Greetings! Welcome to the first summer edition of the Monday Gate Drop. Yes, the summer of 2025 is officially here and in Ontario at least, it came in like a lion this weekend with hot temperatures and humidity that we’re accustomed to experiencing in this part of Canada. Of course, it was a different story in South Western Alberta, over the weekend it was cool, wet, and snowy. Not exactly the weather you’d expect to see in late June in Alberta but, certainly not uncommon. As we look ahead to the final weekend of June, and the return of the Triple Crown Series, the forecast is looking very good for Montreal and the surrounding area.
Well, as I just mentioned the 2025 Triple Crown Series is not only back this weekend, but it’s also returning to one of the OG tracks of our National Series in Canada. The circuit in Ste. Julie has been around since the 1970s, and although it’s been in and out of the National schedule in the past 50 years, it is great to see it back for 2025. I’ve actually only raced this track once in my career and that was in 1997 when Ste. Julie hosted the opening round of the then CMRC Pro Nationals. I don’t recall too much from that day other than it was really hot, the first turn was very janky (a right-hand corner that turned 180 degrees back up a hill), and Blair Morgan smoked us all. Thankfully, the track (and the first turn) has gone through some significant changes over the years, and now, when the prep is good, it’s one of the best circuits in Quebec. Not to mention that it’s a stone’s throw from Montreal, so the location is excellent. So, after taking nearly two decades off, the famous Ste. Julie track is back, and if we believe everything we’ve heard thus far, the circuit itself, as well as the facility, is going to be better than it ever has been.
Let’s hope all of this proves to be true as we could be in store for some incredible racing this weekend at Round 3 of the 250 and 450 classes, as well as the opening rounds of both the Thor WMX East Series and the FXR Pre-Mix Series. All four classes should be exciting to watch as there will no doubt be some great battles for the lead. In the 250 Pro/Am class, there are only six points separating MX101 rider Preston Kilroy, and GDR Honda rider Ryder McNabb, and WLTN Kawasaki rider Dylan Walsh is just 19 points out of the lead. My overall belief is that while we may see riders like Dylan Rempel, Wyatt Kerr and Sebastien Racine periodically finish on the podium in these next few rounds, this series is going to be a battle between Kilroy, McNabb, and Walsh down the stretch. I mean, I’d love to see Rempel, Kerr and Racine not only finish on the podium, but perhaps get a moto win in the East. However, from what we saw out West (granted Kerr has been injured and we’ve haven’t seen him race yet), the top three, especially the top two are going very fast. One thing that will be exciting to see, is whether or not Walsh comes out swinging in the opening East rounds. I spoke to him last weekend before he flew back to California for a few days, and he told me that his back is starting to feel better, and he’s looking forward to being healthy and battling for moto wins in the East. Obviously, over the years I’ve heard a lot of riders tell me that exact thing heading into important races, and sometimes (I won’t mention names), I feel like some of those riders don’t believe what they’re saying. However, in Walsh’s case I got a sense that he truly believes that he can win races and challenge for this title in the East. I hope he’s right as I feel like adding a rider and personality like Dylan Walsh to the 250 Pro/Am class championship battle might just be one of the most entertaining things we’ve seen in a while. Having clawed and scratched his way around the World in search of MX glory, Walsh appears to have that old school mentality where he’d literally do anything it takes on the track to win! Whenever I’m talking to Walsh about racing, I’m reminded of an old Bob Hannah reference that a journalist made years ago when he wrote “if you give Hannah an inch, you could end up an inch shorter.” Maybe that is a bit extreme, but Walsh is as I said, an old school type rider who has seen it all and done it all in the years since he left NZ.
The 450 class is a similar story as during the opening two rounds we witnessed a Yamaha battling a Honda and a Kawasaki. Jess Pettis has certainly come out exactly the way he and his team expected him to so far in 2025. Jess looks smooth, precise, fit, and very confident so far in the 450 class. Currently, he has a 15-point lead over Phil Nicoletti and a 28-point lead over Dylan Wright with twelve motos remaining. The 450 championship is far from over as anything can happen, but Nicoletti and Wright definitely have some big holes to climb out of. Also, according to Ryan Lockhart who stated last week in his weekly 3 Q’s story on this web site, Dylan’s elbow will not be 100% when the gate drops this weekend. Considering how important your elbows are when riding a dirt bike, I can’t imagine trying to ride at the level that Dylan needs to in the coming weeks with a sore elbow. If Dylan’s elbow is still not 100%, then a track like the one he’ll race on this weekend, will be extremely challenging. With its ruts, tacky soil, and elevation changes, the Ste. Julie circuit is very taxing on a rider’s upper body as your constantly fighting to stay at the front of your bike. In contrast, the following two races at Gopher Dunes and SDL demand more out of rider’s legs as you try to remain out of the bumps and on top of the sand. So, if your Dylan, do you make sure to get through this weekend safe? Maximizing points (maybe going 2-2 or splitting moto wins with Pettis isn’t a bad thing), and then go for broke at GD and SDL, two tracks that Dylan has been almost unbeatable at in the past few seasons. Let’s say that is what happens in the next three races, that would roughly put Dylan 16 points or so back of Pettis with three rounds to go. Not ideal, but not terrible considering where Dylan currently is. On the flip side, if you’re Pettis then you want to do everything you can in the next three rounds to ensure that this title fight doesn’t come down to a two or three race showdown in late July and early August. Finally, if you’re Nicoletti then you’re happy that you made it through the opening two rounds on tracks you probably hated, and now it’s time to push your limits and try and at least get in between Pettis and Wright. Phil has a large fan base both here in Canada as well as in the USA, and they would erupt if their boy was able to find the top step of the podium in the coming weeks! In fact, something tells me that we all would be ecstatic as despite Phil’s sometimes abrasive demeanour on the surface, deep down he’s one of the great people of our sport. Anyway, the racing gets back underway this weekend in beautiful Quebec, and like everyone, I cannot wait.
This past weekend Gopher Dunes welcomed the FMSQ XC Series to its property, and with the heat and humidity, the riders obviously got quite the workout. We also witnessed a few of Triple Crown Series riders on the starting line as Quinn Amyotte came away with a solid 4th OA in the Pro Class, Blake Davies finished 10th OA, and WMX rider Kaylie Kayer won the Women’s class. The top rider of the day was none other than Tyler Medaglia who won the Pro Class once again in dominating fashion. Tyler is a beast and it’s great to see him still competing at such a high level in this sport. Hopefully, we get to see him line up at one or two of the Eastern rounds of the Triple Crown Series.
Finally, last week Yamaha released their 2026 YZ line-up complete with a very cool looking white 70th Anniversary edition in all of their big bike models. The YZ450F received the most attention with chassis, suspension, and a new hydraulic clutch. This bike was already great, and now it just became even better. Also, in sticking with Blu Cru news, make sure you check out both of their Beyond The Gate YouTube Series, as well as a very cool edit where Gypsy Tales spends 100 hours with Cole Davies of the Star Racing Yamaha Team. It’s very entertaining.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope to see everyone this weekend at Ste. Julie for round 3 of the Triple Crown National series. Thank you for reading my Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again sponsored by Yamaha Motor Canada. In closing, my pick for Rider of the Week goes to the above-mentioned Tyler Medaglia. He’s a legend in our sport, and I love how he just keeps going and going! Have a great week!
