Greetings! Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope the opening few days of 2025 have been great for you. It’s hard to believe that we are now into a new year, with a lot of new adventures on the horizon. So, before I get into the first Monday Gate Drop Column of 2025, I hope the year ahead is a safe and successful one for you and your family.
This is by far the biggest week in our sport as we countdown the days until the opening round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series in Anaheim. If you’re one of the riders lining up this weekend at Angel Stadium, then you’re beyond excited for the gate to drop and for racing to begin. After months of preparation on and off of the bike, the riders just want to race. If you’re part of a team or part of the series, then this week is probably a stressful one as you’re busy taking care of some last minute tasks. Either way, the anticipation is at an all-time high for everyone as we get ready for Anaheim 1.
Thankfully, Southern California is in the midst of a week of sunny weather, so there is no need to worry about any rain for this weekend in Anaheim. This is great news as the last thing anyone wants is a wet opening round. As I have mentioned a few times over the past few weeks, I am picking Jett Lawrence to win this weekend. After a somewhat mediocre off-season which saw him suffer a crash in one the main events in Paris, and then another get off in Australia in late November, we haven’t heard much from Jett for the past month. My feeling is that once he returned from Australia and got himself healthy (remember he sounded very sick while in Australia), Jett and his HRC Team have really buckled down during the past 30 days to get everything right heading into 2025. From the sound of things, Jett wasn’t completely happy with the new 2025 CRF450R when it came to his SX set-up, so he and his team had some work to do. Only time will tell, but I’m assuming the HRC Honda will be firing on all cylinders this weekend. Remember, Jett isn’t just getting used to a new bike and chassis, he’s also had to deal with the team now using GET ECU’s, and ETS Fuel. As we’ve seen in the past, whenever a team makes one small change it can greatly affect how a rider feels on the bike. For 2025, Jett and Hunter have had to figure out an entirely new set up on their CRF450R’s.
Speaking of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Series, we will have multiple Canadians to cheer for both on the track and off of the track. Cole Thompson will be our main guy as he is once again lining up in the 250SX West class. Cole will be once again racing for the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Solitaire Yamaha Team, and will be wearing FXR Racing gear. Cole is coming off a solid off-season in which he finish second overall in SX2 Australian SX Championships, and third overall in the WSX Series. Unfortunately for Cole, the 2025 250SX West Series looks stacked right now with names like Deegan, Shimoda, Forkner, and Kitchen, so the pace inside the top ten in these opening rounds is going to be very quick. However, I like Cole’s speed, as well as his experience heading into 2025. We will also have some of our young riders on the line this weekend as Blake Davies, Preston Masciangelo, and Julien Benek are ready to go. Obviously, all three riders are young, and with a stacked 250SX West class, just making the main event is going to be challenging. But, when you’re young and hungry and willing to learn, good things can happen. The first thing our riders need to do is remain healthy for these opening rounds. For a new rider to SX (Benek has raced this series before so he has some experience), the hardest thing to adjust to is, the amount of riding you have to do on race day. Between practice, two qualifying sessions, and then most likely an LCQ, racing SX isn’t just tough on the body, but also on the mind. Every time you hit the track you have to be locked-in mentally and ready to go. There aren’t too many moments of rest, and obviously one mistake can lead to a big crash. Not to mention the amount of laps you’re doing during the week at a less than perfect SX practice track. As I said, when you factor all of this into the equation, remaining healthy is a challenge, especially for a young rider. Racing the opening round in Anaheim is the coolest thing in our sport, so good-luck to all of our Canadian riders, including Guillaume St-Cyr who is also racing this weekend in Anaheim. Like Cole Thompson, St-Cyr has been a staple in the USA SX Series for the past several years.
Moving on from Supercross and onto my Year End Awards that I put together last week. Here is the link to the story in case you missed it. Anyway, I have one more award to give out and that is the 2024 Triple Crown Series of the Year. This was probably the toughest category as I could pick out something I loved from all eight rounds of the 2024 series. Calgary was great as the Wild Rose MX Park crew always do a great job. It was also great to kick off the series in Calgary, and I’m glad to hear Wild Rose will host the opening round again this summer. Round 2 in Lethbridge was pretty good in my opinion, and I wish the series was going back there in 2025. The track crew at Round 3 in Manitoba certainly saved the day after a massive overnight storm left the track under water. Once the series moved east, Gopher Dunes was amazing and challenging as always. Derek Schuster and his crew always do an amazing job at making the track difficult, while making the Gopher Dunes facility look amazing. The Sand Del Lee crew had to battle Mother Nature in the days leading up to the race. However, by the time the gate dropped on the motos, the SDL track was in great shape, and was probably the roughest track of the series in 2024. Riverglade Raceway was an entertaining round, as the riders and massive crowd loved the new track changes. Deschambault was incredible as always, and fans there were treated to local hero Kaven Benoit winning the opening 250 moto. However, when I factored all of that, including the battles we witnessed on the track, my pick for the National of Year in 2024 was Round 8 at Walton Raceway. Not only was the track in great shape for the final round, but we also were able to watch Dylan Wright make his return to racing in the 450 class, as well as the final moto battle (for the title) between Kaven Benoit and Drew Adams. The old guy vs the kid, the Canadian vs the American, whichever way you wanted to spin it, that final moto was the best of the series, as well as an unforgettable moment in Canadian moto history. In the end, Benoit won the 250 Championship by just two points over Adams. It was an amazing day of racing and that is why the final round at Walton Raceway is my pick for National of the Year for 2024.
Well, that it is for me this week. Like everyone, I’m excited for the opening round of SX this weekend in Anaheim. There is just something special about Supercross, Angel Stadium, and Anaheim California. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been to multiple opening rounds of SX in Anaheim during the last thirty years. My first one was in 1984 when one of my hero’s Johnny O’Mara won the main event. It is an amazing event and one that everyone should try to experience at least once in their lives. As I said, my picks are Jett Lawrence in the 450SX class, and I’m going to go with Levi Kitchen in the 250SX West class. Thank you for reading and good luck to our Canadian riders this weekend in Anaheim. Finally, I’m not a Vince Friese fan, but don’t forget that Caden Lee will be spinning the wrenches for Vince this season, so I feel like we have to cheer a little for Vince. If you have any questions or comments please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
