Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Well, we made to April and that means that our official riding season has begun. Practice tracks are slowly opening up right across the Country and this coming week the first race of 2023 will drop the gate in Mission BC. It’s an exciting time of the year to be involved in Canadian motocross and I hope every rider has a safe and successful season.
With no Monster Energy Supercross this past weekend my Saturday evening was lacking a little bit of excitement, but thankfully the series resumes this weekend in Glendale. This is a 250SX West event so we’ll all get to cheer on Cole Thompson as he battles for hopefully another top ten finish. Glendale is also a Triple Crown event as well as a Supercross Futures race and another round of the KJSC program. So it will no doubt be a busy day in Glendale with a plethora of story lines. This weekend is also Easter so if you celebrate this long standing National holiday then Happy Easter to everyone!
For this week I thought it would be good to talk about Canadian moto and specifically the upcoming 2023 Triple Crown Series. As you may or may not know the series kicks off on the June 3/4 weekend in Edmonton, AB. The opening round will be raced on a hybrid SX track and will feature three shorter than normal motos in each class. Originally, the two sprint moto format events were going to be Round 2 in Kamloops and Round 6 in Riverglade, but to my understanding that changed last week. Now, the opening round will be the only sprint moto format event of the MXTour Series. I really like this change. In my opinion, Kamloops and Riverglade are two of the more challenging tracks of the series, so the riders should be tested with two 30 minute motos. Also, with the long lap times that the Kamloops track has, to race a 20 minute moto it would have the riders only completing a few laps. This round needs to have normal length motos and hopefully this new plan is a done deal. Riverglade is another track that in my opinion, needs longer motos. With the deep ruts, and the track being hard to pass at times, the riders need a long moto to make things happened. Not to mention, the start at Riverglade with its high speed sweeping turn, is one of the most challenging ones of the series. To holeshot there takes guts and a full commitment from any rider, so to have only four starts there in day, rather than six, will make everyone happy. We are now only two months out from the opening gate drop so it’s time to start getting excited!
As a pro rider these next 30 days are crucial for series preparation. For most of riders, they’ve been down south training for over a month at least; some longer. So they’re at the stage in their training where their bodies and minds can handle the heaviest of workloads. As we say in sports, this next month is ‘grind time’ as our riders are doing their best to get into full national moto shape. As a rider who wants to peak in early June, the biggest gains will come in April. If you wait until May it can either be too late or you will push too hard and risk coming into the opening round feeling fatigued. It’s a delicate balance, and that is why the right trainer and training program is so important. Let’s take a quick look at where our top riders are right now, and what their plans might be for the coming weeks.
Honda Canada/GDR/Fox Racing Team:
Right now the red riders are down in Florida training at the Lawrence Brother’s farm and by all accounts things are progressing nicely. Dylan Wright has recovered from his double knee surgery and has been back on the bike since late February. In true Dylan Wright fashion, he has been busting his ass to get back into riding shape, so we know he’ll be ready to go for the opening round. I said this last week that I believe Dylan will be even better than he was last year, which is scary if you plan on lining up next to him in the 450 class. As for his teammate Jacob Piccolo, I’m willing to venture a guess that JP4 has been working harder in the past 30 days than he’s ever worked before. Having Dylan Wright as a training partner would be awesome, but I’m sure at the same time it involves a lot of no-nonsense work. It reminds me of the time in 1992 when as a 19 year old, I went and stayed with Ross Pederson for a week in Medicine Hat. On the first day Ross showed why he was a multi-time champion with his structure and work ethic. From early morning bicycle rides, to multiple 30-minute motos during the day, to late afternoon sprints up a large stair case, Ross worked hard every day, and it’s safe to say that it was a shock to my system. Anyway, with Piccolo’s current training regime, we also know he’ll be ready to win back the 250 title he lost to Ryder McNabb last year.
Red Bull/KTM/Fly Racing Team:
Since I just mention Ryder McNabb, let’s talk about the orange team next. Unfortunately, over the weekend the news broke that McNabb fractured his tib/fib last week and had to undergo surgery to have it plated and screwed. Without knowing the extent his injury, I’m guessing that Ryder’s recovery will vary somewhere between four and six weeks. As far as his preparation goes, this obviously isn’t ideal however, he’s young and was riding very well up until his injury last week. Ryder may not be 100% at the opening round but I don’t see this setback hampering his 2023 title effort.
Ryder’s teammates are also training hard down south as Jess Pettis and Kaven Benoit have been seen recently going very fast. Pettis is currently in Florida training with some very fast riders, while Benoit is now back at ClubMX after a short trip home last week, and in talking to people who have watched him ride recently, he’s going very fast.
