Yamaha Motor Canada Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. With the 2019 Walton TransCan happening this week, all eyes will be on our top amateur blu cru riders to see which one will win the final Yamaha Factory Ride Award. At the 2019 ECAN two weeks ago we saw MX101 Intermediate rider Jamie Powell win this prestigious award after some great riding. We cannot wait to see who will take home the honour this week!

Well, the week that amateur riders in Canada have been waiting for is finally here. With everyone arriving at Walton Raceway today and opening ceremonies taking place tonight, the 2019 Walton TransCan is officially upon us. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we watched riders like Ryder McNabb, Jake Tricco and Colton Facciotti take home wins at the 2018 TransCan. But time moves fast and here we are once again. Trying to predict who the story makers will be this year at Walton is almost as hard as predicting the weather. Ryder McNabb is back so most certainly the Supermini class will be one of the classes to watch this week. Their opening moto is late tomorrow so I’m sure a lot of eyes will be on these fast kids. Another impending battle will be in the Intermediate class as Jeremy McKie, Jamie Powell, Jacob Piccolo, as well a number of other fast riders will definitely be putting on a show. However, as much as these two classes we know will be entertaining, I can’t wait to see the unexpected stories that will unfold this week. If history is any guide, we will see a few riders come out of nowhere and take home some championships and really make a name for themselves. With all of the factory teams on hand all week to support the amateur riders, there will most certainly be a lot of eyes watching the action on the track. I’m heading over to Walton Raceway early this afternoon so MXP Magazine will be there all week long, bringing you all the stories you could ask for. Please check www.mxpmag.com daily for photos reports, race reports, as well as interviews. Also, don’t forget about our Social Media platforms, Instagram- @mxpmag Twitter- @mxpmagazine Facebook- mxpmag

Since I’m leaving very soon to travel to Walton Raceway, I wanted to do something different for this week’s Monday Gate Drop and for everyone who won’t be at Walton this week. For the past number of years, MXP Magazine has had the honour of building and publishing programs for both the pro national series as well as the Walton TransCan. At times it can obviously be a lot of extra work, but I love doing programs as it gives me the great opportunity to learn more about the event and the people behind them. I love that regardless of what job you do in this industry, you have to be passionate about both the sport and what you do, and very few people are as passionate as the people who put together our racing events. So, to celebrate the 2019 Walton TransCan, I will be posting some stories all week from the 2019 Walton program. The first is a story I composed about Colton Facciotti and his 19 years of coming to Walton Raceway. This Saturday will be the final pro national of his incredible career and what better track to do it at than one of his favourite national tracks. Thanks for the memories Colton, you’ve been one hell of a good pro and a great champion! Here is Colton’s Walton TransCan program story, and thanks for reading. Have a great week and good luck to everyone racing at Walton Raceway this week!

We’re sure that when many of you looked at this cover of the 2019 Walton TransCan you might have been curious as to why we chose Colton Facciotti? After-all, for years the rider that graces the cover of this program is the Rick Joesph Award winner from the year prior. So why break with tradition in 2019? Well, it’s pretty simple really, we figured that with this being Colton Facciotti’s final year of pro racing then it would only be fitting to give this multi-time Walton TransCan pro and amateur champion the tribute he deserves. Also, we chose this James Lissimore photo from 2018 as he exemplifies not only Colton’s fluid riding style, but also his fierce determination. Colton has admitted over the years that Walton Raceway is one of his favourite tracks as he loves the deep ruts and the soft tacky soil. Colton, thank-you for the memories and thank-you for being such a great role model at this event over the years.

Colton Facciotti’s Walton story began way back in 2000 when he travelled from his home in BC with Susan Harris and her group. Susan had been doing all of the pro nationals that year with a few BC kids and also helping out with hospitality for the Two Wheel Kawasaki Team. With Walton Raceway hosting the final round of the pro series in 2000, it was only fitting that Susan decided to have her BC kids race the TransCan. One of those likeable kids was a tall and lanky Colton Facciotti who at the time was racing in the supermini class. I was a member of the Two Wheel Kawasaki Team that year so I remember Colton hanging around our pit area and making us all laugh. Obviously I didn’t foresee the success that he was going to have in this sport in the years since, but his laid back demeanour was evident even back then.

As I said, Colton would introduce himself to everyone in 2000 by winning not only the 85-7-11 class but also the Supermini class, and then he would return the following year as an Intermediate to win the MX2 class. A year later he would enter the professional ranks and since then Facciotti’s career has been a blur of race wins and championships. Currently he’s a five-time 450 outdoor champion and he has the distinction of being the only rider to win the Walton pro national four times. Yes, Colton is the owner of five Walton Swords and we’re sure he would like to add a sixth in 2019. All in all, Colton’s TransCan success stands at a total of seven titles throughout his amazing career. Will he be back in a few years to win some more as a Vet rider? Probably not as the next time we see a Facciotti line up at the TransCan it will most like be his son Keegan.

Throughout his career Colton has always managed to carry himself with class. His success on the track has only been match by his role model status off of the track. With five pro championships he’s obviously enjoyed a lot of success. But he’s also suffered a few set backs with some very serious injuries. However, throughout those injuries Colton has remained resilient, proving that one of his greatest attributes is his ability to bounce back. During an interview late last year with his Team Manager Derek Schuster, I ask him what he thought was Colton’s biggest strength? Derek replied pretty quickly that Colton’s mental toughness has always amazed him. That doesn’t really come as any surprise as over the years mental toughness seems to be one thing that all of our champions share. However, when you consider that Facciotti is in a group with both Ross Pederson and Jean Sebastien Roy as the only riders to win five Canadian 450 championships, maybe these three legends have just a little more metal toughness than the rest.

So here we sit on the eve of Colton Facciotti’s final Walton TransCan as a professional. If all goes as planned then he will be crowned once again as Canadian 450 Champion, his sixth since 2008. His winning stats speak for themselves, as does his ability to face pressure head on and win when he has to. Colton Facciotti represents exactly what a Walton TransCan Champion should be. Someone who quietly takes care of their business on the race track, but is also the first person to congratulate a fellow competitor off the of track. These days Colton has come full circle to the days of his parents taking him to local races. A few months ago when Walton Raceway hosted a round of the AMO Ontario Provincial Championship Series, Colton was here with his young family making sure his son had everything he needed to have a successful race day. So if you happen to see Colton Facciotti walking around Walton Raceway this weekend, make sure you go up to him and just say “thank-you” for all he’s done in our as well as for our sport. We hope Colton enjoys this Program cover and we’d like to wish him the best of luck in whatever the future holds. Once again thanks for the memories Colton, you’ve made the sport of motocross a better place to be!