Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Well, we have reached the midpoint of October and in my neck of the woods, the leaves are steadily falling off of the trees and the temperatures are dropping. However, I saw that BC had some incredibly warm weather over the weekend for the opening round of the 2022 Future West AX Championships. I always find it strange when it’s beautiful outside, yet you’re stuck inside an arena either racing dirt bikes or playing hockey. Anyway, fall is here and if you’re a fan of Halloween, that spooky day isn’t far off either.
As I mentioned above the indoor season kicked off this weekend in Chilliwack BC with the opening two rounds of the Future West AX Championships taking place on Saturday and Sunday. I was looking through the results page and judging by the numbers in each class the entries were okay for the opening weekend. I’m sure the beautiful weather kept a few people at home but there was still a decent number of entries as well as a plethora of riders from outside of BC. Yes, AX is alive and well in Western Canada and as Ryan Lockhart and I have spoken about in recent weeks, if you don’t mind doing a little driving between BC and Alberta you could attend an indoor race each weekend for the next month. As someone who loves indoor racing, I think that is pretty exciting. My family and I are actually headed out to Calgary in two weeks for the final round of the Triple Crown AX Tour Series. This will be my son’s first time ‘flying’ somewhere to race, so he’s obviously very excited.
Speaking of the Calgary AX, as you read last week in my interview with Cole Thompson, he will not be there in two weeks as he’s gone down under to race the Australian SX Series for the Serco Yamaha Team. Cole is very excited and so far, he’s enjoying his new bike. Cole and his new team will have their first race together this weekend in Melbourne as Round 2 of WSX Series heads there. Here is the full interview I did via FaceTime audio with Cole last week.
Last week the news slowly filtered out that Jess Pettis will be making his long-awaited return to racing at the final AXTour round in Calgary. This is great news as it will be exciting to see Pettis race again, especially indoors where he’s always been very talented. I’m a little surprised that he and his team are picking this race to return to but knowing JP15 and the KTM crew they must have a grand plan for it all. Pettis hasn’t raced since Round 2 of the MXTour Series in Drumheller so he has to be chopping at the bit to go racing. From what I hear and see he’s riding very well and he’s made a full recovery from the elbow injury he suffered back in June. After spending the past two months riding and training all that is left for Pettis is to line up behind a gate and twist the throttle when it drops. Nothing can replace that feeling and since we’ve witnessed some pretty intense racing thus far in the Triple Crown Series AXTour, Pettis is heading straight into the lion’s den. It should be fun and Pettis will be a great addition to the final round in Calgary.
Now, back to Chilliwack and the opening rounds of the Future West AX Championships. On Saturday night it was Julien Benek who took the win over Tanner Ward and Brock Hoyer. Yes, I said Julien Benek and Brock Hoyer. After suffering a bad shoulder injury back in late July and having to have surgery to fix it, I thought we wouldn’t see Benek on a race track until early 2023 at least. As for Hoyer, I thought he had retired from racing for good after suffering a pretty nasty crash at the opening round of the Triple Crown Series in Kamloops. Obviously, I was wrong and it was great to see both riders not only back on the track but also finishing on the podium on Saturday night. Hoyer also finished on the podium yesterday but Benek was a DNS for both races. Tanner Ward had a good night on Saturday but he tangled with another rider yesterday and was forced to pull out of the race. Tanner will be further evaluated this week and will not be racing this coming weekend in Chilliwack or in Calgary as he’d originally planned. I’m hearing though that his injuries aren’t serious and he’ll only be off the bike for a few weeks. Hopefully Tanner heals up quickly and if I were him I’d put my feet up for a month and recharge my batteries before thinking about 2023. Every rider needs an off-season.
So as our west coast riders get ready for Rounds 3 and 4 in Chilliwack and Cole Thompson as well as the Kourtney Lloyd run ClubMX Yamaha Team are getting ready for the WSX race in Melbourne this weekend. Then on Wednesday morning, I’m flying to Tallahassee for the official North American launch of the 2023 YZ450F. Since I was fortunate enough to have ridden this new bike a little last week at Sand Del Lee, I feel like I’m heading into this week with a slight advantage over my fellow journalists. It’s going to be an outstanding few days at the Goat Farm in Tallahassee as Thursday will be all about static photos, a tour of the Star Racing facility that is now there, as well as watching a few of the Star Racing riders practice on the SX track. Then on Friday, we will hit the track for a long day of riding and testing the 2023 YZ450F. I love travelling and considering I haven’t left Canada since January 2020 I’m beyond excited to drive to the airport, take to the skies, and land in a different country. As I mentioned last week, there is an embargo on releasing opinions on this new bike until October 23rd so you won’t be able to hear my thoughts on it until a week from today. However, please stay tuned to our Social Media later this week as I will be posting tons of content from my trip and from the Goat Farm.
Also, this past weekend Gopher Dunes held their annual Vet/Vintage Race on their backtrack. I wasn’t able to make it but by the sounds of it everyone had a blast and the conditions were epic. There was also a race at the old Eagles Nest track in Ohsweken, ON and although the day started muddy, the track dried up a little for the motos there was some decent racing and some big cash handed out for the winners. Finally, our friend Steve Simms is doing much better and is on the road to recovery. During the past few days, he’s been well enough to receive some visitors as well as communicate with friends and family via text messages. This is great news and although he still has a long road ahead of him, word is that he will make a full recovery. There is even talk now about transferring him out of St. Mike’s Hospital in Toronto and into either Orangeville Hospital or the hospital in Alliston. Both are only 20 minutes from Steve’s home so this would be a great step forward for him. We miss him here in Amaranth Township, as life just hasn’t been the same since he was injured on September 17th.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and good luck to all of the riders again in Chilliwack this weekend. This coming Sunday Tyler Gibbs and I will be conducting a riding school for all ages and skill levels here at Palm Springs (located in Shelburne, ON) so if anyone wants to come out please email me at chris@mxpmag.com for all of the details.
