Greetings! Welcome to this late December edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again brought to you by the awesome people at Yamaha Motor Canada. As we get ready to say good-bye to another year, if you go to Yamaha’s web site you can still catch the final days of their year end sales event. Current Offers – Yamaha Motor Canada
Well, as we all sit here on the eve of welcoming in yet another new year, I hope everyone can look back at 2025, and feel satisfied. It has most certainly been an interesting year in Canadian motocross, both in the Pro Classes as well as the Amateur Classes, and with all of the changes coming up next year, things could get even more interesting. On the Pro side of things, for the first time in a while we had both the 250 and 450 Triple Crown Series Championships won by Americans. Both Preston Kilroy and Phil Nicoletti stood on the top step of the podium when all was said and done at Walton Raceway in August. It wasn’t easy for either of them as they had to battle hard all summer long. Kilroy did grab control of the 250 series early, and then never really looked back. He did have some challenges from Ryder McNabb during the opening few rounds. Unfortunately, Ryder had to pull out of the series early with health issues, and from there Kilroy remained fast and consistent, and brought home his first Canadian title. As for Phil, his road to the 450 title wasn’t as easy, for the first half of the series he was pretty much a third place rider behind Jess Pettis and Dylan Wright. Even after Pettis and Wright crashed themselves out of title contention, Phil still had to play second fiddle to Tanner Ward, who rode brilliantly at Gopher Dunes and the following week at Sand Del Lee. However, when it mattered the most, Phil rose to the occasion, and achieved timely moto wins in Riverglade and Deschambault which gave him the red plate heading into the final round at Walton Raceway. From there, Phil rode smart in the final two motos of the series, and was able to get the job done. It was pretty remarkable summer for Phil Nicoletti as he gave a text book example on how to win a championship when you don’t start off a series as the fastest rider.
As I mentioned above, 2025 was an interesting year with a plethora of exciting stories for all of us to talk about. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my annual year-end awards story, so please stay tuned for that as it will be going live on Wednesday morning. Looking ahead to 2026, as we sit here now, both the 250 and 450 classes will be full of potential podium riders. In the 450 class, obviously MX101 Yamaha rider will be looking to take home another title. On paper right now, Pettis looks to be the favourite as he seems very comfortable and confident on his Yamaha entering the second year of his Blu Cru deal. As it has for the past several seasons, JP’s biggest competition in 2026 will most likely come from GDR Honda rider Dylan Wright. After two disastrous seasons in a row, I believe 2026 is the most important year of Dylan’s racing career thus far. Now, I know that sounds perhaps a tad dramatic, but when you look back at the past two years and all of the incidents that have happened, the pressure is definitely on to not have any of those happen in 2026. The big crashes, the mechanical issues, and some of the poor decision making all have to be erased from Dylan’s program this coming season. I’m not even saying that he needs to win back the 450 championship in 2026. I’m just saying that he needs a summer of safe and successful racing, with little to no drama, and 16 solid motos logged into his human computer. The good news is that it sounds as though Dylan is well on track to making this happen, so far he is having a good off-season. He’s been training hard (this isn’t new), he’s been working hard on getting his mind and body healthy, and his GDR Honda Team did a lot of testing through November and early December with their new MP1 Suspension. All signs are pointing to a solid comeback year for Dylan Wright in 2026!
So, with Pettis and Wright as clear favourites to lead the 450 class in 2026, if these two legends once again falter, the depth of riders who will be waiting to pounce could be the best we’ve seen in years. At the top of that list has to be Tanner Ward, who came up just short of winning his first-ever 450 title this year. I think when you combine his final moto at Walton Raceway with his sub-par performance at the MXON in October, you’re going to see a highly motivated Tanner Ward in 2026. I also believe that we’re going to see a more confident Tanner Ward in 2026, simply because he got a taste of winning this past season. Also, I like what Tanner is going to be doing in the early part of 2026. Tanner is down in Florida as we speak riding and training, and (more importantly) he’s planning on racing the Florida Winter Am Series through January and early February. I’ve said this a few times, but I wish more of our top pro riders would add this series to their off-season programs. Sebastien Racine is another rider who is going to be good on a 450 this coming summer. Racine signed with the WLTN Kawasaki Team back in November, and after watching him ride his new KX450 at my home track, there is no doubt in my mind that this kid is ready to challenge for podiums in 2026. Quinn Amyotte is another rider coming off a solid 2025 Triple Crown Series, and after signing with the Priority MX Thor GASGAS Team for 2026/27, he will be more motivated than ever to build on the success he enjoyed this past season. Finally, let’s not forget about riders like Daniel Elmore, young Blake Davies, Tanner Scott, and whatever other fast 450 riders show up to race next summer. It’s going to be an exciting 2026 season, and now all we have to do is count the days and months until the gate drops in early June.
Well, that is it for me this week, and for this year. I hope everyone has a very happy and safe NYE, and a solid opening few days of 2026. We are also less than two weeks away from both the opening round of the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Series in Anaheim, and the AMA Arenacross in Toronto. This past weekend NBC aired the SMX Preview Show, and even though it was the same old content as we always see during this time of the year, it was still good to watch and it definitely added to the excitement of the upcoming Supercross Series. Thank you for reading this weeks Monday Gate Drop Column, and thank you for all of your support in 2025. Happy New Year!
