Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. This week we’re once again honouring GDR Fox Honda rider Dylan Wright as he is now your 2019 AXTour Champion. Dylan rode great all series long to eventually win the title in Barrie on Saturday night. Now it’s on to the MXTour this summer for Dylan, his team, and his potent 2019 Honda CRF250R.

The 2019 AXTour wrapped up this past weekend in Barrie and what a night it was. From the moment the riders took to the entertaining Round 4 track, you just knew the racing was going to be spicy all night long. With great dirt and a solid design, the Barrie track allowed for some great racing in all classes throughout the day. With two championships on the line, everyone was gunning for Cole Thompson in the 450 class and Dylan Wright in the 250 class. For Cole, the day appeared to go smoothly as he was fast in practice, solid in his heat race, and extremely smart in the main event. He basically did what he had to do, and in the end the 2019 AXTour 450 title was his. As happy as Cole and his team were at the end of the evening in Barrie, I can’t help but feel like they were immediately looking ahead to this summer’s MXTour. In talking to Cole a few times in the past month, I get the feeling that his real focus in 2019 is winning the 450 outdoor title. He came close last year but was beaten by Colton Facciotti. With the next chapter of the Facciotti/Thompson battle to begin on June 1^st in Calgary, this one could be a best seller.

-Lissimore Photo

For Dylan Wright, his day didn’t quite go as smoothly as Thompson’s as he was forced to battle through one last day of adversity. The first incident came in practice when Dylan’s bike began to make a few funny engine noises, forcing him to pull off and change to his practice bike. Not that this presented any big issues, however, I’m sure it was unnerving. After making it through qualifying, the next challenge for Dylan was the hotly contested heat races. With young Tyler Gibbs charging hard out front during Heat 2, Dylan was in second and most likely trying to figure out whether he should try to make the pass or sit back and take second. Moments later that decision was made for Dylan as Gibbs got sideways in the technical rhythm section, then he and Dylan collided, which sent both riders down. Although they remounted and transferred to the main event, this was the last thing Dylan wanted to happened. With a bad pick on the gate for the main event, Dylan got off to a decent start. From there, he rode as smart as we’ve ever seen him ride, and when his race and his evening was finally over, Dylan Wright finished third overall in the race, but more importantly he was crowned your 2019 MXTour 250 Champion.

-Lissimore Photo

So that’s a wrap on the first series of 2019 and now we’re on to the outdoor series. The AXTour was definitely entertaining, and in talking to the riders and teams, most felt that the final round in Barrie was the best of the series. With great dirt and a capacity crowd, the final round most certainly lived up to all of its hype. With just under four weeks to get everything sorted out for the MXTour, there isn’t much time for everyone to do their final preparations. Soon we will all be in Calgary for the opening round of the 2019 MXTour and all eyes will be on the outdoor series favourites.

Another series that came to a conclusion this past weekend was the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series in Las Vegas. With the 450SX title on the line as well as both 250SX titles, the final round of SX certainly garnered a lot of attention. On the very dry and slick Vegas SX track, there was very little room for error as the riders battled for their championships. In the 450 class, Cooper Webb closed out his dream season with a solid main event and the first ever 450SX Supercross Championship. If anyone tells you that they picked Webb to win the title then I think they’re lying to you, but you have to give credit where credit is due and he certainly earned this one. All series long Webb was simply the best overall rider, and when others made crucial mistakes, he capitalized on them and remained smooth. Whether it was his new KTM or his new trainer, Aldon Baker, Webb’s program was just plain better than anyone else’s in 2019.

In the 250SX East class, Chase Sexton closed out his first championship in style as he rode smooth all evening. Sexton is an amazing rider to watch and he’s also another surprise winner this year. In the 250SX West Series, Adam Cianciarulo was the heartbreak story of the night as his title hopes ended with just a few laps to go in the main event. With his closest rival Dylan Ferrandis out front, all Adam had to do was cruise to a podium finish and take home his first ever title. As the race was winding down, Adam made a strange mistake and crashed hard on to the concrete-like Vegas soil. The crash bent his Kawasaki so badly that all he could do was ride around and hope something happened to Ferrandis. It didn’t and the French rider took the race win and the 250SX West Championship. It was a very strange turn of events, and something that very few saw coming. With Cianciarulo most likely moving to the Factory Kawasaki Team in 2020 on a 450, this was his final chance to earn the title that has eluded him since he turned pro. It was a fitting end to what has been a very entertaining SX series. With new winners and some new venues this year, the future is obviously very bright for the sport of SX. Also, congratulations to our own Jess Pettis as he earned a very respectable 15^th overall in the 250SX West class. If he had have competed in the entire series, I’m sure he would’ve finished well inside the top ten.

Moto Park definitely had some ruts yesterday for the AMO race.

Well, that is it for me this week. Before I go, I would like to give a quick shout out to the folks at Moto Park and AMO Racing for putting on a great race yesterday. The track was in perfect condition and with just under 400 entries, the racing was great all day under the bright Ontario sun. I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day this coming weekend to all of the awesome moms out there.