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- Editor’s Note: Newf was busy this week, so we have Derek Schuster anwsering our questions.
MXP: Hey Derek! Let’s begin with Team Canada and how their weekend went in France. It started with a good gate pick on Friday, and then other than a few hurdles throughout the weekend, things seemed to go pretty smooth. Would you agree with that statement?
DS: Yeah, I would agree with that. Overall, I think it was a really positive weekend for Team Canada. Getting that fifth gate pick on Friday was a great way to start things off, and then qualifying directly into the A Main on Saturday took a lot of pressure off everyone heading into Sunday. There were definitely some hurdles along the way. Tanner had his crash earlier in the week, Rempel went down in the first moto on Sunday and wasn’t able to finish, and Dylan dealt with some arm pump in his first moto. At the Motocross of Nations, though, I don’t think anybody gets through an entire weekend without having something go wrong.
What I liked most was how the team responded to everything. Nobody panicked, everybody kept working, and I thought all three riders represented Canada extremely well. Dylan Rempel was experiencing this event for the first time and showed that he belongs on that stage, Tanner stepped in and did a solid job for the team, and Dylan Wright did what we’ve come to expect from him when the pressure is on.
Obviously, 14th isn’t a result where we’re going to come home and throw a parade, and I think as Canadians we should continue raising our expectations for this event. But when you look at the depth of talent that was there and some of the adversity we dealt with, I thought there were a lot of positives to take away from France. Most importantly, Canada looked like we belonged there, the guys raced hard, and I think we left with something we can continue building from.
MXP: Next, we want to ask you about Dylan Wright. We all know about his struggles during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, so it was great to see him turn things around this summer and win his 6th Triple Crown Series Championship. Apart from that, his final moto rides at the Redbud in 2022, England in 2024, and then on Sunday in France have been simply incredible. What are your thoughts on how our team captain performed this past weekend?
DS: I’ve been fortunate enough to have a front-row seat to Dylan’s career for a long time now, and there is something different about him when he gets into those situations. RedBud in 2022, Matterley Basin in 2024, and now Ernée in 2026 — when the race gets difficult and it becomes more about heart than anything else, he seems to find another gear.
I don’t think simply looking at 15th in that final moto tells the story of how well he rode. The pace inside the top 20 was incredibly fast, there were world-class riders everywhere you looked, and Dylan had to push right to the checkered flag. When the weekend was finished, he was sixth overall in the Open class against some pretty serious names. For a Canadian rider who races our domestic championship all summer to go over there and race at that level is something I think we should be extremely proud of.
For me, though, this one probably means a little more because of everything Dylan has gone through the last couple of years. There were some pretty dark moments in 2024 and 2025 where I’m sure people wondered if we would ever see the same Dylan Wright again. To watch him come back this summer, win another Canadian championship and then finish the year battling the best riders in the world in France was pretty special.
There’s a reason he’s the captain of Team Canada. It isn’t just because of how fast he can ride a motorcycle. When Dylan puts that Canadian jersey on, you know you’re getting absolutely everything he has. He’s one of those guys who seems to be at his best when the moment is the biggest, and that’s a pretty special quality for an athlete to have.
MXP: Moving on from Canada and looking at the now failed 2026 WSX Championships. It’s hard to believe that just over a year ago we were sitting inside BC Place in downtown Vancouver watching Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and Justin Cooper battle, and then this past week they announced that the series is not happening this year. Our question is, can this WSX series work and do you think it will be back in 2027?
DS: I absolutely think World Supercross can work. I’m just not convinced it can work using the same model we’ve seen up to this point.
I really don’t question whether there is a demand for International Supercross racing. Events like Paris Supercross and the Australian Supercross events have shown for years that fans outside of the United States want to see high-level Supercross racing. Even when we had Supercross in Toronto, the crowds were massive. Canadian fans showed that if you bring the right riders, put on a good event and give people something they normally don’t have access to, they’ll support it.
That’s probably the frustrating part with WSX, because I think the actual concept is really good. We were sitting inside BC Place not that long ago watching Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and race Supercross in Canada. When you can bring athletes of that calibre into markets that don’t normally get to see them, there is absolutely a product there.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time recently trying to gain a better understanding of the economics behind hosting major international motorsports events. Without getting too far ahead of myself, there might be a reason I’ve been asking a lot of those questions lately. What I’ve learned very quickly is that these events are incredibly expensive to produce, and ticket sales alone aren’t necessarily what makes an international event viable.
Once you start moving teams, motorcycles, equipment and infrastructure around the world, renting major stadiums, building tracks, paying purses and appearance money, marketing the event and carrying all of the production costs, the numbers get enormous very quickly. That’s where I think the model becomes really important. Successful international motorsports events need more than just a promoter putting tickets on sale. You need strong local partners, corporate support, tourism dollars and, in many cases, government involvement because these events can bring significant economic impact into a region. There has to be a much bigger conversation around what hosting an international sporting event brings to a city, province or country.
I think a successful version of WSX probably needs really strong events in proven markets, the right local promoters, meaningful support from tourism and government partners, strong commercial partnerships and a schedule that works with the riders and teams rather than against them. I’d much rather see 3 or 4 packed, successful international events than 6 to 8 races that are financially difficult to sustain.
As far as 2027 goes, I certainly wouldn’t say it’s dead. Clearly there is still value in the concept and hopefully somebody can find the right model to move it forward. But I think if it does return, this is probably the point where the business model needs a fairly significant reset rather than simply trying the same thing again with more money behind it.
I hope it does come back because I believe there’s absolutely room in our sport for a true international Supercross championship. The demand for international racing isn’t the part I question. Paris, Australia, Toronto and other successful international events have already demonstrated that. The challenge is figuring out the economics and building a sustainable model around that demand.
And that’s a subject I’ve become pretty interested in lately…
