Weigandt's Update From Toronto

The track is under construction in the Rogers Centre - note the scoreboard tower near the dozers. Weigandt photo

Here are a few shocking news tidbits for you, all learned from an afternoon in Toronto for the opening round of the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP. Here is what I have learned: it’s cold here in Canada. Also, Canada, apparently, is its own separate country and it is not owned by the United States. And believe it or not, they even have their own money up here! All good stuff.

So that’s what I have learned about Canada. Here are some notes on the racing:

Canadians Marco Dube and Ryan Lockhart rode this morning in a press event for local TV stations, and they said the dirt was pretty soft. There are already some ruts on the track, so it’s probably going to get really chopped up by Saturday.

There will be Friday practice at the Toronto and Vancouver races, but not at any of the U.S. rounds. Come Anaheim, supercross becomes a Saturday-only show.

Here in Canada, the classes will be called Supercross and Supercross Lites since this is not an AMA race (back in the states it will be AMA Supercross and AMA Supercross Lites).

The Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki semis are all here in the pits. This is not a satellite effort, it’s the real deal, as the teams are serious about performing in these races.

The Rogers Centre, formally known as the SkyDome, is huge. So big that the track sits well inside of the stadium walls. There’s a lot of concrete between the track and the stands here.

There’s another great new addition to Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP, and it involves another outside-the-industry sponsor. Circuit City has built a scoreboard in the center of the track, showing the top five positions on the track in big numbers. Should be a big hit.

Clear Channel PR man Denny Hartwig wanted to buy a Toronto Blue Jays hat, so he went next door to browse through the 50 percent off sale at the Jays Shop. In there, the greeter at the door said “eh” and later described the ski caps as “touks.” Welcome to Canada!

Ivan Tedesco is making his debut in the Supercross class this weekend. The new #9 will be on the Makita Suzuki RM-Z450, and he even did a few press interviews with local radio stations this morning. Hot Sauce seems pretty pumped about racing in the big class.

They haven’t arrived yet, but Nathan Ramsey, Josh Hansen, Davi Millsaps and Andrew Short are all scheduled to race the Lites class for the next two weekends.

Kevin Windham and Mike LaRocco will not be racing here. Windham wants some time off after a long season, and LaRocco wanted to come, but he said he’s not ready to race yet after a summer-long layoff.

Stay tuned to Supercross.cc.com at 2 p.m. EST for the live press conference starring Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and Heath Voss. Then we’ll have news from practice tomorrow right here on Racer X Online, and of course racing Saturday night will be broadcast via Supercross Live! on supercross.cc.com.

It’s expected to be cold again tomorrow here in Canada.