Greetings! Welcome to this another edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, presented as always by the awesome crew at Yamaha Motor Canada. I will premise this week’s column by saying that since I am currently on a Mexican Vacation with my family, this one might be on the short side. Since my Dad passed away in December of 2023 my Mom hasn’t been travelling too much, so her and her youngest sister came with us to enjoy a week in sunny Mexico. The trip has been great so far and although it will be sad to leave tonight, it will be nice to return home and begin to make our final preparations for the 2025 MX race season.
As I mentioned above, the 2025 Ontario MX season begins in two weeks at Gopher Dunes. The AMO Racing Provincial Series has become a staple here in Ontario as each year they make improvements and keep things exciting, This season should be another exciting one as AMO Racing has Moto Park back on it’s race schedule, as well as several other new items that we’ll talk about in the coming weeks. Also, with my son racing in the Intermediate class in 2025, he can take advantage of the highly competitive and lucrative Pro/Am class, and be one of the riders chasing the King of Ontario Championship. This class not only will be very fast at the front of the pack, but will also be deep with competition right down the line up each weekend. If an Intermediate rider chooses to compete in this class, it will certainly give them a great taste of what it’s like to race against pro riders who are trying to earn money and put food on the table. As I said, it all kicks off on Easter weekend at Gopher Dunes!
Speaking of my son, this season he will be part of a new Honda team called The Guaranteed Comfort Racing Team. This team is also supported by Hanover Motorsports in Hanover, Ontario, a dealership managed by Dylan Wright’s former mechanic Brayden Kalte for 2025. While my son is the only amateur on the team, it will feature three pro riders; Zach Ufimzeff, Tyler Shewchyk, and Lars Van Berkel. Also, Quinn Amyotte will be getting some assistance this summer as he competes in the Triple Crown Series, although Quinn will be KTM mounted. The Guaranteed Comfort Racing Team has a lot of great sponsors for 2025, but this new team wouldn’t be able to exist without Chris Egan and Brayden, who together have a unique vision that hopefully will lead to success in 2025 and beyond. With support being hard to come by for top amateurs and pro riders who aren’t necessarily championship contenders (at the moment), our sport in Canada needs teams like the Guaranteed Comfort Racing Team. So, please give them a follow on IG (@guaranteedcomfort_racing) and make sure you come and say “Hi” at one of the rounds of the 2025 Triple Crown Series this summer. In the meantime, this team’s first race together will be at Round 2 of the AMO OPC Series at Auburn Hills Raceway in early May.
Now, onto the Monster Energy Supercross Series and the disaster that was Round 12 in Foxborough. I call it a disaster because, as much as I love that the SX Series travels to the NE part of the USA, trying to hold a race in the Boston area in early April is just asking for trouble, or pretty much what we saw on Saturday evening. This area of the USA is notorious for inclement weather during the first several weeks of April as the seasons transition from winter to spring, and it would’ve taken a miracle for the weather to be even close to rideable. Even if it hadn’t rained all weekend, there was very little chance of the temperatures being even close to 10 Celsius. Obviously, the availability of each stadium comes into play when making up the series schedule, but with Foxborough, Philadelphia, East Rutherford, and Pittsburgh all being football stadiums and the NFL being on their off-season, how booked up could they be? Also, going from Seattle to Foxborough for everyone involved in the series had to be a logistical nightmare. Imagine being a 450SX privateer rider who drives to each round? It’s great that the Monster Energy Supercross Series heads to iconic venues like Gillette Stadium, but maybe next year don’t do it on April 5th.
I don’t even know what to say about the racing in Foxborough as it was a mudder from start to finish. The only good thing to come out of races like this is that sometimes riders who don’t normally do well have a chance to finish well. With that said, how cool was it to see riders like Cullen Park and Gage Linville finish on the podium in the 250SX East Class. With more rain in the forecast for this coming week in Philly, who knows what will happen as Round 13 is also a 250 East/West Showdown. I can’t even imagine having to rebuild your bike this week, and then turn around and do it all over again this weekend in the City of Brotherly Love. When you see these conditions, it makes you wonder what happened to the rounds in Houston or Minneapolis? US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis would’ve been a far easier drive for everyone after last weekend’s Seattle SX, and it’s an indoor stadium in a good market. Anyway, I’m sure the individuals who make up the series schedule have a method to their madness.
When it comes to the 450SX class, I have officially cancelled my membership to the Chase Sexton fan club. I mean don’t get me wrong, I still love his riding and I hope he can still find a way to win this title, but the number of positions and the amount of points he has thrown away in main events since the beginning of February are staggering. Even on Saturday night, he was in a great position to make up points on Cooper Webb with two laps to go but, an off track excursion allowed Webb to catch up and make a last lap pass. Sexton ended up losing more points to Webb and now has a large hole to dig himself out of. Unless Webb makes a massive mistake in the next few weeks, this 2025 SX title is his. I hope the rumours are true and Sexton is going green in 2026 as he clearly hasn’t been happy in SX at least aboard his KTM. He needs a reset and I think he’ll find comfort on the Kawasaki KX450, a bike that is inherently stable and predictable. We shall see what happens in the coming months when Sexton announces where he’s going next year. If Sexton does leave KTM for greener pastures, then I can see KTM making a run at Justin Cooper for 2026 to ride along side Aaron Plessinger. I believe Cooper’s deal with Star Racing Yamaha is only year-to-year, and if Tomac is coming back next year, then they will most likely have to make room for him and of course Cooper Webb. I also believe that Justin Cooper will win a main event before this series is over! If he does, that will make him a highly sought after free agent in the off-season.
Well, that is it for me this week. It is now time for my family and I to board a plane and fly home to Canada. The weather forecast is calling for snow and -9 Celsius when we land tonight. Not exactly spring weather! My rider of the week is Gage Linville. Gage raced in Canada last summer and not only did he finish well, but he was also a really nice guy off of the track. If Philly is another mudder, perhaps Gage can grab another podium this weekend. That is it for me this week, I hope everyone has a great week and thank you for tuning in again this week. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
