The Monday Gate Drop Presented By Yamaha Motor Canada

Even though today is still a holiday for some our first long weekend of the summer of 2022 is now history. I hope everyone had a great Canada Day weekend and a happy 155th birthday to this great country. As I mentioned last week and the week before that, and the week before that, my family and I spent our weekend at Walton Raceway as they were hosting not just one event, but multiple races throughout Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For three days those in attendance got to witness XC racing, dirt track racing, fireworks, and then yesterday Round 4 of the Triple Crown Series. The weather was perfect, the track(s) were challenging, and the vibe in the paddock was full of excitement. Yes, summer is officially here and there was no better place to celebrate it than Walton Raceway.

Although there were plenty of stories to come out of the weekend including KTM Factory Team Manager Matt Deroy deciding 15 minutes before the XC race on Friday that he wanted to race, to young TJ Scott making his pro debut, to just a general sense of normalcy in the pits as well as the spectator area, the biggest one came from yesterday as our top pro riders took to the Walton Raceway track for the first of six eastern national rounds. As it is at the Walton TransCan in August after a week of amateur racing, the moment the pro riders hit the track for their first practice the level of excitement most certainly rises. I don’t care if you’ve been around this sport for a long time or you’re new to it, to see riders like Jacob Piccolo, Dylan Wright, Marco Cannella, Tanner Ward, and Tyler Medaglia (just to name a few) take their first practice laps is just amazing. I’ve seen it many times and each Sunday morning it still feels special and I personally feel fortunate to be a part of it.

Coming into Round 4 of the Triple Crown Series everyone was excited to be back in the east. With challenging track and weather conditions at the first three rounds of the series the riders and teams experienced a little bit of everything in the west. However, after two years of restrictions having the series travel from coast to coast again almost feels like a luxury. Prior to the gate dropping yesterday at Walton Raceway Jacob Piccolo had a small two-point lead over Mitchell Harrison in the 250 class while Dylan Wright held the 450 class points lead after his sweep of the motos out west. With three shorter motos in each class, yesterday Round 4 had all the makings of the first pivotal round of the 2022 series.

Now, with all due respect to the 450 riders yesterday who I’m sure are waking up this morning with welts on the chest, arms, and shoulders due to the painful roost they had thrown at them all day, the 250 class racing yesterday was worth the price of admission. In all three motos, there were battles right through the pack and since no one really got tired, the intensity was high for the entire race. After the first two motos which saw the latest addition to the series, New Zealand rider Josiah Natzke use his smooth style and superior rut riding skills to take both wins, the stage was set for moto 3, and what would end up being the best moto of the season thus far.

Mitchell Harrison who had won the previous two rounds in the west was finally able to get a good start in the third and final moto and finally had clear air and a beat-up Walton track in front of him. However, even though his twelve o’clock was clear, his six o’clock was had multiple bogies (can you tell I just watched Top Gun 2) in the form of points leader Piccolo and GDR Honda rider Ryder McNabb. For the next 15 minutes, these three riders engaged in an absolute dog fight! Their pace was feverish, the crowd was going crazy, and for a moment everyone on the Walton Raceway property wished this moto could’ve gone on forever. Even the 450 riders who were busy packing their gates on the starting line for their final moto all stopped what they were doing to watch this intense battle. At first, it was Piccolo in second and trying to find a way around Harrison, then McNabb found a way around Piccolo and it was his turn to look for an opening. When neither were successful, they swapped positions and once again Piccolo tried to make the pass for the lead. While this battle was going on for second, Harrison, who was only a few feet in front, appeared unfazed and was racing as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Considering Harrison was under siege by Piccolo and McNabb he was riding a perfect race and was navigating the Walton Raceway track with ease. Behind the lead four was the Kiwi Natzke who didn’t get off to a great start and would admit after the race that he just didn’t have the pace of the lead three. But in reality, Natzke didn’t need it as his fourth-place moto finish was good enough for the overall win in the 250 Class. Up front, the battle would go down to the final lap as Piccolo tried every racing trick he’s learned so far in his young career to make the pass on Harrison, but he just couldn’t. After the race, Piccolo called it “the greatest battle and longest battle he’s ever been in.” As for McNabb, he made a small mistake with two laps to go and went down. But considering how close he was to the win and also the high level that he was riding at I think McNabb was satisfied with the day. So with his third moto win, yesterday Mitchell Harrison moved into the points lead in the 250 class. He had been a great addition to the Triple Crown Series and with a fresh ten-point lead, he’s going to be difficult to catch in the coming weeks.

