The Monday Gate Drop Presented By Yamaha Motor Canada

Let me first start by saying that I’m sure everyone who was at Gopher Dunes yesterday is waking up on this beautiful Monday morning feeling tired and beat up. Whether you’re a rider, mechanic, fan, or anyone else who spent the day at the roughest track in Canada, as always Sunday at Gopher Dunes is a challenging adventure. However, for those fortunate people that were there yesterday, myself included, we all got to witness an awesome day of racing. Just as it did last weekend at Walton Raceway, yesterday felt normal again with fans walking around, beer gardens, food vendors, and of course the best riders in the Triple Crown Series doing their best to navigate the tough Gopher Dunes track. Whether it was the WMX class, the Pre-Mix class, or both pro classes, the racing was excellent. Yes, if you were at Gopher Dunes yesterday then you have every right to sit back and take it easy on this Monday as today is a day for recovery.

As I mentioned above, the racing yesterday was excellent in all eight motos that left the Gopher Dunes starting gate. From the WMX class and the Brodeur/Astudillo battle for the lead in both motos, to the non-stop action in the 250 class, every rider left their MX sole on the track yesterday. Thankfully, the weather yesterday was perfect for racing as the normal humidity that can encompass Southern Ontario in July hasn’t arrived yet. It was warm yesterday but it wasn’t hot. Also, the track had a little fewer teeth than it has in the past. It was still rough, especially in the final two motos, but in talking to some of the riders after all agreed that they’ve seen the track rougher in the past. But it was still Gopher Dunes and by the end of each moto, the riders were spent, and most wanted to hug the finish line referee when he pulled out the checkered flag. Even Dylan Wright said to me after the race that he didn’t want to go another lap in the final moto as the track was getting bad. For the 450 points leader to say that definitely means that the track was deteriorating fast. In the end, though it was a great day, and the Gopher Dunes crew as well as the Triple Crown Series crew did a great job with everything on the track as well as off of the track. Finally, hours after the final moto I heard that there were no ambulance trips yesterday which if that was the case then that is amazing. I know some riders crashed as I witnessed a few, but if none were badly injured then that is great. I hope and pray that it’s like that for the remainder of the series.

I feel like unless you’re a true moto fan the 450 class yesterday didn’t really provide the most exciting racing. In Moto 1, Dylan Wright checked out immediately and had a 30-second lead over Tyler Medaglia by the finish. Tyler had a decent-sized lead over Shawn Maffenbeier and so on and so on. In Moto 2, Wright went down early and came from behind to win and that provided a little excitement early in the race. For a few laps at least, Tyler Medaglia did everything he could to hold off Dylan, but after a few laps, the points leader made his way past and rode off to another uncontested victory. The final moto definitely wasn’t a smooth one for Wright as he appeared to be fighting the bike and the track for most of the race. Even when he took the lead and pull away he still had some scary moments where he came close to going down for a second time. I conducted a long interview with him last night and I’ll post it tomorrow. During the interview, you’ll be able to read about Dylan’s struggles in the final 450 moto. But regardless of Dylan’s struggles yesterday he’s still won twelve motos in a row and unless something drastic happens no one is beating him straight up this summer.

On the flip side, the WMX class and the 250 class just keep delivering the action as they did last weekend at Round 4. The intense battle between Eve Brodeur and USA rider Jamie Astudillo is worth the price of admission as there isn’t too much between them on the track. Last weekend Astudillo got the better of Brodeur with a final corner pass to win Moto 2 and take the overall. This weekend it was payback time for Brodeur as she used her experience to go 1-1 in the deep sand of Gopher Dunes. We’ll see next weekend who will stand on top of the WMX podium? Whomever it is I can promise you that the battle at the front of the pack will be intense!

Moving on now to the 250 class and what is proving to be the most exciting series we’ve seen in a while. Once again yesterday this class provided some incredible race action as there were multiple battles in both motos. New Zealand rider and newcomer to the 250 series Josiah Natzke once again won the overall with a great 1-1 performance in the sand. This 23-year-old Kiwi is for real and, unfortunately, he entered the series late. He performed well in the ruts of Walton Raceway and he dominated both motos in the sand yesterday, so it’s clear he can ride in any condition. In the late stages on the second moto yesterday he did look tired and in two laps his lead went from 12 seconds to 5 seconds as Ryder McNabb was closing in. However, Natzke, like every other rider had all the reasons in the world to be exhausted. Even McNabb said after the race that he didn’t think he could do another lap in the second moto. Of course, McNabb also had every reason to be exhausted as in both motos he had to charge through the pack. Even at the halfway point of Moto 2, McNabb looked like he might be in for another 4th place finish. But he put his head down and charged up to second with an amazing display of determination. Now that Natzke has joined the series the upcoming battles between him, McNabb, Harrison, and Piccolo are going to be epic in the coming weeks. Also, throw in Cannella, Amyotte, Racine, and possibly Tyler Gibbs, and we have some exciting racing on the horizon. Also, Cole Thompson raced the 250 class yesterday and in Moto 2 he was even as high as 5th place after he passed Cannella. Eventually, Marco would repass his buddy but 9-6 wasn’t all that bad for the former 2016 250 Class champion. I hope Thompson enjoyed yesterday as it was great to see him out there battling with the kids.

So that was the Gopher Dunes National in nutshell. As I said I’m sure the riders are exhausted today and no doubt they will need a few days to recover. Thank you to all of the Gopher Dunes crew for making the weekend truly special. Now we’re onto Sand Del Lee and if you did a poll among the riders I think most would say that this is their favourite track of the Triple Crown Series. Every year we’ve seen some of the best racing of the year at Sand Del Lee and I don’t see why this year would be any different. As they did this past weekend Dylan Wright and Mitchell Harrison will take the red plates into Round 6. I will see everyone this weekend and thank you for reading my Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop.