Greetings! Welcome to the mid-point of one of my favourite months of the year. The weather where I live in Southern Ontario has been absolutely amazing for the past two weeks. With warm days, cool nights, and no bugs, September almost always produces the best weather of the year. Even the forecast for the remainder of the month looks great, so we’ll soak it up as much as we can because, it’s no secret what type of weather is coming next.
The first thing I’d like to do this week is send out a massive get well to Katrine Ferguson who had a big crash yesterday at a race in Manitoba. Katrine came together in the air with another rider and definitely got the worst of it. She is currently in the hospital with some broken ribs, a broken scapula, a partially collapsed lung, as well as numerous other bumps and bruises. As bad as all of that sounds, Katrine is in good spirits, and with time she’ll make a full recovery. Everyone who rides, knows that this sport is awesome until it isn’t, and unfortunately your luck can change in a heartbeat. For Katrine, this crash no doubts hurts a little more as she had just started her first year at University, and she was coming off her most successful season to date. After getting the opportunity to ride, train, and live with multi-time WMX Champion Eve Brodeur this summer, Katrine was able to take her riding to new levels. This summer she was a podium threat in every moto, and when she wasn’t near the front of the pack, she could be seen charging like mad to get there. If she goes about her recovery like she goes about each moto, then I know she’ll be healed up in no time. All the best to Katrine, as well as the entire Ferguson Family as they’ve been down this road too many times in the past year.
This past weekend was Round 2 of the 2024 SMX Playoffs from Fort Worth, TX. This was a new venue for SMX racing, and I’m quite sure when the series decided to go to the Dallas area they didn’t know it was going to be 100 F. It was a hot one at the Texas Motor Speedway and because of the heat and dry conditions, the track this week really took a beating. The opening main events looked okay and the quality of racing reflected that. I mean, the battle for the lead in the first 450 main event was some of the best racing we’ve seen all year between the Lawrence Brothers and Eli Tomac. If this was a sign of what’s to come in 2025, then I cannot wait. However, for the second main events the track resembled the infield section at the Edmonton National last year, hard packed with square edged bumps everywhere. Chase Sexton finally got off to a great start and rode away with the win, while Jett, Hunter, and Eli were forced to play catch up after mediocre starts. After putting in some strong laps at the beginning, all of the riders, including the top guys, went into survival mode and just tried to finish safe. In the end, Hunter Lawrence took the overall win with a 1-3 moto score, and he also will take the 450 SMX Playoff points lead into the final round this weekend in Las Vegas.
In the 250 class, it was once again Haiden Deegan who dominated both main events. Honestly, at this point, it appears that Deegan is the only top 250 rider who really wants to be out there. Or, at least the only rider willing to push to the level that it takes to win races right now. I get it, the season has been a grind, and with the light at the end of tunnel (the off-season), just two more main events away, if you don’t have a lot to gain, then perhaps now is the time to relax and take whatever finish you can get. Obviously, the track on Saturday was not the one to push too hard on, but it would be nice to see a few riders push Deegan in the final laps of each main event, and not just the opening laps. However, to his credit, Deegan is riding very well right now and hopefully we see him race the 250SX West Series in 2025. The only thing I didn’t like to see from Deegs on Saturday was him doing wheelies on the pavement during opening ceremonies with no helmet on. To me, this is an insane practice, and I cannot believe that Feld, Yamaha, or even his Dad allows him to do it. One mistake or incident and his career, and life could be altered forever. Anyway, Deegan is the man right now and I’m sure Roger DeCoster wishes he was part of Team USA heading into the MXON in three weeks. With both Chance Hymas and Aaron Plessinger nursing injuries right now, and Chase Sexton seemingly counting the days until he can take a well-earned vacation, it’s safe to say that Team USA is going to limp into Great Britain on October 6th. Maybe this will end up being a good thing as they won’t be feeling any pressure, and can just go out and ride? As I mentioned last week, I heard that both Plessinger and Sexton are planning on racing the final round of the MXGP in Spain the week before the MXON. I don’t know if this is indeed happening as I haven’t heard it from any other media outlets, It would be cool for the fans if they did race in Spain, but it might not be great for their confidence as jumping into the final round of the MXGP’s would be extremely challenging. Finally, our own SX hero Cole Thompson once again qualified for the main events in Texas. Cole put in some fast laps in both races, but wasn’t able to finish inside the Top 15. Still, it was great to see him out there and hopefully he can get a little more support this weekend in Vegas.
Speaking of the 2024 MXON’s, two members of Team Canada took to the track, well, to the trails, this weekend in Quebec. Both Kaven Benoit and Dylan Wright competed at Round 7 of the FMSQ XC Series this past weekend. Benoit would end up 6th, which was very good in my opinion. Wright, by all accounts was really fast but suffered two flat tires. In the end, this popular Quebec race was won by Tyler Medaglia who continues to be one of our most versatile riders. T-Dags can ride anything! In other off-road news, this Friday I’m heading to Gooderham, Ontario to check out the famous Corduroy Enduro. I’ve never been to this event, but with demo rides and a lot of fun things to do on Friday, I thought this year would be a great time to check it out. Also, Tyler Medaglia is racing, as well as WLTN Kawasaki rider Quinn Amyotte who is looking to broaden his horizons as a rider. I’m looking forward to attending this event for the first time as it will be fun to demo some new models, as well as check out what has become one of the largest riding events in Canada.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and hopefully the weather is as nice where you live as it is here in Ontario. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
