, Kaven had a good 10 second lead on the field.

I yelled out in the head set “Lappers are going to be a major problem. Tell KB to be careful as the lappers love to race with the leaders.” If you get the blue flag, it means there is a race going on and you’re not in it! Kaven had it under control both motos. No one came close to challenging Kaven all day. Our lead on the series looked even better with a 1-1 result for the day.

Round eight, welcome to the real east coast. Moncton, NB has been on the circuit since I was racing. Come to

“ THEN THE GATE DROPPED FOR THE LAST MOTO OF THE YEAR, KAVEN WAS GONE. HE GOT THE HOLESHOT AND NEVER LOOKED BACK. THAT’S THE WAY A REAL CHAMPION FINISHES THE YEAR OFF. WELL DONE KAVEN BENOIT AND THE TEAM.”

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Team Manager Andy White did a great job keeping the mood light all season long under the KTM tent.

think of it, the lay out is pretty well the same. The track was prepared pretty well but I did tell Larry and his guys to please tear it up deeper. Two-strokes like loamy terrain … ha ha! I don’t think Larry got the memo because the track was pretty hard packed and dry by the second moto. That’s okay, Kaven won the first moto with no real issues, but moto two was going to be a diff erent story. Right from the start of the moto Vince parked himself right next to the point’s leader. I knew right away this was going to go bad. Kaven looked me and said “F@#K!!” As the gate dropped Vince focused on pushing Kaven into the trees in corner one, then as they entered the whoops Vince drove right in the side of Kaven and knocked him right off the track into the deep mud. Thanks Vince…buddy. That didn’t stop Kaven from putting his head down and charging through the pack. Once the dust settled Kaven had worked his way up to 4th. That gave him a 2nd overall for the day. This is where the real fireworks all started between Vince and Kaven.

I can’t really repeat what Vince said as kids might be reading this story.

Round nine, the event at Ulverton, Quebec will be remembered for years to come. Kaven knew that the Quebec fans would be looking out for their guy. I knew the Quebec fans had passion, but this weekend was much more than that.

Practice started with fireworks, and Vince wanted to get in Kaven’s head right away on lap two of practice. Not only did Kaven see what Vince was up to, so did all the fans. I don’t think it’s too smart to screw with a rider that lives 100km away from the track. The local fans were thinking the same thing. While sitting in the gate for Moto 1, things started to get out of hand between mechanics and riders. Once the gate dropped, the real race was on. Kaven was turning 3 seconds a lap faster than everyone. He had gapped the field by a mile.

The fans were going crazy, I thought to myself “Wow, I could get used to this.” On the last lap, Karel Benoit somehow tangled up with Vince; they both went down pretty hard. Was this planned? Well, not by my team or rider. It was something that Karel did on his own. Moto 2 started and Kaven started back in 5th. It didn’t take him long to smoke by the leaders by lap 4. Vince was not having this; he took it into his own hands to pay the Benoit family back. It was one take out move that should be on the highlight reels for a long time. Kaven hit the ground pretty hard; his KTM was all bent up from the impact.

Kaven shook it off and focused on points. With a 1-5, this gave Kaven a 2nd overall for the day.

Round Ten - the final round of the series is based in Walton, Ontario. It has been a long summer of racing. The plan is to ride smart and win the 2014 MX2 Championship. We had a team meeting prior to the weekend to discuss our strategy. I felt we needed another meeting to remind the team that we are here to win and then have some fun afterwards. Kaven had a 44 point lead on Vince for the championship. Moto 1, gate drops

After years of trying, the proud KTM Team brought home their fi rst Canadian MX2 title since 2008.

This is the view that Benoit’s competition had to witness all season long.

and Vince gets a great start and pulls away. Kaven was riding tight back in 5th. The track was pretty muddy from all the rain. There was only one main line out there. The pit board instructed KB to ride smart for the championship.

Kaven started to find new lines, moved up to 3rd and kept it there until the end. That’s all we needed to capture the championship. We were so happy for Kaven, the team and the sponsors whose support made the win possible.

What a relief, it’s finally over and we can relax. We had one more moto left to do for the season. I could tell Kaven had the weight of the series off his shoulders. Then the gate dropped for the last moto of the year, Kaven was gone. He got the holeshot and never looked back. That’s the way a real champion finishes the year off. Well done Kaven Benoit and the team.

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