0.3°C Light Snow 
Amid more than 1,000 entries and hordes of fans cheering on the hot and heavy motocross action, Whistler’s Shaun Greenaway battled to achieve his goals at the Canadian Motorsport Racing Club’s (CMRC) TransCan Grand National Championships (GNC).
Held at the Walton Raceway in southwestern Ontario in mid-August, the high-profile championship drew riders from around the world to compete in what organizers billed as Canada’s largest outdoor motocross event.
With riders making the trek to Walton from all over Canada, the U.S. and as far away as South Africa, Greenaway fought to fifth-place finishes in both the Vet Master and Plus-40 categories. Racing three motos, or heats, in each of his categories, Greenway logged two seventh-place results and a fifth-place finish in his Vet Master motos, and a third-place result with two sixth-place finishes in his Plus-40 heats.
“My goal was top-fives, because of fitness and lack of riding,” Greenaway said. He found himself hampered in his preparations for the big show because of the recent closure of the corridor’s Green River MX Park because of the wildfire risk, and tricky timing before the event, both of which meant he had to just show up and ride, which isn’t ideal for him.
“I was a little unprepared,” Greenaway said. He struggled with his starts throughout the week, but Greenaway said his riding kept getting better as the event wore on, though he did continue to battle some bad luck with elements such as equipment choices and being taken out by another rider.
He fought hard for the third-place finish in his final Plus-40 round, battling back from a start that left him sitting around 20th and catching the leaders with about two laps to go. With the throngs of fans noticing his surge from behind and cheering him on, Greenaway kept up the intensity in his last lap to cement his third-place finish.
“I just kept pushing and pushing,” Greenaway said.
Overall, he said, the championship was “a lot of fun,” though he wanted more from himself.
“I’m a little disappointed in my results, (as) I always am,” he said. But he reminded himself that he did achieve the overall placings he had sought, despite the challenges to his training, and he came home healthy, which is always a goal.
Greenaway finished behind only riders from Ontario and Michigan in his overall results, and he noted that he was proud to have caught overall Plus-40 winner Matt Crown of Metamora, Mich., in his last round.
“The weather was spectacular — almost a little too humid, Ontario-style,” Greenaway added. He said he was grateful for the support of Orca Bay Suzuki and Paul Rak of Monster Energy, without whom he couldn’t have raced in Ontario.
Upon getting back to B.C., Greenaway managed to make it to a Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA) national series race in Mission, where he staged a heated battle with the eventual champion to finish as a strong runner-up in both the Plus-30 and Veteran classes.
“It was a really good weekend,” Greenaway said of the intense competition.
Now he’s looking ahead to the world veteran championships in California in November, where he thinks he’ll compete in the Plus-30 and Plus-40 Pro categories for a good chance to test himself in fields with some extremely fast racers.
The Green River MX Park is also scheduled to host the CMRC’s Kawasaki Canada Fall Series Rounds 5 and 6 events on Sept. 12 and 13.
