From the ages of four to 104, Chilliwack is the place to be if you are at all interested in indoor dirt biking. It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional rider, an amateur or a spectator, it will be thrilling for everyone when riders from across the country and the United States converge on Chilliwack’s Heritage Park for the Canadian Arena Cross Championships.
Jamie Hellam, the owner of Nex Trax Entertainment, promotes this unique event and says it is the biggest indoor series in Canada. The races start in November with the racers gaining points from each race until the finals in January determine who the winners are.
A young winner
Last year’s winner of the MX1 450 Championship in Arena Cross is Brock Hoyer from Williams Lake, B.C., who started riding at the age of six. Racing by the age of 14, he started in the Pro Nationals in 2006. Riding with the national Kawasaki team across Canada, he recently placed seventh in the series after completing nine rounds.
When asked what advice he would give to new riders, Brock said, “Stay focused and remember anything is possible.”
Surrey’s Kyle Beaton, 21, riding for Canada on the Factory Yamaha team, will be in Chilliwack again this year. Last year he placed second in the MX2 Series and this year he is in fifth place despite a broken wrist received during the first round.
He was given his first bike when he was only four years old and immediately started racing. He obviously has no plans for stopping since he will be racing in the Montreal Super Cross in October and then is off to England to race in November.
His words of advice for new riders: “Get practising and make sure you have fun. If you aren’t having fun it won’t work out.”
Team green
Hellam wants everyone to know about the “Team Green Factory Rider for a Day” program. One lucky amateur who applies at sign-up on each day will be selected to compete on a Team Green Kawasaki 2009 prepped race bike for the entire day.
By winning they will also become team mates with Brock Hoyer and Teddy Maier and work from the Kawasaki race team transporter for the day. There will also be a $1500 credit awarded by Kawasaki to one amateur class each night towards the purchase of a 2009 KX model.
For beginners or anyone wanting to learn something new there are motocross classes every morning usually taught by a top pro rider. Mark your calendars, get your dirt bikes ready and remember it’s never too late to start racing and as Brock Hoyer said “anything is possible”. Who knows maybe next year you might even be one of the racers taking the jumps, racing around the dirt track and hoping for a trophy.
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