Greetings! I hope everyone has had a great week with family, celebrating Christmas, and the holiday season. This week we welcome in a New Year and that is always an exciting time. So, as we get ready to say good-bye to 2024, I wish you all the best in 2025! I’m sure it will be a year to remember.
For us motocross/supercross loving folks, this time of the season not only means welcoming in a new year, but also the start of the Monster Energy Supercross Series. Yes, the opening round in Anaheim is also the most exciting night of the year for a lot of us. For 2025, Anaheim 1 has been pushed back one weekend as the series has usually started this coming weekend. However, with NYE being tomorrow evening, I’m sure Feld Motorsports wanted at least one more week to prepare for the first gate drop of the year. With just 12 days to go before the world focuses in on Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the hype is certainly getting real. The riders, the teams, and the series personal are all getting ready to travel to Anaheim to kick-off what could be the most exciting Supercross Series we’ve seen in years; and that is saying something, as the past few seasons have been pretty entertaining. In case you missed the annual Series preview which aired last night on NBC and Peacock, here is the entire episode.
So, as I stated last week, I’m pretty convinced that Jett Lawrence is going to win the opening round in Anaheim. However, I’m not as convinced that he will hold up the championship trophy in May in SLC. Former SX champions like Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton, and Cooper Webb will no doubt be in contention all season long. Jett’s brother Hunter Lawrence could be very good this season, Jason Anderson hopefully has found some of his old speed, determination and we also must not discount Ken Roczen, who could win some races here and there. Finally, Aaron Plessinger could also challenge for race wins in 2025, and sophomore 450 class Justin Cooper, who qualified first on a few occasions last year, could also be up front a lot in 2025. If I had to sit here today and pick three riders who are going to really challenge for the Monster Energy Supercross title, as well as the SMX Championship, I’m going to go with Jett Lawrence, Eli Tomac, and Chase Sexton, and here’s why.
Jett Lawrence:
Obviously, with being the defending champion, Jett is certainly considered the favourite, heading into 2025. However, unlike a year when he came into the series without any hiccups, this off-season has been a little more challenging for the likeable Australian. The first hurdle that Jett has had to deal with is learning the all-new 2025 CRF450 and how it reacts to Supercross tracks. As we saw during the past two seasons, Jett and Honda had no issues with getting the older generation CRF450R to work in SX, it was on the faster and rougher outdoor tracks where the bike struggled. Now, with this new generation CRF450R, which chassis wise is almost identical to what the Lawrence Brothers were running in 2023 and 2024, it has taken Jett and his team a little time to put all the pieces together and make bike and rider work in perfect harmony. But, in talking to a couple of the HRC Honda guys this summer at the 2025 CRF450R media launch, Jett’s greatest strength is quickly finding a way to make his bike work for him and the track once the gate drops. Even if testing, practice and the opening few laps of the race haven’t gone well, Jett can adapt better than anyone and still find the speed needed to win. We’ve seen this play out many times since Jett arrived from Australia, so this is why I’m picking him to win the opening round next weekend. With that said, I think Jett’s biggest obstacle during the opening rounds will be the crowd, and how he deals with possibly getting boo’d every time they announce his name. For whatever reason, Jett made some comments earlier in December, basically saying that fans in America don’t like him that much because he’s not from America. This seem to ignite even more dislike when I don’t think there was that much to begin with. Of course American fans are going to cheer for Eli Tomac more than Jett Lawrence, just as I would cheer for Cole Thompson in a 250SX West main event over an America rider, so I’m not sure why Jett even mentioned anything, and honestly, I’m sure he wonders the same. So, will some extra boos from the fans at the opening rounds cause any issues with Jett’s confidence, only time will tell.
