Greetings! Welcome to this early October edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, brought to you by the awesome folks at Yamaha Motor Canada. This past weekend in Ernee, France, the talents of our Canadian Blu Cru kids were on full display in front of over 100,000 people. Competing in the prestigious Blu Cru Super Finale event, Talon Medaglia, Chandler Powell, and Kayden Mueller all scored top ten finishes in their respective classes. During the final motos, our kids battled hard on the challenging Ernee circuit to finish well and represent Canada and Yamaha with pride. Congratulations to Talon, Chandler, and Kayden on their solid riding, and great job to Yamaha for making this incredible experience happen for Blu Cru riders from all across the globe.
Several years ago, when the MXON visited this famous track in France, I honestly didn’t enjoy watching the racing. I’m not sure if it was the track conditions in 2023 or simply the fact that Team Canada didn’t have a good weekend there, but the only enjoyable part was watching Jett Lawrence charge to first from a poor start in the final moto. So, when it was announced that this massive event was heading back to Ernee just three years later, I was kind of like, here we go again!
However, now that I’ve had a night’s sleep to process yesterday’s racing, I have to say this year was much more entertaining than three years ago. I can only imagine how off the charts exciting it would’ve been with the Lawrence Brothers and a top notch USA team. Speaking of Team USA, I thought they did a great job yesterday given their limited preparation. Julien Beaumer threw his leg over a 450 for the first time on Tuesday, while Team Captain Cooper Webb only began riding his new Husqvarna FC450 last week. Think about that for a moment. For Webb to race a Yamaha last weekend and then not only transition to an entirely new bike, but battle to such a solid finish yesterday, is truly amazing. These days, we hear so much about top riders not being able to perform at their best because their setup is slightly off. Webb proved yesterday that all you need is some adrenaline, French coffee, and a little chip on your shoulder, and you can still be very good on an unfamiliar machine. Full disclosure: I haven’t always been a Cooper Webb fan, but he has really impressed me over the past few weeks.
Finally, once again in the Haiden Deegan doesn’t care what anyone thinks category… While his fellow Americans were battling for their lives in the hills of France, he appeared to go out of his way to post numerous photos from his weekend vacation in the Bahamas. I mean, the kid is more than entitled to some rest and relaxation after a long season, but he should’ve been with his fellow countrymen in the green fields of France fighting for USA motocross honour. Anyway, great job by Team USA for battling to a solid fifth overall, right behind Team Latvia, who somehow raced to an incredible fourth.
As I mentioned above—before I got off topic talking about Team USA—I thought the racing yesterday was enjoyable to watch, and although I wasn’t there in person, the atmosphere looked second to none. Perhaps Red Bud comes close, but nothing seems to compare to Ernee, especially with over 100,000 people in attendance. With that many paid spectators, there is obviously a lot of revenue being generated, and with that in mind, I’m most certainly on the side of the recent comments made by several riders and teams: it’s time for countries to receive some financial support from the MXON promoters to travel to this event each year. It’s not right that Team Canada—or any team, for that matter, should struggle all summer long to raise the funds needed to attend while so much revenue is being generated from the race itself.
Putting that conversation aside for now, the racing was entertaining on Sunday, especially in that final moto when the championship battle between Belgium and Spain was unfolding. Some of the individual performances were excellent, including Jeffrey Herlings absolutely dominating the final MXGP/Open class moto. He was either going to win that moto or crash trying. Even Jorge Prado had enough sense to wave the white flag during their incredible battle for the lead. Congratulations to Team Belgium on their big win, and how cool was it to witness three generations of the Everts family enjoying the moment.
Now, onto Team Canada and what I think everyone will agree was a solid performance. Yes, it had the potential to be even better than 14th overall, but let’s keep things in perspective and enjoy the moment. Even after the challenges of the past several years—when Team Canada failed to qualify for the A Main, it didn’t surprise me one bit to see our boys ride so well on Saturday and make it into the big show on Sunday. What did surprise me was how smooth they made it look. In fact, I’m sure even Team Manager Kourtney Lloyd was like, why can’t it be like this every year?
It began with a great gate pick on Friday morning, and after some smart riding on Saturday, they had made it to the A Main. From a pressure standpoint, a lot of the heavy lifting was done. Then on Sunday, all three riders did their best, and we walked away with a well earned 14th overall. Listening to their post race interviews, you could hear the satisfaction in their voices, but I also sensed a little disappointment—perhaps knowing deep down that they could’ve done even better.
My feeling is that all three riders, as well as the entire team and staff in France, should be very proud of the overall effort and result. It’s a team event, and that’s what the final score reflects, but individually each rider persevered despite facing adversity along the way.
Dylan Rempel, competing in his first ever MXON, performed great all weekend while racing the toughest class there. It was unfortunate that he tangled with another rider early in the opening moto and was forced to DNF, but he came back strong in his second moto.
Tanner Ward, who suffered a painful crash on Thursday while practicing with the team, rode well while having to charge from very poor starts in both motos. The Ernee track was not the place to be racing from behind, and with so many fast riders refusing to give an inch, passing was certainly at a premium. Since we can’t put ourselves in Tanner’s shoes and know how he truly felt after his crash, I’d say he did an admirable job and should be proud.
Finally, from what I heard, Dylan Wright didn’t necessarily face the same adversity as his teammates, but it still wasn’t a walk in the park. He was under a massive amount of pressure to perform. I thought Dylan did an amazing job as Team Canada’s captain, once again proving he can rise to any occasion. His ride in the final moto was one of the best of his career, in my opinion, rivaling his final moto performances from England two years ago and Red Bud four years ago. As they say in hockey, Dylan Wright is a gamer, and in the final moments of any big game, I want the puck on his stick. So, once again, congratulations to the riders, to Kourtney Lloyd and her Team Canada crew, and to everyone who donated their time and money to help the team get to France. Well done!
That’s it for me this week. I hope everyone enjoys this opening week of October and has a great Thanksgiving weekend. Finally, there was a report this weekend that Canada is being considered as a possible stop on the 2028 MXGP calendar. Obviously, a lot of pieces have to fall into place, but I’m hearing it definitely could happen, and at a track we all know very well. I remember watching the MXGP events Moto Park hosted in 1984, 1985, and 1986, and they were fun to watch. I actually raced at the 1986 event in the 80cc support class, so that was memorable as well.
Anyway, we’ll wait and see what happens with this potential event, as well as the talk surrounding Toronto hosting an SMX Playoff round in 2027. Have a great week, and if you have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
