Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Good day and welcome to the final Honda Canada Racing Gate Drop of November. In a month Christmas will be all over for another year and it will be clean up and reflection time as we approach a new year. Have you given any thought about where motocross is headed in 2019? After an up and down transitional season in 2018, it’s time to steer this ship to calmer waters, waters that are both enticing and affordable to not only long-time racers but also to new racers. The big goal for 2019 is how to get riders from the practice track to the race track.
As our national indoor series ended last weekend in Hamilton, the long-standing Future West AX Series began this past weekend in Chilliwack, BC. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed the Kyle Beaton built track and the racing was awesome inside the Heritage Arena. After two nights of racing, Kawasaki riders Shawn Maffenbeier and Colin Jurin were the big winners in the Pro class. From the Social Media posts, I saw from Chilliwack, there was a very good crowd on hand to watch the opening two rounds. With one weekend now complete, the series resumes this coming weekend for Rounds 3 and 4.
On the amateur side of the sport, our Canadian riders had a solid week down in the Florida at the 2018 Mini O’s. This storied event took place at the famous Gatorback Cycle Park located just outside of Gainesville, FL. For anyone who has ever ridden a lap at Gatorback, you all know how difficult this track is to go fast on. With the Mini O’s being made up of multiple disciplines, it really is the ultimate test for any rider. Canada had a great number of riders down in Florida and they did us proud all week long, young Canadian riders like Preston Masciangelo, Sebastien Racine, Jeremy McKie, Thomas Rendall, and that’s just to name a few. It was a great week for Canada at this annual Thanksgiving week event. It was also inspiring to see Estrella Cermovic back at this event exactly one year after her accident there in 2018. Estrella hasn’t been cleared to ride yet but she was there to support her brother and to cheer on all of her moto friends.
Cycle North Kawasaki rider Colin Jurin had a great weekend in Chilliwack. Photo by James Lissimore
In other Canadian motocross news, with the 2018 season now over it’s time for the riders and teams to begin their negotiations for next season. For the past month there have been rumours that Shawn Maffenbeier and Matt Goerke will be switching teams in 2019. Maffenbeier has made it clear that he wants to race a 450 next year and it now appears like he will get his wish on a Yamaha. Goerke, by all accounts, is going the other way and will race a Kawasaki in 2019. With Colton Facciotti announcing via short film last week that he will indeed be back next year, the 450 class is once again going to be exciting to watch.
In the 250 class, the biggest question right now is where Jess Pettis will land for 2019. With multiple offers from almost every brand, Pettis is definitely in the driver’s seat of his career. From what I heard over the weekend, it sounds as though Pettis will be riding an orange bike in 2019. This deal will include not only the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series but also the opening rounds of the Monster Energy Supercross Series beginning in Anaheim. This obviously isn’t confirmed as we’ll have to wait for the official announcement. So, with Pettis possibly on his way out at MX101 FXR Yamaha, who will Kevin Tyler get to replace him? Obviously, Marco Cannella will stay for his sophomore season in the 250 class, which he has earned. For the past few years, the MX101 group has proved to be a championship winning team, but now need to find a rider who is capable of winning; ironically beating Jess Pettis. In my opinion, the best rider currently available is Joey Crown, who finished second overall in the 2018 Triple Crown MXTour Series. I thought Joey had an amazing season racing the Canadian National Series for the first time while coming up just short in the championship battle. By this time next week, we should know a lot more about what everyone is doing for 2019.
Right now Jess Pettis is the hottest thing in Canada since sliced bread. Photo by James Lissimore
Jess Pettis is currently in the position that we haven’t seen a Canadian rider be in since Darcy Lange. This kid is young, strong, fit, confident, and he can ride supercross. During the past few months I’ve watched Pettis ride indoors and his skills are definitely comparable to those he’ll be racing against in the West Coast 250 class. However, as we know, having the skills is one thing, but having the confidence to use those skills under extreme pressure is what separates the good athletes from the great athletes. I believe Pettis is so confident right now with his skill set and physical fitness, that with the proper equipment he can be a consistent top ten SX rider in the USA and garner the attention of one of the elite teams. Each year, we as Canadian race fans beg an plead for one of our top pro riders to head south to not just race some supercross events, but to more importantly do well in those events. For those who remember how big the hype was when Darcy Lange came up just short of winning the 2007 East Coast SX title, it was pretty unreal. If Pettis can stay healthy throughout December, look for him to head into Anaheim 1 with a pretty good chance of making headlines.
In news outside of Canada and our talented Canadian riders, Chad Reed won the Auckland, NZ Supercross this past weekend over a field of very talented riders. In slightly sloppy conditions, Reed was able to get great starts in all three main events and lead almost every lap. Afterwards, Reed was visibly emotional as New Zealand was one of his first races outside of Australia so many years ago. With Weston Peick now out indefinitely with the severe injuries he suffered last weekend in Paris, Reed is all but assured a ride with the JGR Suzuki Team in 2019. According to reports on www.motoonline.com.us, Reed flew home right after Saturday night’s big win and will fly to Italy later this week to test a rally car before heading back to Charlotte for more testing with the JGR Team. I remember when I was in Japan in September the Suzuki guys saying what a great test rider Reed has been for the team. So much knowledge, so much experience, and it appears at the moment, so much motivation. From the videos I’ve seen, Reed looks very good on the new RM-Z450, and come Anaheim 1 he will no doubt be a contender for main event wins.
So that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week as we welcome in the final month of 2018. Late last week our final issue of the year went to press featuring Cole Thompson on the cover. Cole had a great season in 2018 and will head into next year as the rider to beat in the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series. Have a great week and thank-you for reading this week’s Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop.
