Good day, and welcome to another edition of the Yamaha Motor Canada Monday Gate Drop. This week we’re heading up to Moto Park in Chatsworth, ON to test out some of the new 2022 YZ Models, including the all-new 2022 YZ125 as well as the 2022 YZ85LW. The weather looks great for riding on Wednesday so please stay tuned for all of the details later this week.
This past weekend in Chilliwack, BC we celebrated the opening two rounds of the 2021 Future West AX Championships. This exciting series has been around in some way shape or form for a long time and over the years it has produced some of Canada’s best riders. Well, this past weekend a few of our top guys were in Chilliwack, and by accounts, the racing was pretty good. Unfortunately, there were a few crashes and some riders got banged up. However, that always seems to be the case at the opening round of this series. In the end, Julien Benek and Brock Hoyer split wins in the Pro Open class, while visiting Ontario rider Tanner Ward rode his Cycle North Fox Racing Honda to a pair of wins in the Pro-Am class. I think Ward’s wins were not a surprise as he is a very good indoor rider as well as one of this country’s top 250 riders. But in the Pro Open class, I was surprised at how well Benek adapted to his brand new PRMX KX450. Also, how about the old dog Brock Hoyer taking the win in the Pro Open main event yesterday. Hoyer went 2-1 over the two days in Chilliwack and left with the overall points lead in the Pro Open class. Nice work Brock!
Another surprise this weekend was the riding of Canadian off-road legend Trystan Hart as he went 5-4 in the Pro Open class. Yes, you just read that correctly! Hart was fresh off his first Endurocross win of 2021 last weekend in the USA so he obviously came into the weekend with some confidence. I think Hart has proven that whether it’s Endurocross, Hard Enduro, or even AX, he has some serious talent. In August, I watched him live at the Red Bull Outliers event in the Badlands of Alberta and I was blown away at the amount of raw skill Trystan has on a dirt bike. Now, did I think at the time that he could take that skill and apply it to the fast-paced world of Future West AX racing? Heck no! But he did this past weekend and good on him for giving it a go. With the next round of this series not taking place until November 27th the riders have some time to regroup and prepare for Rounds 3 and 4.
Another piece of news that dropped last week was the signing of Haiden Deegan to the massive and talented Star Racing Yamaha Team in the USA. I only mentioned this bit of news as it blew me away with how much attention it got in the media. Now, most of the attention was self-manufactured by the Deegan family as they have become experts at self-promotion. However, considering that Haiden will be racing the B-class in 2022 and most likely won’t make his pro debut until 2024, it’s amazing how much attention they receive. We’ve seen it many times in this sport as well as other sports when an amateur rider becomes a ‘can’t miss’ kid and then when they turn pro and things don’t go the way everyone thought they would. I guess we’ll see what happens in the coming years with Haiden as one of the things he does have going for him is that he’s a pure talent on a SX track. This will no doubt serve him well when he makes his Monster Energy Supercross debut potentially at Anaheim in 2024. But a lot can happen between now and then and when everything you do is well documented and so closely scrutinized, things can go sideways fast. Hype and expectations can be a wonderful thing in life and in sport, but at times it’s better to come in a little under the radar and with the element of surprise. We shall see what happens with this story as I’m sure it will have many twists and turns in the coming months and years.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the column this coming Wednesday I’m headed up to Motopark to test ride a few of the new 2022 Yamaha models. Thankfully, the weather looks great for some late October riding so the MP track should be in great condition. With big changes to Yamaha’s two-stroke lineup, I can’t wait to try out the new YZ125 and YZ250. Yamaha has even asked me to bring my son Ayrton as they will have the all-new YZ85LW there to test. Since Ayrton raced in the Supermini class as summer long he should have a great feel for how this new YZ85LW works. As always, it will no doubt be a great day of riding with the Blu Cru at MP. This has become an annual event for us media folk and even though it’s about a month later than usual, it’s still going to be a fun event.
In other news, AMO Racing announced that they have rescheduled their final race of 2021 to Halloween weekend at Gopher Dunes. I believe they were hoping to go this coming weekend however Frank Schuster is having his annual Vet Race on the backtrack on Saturday. If any Vet riders want to ride a great event this weekend Frank and the Gopher Dunes crew always make this a fun event. Anyway, the final AMO Racing event will take place on October 29th and 30th with the banquet going after the races are completed on Saturday. This is the latest that racing has gone in Ontario so some time so let us cross our fingers that Mother Nature will co-operate. For all the info you need on this year-end event please visit www.amoracing.com.
Well, that is it for me this week. Please check this site tomorrow as I will be posting a great interview I did over the weekend with Dylan Wright. As everyone knows Dylan is headed to Italy this week to compete in the final five rounds of the MXGP Series. As always Dylan had a lot to say so I think you’ll enjoy this interview. Also, if anyone is looking for a great motocross property to buy here is one that is coming up for sale very soon in Shelburne, ON. The house and large shop sit on 63 acres in a beautiful rural setting. It’s also less than ten minutes to a town of 8000 people with all the amenities you need. This property also has a nice river flowing through it as well as two motocross tracks and great motocross neighbours if you know what I mean. For any serious inquires please email me at chris@mxpmag.com. Thank you for reading and have a safe and fun week!