Greetings! Here we are just 16 days until Christmas, so I hope everyone is getting excited. The conclusion of the 2024 Orion.ca AMO AX Championships marked the official end of our race season here in Canada, and what a season it was in all regions and classes. We witnessed some incredible racing from coast to coast, and I’m sure you’re excited to do it all again in 2025.
Last week, Cole Thompson capped off his solid 2024 season with a second overall at the final round of the WSX Championships in Abu Dhabi. Cole had a great WSX series aboard his Firepower Honda as he ended up third overall in the SX2 class. Cole was sitting in second as they entered the final race of the night, but a late race pass by Coty Shock bumped Cole back to third. He was visibly unhappy after the race, but I feel like once he had some time to reflect on just how well he rode in this series, his mood most likely changed. Considering Cole didn’t have any off-season racing plans back in early September, I think he’s done pretty well since then, having finished on the podium in both the Australian SX Championships and the WSX Championships. Cole is a household name around the globe when it comes to SX, and as long as he’s healthy and willing to keep racing, he’ll have that opportunity. Cole’s next series will be the 250SX West class in Monster Energy SX next month where he’ll be back under the Solitaire Yamaha Tent.
Our top two 450 riders in Canada have been busy recently as they finish up 2024 and look forward to next season. Dylan Wright just signed an extension with the Honda Canada/GDR/Fox Racing Team for another three years. This is great news, for not only Dylan and his GDR Honda Team but, also for our sport in general as it shows great commitment from the awesome people at Honda Canada. The GDR Honda Team also finalized their roster for 2025, Ryder McNabb and Noah Viney will join Dylan under the red tent next summer. As for Dylan, he’s been training hard and doing a lot of rehab to get himself back into race ready shape. You can read all about what Dylan has been up to in his most recent blog right here on mxpmag.com: Guest Column With Dylan Wright: Presented By Outdoor Gear Canada – Motocross Performance Magazine
As for our current 450 Triple Crown Series champion Jess Pettis, he has been busy in Quebec testing his new MX101 YZ450 in both dirt and snow. Yes, I said snow! Jess released some photos last night of him out riding in some snowy conditions. Complete with studded tires and some cool looking FXR winter riding gear, Pettis looked very comfortable on the slippery white stuff. Last week, Jess was relaxing on the beach in Key West, and this weekend he was doing whips in the snow, I’d say life is pretty good for the Champ!
In some Walton Raceway news. Last week, they announced that beginning in 2025 there will be no racing on the Walton track prior to the Walton TransCan in August. Since the early 2000s there has always been at least one Ontario Provincial event, usually in late June, as well as some club races in the spring and early summer. Now, there will only be some riding camps, and possibly some open practice days in the weeks leading up to the 2025 Walton TransCan. I do think this is a good idea as like the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National in the USA, the first gate drop of the year will be at the TransCan in August. This also adds a little extra to the event as riders will now begin the TransCan from a level playing field as far as familiarity with the track. There will be an AMO race and club races at Walton Raceway in the fall, just not before the TransCan in August. Also, the Walton TransCan has made some changes to how the Vet classes will work. Now, all of the Vet classes will just be one class as opposed to an A and B class. They’ve also added a Sportsman Vet Class for 30+ Junior, and Beginner riders, as well as Ladies 30+ class. Hopefully, this will entice some of the former fast ladies to get back on the bike and race at Walton. Again, I like these changes and just talking about the 2025 Walton TransCan has me excited about next summer already.
Down in the USA, this time of the year is photo shoot time for the teams of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Series. With just over a month to go before the gate drops in Anaheim, the riders are now wrapping up their bootcamps, and putting the finishing touches on the bike set up that they will take into the opening round. The Monster Energy Kawasaki Factory Team and the Pro Circuit Kawasaki Team released their team photos on Friday, and this morning the Red Bull KTM Factory Team released their photos. I love this time of the year, now the hype for the opening round really begins to build. Also last week, some of the top riders were at Angel Stadium in Anaheim for press briefings and interviews. Most of the riders gave their usual answers and insights to how they feel and what they’ve been up to. Jett Lawrence caused a little stir when he said that some of the SX fans in the USA don’t like him because he’s from Australia. I would partially agree with him as history has shown over the years that USA fans cheer for their own riders. I think that is the same in any country. But history has also shown that fans quickly get bored when the same rider is winning a lot of races, and then they find someone else to cheer for. I don’t think it’s a USA vs the World thing, more like fans wanting a good battle and several different winners throughout the series. Finally, one top rider who wasn’t in attendance last week at Angel Stadium was new Factory Kawasaki rider Jorge Prado. Apparently, Prado had a big crash at the KX test track the week prior and hit his head pretty hard. He’s going to be okay, and he should be back on the bike soon, but he and his team decided to have him sit out the press conference. Although Jett Lawrence has been known to not look great through practice and the heat races, and then holeshot the main event and run away, I’m going to pick Eli Tomac to win the opening round in Anaheim.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week as we get ready to hit the mid-point of December. This means that not only is Christmas right around the corner, but so is the new year! Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
