Well, the summer of 2023 is now officially over, and what an unforgettable summer it was. Honestly, it seems like yesterday that my family and I were flying out west for the opening rounds of the Triple Crown Series, as well as the WCAN at Whispering Pines Raceway. At the time, we were all hyped up as it’s always exciting when we can mix motocross with travel. That trip didn’t quite go as planned but, we made the most of it, and for the most part, we look at it as a positive experience. After our western adventure, the remainder of the summer just kept getting better while we attended memorable events at Gopher Dunes, SDL, Deschambault, and of course, Walton Raceway. Once the Walton TransCan was done, we turned our focus to Supercross with another SX track build in our back yard. For the past few weeks we had several pro-riders over to ride, and we all had a great time. Finally, to celebrate the final weekend of summer we headed back to Gopher Dunes for the opening round of the Triple Crown Series SXTour. As always, this event was top notch and it was exciting to watch some of our talented Canadian riders tackle the technical Gopher Dunes SX track. Yes, the past few months have gone by fast, and as Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
I want to begin this week by admitting that I may have been over critical of the Gopher Dunes SX track a couple weeks ago. At the time, I had only seen the track in videos, photos, as well as from listening to feedback from the riders who had ridden it. In my defense, none of the riders I spoke to weren’t very impressed with it after riding it for the first time, so I was mostly going off of them. Where I made the error was not going to see the track in person, if I had, I most likely would’ve seen the potential that it had. I’ve been racing SX in some way shape or form since I was 12 years old so I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t. As I said, seeing the Gopher Dunes SX track in photos and video certainly gave me an impression that it was way too technical for the opening round of a Canadian SX. In the end, although I still maintain that it was on the technical side, it turned out amazing for Saturday’s race. In credit to the Triple Crown Series and Gopher Dunes track crew, as well as the Vision Built boys, they had the track in excellent shape and it raced really well on Saturday afternoon. Also, credit to the riders who lined up this weekend as they all rode solid, and other than a few small crashes, I don’t believe there were any serious injuries.
As I mentioned above, I was thoroughly impressed with the riders on Saturday as most came in with little or no SX preparation. For those who did some SX practice in the past few weeks, they looked comfortable early on in practice, and were able to figure everything out quickly. Also, having open practice on Friday evening, in my opinion was key; it allowed the riders to find comfort without the stress of worrying about qualifying. Obviously, Mitchell Harrison was fast early on as he has a lot of SX experience. Also, he is the defending SXTour Champion from 2022. Cole Thompson didn’t attend Friday’s practice but, he also looked great in practice on Saturday on his new Thor Racing GASGAS bike. Cole told me that the deal to race for the GASGAS Team came together late, and at the time he wasn’t planning on going to race in Australia over Thanksgiving weekend. The Yamaha Team that Cole rides for Down Under was struggling to find the budget needed to bring Cole back to race next month. However, right after he agreed to race for the GASGAS Team here, the Yamaha Team in Australia called him and said they found some budget and would he fly down next week? Cole said “yes” and tomorrow he jumps on a plane to make the long trek to Australia. As of right now, the plan is for Cole to race the opening round of the Australian SX Series, and then fly home to race Medicine Hat and possibly Calgary. After that, he’ll fly back to Australia for the final two races there. Once all of that is complete, Cole will begin preparing for the 250SX West Series in the Monster Energy Supercross Series once again aboard a Team Solitaire Yamaha. Anyway, it was great to see Cole back on the gate at Gopher Dunes, and although he didn’t look 100% comfortable on his new red steed, he rode well enough to finish second in both main events. Cole Thompson and supercross go together like peas and carrots.
So with Harrison and Thompson out front in both main events on Saturday, let’s look at who else looked solid. I thought Jacob Piccolo looked good on Saturday as he was his normal smooth self. Jake actually came to my house to practice and I was amazed at how good he rides SX. I mean, I knew he was good at it, but trust me when I say that he is really good at it. Quinn Amyotte was another rider who looked solid at the opening round, and I must say that he has taken his riding to a whole new level in 2023. His starts have improved immensely, his technique is better, and you can just see the confidence in his riding. Sebastien Racine also looked good on Saturday, and I feel like if he wants to, he has the potential to be a very good SX rider in the near future. Apparently, Seb wants to go down south in 2024 and race a few rounds of the 250SX East Series, so hopefully that happens. Tanner Ward looked smooth on his big KX450, but he was only able to ride one class on Saturday. Tanner loves the 450 so I can see why he didn’t want to jump on 250 again at this point in the season. He led the 450 main event for a few laps before stalling his bike and allowing three riders to pass. Also, after practice on Friday it was announced that Tanner has re-signed with the WLTN/Kawasaki/Seven Team for 2024, so that is exciting. We’re not sure who team green will get for the 250 class, but it must feel good to get Tanner signed this early. Job security is a fleeting proposition at best in Canadian moto, so good on Tanner for getting his contract done in September.
This week is exciting for me as I’m in Fort Scott, Kansas, for the Red Bull Imagination event. I’ve watched this event on YouTube for the past few years, but it’s certainly something I never thought I’d witness live. Tomorrow is the first practice day, so I can walk the course and watch the riders hit some of the massive jumps for the first time. It will be awesome, and while I’m not an FMX guy, I feel like anyone would love to see this type of event live. There is an embargo on posting content until October 8th, so I will only be able to share a little in the coming days, but here is the link to all of the event information: Red Bull Imagination 2023: Event info & videos
Well, after nine long months, the first-ever Super Motocross Series is finally over. As I’m sure you saw, the final round was Saturday night at the infamous LA Coliseum. This venue has a plethora of history in this sport and many others. I remember sitting in front of our television in 1984, watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. I also recall watching multiple SX races on TV from this stadium, including the final round of the series in 1992, when poor Damon Bradshaw threw away the 250 SX title that he had all but wrapped up. It was a tough night for Bradshaw then, and on Saturday, we witnessed both Chase Sexton and Justin Barcia have a bad night as they had big crashes. Two riders who didn’t have too much trouble in the final round were Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan. They both took home the SMX Championships in their classes and the large amount of cash that came with it. Both riders rode great in the final round, capitalizing on everyone else mistakes. Having the SMX Playoffs was a fantastic idea, and it will be interesting to see if they use the same venues in 2024. Congratulations to Jett, Haiden, and all the riders who competed in the SMX Playoff events. They were certainly fun to watch.
Well, that it is for me this week. On Sunday, most of Team Canada will be flying off to France for the MXON, so it’s time to start getting really excited. Our photographer, James Lissimore, is flying over with the team and staying with them in their rented castle. So, we’ll have BTS access all week as our team prepares for the big race in France. I hope everyone has a great first week of fall. This week is also special in our household as our son will celebrate his 16th birthday on Thursday. Ryder McNabb also has his birthday on Thursday, as he turns 18. So happy birthday to them, and thank you for reading this week.
