Yamaha Motor Canada Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. This past week a number of Yamaha Blu Cru riders had some great results at the 2019 Walton TransCan. Ben Kongmany, Julian Benek, Wyatt Kerr and Jeremy McKie are just some of the Bu Cru riders who found success at Walton Raceway. When the week of racing was complete it was Jeremy McKie who took home the final Yamaha Factory Rider Award of 2019. What a season it has been for Canada’s Blu Cru contingent of riders and they couldn’t have done it without an incredible brand like Yamaha.

So as I mentioned above, the 2019 Walton TransCan is now a part of Canadian motocross history. After an amazing five days of racing in West Perth County, Ontario, Canadian National Champions were crowned in every class from 50cc up to the 450 pro class. All week long there were entertaining battles in almost every moto, and for the first time in a long time, Mother Nature was very kind to everyone at Walton Raceway. Other than a few minutes of rain on Thursday afternoon and then again on Saturday morning, the weather was almost perfect for the entire week. What a difference twelve months makes as last year there was heavy rain on numerous occasions throughout the week into Saturday’s pro day. The Walton TransCan needed a fairly dry week and they got it this time around.

My week at Walton Raceway started off like any week at the TransCan with Monday sign-up and the KTM Track Walk. Once again this year both Eve Brodeur and Tanner Ward helped me out with it and I think all of the young KTM riders had fun. After that it was time for the opening ceremonies, and then Tuesday was all about practice and learning how to try to go fast on the challenging Walton Raceway track. With both my son and I racing this year, everything was just a little busier and a lot more stressful on my side of things. Don’t get me wrong, I love that my son and I are able to compete at the same events sometimes, but for me at least, everything feels just a little more intense when we are both racing. I go from just worrying about him to having to worry about both of us. I don’t mind doing this at the odd event but I certainly couldn’t do it every weekend. Anyway, I did appreciate the well wishes from everyone when they saw that I was indeed racing this year and trying for a fifth +40 TransCan title.

On Tuesday afternoon my son actually had his opening moto as the Supermini class blasted off of the gate at 5pm. Along with the 250 Intermediate class as well as the Schoolboy 12-17 class, the Supermini class is my favourite to watch as these kids are just flat out flying. This year it was once again Ryder McNabb taking the overall win, however he had his hands full in all three motos with USA rider Ryan Canaguier and Sebastien Racine. This class provided some incredible racing and it felt like everyone who was there made sure they were at the fences watching. As I said above, it was the same for the 250 Intermediate and Schoolboy classes as well. When all was said and done Jeremy McKie once again won the Bronze Boot Award as the rider who scored the most overall points for the week. McKie narrowly beat out Ontario Junior rider Kobi Cox who also had a dominating week at the TransCan. After crashing last year and breaking his collarbone at the TransCan, Kobi came back this year, won two titles and finished third in his other class. Now that is a great week of racing!

As for my week at Walton, I ended up winning the +40 class on my Husqvarna FC450. I honestly love this bike, and as I mentioned on the podium, that is one of the reasons why I decided to race the TransCan this year, to see what this incredible bike would be like in race conditions. Well, it definitely didn’t disappoint, and my Husqvarna worked great all week long. My family had a great week. The most important thing was that we left just as healthy and happy as when we arrived. Between my son and I and our combined nine motos, we only had one small crash and that was me during my second moto. So it was most certainly a fun and safe week for us.

On Friday night we actually had to leave Walton Raceway as my brother was getting married in Calgary on Saturday afternoon. Since we had an early flight out on Saturday morning I was forced to miss the pro day at Walton for only the second time in my life. I hated to leave and miss the final round of the 2019 MXTour, but family is family and I couldn’t miss what is hopefully my brother’s only wedding. As we travelled west on Saturday I did keep a close eye on what was happening at Walton Raceway. It was cool to see the GDR Honda Team close out what has been an incredible summer of racing. Dylan Wright has been on fire all season long and on Saturday he once again dominated the 250 class. Right now he appears unstoppable and with just three races now remaining in the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series. Dylan leads Tyler Medaglia by 93 points. In the 450 class, what can you say about Colton Facciotti that hasn’t been said already? On Saturday he went 2-2 for third overall and in the process clinched his 6^th 450 Canadian National Championship. What an amazing career Colton has had, and to be able to go out on top is something pretty special. Colton’s stats and longevity are just mind boggling when you think about them. Also, the way he’s gone about his racing career is perhaps the most impressive thing about Facciotti. He hasn’t just been successful on the race track, he’s also carried himself with a great amount of class off of the track and he’s been such an amazing role model for our young riders. When you factor all aspects of his long racing career I think you can make the argument that Colton Facciotti may be the best rider Canada has ever seen.

I have been fortunate enough to have lined up with our big 3 at one time or another, and I can tell you that the biggest trait that Ross Pederson, JSR, and Colton share is not how they ride a motorcycle, it’s not their unreal level of fitness, it’s their mental fortitude. These three champions were just so determined and so mentally tough, that on most days they just wouldn’t allow themselves to be beaten. That is what I think separates them from the pack, in my opinion, and now Colton, like Ross did at the end of 1993, and JSR in 2008, can sit back and let his amazing career sink it. Congratulations to Colton Facciotti, Dylan Wright and all of the riders who competed this summer in the MXTour Series. You’ve all been fun to watch and cover as a media person all season long. With the Montreal SX coming up in four weeks, I guess we all now have a little time to sit back and catch our breath.

Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week, and with just two weeks left until the kids go back to school, I hope you’re able to get out and do some fun things. Finally, thanks to the crew at Walton Raceway for helping us have such a fun week. After somewhat of a rebuilding year in 2018, this year the TransCan looked more like an event that is once again here for both a good time and a long time.