Greetings! With cool temperatures and early sunsets, it is certainly feeling like November these days. On that note, I hope everyone had a good weekend. As we all know, today is Remembrance Day and hopefully you will take a moment to pause and reflect on the sacrifices that our soldiers have made, and continue to make every day. One of my Grandfather’s served in WW2, and although he made it through the war physically unscathed, mentally it was a different story. Even when he finally return home and had a family (my Mom was his first child born) part of him never left Europe. What he went through and witnessed during the war scarred him for life. As kids, I remember being at his house and seeing photos and war memorabilia in his garage, but when I asked him about his experiences, he didn’t want to talk about it. He died in 1986, well before his time, but in the 13 years that I knew him, he didn’t tell me one story about his time in WW2. He, like so many of our soldiers who have been in combat, kept it all inside. I guess that is human nature and the coping mechanism most of us are born with. In hindsight, I feel bad about asking him questions about the war. I mean, in reality what was he going to tell me? I guess it was just me being a naive, but inquisitive kid. So today, I honour not only my Grandfather, but all of our soldiers, past and present. We will never forget, and we will never stop saying thank you! #lestweforget
Although, it’s hard to move on and talk about something other than Remembrance Day, it has to be done. So, as many of you saw on Friday, Jess Pettis officially announced that he signed with the MX101 FXR Yamaha Team for 2025 and 2026. This deal was rumoured to happen for a few weeks, but without any news from KTM that they and Pettis had parted ways, it was really just a rumour. However, on Wednesday of last week the KTM Canada Team put out a press release thanking Jess for everything he’s done for the brand in their six seasons together. When these rumours began, I think I was just as surprised as anyone that Jess had decided to leave KTM, especially after winning the 450 class Triple Crown Series Championship this past summer. I know they had struggled with some set up issues in 2023, and that Jess wasn’t able to find the comfort he needed to run the pace of Dylan Wright. However, since 2023 was also labeled a rebuilding year for Jess, I’m not sure that trying to push the pace of Dylan was a great idea, Anyway, I know Jess and the KTM team worked extremely hard over the off season, and I think we can all agree that he and his KTM looked very good this summer in all types of track conditions. And they have a title to prove it! However, as Jess mentioned in the interview he did with me late last week, he was still struggling with some on track and off track issues, and he had concerns heading into next season. Everything seemed to have come to a head at the MXON, when not only did Jess not feel at all comfortable on the challenging track, but he also had a chance conversation with the bLU cRU that got the ball rolling, so to speak. After everyone returned home from the UK, Jess thought long and hard about what his options were for 2025, and in the end, he decided that Kevin Tyler’s MX101 Team was his best choice. I’m quite sure there is more to it and a lot of behind the scenes phone calls and texts, but to the best of my knowledge, that is how this deal happened. So Jess now becomes the 450 rider for the MX101 Team, this moves Preston Kilroy to the 250 Pro/AM class, where he will join his other teammate Sebastien Racine. This team is certainly coming into 2025 hot and will obviously have a good chance of winning both titles next year!
In the big picture, this is not only a big deal for Jess and MX101 Team owner Kevin Tyler, this is a massive commitment from the fine people at Yamaha Motor Canada. For the past few seasons, Yamaha has talked about wanting to get a title contender in the 450 class in Canada. There was even talk about signing riders like Zach Osborne for the 2024 season. I mean, Zach would’ve been great, but I still don’t think he beats Pettis, Wright, or Natzke in an eight round series. Anyway, the desire and water cooler talk at the bLU cRU HQ has been about how nice it would be to have a top elite rider in the 450 class, but obviously that comes with a high cost. Not only do our top riders like Wright and Pettis get paid well, but there is also a support system within the team that they need in order to find success. I remember talking to Carey Hart years ago, before his RCH Suzuki Team had signed Ken Roczen. He told me at the time that while the desire was to eventually sign a championship contender (like Roczen), the team needed to have a lot of things in place to meet the demands of a Roczen type superstar. Eventually they spent the money, got all the resources they needed, and eventually signed Ken Roczen, and won a title with him. Another example of this was here in Canada in 2016. That year, KTM Canada decided they wanted to win the Canadian 450 title, so they brought in the American legend Davi Millsaps to race the entire series. It was a complicated deal with many layers, and although KTM was confident that Millsaps could get the job done, they knew he needed not only his full factory bike from the USA, but also some extra support at each of the Canadian races. Millsaps WP Suspension technician was at most of the rounds that year, and KTM USA sent a mechanic as well to take care of Millsaps Factory KTM. In the end, Millsaps dominated most of the races and won the title, giving KTM Canada their first ever 450 title. It was a good deal all around, but my point is that it didn’t come without great expense. For the MX101 Team and Yamaha Motor Canada to make the commitment to sign a top rider like Jess Pettis, to me this is a big moment for the fans, for the Triple Crown Series, the sport in Canada, and for all parties involved.