Before I move on let me just set the stage for this weekend in the 250 class at Gopher Dunes. Harrison has the points lead and is fast, fit, and confident. Jacob Piccolo is mad that he just lost the red plate and he’s heading to a track in which he won a moto last year by almost a minute. Ryder McNabb will be at his team’s home track and if he wants to win this championship he’s really in a must-win situation. Tyler Gibbs is coming off a solid 4th overall yesterday and he appears to be getting better and better at each round. Quinn Amyotte is riding better than ever so watch out for him. Marco Cannella also won last year at Gopher Dunes but he can’t seem to buy a break right now. I feel bad for the Blu Cru rider as he just needs something good to happen and he needs it soon. Yesterday Marco took a hard crash in the closing stages of the final moto and boy did he look sore after the race. The 250 series also got a lot juicier yesterday with the addition of Natzke. This 23-year-old is stoked to be here and is very motivated to win races and get his career back on track. I did a long interview with him after the race and I will post it tomorrow. As we witnessed yesterday, this New Zealander is fast, smooth, and confident. Finally, let’s not forget Cole Thompson, who will be lining up this weekend in the 250 class on a fresh 2022 YZ125. As I’m sure you saw Cole raced to third overall yesterday in the 450 class so moving down to the 250 class normally wouldn’t be an issue for the former champion. However, the fact that he’s doing it on a 125 is both very cool and risky at the same time. First, I believe that if rode identical laps at Gopher Dunes on both his YZ125 and YZ250F that his laps times would be slightly better on the two-stroke. In recent years I’ve found that riding a four-stroke in deep sand is about as much fun as being Marco Cannella yesterday, the bikes are heavy and they feel somewhat stuck to the ground. A two-stroke is light and much easier to stay on top of the sand and carry speed around the track. So I can totally see why Cole wants to race his YZ125 this weekend but my only concern is that the one area where Cole’s bike will be at a disadvantage is off of the gate and down the long Gopher Dunes start straight. Because of this, I cannot see Cole getting good starts on Sunday and I also can’t see him having much fun eating sand for 30 minutes as he battles these wide-open and energetic kids. However, it is going to be fun to watch so good on Cole for trying.

So that is what next weekend at Gopher Dunes looks like. In the 450 class, unless Dylan Wright has some sort of issue no one is beating him this weekend in the sand. Riders like Tyler Medaglia, Tanner Ward, and even Michigan rider Chris Blackmer may come close, but Dylan is riding at a whole other level right now. Over the years we’ve been blessed to have had a lot of fast foreign riders come here and impress us with their speed and intensity. The best was probably Davi Millsaps in 2016 who was incredible at every round of the series that year. But right now Dylan Wright is riding at such a high level that I would say that he’d beat anyone who has ever raced here. As far as I can tell he has three speeds right now. He has his 80% opening laps speed which he showed yesterday as he patiently made his way to the front in each moto. He has his cruise speed which he also showed us yesterday when he got a comfortable 5-second lead and just rode smooth. However, he also has his 99.9% speed which hasn’t come out often so far this summer but when it has it’s mind-boggling to watch. In qualifying yesterday Dylan laid down a blistering 1:45 second lap time which was two seconds faster than anyone else. Trust me, if you’re free this weekend and you want to watch a rider at the top of their game then come out to Gopher Dunes and watch Dylan as well as all of the other riders who would like nothing more than to beat him and end his win streak. The weather again looks perfect for a day of playing in the sand.

Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone enjoyed your long weekend and thank you to Walton Raceway for being such great hosts. I hope riders like Parker Eales and Austin Jones heal up fast after their crashes yesterday. I heard it was a wrist injury for Eales and a leg injury for Jones. Thank you for reading and please have a safe and fun first week of July.