Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

This week’s Monday Gate Drop is once again brought to you by the fine people at Honda Canada Racing. With their lead rider Colton Facciotti already training for the 2017 season, Honda Canada and the GDR Fox Racing Team is very excited for what lies ahead. We at MXP Magazine are very proud to have the backing of Honda Canada and we wish them luck on the race track in the future.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know in Ontario, at least, the weather was beautiful, and judging by all of the Social Media posts, many of you managed to get some seat time. Anytime you can get some November, or even December, riding in it’s pretty cool. If you recall last year in Ontario, most of us were able to ride right until the end of December. Even where I live, about an hour Northwest of the Toronto Airport, we opened our presents on Christmas morning and then fired up our bikes and rode all afternoon. As you can imagine it was pretty much the best Christmas ever.

So before we get to the news of the week, let’s first take a moment and give thanks to our soldiers and our military as this Friday is Remembrance Day. We are only allowed to do what we do and enjoy the freedom that we have because of our men and women in uniform. So please, on Friday, stop what you’re doing and take a moment to reflect on just how lucky we are. Lest we forget!

This past weekend in Calgary, a new champion was crowned at the 2016 Canadian National AX Tour Champion with Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha rider Chris Blose taking home the title. Chris was definitely the most consistent rider throughout the five round series, however he did not win the majority of the main events. He simply did what he had to do, and like a good pro, he got the job done. Congratulations to the OTSFF Team as they took home their very first AX Championship. The racing in Calgary looked to be very good as Jess Pettis grabbed some wins, as did Alberta native Keylan Meston. We just did a feature story on Meston in the new issue of MXP, so perhaps being in the spotlight gave him that little extra boost he needed to take his first AX win. Keylan is a great story and hopefully he’ll be back at all ten rounds of the Nationals in 2017.

So that is a wrap on the 2016 AX Tour. Once again, this series proved to be just what this country needed during this time of the year. As history has proven in this country, putting on indoor races is very tough and sometimes a huge gamble. Over the years they’ve worked in Quebec simply because of the market there. I’ve always felt that you could put a motor on some bath tubs, hold a race, sell some beer and you would pack the place in Quebec. They just love racing of any kind. Out in BC, AX has worked for two decades as their has been some great promoters, and the weather is very conducive to racing for almost the entire year. I for one hope the AX Tour series stays around for a good number of years so it’s able to build some momentum and keep adding to the quality of this sport in Canada.

Will this be the biggest signing during the off-season?

The big news this past weekend was the signing of Dylan Wright to the Honda Canada Fox GDR Racing Team for the 2017 season. Although this had been talked about for some time, on Friday it became official as the team sent out their press release. For the past few months the GDR Team has been trying to figure out who would be their best choice to be Colton Facciotti’s teammate. Names like Cole Thompson, Jess Pettis and even Joey Crown were all talked about, however in the end it appears that the team got the rider they really wanted. For Dylan Wright, he leaves the team that has been behind him since the beginning, so that no doubt had to be tough. The MX101 Yamaha team was more than just a sponsor to Dylan, they were his second family and biggest fans. I’m sure the decision to leave was a very emotional one for the entire Wright family. But, this is racing and sometimes a rider feels like they have to leave the nest, so to speak, and try something different. Dylan will be successful on a Honda in 2017, and the MX101 will find a good rider to replace him and all will be fine once the gate drops in Kamloops next summer. I’d like to say congratulations to both Derek Schuster for signing Dylan, as well as to the MX101 Yamaha team for all the effort over the years in helping to make Dylan the rider he is today. If they didn’t do their job, then a rider like Dylan wouldn’t be in such high demand. Great job by both teams in this case.

Speaking of 2017, the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals will be leaving Vancouver Island and Round 2 will now be in Prince George, BC. Although this is sad news for the awesome people who run the Nanaimo track, this move makes a lot of sense to the teams and to the series. Prince George will be a fine host to the series and I think it will end up becoming the largest round, spectator-wise, for the entire series. The people in Prince George and the surrounding area absolutely love anything to do with powersports, and now to be able to host a large event like this is really what they’ve been looking for. Stay tuned for the dates of this race, as well as the remaining rounds of the series as they will sure to be released soon.

It’s finally official. The 2017 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals are coming to Prince George, BC.

This coming weekend is the final round of the Australian SX Championships in Sydney, and although it’s a million miles away and doesn’t any have Canadian riders entered, it does mark the one-off return of Ryan Villopoto to the race track. The former SX champion, and now father of twins, is heading down under for the first time to compete against Cooper Webb, and local talent and Australia’s favourite son, Chad Reed. Villopoto has been training for this race for the past few months, and if the videos of him riding are any indication, RV is ready to go. The battle between he and Reed is going to be epic this weekend for sure. And with Reed racing in front of his hometown fans, but also thinking about the upcoming SX series in less than two months time, RV has nothing to focus on after this race, who is going to let it all hang out more? A friend of mine who lives just outside Sydney went to this race last year and he said the energy was incredible and the entire city is looking forward to this weekend.

Congratulations to Bill Van Vugt on his second overall at the 2017 World Vet Championships.

Well, that is it for me this week and my Honda Canada Racing sponsored Monday Gate Drop. In closing, I want to wish Ryan Lockhart and Kyle Springman good luck in Finland this weekend as they are heading over there to race some SX. Also, congratulations to Todd Schumlick and Bill Van Vugt for their great rides this past weekend at the World Vet Championships at Glen Helen Raceway. That’s all for me, please have a great week and don’t forget to buy a poppy.