With just over two weeks to go before the 2024 Triple Crown Series gate drops at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, everyone involved in the series—teams, riders, and media alike—is busy putting the finishing touches on their summer plans. The most successful team in Canadian motocross history, the Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing Team, held its annual team intro yesterday at Gopher Dunes, and as always, everyone enjoyed themselves.
The festivities kicked at 10 am sharp with team owner Derek Schuster, Jetwerx President Justin Thompson, and GDR Honda Team General Manager Ryan Lockhart taking the stage. An informative slide show was also presented, showing everything from the team’s stats to their storied history. After that, the three riders were introduced, and the media could then ask questions. It was great to hear directly from the riders, as all three had some interesting things to say. Defending 450 Triple Crown Series Champion Dylan Wright said he feels great heading into Calgary. He’s had a solid off-season of training and is happy with how his bike works. The team has done a lot of suspension testing with Colton Facciotti of SSS Suspension, so Dylan and his teammates are very comfortable. When asked what the motivation is heading into 2024, Dylan said he just wants to keep winning.
The oldest rider on the team, Tyler Medaglia, is 37 years old. He said that he’s happy to be back with the GDR Honda, as Derek Schuster and the Gopher Dunes crew are like family to him. He also feels good on his CRF250R and is more than ready to battle the kids in the 250 class this summer. The young gun on the GDR Honda Team, Tiger Wood, showed off his laid-back Aussie personality yesterday by making a few jokes and just generally being in a great mood. Although Tiger is young and inexperienced at the pro level, he’s looking forward to being a sponge this summer and learning as much as he can. All three riders appeared happy to be there, and everyone was excited for the series to begin.
After the press conference, lunch was served, and then the riders hit the track for a few laps on their new race bikes. It was a great day, and it certainly reminded everyone that the off-season is almost over and the fun is about to begin. This press conference was also broadcast live on RydeTV, so if you missed it, you can go and watch it. Thank you to Derek Schuster and the GDR Honda Team for having us out. Here are a few James Lissimore photos from the day.
