Greetings! Welcome to this late June edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again brought to you by Yamaha Motor Canada. The Blu Cru caused quite a stir last week when they announced that their top 250 class rider Preston Kilroy would be moving up to the 450 class for the remainder of the 2026 Triple Crown Series. With Jess Pettis now confirmed out for the rest of the series, the MX101 Yamaha Team needed a 450 rider and Kilroy, despite being the current 250 class points leader and defending champion, was eager for this exciting opportunity. There is never a dull moment in this sport and you can always count on Yamaha to provide some exciting story lines.
Well, this past weekend in Quebec was an exciting one with great racing in all three classes. Saturday was also a Quebec Provincial round at the historic Ste. Julie track, so all weekend it felt like there was thousands of people hanging out. The weather was also nice with sun and warm temperatures. Actually, Sunday was quite hot as the east coast humidity rolled into the Montreal area, making it feel like 35 Celsius. With the track being soft and very rutted, it ended up being an extremely challenging day for the riders and teams. I’m not a big fan of the heat, especially in the days when I raced, but I feel like it was a good thing that it got so warm yesterday. As an athlete, you want to be as prepared as possible for every competition you enter. We all know that this coming weekend the race at Gopher Dunes is going to be hot, muggy, and tough on everyone. This past weekend gave the riders a little taste of racing in the heat and humidity and this should help their bodies acclimate to these extreme conditions that they will most likely face this weekend. Yesterday, was a near perfect summer round of the Triple Crown Series featuring a tough track, warm temps, great racing, as well as a big crowd. I know they say the West is best, but it sure felt good to be in the East for Round 3. Before I get into the juicy details of what went on this past weekend, as well as some of the news from last week, here is a short race report regarding what happened yesterday:
Round 3 of the Triple Crown Series took place in beautiful Quebec, and it not only kicked off the Eastern portion of this exciting series, but it also brought with it the first hot and humid round of 2026. With temperatures of over 30 Celsius and a very rutted and challenging race track, the riders at Round 3 were tested to the max as they battled for Canadian motocross glory.
After splitting wins at the opening two rounds of the WMX Series, Jordan Jarvis and Jamie Astudillo were anxious to renew their rivalry at Round 3. With this being the first time in the series that Jarvis didn’t have to make a late-night dash to Canada after racing the WMX race the day before in the USA, fans in Quebec were able to watch a fresh and precise version of the Dusty Rocks MX Yamaha rider. During both motos at Round 3, Jarvis and Astudillo weren’t more than a few seconds apart while battling for the lead. In the end, it was Jarvis coming out on top, with Astudillo finishing in second, and Kaylie Kayer grabbing the final spot on the podium.
With 250 Pro/Am class points leader Preston Kilroy announcing a move to the 450 class for the remainder of the season last week, his absence left the door wide open for one of four teenagers to step up and try to win this 2026 title. Ryder Malinoski, Kade Johnson, Dylan Rempel, and Vincent Wey have proven so far to be the 250 Pro/Am class leaders, and heading into Round 3, all four were ready to put on a show. As proven in life as well as in sport, sometimes you never know what you’re going to get from teenagers, and that was certainly the case in Ste. Julie. With multiple lead changes, tip-overs, and battles, the fans in Quebec were treated to some of the best racing of the series thus far. When the checkered flag was finally waved, it was Kawasaki rider Kade Johnson taking his first win of the series over points leader Malinoski, and Ontario Honda rider Dylan Rempel. Unfortunately, the fourth young rider in this group, Vincent Wey, suffered a hard crash in the opening laps of moto two, and was unable to remount and continue.