WLTN/Canadian Kawasaki/Seven MX Racing Team:
This rebranded team is full steam ahead right now, both on and off the track. Their three riders, Tanner Ward, Jeremy Mckie, and Justin Bogle are all training hard to bring Team Green multiple championships this summer. They have also built a brand new race shop at Walton Raceway which is very exciting for the team. Tanner has been at GPF in Georgia for two weeks now, and is slowly getting back into riding shape. Tanner is in a great spot right now, he was off the bike for over four months as he was recovering from knee surgery. So, unlike all of the others riders (who as I mentioned above that are trying to balance their training to peak in early June), Tanner just has to put the hammer down, train as hard as he can, and feed off the confidence of seeing his daily and weekly progress.
Jeremy McKie is at the WW Training Facility near Jacksonville, Florida and from what I heard he’s just wide open, doing everything he can to be ready for his rookie 450 season. I’m a big fan of Mckie , I expect him to do well this summer and surprise a lot of people with his speed and technique on a 450. Finally, Justin Bogle has been riding a KX450F out in California for about a month now, and so far he’s feeling great. He’s been doing a lot of testing with Pro Circuit, and this coming week he will throw his leg over a KX250F for the first time. Having Bogle racing our series this summer is going to be great, and like everyone, I’m very excited to see how he does in the 250 class.
TLD/GASGAS/SSR Team:
Right now the teams two riders, Tyler Gibbs and Daniel Elmore are busy training at ClubMX in South Carolina. In talking to team owner Steve Simms he said both riders are doing well and hopefully we’ll see both of them back in Ontario in a few weeks to race the opening rounds of the AMO OPC Series. If you follow Elmore on Social Media he posts pretty much daily videos of himself riding and training at ClubMX, and so far he looks great on his new GASGAS MC450. I spoke to Tyler two weeks ago via text message and he said that his riding was going good and that he was looking forward to getting back to Canada to continue his training later this month. This is an exciting season for the Steve Simms run team, as Elmore should be a consistent top five rider in the 450 class and Gibbs hopefully will find himself on the podium in the 250 class.
Thor/GASGAS/Racing Team:
For the past few months, Tyler Medaglia and Mitchell Harrison have been busy training down in Florida. Both riders have made steady progress on their 2023 machines, and of all of the riders these two may come into the opening rounds the most race ready. Medaglia has been racing the opening rounds of the GNCC Series in the USA while Harrison has been busy racing the 250SX West Series. Tyler was great last summer in the 450 class so I would expect the same from him in 2023. He knows the bikes, he knows his team, and he knows the tracks in the series. I’m not sure if he’ll have the raw speed to beat Dylan Wright, but he certainly won’t be too far behind. The battle inside the top five in the 450 class is going to be intense this summer without a doubt. As for Harrison, he was great last summer and heading into year two in Canada, I feel like he’s going to be even better!
MX101/FXR Racing/Yamaha Team:
The Blu Cru is going to be fun to watch this summer as veteran Shawn Maffenbeier will be front and center in the 450 class, and young Sebastien Racine will lead the teams charge in the 250 class. I’m happy that Maff decided to return for yet another season of fun in the Triple Crown Series. After watching him ride the new YZ450 last fall and listening to his feedback, I’m not surprised that he came back. He loves the new bike, and at his age I feel that the 2023 YZ450 is exactly what the doctor ordered to re-energize the #3! As for his much younger teammate Racine? Watch out for this kid in the 250 class this summer. I feel like he’s going to be really good aboard his new Yamaha. He no doubt learned a lot last year, and he’s been working hard to be ready for this year. Is Racine ready to take a run at the 250 title in 2023? I’m not sure about that however, I do feel like he’s ready to challenge for moto wins, and if he can do that and get on a roll. Who’s to say that he can’t be in the title-fight heading into the final few motos of the series. Whatever happens, I’m sure you’re going to see some big smiles under the MX101 Yamaha tent as this Kevin Tyler led team is always happy to be at the races!
Partzilla/PRMX Racing Team:
Last year this team made some big strides in the Triple Crown and was able to get some big wins from their new Kiwi superstar Josiah Natzke. For 2023, Natzke will be back under the PRMX tent and will no doubt be a title favourite in the 250 class. He will be joined by Dylan Rempel who has switched over to the PRMX Team for 2023. In the 450 class, Julien Benek will be the team’s sole rider, and if he can remain healthy, he will be good on the bigger bike. Unfortunately, Benek was injured in Seattle and will have to sit out for a few weeks, but Natzke and Rempel are busy training in South Carolina.
Well, that is all I have at the moment as far as updates go on some the team riders training for the Triple Crown Series. As I mentioned at the beginning of this column, the opening round of the Future West MX Series is this weekend in Mission, BC. I’m sure all of the riders in BC and even some in Alberta are excited to head to this once pro-national series track to kick start their 2023 racing season. Good luck to everyone and Happy Easter! Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions or comments please email me at chris@mxpmag.com.
