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Yamaha Motor Canada Presents The Monday Gate Drop

Good day, and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. At Round 7 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships in Washougal, Star Racing Yamaha riders Jeremy Martin and Justin Cooper rode hard to take first and third overall on the most scenic track in the USA. It was a great day for the Blu Cru and now the riders have two weekends off before resuming their series at the Unadilla track in New York State.

After five rounds Ryder McNabb leads the 250 class points by three over Jacob Piccolo. Photos by James Lissimore

With a weekend off in the 2021 Triple Crown Series, most riders used the break to relax and regroup before the final five motos of the summer. With the previous round at Sand Del Lee being a hot and humid one I’m sure the riders welcomed a few days off. It’s definitely been an exciting series thus far and points standings reflect the intense battles we’ve seen in both classes. In the 250 class, Ryder McNabb currently leads Jacob Piccolo by just 3 points while Tanner Ward sits in third overall, just 12 points back. Ward did have to red plate heading into SDL but he had an off day and ended up giving up a lot of points to his teammate. Ward’s starts were horrible (by his standards) at SDL and on a track that in the past has been challenging to pass on, he was never able to get to the front. Piccolo on the other hand was able to get a great start in both 250 motos, but his speed wasn’t quite there and he was forced to hand over the lead. Piccolo has been great this summer with two moto wins to date. I don’t think it’s any surprise that Piccolo has been fast at every round so far, but to be completely honest I didn’t think he’d be only three out of the points lead with five motos remaining. Piccolo, like a few other riders, needs a big weekend in Quebec at Rounds 6 and 7 of this series.

Jacob Piccolo has been very fast this summer and with two more solid weekends he could be our 250 class Champion. Photo by James Lissimore

However, after five rounds every 250 rider is chasing 15-year-old Ryder McNabb as will carry the red plates into Deschambault. It’s hard to pinpoint the one area where McNabb has been better than everyone else thus far as I believe it’s just a combination of multiple things. First off, Ryder’s starts have been night and day better than last year and that has put him at near the front on the opening lap in almost every moto. I know it’s a cliche to say that you need to get good starts all of the time if you want to be successful, but for a young rider like McNabb, it’s an absolute must. Let’s face it, McNabb is mature beyond his years when it comes to his racecraft, but last year when he started outside of the top ten I think his inexperience came through and he began to panic. At that point, he was a little harder on his bike, and also he ran the risk of making an even bigger mistake. So far this year we haven’t seen that because he’s been inside the top five in almost every moto.

Only five of these of these starts remain in the 2021 Triple Crown Series. Photo by James Lissimore

McNabb is also getting solid guidance from his GDR Honda Team as just look at the advice he has at his disposal there. Colton Facciotti, Derek Schuster, as well as his mechanic Ryan Lockhart are all smart guys and always have wise words to say. Also, McNabb has always been a kid who listens very well. After all, it’s one thing to get advice, but if you don’t listen to it and then apply it to your craft, then what good is it? At this point in the series, McNabb has just been better than all of the other 250 class riders, and most importantly, he’s let his competition make the mistakes. If you’re Jacob Piccolo, Tanner Ward, or even Darian Sanayei (who sits 20 points back of McNabb) I hope they used this weekend off trying to figure out how to get the head of this talented 15-year-old. At this point in the series, the mental game is far more important than the physical one. All of the riders are in great shape, but as we’ve seen so many times before, the mentally strong ones shine when it matters the most. Like the 450 class, this 250 championship will most likely come down to the final moto of the year, and won’t that be exciting! If you want my prediction for this weekend in Deschambault? Look for Tanner Ward to have a big rebound race after his sub-par performance in SDL. He’s done well at this track in the past and you’d think he’ll head there this weekend with some extra confidence. Also, Sanayei showed some great speed at SDL so look for him to be out front. 

Speaking of the GDR Honda Team, coming up on August 3,4,5,6 they will be offering a four-day training camp at Gopher Dunes in preparation for the 2021 Walton TransCan. This is a great opportunity for riders to train with the GDR Honda Team both on and off of the bike. Here is the official PR if you’d like to register.

