Fox Racing Canada Presents MXP Chatter With Dylan Wright

This past summer we had our newly crowned 250 MXTour Series Champion, Dylan Wright, on the cover of MXP Magazine. We used a very cool James Lissimore shot from Dylan’s GDR Honda Team’s photo shoot back in May. The headline we ran was ‘Red Hot,’ and when you look back at his 2019 season, no rider has been as hot as Dylan Wright. First, he won the 250 class in the AXTour in early May and then he added to that with his first outdoor title last month at Walton Raceway. With three SXTour events coming up, we sat down with Dylan while he was preparing for the Montreal SX this coming weekend.

MXP: First off Dylan, congratulations on your 250 MXTour Championship. You fought hard all summer and definitely deserved the title.

DW: Thanks Palms, it was tough series, for sure, and it was nice to win the final round at Walton and bring home my first pro outdoor title.

Right from the beginning of 2019 during the AXTour, we saw, I don’t want to say, a different Dylan Wright because I don’t believe that to be true. I would say it was a more polished Dylan Wright. Does that sound accurate?

Definitely, I did feel a little more polished this year as I was able to work on some things and make better decisions when it mattered the most. I think both in the AXTour as well as this summer I was able to race with a little more finesse and patience.

I would imagine this was work that you did during the off-season. Were there specific areas you worked on?

Well, the first thing I did was make a plan at the end of last season. As a team, we sat down and talked about some of the things I was doing right and of course some of the things I needed to work on if I was to be a championship contender. Last year I was the fastest rider in the eastern half of the series but I was so far out of the points that it didn’t matter. So, we looked at that and then made a plan for 2019. Some of things were mental and my decision making, but when it came to on-the-bike stuff, we sort of went back to basics. I worked on my technique with weighting the outside foot peg in corners and looking further ahead, just little things like that. Sometimes we get caught up with training, doing motos, and we forget about the little things. Anyway, that was pretty much it, and like you said, I’ve just been more of a polished rider in 2019.

It’s great to hear that you worked on little items and broke down your riding technique. I sometimes feel that pro riders don’t do this enough during the off-season. You see it so much in other sports – athletes working on their craft and doing so many little things. Obviously, it paid off as here we are talking about you and your glorious summer. Do you also think that your results this year are due to experience and the fact that you have another year under your belt?

For sure, experience is obviously something you can’t buy or fast-track, it’s just something that you have to earn. When I turned pro, I was guilty of maybe trying too hard and not letting the races come to me. Since then, I think each year I’ve become better and more consistent on the track, and yeah, that just comes from gaining experience and feeling more confident.

That is definitely one of the gifts that you have, the ability to charge and never give up. Since you turned pro your aggression on the track has been unmatched. To me, that seems like a personality trait rather than a technique thing. This summer, were you consciously trying to not be so aggressive?

Good question! My natural aggression is something that I didn’t want to mess with or change as it’s served me very well. I think it was more about deciding when to be aggressive and when to back it down. Sometimes you’re not going to be the fastest rider in qualifying or in the motos, that is the way it goes, and sometimes you need to slow down, save the bike and save yourself. I think I did a very good job this summer of balancing my aggression with trying to be patient. I will also say that having a teammate like Colton Facciotti was great as there has been no one better taking what each race gives him and remaining consistent. I owe a lot to him for being such a great mentor.

I was going to ask you about your relationship with Colton but I think that sums it up perfectly. We also spoke earlier in the season about your life off the bike and away from the race track. You live in Quebec now with your finance, you obviously train hard and eat well, but you were saying that by living a quiet and simple life away from the track helped you at the races with remaining calm and focused.

I love living where we do, and yeah, our life is pretty much made up of riding, training, hanging out and going to bed early. It’s kind of like an old guy life, and Colton and I always joke about it. But it’s working and I’m just going to keep doing it.

Well, I think that’s a great lesson for all riders out there – a simple focused life away from the track is the best way to get results at the track. When you turned pro back in 2014, you came in as one of the most well-rounded amateur riders we’ve ever seen. You were fast, fit, strong and determined when you made the jump to the pro. Yet, it’s taken you a few years to get to where you are now. As you said, experience can’t be rushed, but what other advice would you have for a fast, amateur rider who is getting ready to turn pro?

