While many teens like to relax and sleep in over the summer months, 15-year-old Marcus Deausy has been training six days a week as he prepares for one of the biggest motocross races of his career so far.
The youngest racer to ever get a pro point in a Rock Star Energy national event, Marcus, who’s just going into Grade 10, has been burning up the track in recent years and is gearing up to head east for the Walton TransCan GNC Motocross Championship Aug. 12-17, where only the best of the best get a chance to compete.
“I’m a little nervous but I’m excited as well,” Marcus said from his home at Rose Lake, where he lives with his mom and dad, Tammy and Mike, and younger brother Jacob.
Marcus has chosen to compete in the MX1 and MX3 classes at Walton, which allows him to race both events on his Yamaha 450F, rather than switching between it and his 250F.
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“That’s the bike I’m most comfortable on right now. And when you’re going that fast you have to rely on instinct.”
Marcus swept three motos this year in the intermediate class, where 50- to 100-foot jumps are a standard part of the course, to earn his spot at the coveted championship. Since then he has been working out two to three hours per day, eating clean and watching endless hours of race footage from Walton, much to the chagrin of his brother.
“You walk in the room and that’s all that’s on is racing videos,” teases Jacob.
To say the family supports one another’s dreams is putting it lightly.
As the boys’ hobbies grew over the years, Marcus with motocross and Jacob with horseback riding, so has the family’s properties to accommodate them.
Tammy said she and her husband chose to move to the Cariboo for their family and the lifestyle when their oldest son was just one. They first moved downtown, then to Westridge, then to an acreage at 150 Mile House and now to their latest property at Rose Lake, where their land is equally divided between a motocross track and a grazing space for Jacob’s horse Melia.
“It’s the best decision we ever made,” Tammy said of moving to the Cariboo, noting the quality of life available for the boys.
“They are good kids and we just want to support them.”
She stills recalls the first time Mike bought Marcus his first bike, and took him to the local track to watch a race when he was just five.
“I want to do that,” she said of her son’s reaction when he watched local rider Mitchell Watt race.
“And he’s been hooked ever since.”
Over the years Marcus has also enjoyed the mentorship from pro racers Brock Hoyer and Jess Pettis, who designed the race track Marcus has at home to practice on between races.
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Tammy said they are excited for their son’s success. When asked if they worry about the risk of injury in the sport — last year Marcus crashed and broke some ribs and his scapula — she admits “every day.”
“But I would worry more about squashing his dreams if we didn’t support him. He lives and breathes motocross.”
Marcus’s goal is to turn professional by 17. This year and next he plans to race as an amateur. Competing in events like Walton is where he hopes to get recognized by potential sponsors.
“It’s all I want,” Marcus said of becoming a pro racer, hoping to make a living off the sport by getting a ‘factory ride.’
His parents admit their son is the only racer they know of competing at his level and still going to regular school. They have wanted to keep a balance of racing, education and family time in Marcus’s life for as long as possible but recognize next year will be their son’s year to shine in the sport and jump to the next level. The teen knows it, too, and is pushing to be home schooled in the future.
“I’d love to start going to training camp all winter and ride here all summer,” he said. “I will make whatever sacrifice it takes.”
Marcus said he enjoys the training aspect of the sport, as well as the years of camping with his family as they travelled to races across western Canada.
“Some people go to Disneyland, we do this,” added his mom.
The family plans to leave the Cariboo Aug. 8 to travel the 8,400 kilometres to Walton, Ont.
Marcus said he expects the races to be hard; both physically and mentally demanding. He will be battling humidity, the time difference and a new-to-him track that is known for being tilled deep with big ruts to contend with by the end of a race.
Marcus thanked his parents and brother for all their support through the years, noting he’s lucky to have a dad ‘so dedicated’ to helping him in the sport and be his mechanic.
He also wanted to acknowledge the support given by his sponsors Interior Properties, Hoyer Enterprises, the Laughing Loon, Vernon Motor Sports, Yamaha Canada, Parts Canada and Bill Nelson.
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