The Monday Gate Drop Presented By Yamaha Motor Canada

Good day and Happy Cyber Monday to all. I hope everyone had a great weekend and survived “Black Friday”.  On Thursday this week, we welcome in the most joyous month of the year. Yes, December represents the most wonderful time of the year. We use this time to get together with friends and family to celebrate the holidays as well as the end of yet another year. Bring on December and everything that goes with it!

I want to begin this week by congratulating all of the Canadian riders who gave it everything they had down in Florida at the Thor Winter Olympics at Gatorback Raceway. This event is like no other with SX and MX as well as the amount of time you have to spend in one place. Correct me if I’m wrong as I’ve never been to the Mini O’s but it looks as though you have to pretty much spend a full week at the track. So whether you’re camping or staying in nearby Gainesville, that is a lot of meals and a lot of fuel burned. Now, I’m not going to go into each Canadian and their results but it appeared like every single one of them had some great motos as well as some motos they’d like to have back. That is the nature of an event like this and if you’re a rider, the important thing is that you made the effort to get there, and you did everything you could to find success while racing against some of the best amateur riders on the planet. Even if your week didn’t quite go as planned, you can depart Florida knowing that you’re a better rider than you arrived.

This past weekend also saw the 2022 Future West AX Championships resume in beautiful Chilliwack, BC. The dominant rider in the pro class was Jacob Piccolo who was also making his debut on his new GDR Honda. With a new track design by Dylan Kaelin, the racing in Chilliwack was exciting on both Saturday and Sunday and it was good to see a few out of Province riders make the trek there. After two more rounds this weekend it will be time to crown the 2022 series champions. Good luck to everyone and I’m sure we’ll get the low down from Ryan Lockhart this Friday when he checks in with his weekly Matrix Concepts Canada 3 Q’s.

Along with the Future West AX Championships, the 2022 Australian SX Series also has one round remaining this weekend.  Wagga Wagga hosts the last round, located midway between Sydney and Melbourne and has a population of just over 55,000. It’s definitely a unique location to hold the final round of this series and after finishing 4th overall this past weekend at Round 3, our own Cole Thompson is sitting second overall in the SX2 points standings. Although Cole is currently 21 points behind Max Anstie for the SX2 class lead, he’s three points up on Rhys Budd who sits in third. Cole has had a great time Down Under and overall his results have been great. I’m sure he’d love to get a main event win at the final round and end his stay in Australia in style. After this weekend Cole will return to North America and begin his preparation for the 250SX West Class in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Series. I believe that the announcement is coming early next week to say that Cole will be a member of the Team Solitaire Yamaha Team under the guidance of Canadian Chris Elliot. This should be a good fit for Cole and after racing and training in Australia for the past two months, he’s no doubt in great shape for the upcoming 250SX West Series.

Now, going back to Jacob Piccolo and his new GDR Honda ride. Last week the Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing Team made some big announcements. They not only let the world know that they signed Piccolo, but the team also revealed that Dylan Wright will be back for at least three years. As I’ve mentioned before Dylan had multiple offers on the table but in the end, he did what most loyal people would’ve done, and that was sign with the team he’s been with for years. I think it’s great that Dylan will remain in Canada and also get the opportunity to travel outside of the country to race at selected events in the USA and Europe. Dylan will also enter the 2023 Triple Crown Series with two healthy and strong knees, something he hasn’t had for a few years. This will no doubt allow Dylan to ride with more confidence and that alone will make him even tougher to beat. As for Piccolo, this new deal will be great for him as I think we can all agree that he didn’t look like the same rider this year as he did in 2021. I’m not sure why, as he was on a great team and had all of the tools needed to find success again. However, for whatever reason Jacob didn’t, and when he injured himself halfway through the 250 series his season was over. So, good on him for looking elsewhere and good on the GDR Honda Team for signing Jacob and allowing him to be the main 250 rider on the team. Obviously, heading into 2023 Jacob has some big shoes to fill as the team’s former 250 rider Ryder McNabb is coming off a championship season. However, Jacob comes in with a little swagger himself as it wasn’t that long ago when he went head-to-head with McNabb and company, and came out on top. The GDR Honda Team will be a good fit for Jacob and he’ll get the bikes, the support, and most importantly, the guidance needed to once again be a champion.

So the GDR Honda team is now set for 2023 and this week we’re going to hear from the GAGAS/CMS Team as they have finalized their roster as well as a new title sponsor. Mitchell Harrison signed a two-year deal a few weeks back after winning the 250 Triple Crown Series, and today it was announced that Tyler Medaglia is also back for two more years. This just leaves Eve Brodeur to get her deal done and then the team can focus purely on getting ready for 2023. This is a fun time of the year as the riders and teams are trying to get their deals in place before the holidays arrive. Also, look for KTM and Kawasaki to have big announcements soon.

Well, that is it for me this week. I hope you have a great week as well as a safe week. Once Thursday arrives then the countdown to Christmas officially begins. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments please email me at chris@mxpmag.com