In talking to Jess last week it was interesting to listen to him explain what his thought process was regarding making this gutsy change. I call it ‘gutsy’ simply because it’s not every day we see a top athlete like Pettis, leave a proven program like the KTM Canada Team, especially after winning a title together. However, as strange as this decision may seem to everyone on the outside looking in, what stood out the most to me about what Jess said, was that as much as he’s happy with how his riding was in 2024, he wants to be better in 2025, and he knows he has to be. In the span of one summer he’s gone from the hunter to the hunted, and he knew he had to make some adjustments to his program. Once the seed of change got planted inside Jess’s head, there was no turning back. Will the grass be greener on the other side for Pettis? Only time will tell, but if you look at the past few days Jess’s mindset appears to be in a great place, as the excitement to ride a new bike has him out pounding practice laps in Quebec. I mean, I would assume that if he hadn’t made the switch last week, he would probably be using this unseasonably nice weather to get some work done around his house, instead of riding. We’ve all been there right. You get something new and you want to play with it. When we were kids it was a new toy, as we get older it’s a new vehicle or something else, for Pettis, it’s a shiny new YZ450 and all he wants to do is ride it. Testing and working on his craft right now is giving Jess a great head start for next season.
So what is the KTM Canada Team going to do to replace their top 450 rider? Well, I think it all depends on whether or not the 250 class rule change goes through or not. What rule change am I speaking about? Well, back in early September I said that it might be time to amend the 250 class rule that states that a rider can only win the title twice, before having to move out of the class forever. This rule would’ve obviously forced Kaven Benoit out of the 250 class for 2025, and have him either move to the 450 class, or retire again. My feeling was that the Triple Crown Series should amend the rule to state that once a rider turns 30 years old, it shouldn’t matter how many times they’ve won the 250 championships, as their age begins to override the experience they bring to the class. I was basing my opinion on what was better for our sport. If amending the rule kept a rider like Benoit from retiring again, then that was great for Canadian motocross. My idea didn’t seem to get a lot of traction at first, but now it appears that the MRC has opened the 250 class right up to anyone and everyone. This would allow not just Benoit to return to the 250 class, but also Ryder McNabb, who ironically is now linked to the GDR Honda Team for 2025. Unfortunately, it appears Benoit is going to retire and become a KTM brand ambassador, thus going out on top where he certainly deserves to be. Josiah Natzke will most likely remain in the 450 class, and as it was also rumoured last week, Dylan Rempel has signed with the orange team for 2025. The only chairs remaining are now with the WLTN Kawasaki Team and which riders will they sign to be under the green tent. In talking to team owner Brett Lee last week, I know he’s close to being able to finalize his 2025 roster and we should know who the Team Green riders will be soon. Again, it should be mentioned how great it is that our OEM’s are continuing to make such large financial commitments to our sport. Now we just need to make sure that the next crop of fast young pro riders and amateurs riders are taking care of in some way. More on that next week!
As you can see, for early November and the early stages of our off-season, there is still a lot going on. In some MXP news, this week I’m heading to the Triumph Training facility in Georgia for the media launch of their all-new TF 450-RC. On Thursday, I will be joining test riders from around the Globe as we’ll spend the day test riding this new model from Triumph. To my understanding, this week there will be three waves of motocross media ascending on Georgia to test ride this new bike. The first wave is today, and there is an embargo on any opinions of how this new bike works until Monday November 18th at 10am EST. That is it for me today, I hope everyone has a great week. If you have any comments or questions please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