I think I would tell them to try to remain patient and not get to caught up with your week to week results. Especially during your first year of racing in the pro class, your results are going to be up and down. Make a short-term and a long-term plan and stick with it. Mistakes are going to be made, and as long as you learn from them, things will progress forward. The pro class is tough and these days it’s a massive jump from Intermediate, so work hard and give yourself some time. Even if you’re lucky enough to get a ride on a team, that team should give you some room to make mistakes and work through them.

Recently we’ve heard some young riders talk about the pressure of turning pro and how they struggled to deal with it. When you hear that does it make you roll your eyes?

No, I would never do that because you don’t know what another rider is going through or how they really feel. Maybe they do feel a ton of new pressure to perform and they just don’t know how to deal with it. When you feel like that it quickly takes the fun out of riding and training, and it can snowball into feeling a certain way. What makes me roll my eyes is how some of the parents handle the pressure and how they put so much pressure on their kids. If you put a lot of pressure on your kid when they’re young, then when they reach a certain age and all of a sudden there is real pressure on them to perform, they actually struggle with finding ways to deal with it. Obviously, results are important, but when kids are young it should be more about effort, learning the proper technique and having fun riding a dirt bike.

Growing up, did your parents put a lot of pressure on you?

They were supportive and wanted the best for me, but the only pressure I felt was the pressure I put on myself. I was very hard on myself and I think I brought that feeling with me into the pro class. Going back to this past summer, another thing I worked on was to not be hard on myself. But no, my parents didn’t put a lot of pressure on me and they allowed me to learn and have fun riding. Trust me, the pressure only gets higher as you get older and progress through this sport and life, so you might as well have fun while you can.

Well said Dylan! Going back to this summer, give us your best moto from the MXTour Series. I know you had a bunch that were great, but is there one or two that stand out as the best?

I think there were a few that stand out as races that I’m really proud of. The mud moto in Manitoba was one simply because of the conditions and the fact that a lot of people thought I would struggle. It was too bad about the penalty after, but I know I won that moto. I had a good one in Sand Del Lee also, but I think I would pick the opening moto at Walton Raceway. As far as the championship was concerned, I didn’t have to win but I sure wanted to. That morning we went over all of the possibilities of what I needed to finish and secure the title. However, when I was sitting on the starting line for the first moto, I just told myself that I was going to go out and win and let that take care of everything. So, to make that goal and then go out and do it, that makes me really proud.

We spoke about pressure, that must have felt like a lot of pressure?

Yes and no. I mean, yes, I felt pressure to get the job done, but at the same time I knew I could win regardless of where I started from. So, it was more of a case of just staying out of trouble in the opening laps and then going to work.

Well, congratulations again on your title. What a great summer of racing you had. After Walton you headed down to Ironman Raceway and raced the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Nationals. I know it didn’t go exactly how you wanted it, but overall how did you feel?

It was a great experience, for sure, and looking back I’m glad I did it. Obviously, crashing wasn’t great but it felt good to run that speed and mix it up with those guys. I love a challenge and it was good to see what speed they run down there. We’re obviously fast up here and we run a good pace, however riders like Adam Ciancirulo and Justin Cooper are just racing that much faster. So, to see that speed in person was great and now I have something to work on before 2020.

That’s a great way to look at it! So now you have three races remaining in the Triple Crown Series. You’ve wrapped up the Triple Crown Title so I would imagine that the plan is to stay healthy and do as well as you can?

 

Yeah, most definitely. I love racing SX and Montreal should be fun, but yes, I want to have three good races to finish out the season and then we can start thinking about next year. I’m looking forward to getting a little time off to recharge and relax so that will be good next month.

At what point do you relax and maybe eat something other than chicken, rice and broccoli?

Well, I have been eating a little differently lately. I actually had a large ice cream cone the other day so things are good. I don’t know, I live in Quebec so I’ll have to go out for some poutine soon.

I think I speak for everyone in Canada when I say that you’ve earned a little poutine and maybe a beer. Dylan, thanks for your time and we’ll see you this weekend in Montreal.

Thanks for calling, and yes, Montreal is going to be great. Honda Canada sponsors the race so it will be fun racing in front of a few of my bosses. That race is always a good show and this year should be no different. See you there!