Heading into Round 3, the story surrounding the 450 class was all about one addition, and one subtraction. With Jess Pettis now out for the remainder of the summer with a knee injury, the MX101 Yamaha Team announced that their star 250 class rider Preston Kilroy would be moving up to the 450 class for the final six rounds. This interesting move certainly added some spice to this class as the gate dropped on Round 3. However, one rider who obviously didn’t pay attention to any of the pre-race story lines was GDR Honda rider Dylan Wright. As the temperatures rose and conditions became more challenging, Wright was at his absolute best on the Ste Julie circuit. He would go on to dominate both 450 motos, continuing his undefeated streak to begin the 2026 season. Behind Wright, KTM Canada rider Harri Kullas rode to a strong second, while the newcomer to the 450 class, Preston Kilroy, showed that he’ll have no trouble adapting to the bigger bike by finishing in third.
It was a great day of racing at Quebec’s oldest and most storied race track, and now the series moves to Gopher Dunes for Round 4, and what will no doubt be the toughest round of the series. Our three points leaders, Jarvis, Malinoski, and Wright, will be looking to prove once again why they’re worthy of holding the red plates in their respective classes. For all the information on the riders, points standings, as well as how to buy tickets for Round 4 at Gopher Dunes, please visit www.triplecrownseries.ca
As you see, there was a lot of action on the track at Round 3 of the Triple Crown Series. During the final 450 moto I decided to move from my usual watching spot on top of the hill overlooking the starting line, to walk around the track and see it up close. With Dylan Wright out front and pulling away, I thought it was a good time to go and check out some of the sections and see what the riders were dealing with. I honestly couldn’t believe how deep some of the ruts were in the corners. It was definitely a challenging track, and one that saw its share of crashes and strange occurrences. For instance, the 250 Pro/Am is going to be a barn burner for the remaining five rounds as we now have ( I mentioned this in my above race report) four young riders battling for this title. Last week, after hearing that Kilroy was moving up to the 450 class, I looked at the 250 class points standings and thought it would be an all out war between Wyatt Kerr (who at the time was sitting in 5th) and the four teens. Kerr in my opinion was in a solid spot to use his experience against the kids as surely they would be making some mistakes in the coming races. However, on Friday evening it was announced that Kerr had suffered a big mountain bike crash while riding during the week in Quebec, and was in the hospital with a lacerated liver and internal bleeding. Unfortunately, that puts Kerr out for an undetermined time and we wish him all the best in his recovery. During the two motos yesterday we saw three different leaders, multiple crashes, Vincent Wey crashing hard early in moto two and sadly not finishing, and Dylan Rempel doing some sole searching in between motos before coming back with a solid third in moto two after a bad start. You could say that we had a little bit of everything at Round 3, and for a few moments in both motos it appeared like no one wanted to win. Actually, it was more of a case of just wanting to win too much that caused so many mistakes at the front of the 250 class pack. Hopefully Wey is okay as he’s going in for further evaluation today back in Michigan, because this four-teenager battle for this 250 class championship is going to be so much fun to watch. After his win last year at Gopher Dunes, I’m picking Dylan Rempel to repeat this weekend. He needs to win both motos in order to get back into the points battle, and after slow start to the series, I believe he’s overdue for a big win.
Well, that is it for me this week. As I mentioned above, I hope that Wyatt Kerr is okay after his mid-week bicycle crash. Also, I hope Ontario rider Ben Mistelbacher is okay after his big crash yesterday in the second 250 moto. Finally, the Motovan Canada Rider of the Week is none other than GDR Honda rider Dylan Wright, who as I said above, completely dominated both 450 motos yesterday. I also liked the way Dylan was super patient in the early stages of the opening moto. With Sebastien Racine setting a blistering pace out front, Dylan sat back in 5th place waiting for his lines and speed to all come together. There was no panic, no signs of old school Dylan trying to force the issue, he just sat back and waited. When it finally felt right, he picked up his pace and within three laps he was out front and doing what he does best. It was fun to watch, but not as fun as it was to watch him enjoy a pastry while we conducted our interview at Social Media (@mxpmag). Thank you for reading and have a great week! Happy Birthday Canada on Wednesday, and to the USA on Saturday!
