I posted this on dualsport.ca and thought I would share:
What an adventure!!
If any of you ever have a chance...this is a must see event. I am extremely proud of all the Canucks that entered this race. There was a huge contingent of Canadians present with 6 entered into the race and a total group of 20+ including support staff and fans.
Noel Bolso and Cory Graffunder both from BC qualified in the front row of 50. Jared Thomas on the Husaberg and the almighty Marty Halmazna, both from Alberta, qualified in the second row. Marty just made the second row with a 98 but it was a mind blowing effort considering he had major technical issues in both qualifiers. Unfortunately, despite being in the factory KTM rig and having David Knight's mechanic of the last 4 years, Julian, as his mechanic for the event (no slight to him intended), Marty's technical woes would follow him into the main event. Its always the little things! He spent way too much time trying to fix his bike on the race course and although it robbed him of achieving his 3rd finish in 3 attempts, he still finished an astounding 60th over all of the 500 starters. 1500 riders attempted to qualify for the 500 spots at the main race.
Young Noel Bolso was having another amazing ride before his big KTM 530 started boiling over, running the fan continously, killing his battery and denying him a finish. Despite all of this, he was in great spirits at the end of the event and was pumped to start getting ready to return to Erzberg next year. He his a simply great guy and has a bright future. He gained priceless experience and will no doubt be better prepared for future events.
Cory Graffunder continued his streak of raising the eyebrows of the global racing community with an impressive 18th overall finish in his first attempt. This kid has got the stuff and continues to build on his already amazing resume. He is very humble and was visibly embarrassed when I asked him to autograph the Erzberg hat that NSman had asked me to get (thank god I remembered to do that as NSman still has my 550 Berg and may have done bad things to it if I had forgotten)!!
And then there is Jared. My friend Jared Thomas on the Husaberg put in a rock solid ride to finish 39th. The official results show that Jared only made it to the second to last checkpoint. The reality is that he cleared that check and made it to enduro cross course at the finish line and was 3 corners, less than 10 seconds or so, from the checkered flag when the horn blew signaling that the cutoff time had occured. I was standing at the finish line screaming my head off along with the rest of the Canadians when he came to the base of the dump truck bucket that represents the finish line. I had not heard the horn and was completely confused when they would not let him ride the last 50 feet.
It was bitter sweet to say the least but the good news is that everybody including the organizers (although unofficially) completely considered Jared a finisher. True to his nature, he was very calm about it all and very pleased with his result. Many people in the same position would have freaked out. We tried to get him to ride over the finish line anyway but he replied in a relaxed manner that he "will do that when he officially finishes"....I'm sure he will be back for another attempt.
This was another mind blowing ride for a guy that originally planned on attending Erzberg to lend support to his best friend Marty and only found out 10 days before leaving that he would be replacing the injured Shane Cuthbertson on the Corner Grass Racing Team (CGRT) Husaberg!!
Speaking of CGRT...what an effort. Lee Fryberger and Richie Cox out did themselves with their preparation and on-site efforts to make the Berg work flawlessly. All Jared had to do is stay out of their way...and of course ride it like he stole it. It was great payoff for a team that has worked very hard to take Canadian racing efforts to a new level and they truly paid the ultimate tribute to their sponsors that allowed them to make their team a reality. It was also great to see Shane Cuthbertson suck it up and make the trip to Austria only days after surgery on his ankle to support his team and of course...his friends. If you could have seen the way that guy moved around the event on crutches all weekend, including scaling up and down hills, without ever losing his ear to ear grin...you would realize how tough, strong and dedicated to the sport he his! The only sad part was that Nick and Jay from Alberta (founders of CGRT) were not there to see the stand up job everyone did. They were busy putting on a race of their own!
I also want to make mention of 2 other Canadian riders that were there. Chris from Fort St. John, BC and Harmon from Ontario. Although I don't think they got the results they were hoping for, I applaud them for making the trip and gaing invaluable experience.
On a final note, Marty "The Party" Halmazna. He had a rough weekend but in the end you could sense the pride he had for his buddy Jared, the young guns, Cory and Noel, and the fact that there was such a huge group of Canucks waving the our flag and screaming for our riders.
He paved the way for Canadians by achieving consistent results on the world stage and regardless of whether or not he realizes it...he made us proud again! I think that Canadian racers have a very bright future ahead of them in international competition and we truly owe it to Marty.
GO CANADA!!
Cheers
Coffin
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