Greetings! Welcome to another Monday Gate Drop column, once again presented by the incredible folks at Yamaha Motor Canada. My relationship with Yamaha Motor Canada is a long one, going back to 1989 when I first rode for them. In those days Mark Stallybrass was the Marketing Manager at Yamaha, and he put together a team that consisted of riders like Glen Nicholson, Kevin Moore, and Brad King. I was still an Intermediate rider in 1989, so I just received minimal support through the Kelly’s Motorcycle dealership in Brampton. Towards the end of that season I moved up to the Pro Class and rode for Yamaha until the end of 1994, when I switched over to Honda. I’m once again grateful for their support in 2025, and it should be an exciting year for both of us.
This is the weekend that Ontario riders have been looking forward to for several months as the gate will drop at the opening round of the 2025 AMO OPC Series at Gopher Dunes. With the weather being hit-and-miss so far this spring, Gopher Dunes is the perfect track for everyone to gather at on Easter weekend as you know the conditions are going to be solid. As of now, the forecast is calling for cooler temperatures, but the sun will be out. It will be a typical April race in Southern Ontario as the 2025 season kicks off. As we’ve seen in the past, there will no doubt be a solid turnout of riders this weekend at Gopher Dunes as everyone is primed and ready to get their race season underway. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see riders from as far away as Quebec and the Northern States of the USA in attendance this weekend. As for which Pro Riders will show up, I would expect to see the entire Priority MX Thor GASGAS Team there, as well as MX101 Yamaha rider Sebastien Racine, Quinn Amyotte will be there, and even GDR Honda riders Dylan Wright and Ryder McNabb. In short, the pro class will be deep with talent this weekend and it’s going to be fun to watch. I cannot wait to get to Gopher Dunes and catch up with my moto family, who I haven’t seen in months. As I mention, it’s going to be busy this weekend and classes are filling up. So, if you have signed up yet, here is the link to register:
Speaking of Gopher Dunes, the Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing Team went on Social Media blitz over the past week releasing a plethora of information on their three riders. Everything from how much money they make, to their favourite foods and music was put out there for everyone to see. Like most people I’m sure, I don’t need to know how much money Dylan Wright makes in salary from the team. I come from the old school thinking in that what a person makes in salary is more of a personal piece of information. However, in talking to team owner Derek Schuster this morning, he wanted to go full disclosure and let everyone out there get to know his riders, whether that be with how much they make, or what their favourite song is. I applaud Derek’s outside of the box thinking as he’s never been someone who is afraid of taking chances. If you’re a rider, other than results, the best way to further your popularity is to allow everyone to see your personality off of the bike. We’ve seen this work over the past several years through YouTube Vlogs with riders like Quinn Amyotte,, Haiden Deegan, and Dean Wilson (just to name a few). Releasing certain information on Dylan Wright, Ryder McNabb, and Noah Viney is a great way to allow fans to get to know and relate to these GDR Honda riders. This also opens the door to try and get some all-important exposure outside of the industry. Most of the riders in the Triple Crown Series have great personalities off the bike, and it would be great to see more of them. Now when you see Dylan Wright at the races you know his favourite sports team is the Ottawa Senators, and his favourite meal is Chicken Parmesan. As I said, with YouTube and Social Media it’s never been easier to allow everyone to get to know who you really are. Right now, my favourite YouTube Vlogs are Chase Sexton’s and Dean Wilson’s Grandpa Earl Vlogs, and also a few other NHL and aviation Vlogs. I am definitely a YouTube nerd in my spare time!
I mentioned Dean Wilson above. Well, he made his HRC Factory Honda debut this past weekend in Philadelphia, and while he was admittedly rusty, he rode well and made it through the 450SX main event. It was also great to see Chase Sexton hold on for the win over Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen. I officially leaped off the Sexton band wagon last week, so I couldn’t get too excited on Saturday evening. As of right now, I’m not jumping back on it as I need one more weekend of Chase riding the way he did in Philly. In his post-race interview Chase stated that other than a Triple Crown main event win, this was his first real main event in since Anaheim 1 back in January. I found that to be an insane stat, given how fast he’s been all series long. I hope Sexton can keep on winning and put more pressure on Webb heading into the final round in SLC. The good news for everyone is that this coming weekend the weather looks phenomenal for the New Jersey SX. In the 250SX East/West Showdown race in Philly, the talented New Zealand rider Cole Davies took another dominant win in front of his teammate Haiden Deegan. With all of the hype (good and bad) surrounding Deegan this season, how cool is it that a quiet kid from NZ, also known as the land of the long white cloud, has managed to solidify himself as the best 250SX rider in the Monster Energy Supercross Series. Right now, Davies is better than Deegan in all aspects of riding and racing, and in my opinion he’s the best young rider we’ve witnessed in the sport since Jett Lawrence in 2019. Unfortunately, Davies is still well behind Deegan in the 250SX West points standings, but with two rounds remaining anything can happen. Between Deegan’s run in with the law and polarizing personality, and certain riders underachieving, Cole Davies has been a breath of fresh air to the 250SX in class 2025. Finally, due to ongoing back issues, Cole Thompson was unable to line up in Philly, opting instead to try and get healthy for the final two rounds of the 250SX West Series. Trust me, having back issues is no joke, usually once they begin, they rarely disappear completely. Hopefully, this setback is only temporary for Cole and he can return to the series as planned in a few weeks.
My final piece of news this week comes from the world of Junior Hockey and the OHL Draft that took place on Friday evening. Young Brenner Lemmens, who lives just around the corner from Gopher Dunes, was drafted 4th overall by the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. Over the past several seasons, Brenner has been climbing the ranks in Minor Hockey in Ontario, and this past season he was the captain of the Toronto Red Wings U16 Team in the GTHL. Brenner’s Dad Terry was a former pro hockey player himself, so it really has been a family effort in guiding Brenner to where he is now. Brenner is also an accomplished racer, having competed at all of the major amateur events in Canada and the USA. Unfortunately, he will have to scale back his racing efforts to focus on staying healthy and training for his first season in the OHL. Congratulations to Brenner and the entire Lemmens family for reaching yet another milestone on the journey to hopefully one day playing in the NHL. Here is an article about Brenner in the Sarnia Observer Newspaper: Sarnia Sting first-round pick Brenner Lammens has high motor | The Sarnia Observer
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week, and I’d like to also wish everyone a Happy Easter this coming weekend. My rider of the week is Chase Sexton, who finally, I repeat, finally, put it all together and won a 450SX main event this past weekend in Philadelphia. Next Monday, my Rider of the Week will come to you from Gopher Dunes and the opening race of the season here in Ontario. Pitter Patter, let’s get at ‘er! Have a great week and thank you for reading!