Eli Tomac:
While Tomac may not have the raw speed of Jett or even Chase, what he does bring to the table is fitness, determination, and the experience of knowing that he really doesn’t need to be the fastest 450SX rider at any of the SX rounds, he just needs to be the smartest and most consistent. Last year, Tomac came into the opening rounds without much seat due to his recovery from his Achilles surgery. The top riders, especially at Tomac’s age, need as much preparation as they can get during the off-season. and he unfortunately wasn’t able to get enough, So, last year Tomac in many ways raced himself into race shape in the early rounds, and never really was able to challenge for the 2024 title. Not to mention, a thumb injury brought an early end to Tomac’s SX season last year, and caused him to miss most of the Pro Motocross Championships. However, when Tomac did return to racing at Budds Creek this past August, he was fit, healthy, and motivated to get back to the top step of the podium. He was very fast in the SMX playoff rounds in September, he was a beast at the MXON in October, and he dominated the WSX Series in November and December. I believe that Tomac is more prepared than ever before as he enters what will most likely be his final season of professional racing. Throw in that experience that I was talking about earlier, and Tomac could be the rider to hold up the championship trophy in May. Tomac has done everything right since he returned to racing, so I hope he’s able to remain healthy and find success in 2025.
Chase Sexton:
Of the big three, Chase Sexton is the rider with the biggest question mark surrounding him, and it’s not because of him! If you watch his Vlog Series on YouTube you will see that the off-season has been good to Sexton. He did his usual boot camp with Peter Park in Santa Barbara, he’s been testing and training in both California and Florida, so he looks even more ready to race and win then he did at this time last year. The problem is that for the past few months the company that Sexton races for has been facing some very challenging times. You have to wonder how this has affected the KTM Factory Team in the USA, it’s riders and team members. Sexton hasn’t mentioned anything in his videos, and in his most recent one, he and his team are busy testing in Florida. It makes me think that while the companies financial issues are affecting KTM race teams and events all over the world, including here in Canada, it has been decided that the USA Factory Team will continue as normal, and the riders are unaffected. We shall see if this affects Sexton mentally once the season gets underway. Even if you’ve been told that your job won’t be affected, it has to be at very least, a little troubling to hear that your main employer is not doing well. Hopefully, Sexton is able to block all of this negativity out and go win some races. If Chase can get on a roll early in the series, he will be hard to beat in the second half of the series!
In sticking with some more SX news, how about FXR Racing partnering up with the Triumph Factory Racing Team for 2025. This is FXR’s first partnership with a Factory Race Team in the USA, so they must be extremely excited. The long and steady ascent of the FXR brand in motocross and supercross has been fun to watch. From their early days helping out a few Canadian riders and teams, to their long and successful partnership with the MX101 Yamaha Team, to their introduction to the USA market not that long ago when you think about it. From there, we saw popular Vet riders like Broc Tickle, Kris Keefer and Mike Brown begin wearing FXR gear exclusively. The ClubMX Yamaha Team was next in line to be a part of the FXR vision, and now the brand has expanded to include the Triumph Factory Team. It’s pretty amazing what this Canadian born company has managed to accomplish with motocross in the past two decades. Congratulations to Milt, Andy, and the entire FXR Family, we cannot wait to see what is next, and also how riders like Austin Forkner are going to look in 2025!
Finally this week, in some Canadian race team news, the Priority MX Team has switched from KTM to GASGAS for 2025. The team announced this last week, and will be led by top 450 class and 250 class riders Tanner Ward and Wyatt Kerr heading into 2025. The team will also have support from Parts Canada and will wear Thor gear in 2025. Congratulations to Peter Knoop on what he’s been able to build during the past few seasons. It looks as though 2025 could be the best year to date for the Priority MX Team.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year’s Eve, as well as a great start to 2025. Thank you for tuning in each week to read my Yamaha Motor Canada Gate Drop Column. I’m looking forward to the new year and everything that comes with it, both personally and professionally. Also, thank you to all of my partners who have supported me during my second year of owning MXP Media, I obviously couldn’t do this without them. Finally, thank you to my wife, who edits this column each week, and to my son, who will definitely be playing a bigger role on mxpmag.com in 2025. Happy New Year everyone!
