Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to this week’s edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. I hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope all of you are ready for these final three weeks of the summer of 2018.

As everyone in this industry knows, this week is the return of the Walton TransCan, located in the tiny hamlet of Walton, Ontario. If you’ve never been to Walton, Ontario let me give you a brief description. The little three corner town is situated in a rural setting with miles and miles of corn fields surrounding it. Walton is just far enough from Lake Huron that the sand from some of the nicest stretch of beaches in Ontario had to eventually give way to dark clay. This soil is perfect for two things, one is growing corn, which is obviously why you see so many corn fields, and the second thing this soil is perfect for is ruts…deep Walton ruts. With the track located just a stone’s throw from the middle of the village, Walton Raceway is and always will be famous for its deep ruts. Even as far back as the 1970s when Walton Raceway first began holding dirt bike races, the track had ruts like no other in Ontario. I know that some people feel like Walton is in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but for Canadian motocross this week, and for the local farmers the rest of the year, this is the center of the universe.

Walton Raceway is ready for our National Championships. Photo by James Lissimore

After taking a year off in 2017, the Walton TransCan returns this week as both the Canadian Amateur National Championships as well as the final round of the 2018 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series. Both should be entertaining as I think returning to Walton has the industry excited. To help get involved this year, MXP put together the Walton TransCan event program so I hope everyone enjoys reading it during what little down time you may have. I personally don’t know what to expect this week as no one seems to be able to predict what the rider entries will be. It’s hard for any event to take a year off and then return to the size it was before. With this in mind, I think you’ll see a much more compact Walton TransCan this year. I know from doing the program and being a little involved with the Walton crew these past few weeks, they’ve been working hard and they definitely haven’t cut any corners as far as trying to make their customers happy. We might see a smaller than normal 2018 Walton TransCan, but it also might be one of the most enjoyable. Of course, a lot of that is dependant on Mother Nature.

If you want to do well at Walton you have to be smooth. Just ask Kyle Keast. Photo by James Lissimore

One area that will set the Walton TransCan apart from any other events on the Canadian motocross calendar is that it will be a true national championship for our riders. With entries from the east coast, the west coast and everywhere in between, almost all of Canada’s best riders will be there this week. In each class, you will most likely be lining up against riders from Nova Scotia, Quebec, and even British Columbia. You may not know much about these riders but I guarantee that you’re going to have fun racing against them. After our amateur national champions are crowned on Friday, the pro riders will take to the track on Saturday. With just three points separating Jess Pettis and Joey Crown in the 250 Pro/Am class, and 22 points separating Colton Facciotti and Cole Thompson, both championships are headed for a final moto showdown. All four riders have won Walton titles over the years so it’s impossible to predict what will happen. All that is for sure in all classes this week is that the gate will drop and the best riders will more than likely be successful.

One of annual events at the Walton TransCan is the KTM Canada spaghetti dinner that will take place this Wednesday evening. Photo by James Lissimore

I apologize for this Monday Gate Drop being so short but I have to wrap this up and head to Walton Raceway. If you’re reading this and you’re at Walton, and if you’re a KTM rider, today at 4:30 myself, Eve Brodeur and Tanner Ward are doing a Walton track walk for all KTM riders. Meet us at the starting line under the Walton Giants Banner just prior to 4:30 and we’ll do a fun and informative track walk. I hope everyone has a safe and fun week. Please stay tuned to MXP’s Social Media channels for updates all week long from the 2018 Walton TransCan. Our Instagram is @mxpmag and our Twitter is @mxpmagazine. Have a great week and be safe!