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 weekend we watched as Round 2 of the 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown SXTour Series took place in beautiful Quebec City. Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha rider Phil Nicoletti had a chance to clinch the overall 450 Triple Crown Series Championship at Round 2, however he was unable to beat Cole Thompson in the main event. With the 250 Triple Crown Series Championship already decided, thankfully for fans, the 450 class won’t be decided until the final round in Hamilton.

As mentioned, Cole Thompson took the win inside the Videotron Centre over Nicoletti and a very excited Cade Clason. Since dominating the early season AXTour, Thompson has only won three races in total since so it was good to see him finally take another victory. These tight arenacross races are Thompson’s bread and butter so it was no surprise to see him take the win in QC. Also, with a rather large points lead, Nicoletti can finish second to Thompson all day long and still win the Triple Crown title. During the main event, Thompson and Nicoletti came together when Cole jumped to the inside of Phil in the super tight switchback section, bumped him and made the pass. I was not there to see it in person but I did see a short video of the incident last night. Unfortunately, with Cole being in the position right now where he really needs Phil to DNF if he wants any chance of repeating as the Triple Crown Champion, any contact or aggressive riding is going to be seen as dirty and desperate on Cole’s part. At this point, I think both riders need to just do their job the best they can. Cole needs to win and obviously he’s going to do everything he can to accomplish that, I mean what ‘racer’ wouldn’t. As long as we don’t see a repeat of what happened last year in Quebec City and the racing remains mostly clean, then I think things will be okay. Phil, on the other hand, needs to remain calm, finish the main event in Hamilton, score a few points, stay clear of Thompson, then head home with a big $100,000 cheque. Of course, if you’re in Phil’s position then you’re going to be pissed if someone runs into you. Who wouldn’t be? But as they say, winning the war is far more important than winning the battle sometimes. 

 

In the 250 class, it was awesome to see Tyler Medaglia bounce back from his hard crash in Montreal a few weeks ago and claim the top spot on the podium. Even at his age, Tyler is such a determined athlete who never cuts corner and always gives it 100%. I’m not sure if you saw a video of his crash in Montreal but he ate crap. I saw him walking around the paddock moments after and he looked like Rocky after the opening round with Clubber Lang. Also, it’s no secret that since Montreal Tyler has been pounding laps on a new 2020 KX450 as that is what he’ll be racing next year. I spoke to him last week and he said that he loves the new KX450 and cannot wait to begin testing it for 2020 for his return to the 450 class. So, to recap Tyler’s last few weeks, he goes to Montreal, comes out absolutely flying in the opening practice, then in the second practice he crashes hard, cuts himself up and ends up sitting out the remainder of the evening. However, he did get to watch his son race in Montreal, so the day wasn’t all bad. He then heads home and takes delivery of the new KX450, rides it non-stop and loves every minute of it. Finally, it’s time to go back racing so he shows up in Quebec City without really anyone thinking that he has a shot at the win. But, like Tyler has done so many times in the past, when people count him out, he goes out and proves them wrong. With Colton Facciotti now retired, Tyler is our oldest top pro rider and he continues to do us proud every weekend.

This past weekend was the final AMO Tag Ontario Provincial race at Canada’s most famous sand track, Gopher Dunes. Like the Quebec City SX, this race took place on Saturday under sunny skies and mild temperatures. It was a perfect fall day for racing, and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. With this being AMO’s final race of the 2019 season there was an awards ceremony and pot luck dinner following the race. As I said, it was a fun day and a nice way to say Au Revoir to another Ontario race season. Actually, the TVR race organization has their final race of 2019 this coming weekend at Gopher Dunes and then the Ontario race season will officially be over. Congratulations to all of the Tag Metals AMO Ontario Provincial Champions, including my son who won the 85 7-11 title. Regardless of the class or region, becoming a Provincial Champion is a big accomplishment. Although they happened a long time ago, I’ve been lucky enough to win eight Ontario Provincial Championships in my career and I’ve honestly cherished each and every one of them.

 

As if the Quebec City SX and the Gopher Dunes Provincial weren’t enough this weekend, the 2019 Red Bull Straight Rhythm event also went down in California on Saturday. This year it was all about the two-strokes as there were three exciting classes and a ton of hype leading up to the race. Top names like Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson, Travis Pastrana and Ryan Villopoto were all entered, and each had their tribute to a legend from the past. In the end, Roczen won the 250 class, Tyler Bowers won the 500 class, and Joey Crown won the 125 class. After a solid season last year in Canada, where he came up just shy of the 250 MXTour Championship, Joey has had an awful 2019. Injuries, lack of support and bad luck have him really concerned about his future in the sport. Thankfully, after some very good preparation, Joey headed to California last week for the Red Bull Straight Rhythm event and managed to not only win the 125 class but also put his name back on the map, in my opinion. Joey is a great kid and he definitely deserves some support either here in Canada, the USA, or even in Europe. Anyway, this was once again a great event, and it blows me away how fast these riders were hitting some of the sections.

Well, that was my exciting weekend. I hope yours was just as exciting, and now we can all look forward to one of my favourite long weekends of the year, Thanksgiving! All of us at MXP Magazine would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Finally, don’t forget about the Honda Canada Racing/ MXP Magazine Hamilton SX ticket giveaway. Together with Honda we’re giving away four tickets to the upcoming Hamilton SX and a chance to meet GDR Honda Fox rider Dylan Wright. Here are all of the details:

Honda Canada Racing Presents The Hamilton Supercross Ticket Contest