Greetings! Welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again presented by Yamaha Motor Canada. It’s been a great year for the Blu Cru with championships in all levels of racing in Canada, although they missed out on the 450 Triple Crown Series title, Jess Pettis is currently immersed in SX training as he prepares for the 2025 Paris SX on November 15-16. Jess has a solid history indoors, and he’s very much looking forward to hitting the track at the iconic Paris SX. Jess has been riding SX in Ontario recently, and this week he will travel to the USA to complete his preparation. We will have all of the updates on Jess, including someone on the ground in Paris to document his weekend.
In two weeks is the Vancouver round of the 2025 WSX Championships, and I am so excited to announce that I’m travelling out west for this event, as well as the opening weekend of the West Coast AX Series in Chilliwack the following weekend. I haven’t been to Chilliwack since 2013, so I’m looking forward to seeing all of my west coast friends, as well as witnessing all of the hard work that Ryan Lockhart and Kyle Beaton have put into this new series. I will also be racing the Vet Class, so that should add a great exclamation mark to my week in BC. However, as I said, the first order of business will be the WSX event at BC Place in downtown Vancouver. This will be Round 2 of the WSX Championships as the opening round goes this weekend in Argentina. Cole Thompson will be there making his series debut on the Venom Bud Racing Kawasaki KX250. Cole will have some stiff competition, but he enters this series very well prepared after two months of training, and competing in Australia just last week. Also, on the starting line in the SX2 class will be Noah Viney, who is coming off a solid summer in Canada racing for the GDR Honda Team. Viney is a SX specialist who also raced the WSX series last year, so he should be confident heading into the opening round.
However, all eyes will no doubt be on Haiden Deegan as he will be making his 450 SX debut this weekend. Obviously, the world is looking forward to seeing how Deegs handles the big 450 in the tight confines of SX, and how his aggressive, high throttle revving style is suited to SX. If we go by the videos he’s posted from the Star Racing facility last week, he looks exactly like he should at this stage of his switch to the 450. I know it’s hard to know when it comes to this kid, but I think we have to keep things in perspective. Just last month in the SMX Championships, Deegan wasn’t even the best 250 rider on the track, so to think that he’s going to jump on a 450 and smoke riders like Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Eli Tomac, and even his teammate Justin Cooper, could be a stretch. But, you never know where all of these riders stand in their preparation right now. I mean, Tomac will have only been on his new KTM for a few weeks, so he will no doubt still be in the testing stage. I’m actually surprised that Tomac is even racing the first two weekends of the WSX Championships. Unless he’s been testing the KTM for weeks in seclusion, and is ready to race? We shall see, but it all gets underway this weekend in South America.
Here in Canada, our silly season is wide open as rider announcements are happening almost on the daily. The latest was this morning as the Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing Team announced that Dylan Rempel has officially joined the team as their sole 250 rider in the Triple Crown Series. Dylan is coming off a breakthrough season in the 250 class as a member of the KTM Canada Factory Team. With Ryder McNabb announcing (two weeks ago), that he’s taking a step back from racing, the GDR Honda Team needed a 250 rider that could challenge for a championship in 2026. Dylan certainly fits this criteria as he appears as ready as anyone to try and dethrone Preston Kilroy next summer. With Rempel all locked up as a red rider, we turned our attention to Quinn Amyotte, as last week it was announced that he had signed with the Priority MX Thor GASGAS Team for two years. This was a dream scenario for Quinn, as he not only deserved to be on one of the premier teams again, but that he also seems to really gel with the steel-frame Austrian bikes. It’s a win-win for both parties, and we cannot wait to see Quinn under the Priority MX tent next summer at the opening round in Calgary. Also signed (but not yet officially announced) is Sebastien Racine going to the WLTN Kawasaki Team as their 450 rider in 2026 and 2027. Since the off season began, Sebastien made it quite clear that he wanted to move up to the 450 class and challenge for a championship. After his solid summer in the Triple Crown Series, as well as his great rides at the MXON last month, Racine had multiple options heading into 2026, including an offer from his now former team, the MX101 Yamaha Team. But, Racine chose the WLTN Kawasaki Team, and under that tent, he will be their #1 rider in the 450 class. I think this is a solid move for Racine, and I think he’ll be a podium rider in 2026. As we saw this past summer, anything can happen, and if you’re consistently on the podium, then good things will happen. Right Phil! Finally, with Rempel going from KTM to Honda, where does that put the KTM Canada Factory Team? Well, over the past week we’ve heard a few names who fit what KTM is looking for as far as a 250 rider. However, it appears that they’ve settled on the young snocross sensation Crayden Dillon to join their program. I was surprised when I heard this, simply because I know snocross is quite the lucrative endeavour for Crayden during the winter, as he’s one of the top stars of the sport in the USA. In talking to him this past summer, he told me that while he loves racing dirt bikes, he was treating it more like a pass time to remain in shape for snowcross, rather than a full-time commitment. However, I assume that when KTM came calling, it was simply an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. I like Crayden, and I think he has a lot of potential in the 250 class with this incredible new support from KTM Canada. Finally, I haven’t received an official press release yet, but there appears to be a new team joining the Triple Crown Series in 2026. The Dusty Rocks MX Yamaha Team is all set to go with Noah Porter on a 450, Liam Dodds on a 250, and Chase Nemeth in the Pre-Mix class. I cannot wait to hear more about this exciting new Yamaha Team from the West Coast, in the coming weeks and months.
Well, that is it for me this week. As I mentioned above, I am very excited to fly out to BC and hang out there for a week. My flight leaves early on November 15th, so once I land I will head straight downtown for the WSX event at BC Place. I hope everyone has a great week ahead, as we welcome in November. Finally, my Motovan Canada Rider of the Week is Bill Van Vugt, who took home the plus 80 class championship at the World Vet Nationals this past weekend at Glen Helen. Bill is a true legend and a gentleman, and I hope I’m still able to ride and race when I’m his age! Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
