Yamaha Motor Canada Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. With this being the final Gate Drop of the year, everyone at Yamaha Motor Canada as well as all of us at MXP Magazine would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year and a safe and successful 2020.

Well, here we are! Tomorrow evening we will say farewell to one decade and we’ll welcome in another. It’s hard to believe we’ve blown through ten years so fast as just yesterday it felt like it was 2010. However, nothing moves faster than the hands of time, especially when you’re having fun. When we look back at the past decade and all that has happened in our sport, it really begs for the question: what will we see in the next decade?

During the past decade we’ve definitely seen our bikes become very advanced. Hydraulic clutches, incredible suspension, and fuel-injected two-strokes are just a few of the cool things that the OEM’s have done.

If we go back ten years we all remember that our sport had successfully made the change from two-strokes to four-strokes and the OEM’s were in the process of refining their four-stroke platform. Fuel-injection had just been introduced on most models and OEM’s were also finding ways to make their bikes lighter. Even though we had just gone through a major recession, it was an exciting time in motocross as our now streamlined industry was more focused than ever. Just think for a minute about all of the technological advances that have been introduced in the past decade, both with our motorcycles as well as the gear we wear. If you’re one of the lucky ones who have or are going to go out and buy a new 2020 dirt bike, think of how much better your bike will be compared to a 2010 model. Maybe it won’t be night and day better but it will most certainly be greatly improved. Also, one part of our sport that has come back in recent years is our consumer’s thirst for two-strokes again. Ten years ago they were fading fast into history, but now, thankfully, they’re back. Some OEM’s are not just talking about refinements but also major improvements. I mean, if you had told me ten years ago that KTM and Husqvarna were going to release a fuel-injected two-stroke I would’ve probably said you were crazy. But there I was a few years ago riding a KTM fuel-injected two-stroke in Austria at the famous Erzberg Mining Facility. Of course, everything these days comes with a more expensive price tag as ten years ago I also would’ve had my doubts that in 2020 a 450 dirt bike would cost over $10,000. I sure hope everyone has had a great decade and let’s all hope the next one is even better.

As of the right now the weather looks great for the opening round of SX at Angel Stadium. Photo by James Lissimore

First up in the new year is of the opening round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series in, hopefully, sunny and warm Anaheim, Ca. This past season we watched in awe as Cooper Webb, who at the time had just switched from Yamaha to KTM, slowly built some much needed confidence in the early rounds before outlasting Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin to win the 2019 450 SX title. It was Webb’s first ever 450 SX Championship, and judging by the way he managed the stressful series, it most likely won’t be his last. But will he be able to defend his title and make it two in a row in 2020? It will definitely be difficult as in the past, champions have had a hard time repeating the following year. To me, though, Webb seems like a different breed than most, and now that he’s figured out how to win and close out a 450 Championship, he may just pick up where he left off in May. It will be up to the rest of the field to find a way to beat him. Whether it was his switch to KTM or his work with famed trainer Aldon Baker, Webb looked like a different rider in 2019. As we witnessed on more than a few occasions, he could win by leading the main event early, or he could come from behind and win. With his fitness now solidified, Webb isn’t afraid to ride as hard as he can for 20 laps. Once a rider has the confidence to know that regardless of what happens early in a race, they can ride any way they want and not get tired, it’s a huge weight lifted off of their shoulders and it really frees them up mentally. In the past Webb has admitted that he would always ride with caution in the early part of the race to ensure that he had something left for the second half. However, once he began training with Baker and his teammate Marvin Musquin, he didn’t even think about the possibility that he might tire in the later laps of a main event. I cannot wait to see what Webb does in 2020, and I’m even more excited to see what his competition has done to improve their game heading into 2020. Riders like Tomac, Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Blake Baggett all have to be better if they want to dethrone Webb. Let’s not forget journeymen riders like Justin Brayton, Malcolm Stewart, and Chad Reed. Finally, I think that if rookie 450 rider Adam Cianciarulo is able to get through the early rounds in one piece, he will be a big threat to win as the series rolls on. We’ll have to wait until the 2020 series heads east in February before we’re able to get a true sense of which rider or riders are serious contenders for this title. With no Jess Pettis or any other Canadian rider entered for the opening round in Anaheim, the most notable Canadian connection is Cade Clason in the 450 class. He will be #280 on a PR-MX Kawasaki.

Jess Pettis is doing great and is looking forward to racing SX again in the future. Photo by James Lissimore

Speaking of Jess Pettis, I had a quick chat with him via test message and he had this to say about how his knee is feeling and how he feels when he looks back to his 2019 SX results.

“The knee is feeling really good and the rehab has been going great. I’ve been pretty quiet about it, and just focusing on doing everything I can to help the process. It’s pretty much feeling normal, but as everyone knows it’s a long rehab and going to take time to heal it right. When I look back at my 2019 Supercross results, it motivates me more than anything to get back out there. I feel it all went by so quick when I was in the grind of the Supercross season, but it’s cool to look back and see the love and support I had from Canada. I’m bummed I won’t be lining up at A1, but I strongly believe I’ll be back out there and pick off where I left last season. Thanks for checking in and Happy New Year to everyone.”

Well, that is it for me this week and my final Gate Drop of 2019. What a year it’s been both personally as well as professionally. As with everyone, I’m looking forward to see if I can make 2020 even better. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading MXP Magazine as well as this column during the past year. In the ever changing landscape that is the sport of motocross, covering it from a media perspective is an honour and I cannot wait to see what stories come up next year. Happy New Year from all of us at MXP Magazine!!