Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Wyatt Waddell is a young rider from British Columbia with endless potential. A multi-time amateur champion, Waddell has been training hard during this off-season and is ready to make his pro debut this Spring. Not only is he moving up to the premier class in motocross but Wyatt is also changing brands from red Hondas to blue Yamahas. For 2016, he will race the very potent YZ250F in the MX2 Pro class and he couldn’t be more excited. We caught with the young BC speedster for this week’s Yamaha Motor Canada Rider Profile.
Wyatt Waddell looks great as he stands with his brand new GA Checkpoint Yamaha.
MXP: Hey Wyatt, hope everything is going well. What is going on today?
WW: Not a whole lot actually, just had an average day at work, and then I took advantage of the one sunny day we’ve had here in a while and went for a road bike ride.
MXP: Nice, a little outdoor training. How has your winter been?
WW: Pretty good, I did a couple of the Future West AX races where I felt like I did pretty good for the amount of seat time I had. Other than that, I’ve just been working full time in construction since the summer trying to save enough money to hopefully head down south soon.
MXP: This is a big year ahead for you, have you been on any type of off-season training program?
WW: I just recently hired myself a personal trainer and got going on training again. My job is pretty physical so I like to think I’ve been maintaining some fitness (laughs). I also started playing some drop-in ice hockey twice a week, which is something fun and different.
MXP: Before we talk about this coming season, how was your 2015?
WW: Last season wasn’t the best year for me, with high school graduation, my family building a new home, and having started a full time job at the beginning of summer. It didn’t leave me a lot of time on my bike or time to train, but I had a few okay results. I actually had my dry grad event that ran all the way through the night and into the morning. This meant that I went straight from there to bike tech in Kamloops for Round 1 of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. That was not the greatest timing for a grad event, but I made do with the circumstances and managed a 22nd overall finish in Kamloops. I then followed that up in Nanaimo with 17-DNF due to a flat tire. I then went to Calgary where I suffered another flat tire in Moto 1 and then I had a bad Moto 2. After all that I managed to earn national #91.
I then went back to full time work leading up to the Walton TransCan where I went to race the final amateur race of my career. I didn’t have the best results there and wished I had prepared a lot more. However, I did the best I could and feel that it motivated me to become better and work harder. In the Future West AX Series I managed to mix it up and run up front with the top guys in Pro class, and feel I gained a lot of experience. Hopefully I can carry that into 2016 and have a great season.
MXP: The young rat pack of riders are going so fast right now in Canada. Why do you think there’s such a good group of young and fast kids right now?
WW: I feel like, for one, bikes are getting better every year and just a lot of people are starting to really step up and get behind us young kids. That’s what we’re all looking for at our young age, a solid group of people to believe in and support us. Parents have started funding kids for coaching and training at a younger age, which I think has made a big difference as well. It also seems our sport here in Canada is starting to really change for the better. It seems to be getting more attention and is growing. So that being said, I’m really excited to see where our sport will be in five years from now and beyond.
MXP: I think you’re correct, our sport has never been better for educating our younger riders. Okay, let’s talk about 2016. As of last week you’re going to be riding a Yamaha this season.
WW: Yes, I’m on a Yamaha now! I’m really excited for 2016. I haven’t ridden it yet because we tore the suspension off right away and sent it out to MB1 Canada to get it dialed in for me, but I can’t wait to get on the thing. I don’t know if it’s the blue or what but they look so cool.
After a busy summer in 2015, Wyatt competed as a Pro in the Future West Canadian AX Series and was able to get some good results. Photo by James Lissimore
MXP: Well, first off, congratulations. It’s always exciting when you switch to a new brand. How did this deal come about?
WW: Well, it all started at the first weekend of AX in Chilliwack. The second night of racing I had a good start in the one main event and ran in the top three for about half the race, eventually finishing in 5th. Since there were 26 guys that tried to qualify and with it being one of my first times racing pro in arenacross, I was pretty stoked with that result and a lot of people were stoked for me. Ed Wagstaff was one of those people and we told him we were thinking of switching brands. Well, knowing Ed’s history with bringing up guys like Beaton, Wiebe, and Knowles, we figured him and GA Checkpoint Yamaha would be a good fit for us. He said he could put together a good deal so we were definitely interested. With the one shop being located in Abbotsford it makes it a lot it easier on my Dad and I to order parts, etc…
With my family running a business seven days a week and not having a lot of time to to work on bikes, it made for a great deal of stress in 2015 for those last minute part orders. That was really the main reason we left Cycle North. They were great to us and I couldn’t thank them enough for everything they did for me, but switching to a more local shop makes it a lot less stressful for us. Trying to sell bikes for a shop that’s ten hours away also isn’t very easy and we felt that wasn’t fair to them. So I look forward to riding for a local shop and I’m excited for 2016.
MXP: Well that sounds like it makes perfect sense. Sometimes it’s hard to switch brands, but you must be excited.
WW: Yes, it can be difficult to switch brands but I have ridden many different brands over my career and seem to adapt to things quickly so I am not too worried about it. I’m really excited to get out and learn this bike, though. I raced a YZ125 a few years back and I really liked that bike. It’s a refreshing change as well to GA Checkpoint. I look forward to building a relationship with everyone there and progressing with them as a Pro.
MXP: What are your plans for the spring and summer?
WW: This spring my original plan was to head down south again around March, but with how bad the dollar is right now, I can’t really afford it. So I’ve decided to stay local, keep training with my trainer, and I plan to start doing some riding with Kyle Beaton as soon as the weather gets nicer and dryer here. For the summer, I plan to do all the local races and just the first four Nationals. Being my rookie pro year, we want to be smart, save money, and really put on a good showing at those four races. Then I plan on doing the full series in 2017. However, if I was given a good opportunity to do the full series this year I would.
MXP: What type of results would make you happy?
WW: For the Pro nationals I want to be a top 15 guy in each moto. Considering my best finish was a 17th last year I feel this is a realistic goal. Especially with how much more training, effort, and preparation I plan to put into this year I’d be happy with that, or even better. Once the summer comes to an end I want to carry that momentum back into AX where I want to be top 5 and challenge for podiums.
While working hard and saving his money this winter, Wyatt has enjoyed watching his Fox teammate Cole Thompson compete in the Monster Energy Supercross Series. Photo by Frank Hoppen
MXP: That sounds great Wyatt, you certainly have the talent to get the job done. Have you been watching SX? What are your thoughts on the series so far?
WW: Oh yeah, I’ve been watching SX every Saturday night. It’s been pretty exciting for the most part. Webb has been pretty quick and it’s been cool to see Savatgy get a couple wins, but such a bummer that he had that crash this past weekend. I’ve also been stoked to see Christian Craig doing so well; I love that guy’s style. Not very surprised that Dungey has been the man to beat. The race last weekend in Dallas was pretty exciting and it was good to see Roczen beat Dungey straight up. I’d love to see Jason Anderson get a few more wins and make it a three-way battle for the championship. Hopefully in a few years I’ll be at the level where I can go and ride a few rounds of SX. That would be a dream come true.
MXP: I hope you can make that dream come true and I hope you have a great 2016. Who would you like to thank?
WW: I’d like to say a big thanks to GA Checkpoint, Yamaha Canada, Foxhead Canada, MB1 Canada, Mongoose Machine, Rekluse Canada, 100% Goggles, Atlas, Matrix, Mechanix Wear, CTI Braces, Canine Country, Frontier Excavating, KBR MX Training, Unitech, my friends, family, and most of all my parents.