Don’t miss out on our GDR motocross camp next week to get yourself ready for Walton TransCan Grand National Championship Motocross !

The 4 day camp runs on August 3-4-5-6 and the class will be split into groups based on bike size. We will utilize our brand new GP track which is not open to the public yet and features clay soil along with our GDR test track which is also not open to the public! Our GDR team will be training the riders on and off the track, come learn from the best!

Click here to register: https://gopherdunescalendar.as.me/prewalton

This battle will most likely go down to the final moto of the summer at Walton Raceway. Photo by James Lissimore

In the 2021 Triple Crown 450 class Dylan Wright and Jess Pettis are just one point apart with five motos remaining. Both riders have to be happy with where they’re at in the series as adversity has been the name of the game. Wright, who came into the 450 with a freshly injured knee has been battling that as well as a broken finger he suffered at the opening round at Walton. However, in true Dylan Wright fashion, he’s been ignoring the pain and doing his best to win races. For Pettis, we all remember where he was back in February when he was forced to undergo surgery to rebuild his injured knee. At the time no one, including me thought he could be ready to race by early July. But here he is fresh off the second overall win of his rookie season in the 450 class and just one point out of the points lead. Pettis also mentioned on the podium last weekend in SDL that he cancelled his planned trip back to Prince George last week to remain in Quebec to ride, test, and train in the heat and humidity. There is no quit in Pettis and you know he’s going to do everything in his power to win this title. As will Wright and also Marshal Weltin who sits 24 points back in third place. Weltin has ridden great this summer, even winning a round at Gopher Dunes, so it’s hard to believe that he’s 24 points back after five rounds. Weltin needs to start winning motos if he has any hope of bringing him this 450 title, especially if Wright and Pettis are going to be running upfront as well. Behind the top three are Cole Thompson and Shawn Maffenbeier who are hoping their best rounds are still to come. Thompson has once again been hot and cold so far in 2021 while Maff has been just a little off of the pace of the big three. It’s most certainly going to be an exciting finish in this series and I cannot wait.

The 2021 ECAN festivities get underway tomorrow in Deschambault.

So this Wednesday we’re headed off to Deschambault for the ECAN as well as two rounds of the 2021 Triple Crown Series. The ECAN, which was forced to take last year off due to Covid-19, is a great event and should be attended by every amateur rider at least once. Racing in Quebec has always been a unique experience and this week at the ECAN will no doubt be much of the same. Also, the track in Deschambault is a lot of fun, and other than being a little hard to pass on I’ve never heard a rider say anything bad about it. Practice gets underway on Thursday and then Friday and Saturday the three moto format begins. Sunday is Round 6 of the Triple Crown Series with a normal national format and then Monday morning is Round 7 and it will feature just one moto per class. As you see it’s going to be a great week ahead in Quebec for myself, my family, and everyone else who attends.

Three generations of the Lockhart family competed this past weekend at the Fox Hollow track in New Brunswick.

Finally, yesterday at Moto Park hosted their first race in almost two years as the AMO Racing Provincial Series travelled there. Even though Mother Nature unleashed her fury on Saturday afternoon, the Moto Park track recovered in record time and by the opening motos on Sunday it was in perfect condition. With over 700 entries, this was the largest race at Moto Park in some time, and judging by Social Media everyone had a good time. The AMO Racing OPC Series now takes the month of August off before resuming their series in September. Also, last week we released the latest issue of MXP Magazine with Dylan Wright on the cover. This issue is now in the mail and I hope everyone enjoys reading it. Here is the link to the online issue as well as what this awesome cover looks like. This shot came from James Lissimore at the opening round of the Triple Crown Series at Walton.

Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and a safe week riding. It’s hard to believe that this is the final week of July and that August is just around the corner. This summer is moving along too fast as before we know we’ll be driving through the Walton Raceway gates for the 2021 Walton TransCan. So thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments please email me at chris@mxpmag.com.

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