Greetings! Welcome to this late May edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which as always is sponsored by the awesome people at Yamaha Motor Canada. Last week, the MX101 Yamaha Team gathered at their home track to conduct their annual team photo shoot. Not only were the team’s pro riders present, but so were all of the amateur riders as well. It was a great few days of shooting, and the photos turned out amazing. With just 12 days to go until the gate drops on the 2026 Triple Crown Series, and a month until the first big amateur race of the season in Raymond, Alberta, the Blu Cru is ready to go.
For 44 years now, the Riviere du Loup AX has been going strong in this beautiful city located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Over the past four decades, this iconic race has hosted top riders like Ross Pederson, JSR, Carl Vailancourt, Mike Treadwell, Brian Deegan, Mike Jones, and most recently, Josh Cartwright and Charles LeFrancois. It’s an amazing event from start to finish, and it’s something that has to be experienced to truly comprehend, just how great it is. I also have a lot of history and success at the RDL AX, having raced there from 1990-1998. I could write a book about those glory years in RDL, and fortunately I was able to come away with multiple podium main event finishes, and one big win there in 1991. This is why it is now such an honour to have my son, Ayrton racing this event for the second consecutive year; we made the ten-hour trek east, to RDL this past weekend.
Obviously, this race, like so many others, has changed a lot over the years, but what hasn’t changed is the effort that promoter Paul Thibault and his crew put into the entire event. The stands are always packed, the track is always technical, and the racing always ends up being entertaining. This year was no different as France’s indoor specialist Charles LeFrancois flew over to once again take the Open Pro main event win, just in front of Josh Cartwright and Logan Leitzel. It was an entertaining and chaotic Open Pro main event as riders were block-passing each other, some were crashing, some ended up going the wrong way on the track for a moment or two, resulting in a head on collision, it was 15 laps of pure energy, and the crowd loved it! I mean, who wouldn’t love this type of event. When all was said and done, my son had a very successful evening of racing, finishing third in the Pro Lites main event (after having to start in the second row, and then capping off his night with a solid 8th in the Open Pro main event. He also was one of just four riders, and the only 250, who qualified for the Dash for Cash race, which was a 1v1 elimination format, with the winner getting $1000. I honestly can’t say enough good things about the race, the fans, the city, and the outstanding hospitality we once again received. I cannot wait to return next year and experience it all again.
So, we are now 12 days from the opening round of the Triple Crown Series in Calgary, and just five days from the overly hyped Deegan/Lawrence showdown at Fox Raceway. This will most likely be the final pro national at Wild Rose MX Park, so this one will be a little extra special. Since 2000, there has been multiple unforgettable pro national moments at this famous track, so it’s going to be bitter-sweet to write the final chapter in two weeks. Other than racing the first national there myself in 2000 and having a good day, my favourite moments over the years have come from looking at the incredible city views multiple times during each race day, to watching top riders like Brett Metcalfe, Davi Millsaps, and of course a host of talented Canadian riders like JSR, Colton Facciotti, and now Jess Pettis and Dylan Wright ride the incredibly tough track. Wild Rose MX Park is a special place and to see it begin it’s retreat into Canadian moto history is very emotional. However, we still have one big weekend remaining, and I’m sure the opening round of the Triple Crown Series is going to help send this iconic facility out with a bang!
As we get ready to embark on another summer of pro national racing, I wanted to touch on where we are at currently in our sport in Canada. To give you some previous perspective, when I turned pro back in August of 1989, I was coming off a very successful amateur career. I was fortunate enough to win three Canadian National Amateur Championships in Junior and Intermediate, and when I applied for my pro license, I was a 16 year old, brimming with confidence and swagger. In my first few pro races in September of 1989, as well as in the early part of 1990, I won a few local races, finished sixth in the premier class at the Montreal SX, and then backed that up with a fourth overall at my first ever pro national at Riverglade Raceway in May of 1990. So, not only did my amateur career end on a high note, but my initiation to the pro class was as smooth and successful as anyone we’ve seen since. Unfortunately, a broken femur in June of 1990 ended my rookie pro season, but a positive foundation had already been built. However (and this is my point), as good as I was, or more importantly as good as I thought I was, I don’t think I would’ve been as confident if I had to deal with the noise that today’s young riders have to deal with. In fact, my racing days might have ended long before they did if I had to deal with the crap that goes on today in motocross. In our sport, and in life right now, there are just so many outside elements that if allowed to, can impede the confidence and potentially the progress of our young riders. Obviously, there are societal everyday things like cell phones and Social Media, and as much as we sometimes wish both would disappear, they are here to stay. Unless our young riders went off the grid, they are going to be exposed to Social Media commentary whether they like it or not. These days, every rider has an Instagram account and they get shunned if they don’t post things about their racing on almost a daily basis. Not only are their achievements exposed for the world to see and comment on, but so are their toughest moments. I can’t imagine being a young rider who is working hard and trying to be their best, in a extremely difficult sport, having to read negative comments after a tough race. I’m not sure if comments from complete strangers are worse than the comments from people they look up to in our sport. The feeling of “is that really what people think of me” has to be a challenge mentally for every rider out there. As I mentioned above, I had some good, even great races early in my pro career, but I also had some terrible races, as well as some questionable teenage moments away from the track. But, other than my parents, close friends, and sponsors talking to me about them, I thankfully didn’t have to deal with Social Media, normal media, and sometimes venomous commentary spouting off baseless opinions. All for attention, likes, and the false narrative and that the end of the day people like negative opinions more than positive ones. Yes, everyone needs people to be accountable to, but those people should always be those who have your best interest at heart.
In motocross, as in life, our kids are our treasures, and we should support them on both their good days, as well as their bad days. Our current crop of young riders are the most talented and hard working group that I’ve ever seen. What they lack in experience, they make up for in their innate abilities to do special things on a dirt bike. Should they be measured solely by results as they navigate their early years in the pro class? Heck no! They should be measured by the effort they put into their craft, as well as the professionalism they demonstrate both on the bike, as well as off of the bike. Sadly, (and don’t worry I’m almost done here) we also have at times in Canadian motocross, had this issue called the “Canadian Lobster Syndrome” where instead of trying to elevate our talented riders to believe in themselves and find success, we try and knock them down and make them feel like perhaps they’re not as good as they think they are. If you’ve ever wondered why we have had so many talented riders over the years who could have easily competed on the world stage, but yet only a handful actually did, the Canadian Lobster Syndrome is a big reason why. It has been prevalent since my early days of racing, so I don’t want to just blame how things are currently in our sport. So, the next time you find yourself questioning a result, or a position one of our young riders is in, just remember how challenging this sport is, and that there is always a ‘why’ before a ‘what’. I will end this by wishing all our young pro riders the best of luck this summer. Racing at the pro level is the hardest thing you have most likely done in your life up until this point. You are going to have some good days this summer, as well as some awful days, but try and remain focused, keep working hard, and most importantly, try and block out the noise from people that are just trying to pull you back down into that bucket of mediocre lobsters!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone enjoys this week in late May. As I mentioned, in 12 days the gate drops on the 2026 Triple Crown Series in Calgary, but up first is the opening round of the Pro Motocross Championships at Fox Raceway this weekend. My pick for the 450MX class win is Jorge Prado, and for the 250MX class win I’m going with Chance Hymas, or maybe Seth Hammaker. I don’t know! Regardless, it’s going to be fun to watch on Saturday. If you have any comments or questions, please email me ateditor@mxpmag.com.
