Good day and welcome to another edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. With the off-season now in full swing, the GDR Fox Honda riders, Colton Facciotti and Dylan Wright, are busy training for the 2018 race season. Without being able to ride right now due to the cold weather, these two riders are busy training in the gym prior to heading south to ride in the new year. Without too much racing going on right now, here is a video that GDR Honda put together from the MXON’s back in October.
Before we jump into this week’s Gate Drop, I want to give a big shout out to Shelby Turner as she took home the Women’s Endurocross Championship this past weekend in the USA. This is her second time in a row winning this title, so well-done Shelby! We have actually secured Shelby’s services for the next issue of MXP Magazine to write a column. Hopefully she will talk about how she won this championship, as well as her incredible summer racing the CMRC Western Canadian Women’s Nationals.
Congratulations to Shelby Turner on her latest championship.
As winter begins to set in across Canada, the racing schedule has pretty much grinded to a halt. The only ongoing series, the Future West AX Championships, is set to resume this coming weekend in Chilliwack, BC. The racing this weekend promises to be great as the riders compete inside the spacious Heritage Arena. Back in 2013, I actually travelled out to this race and Ryan Lockhart let me race his bike in the ‘Legends’ class. Even though I was there for just one weekend, I had a blast racing on the massive Chilliwack track. The track uses up two buildings and lap times are close to a minute in length. The dirt is great, and although it can be a little cold inside the building where the track is located, the large indoor paddock is heated and toasty warm. Just talking about this race makes me want to head out west this weekend for the race!
Jess Pettis and his teammate Shawn Maffenbeier are definitely making the headlines during this off-season. Photo by James Lissimore
One top Canadian pro who is certainly driven during this off-season is MX101 FXR Racing Yamaha’s Jess Pettis. As we’ve read on Social Media, Pettis has been down in California for the past three weeks training for the opening rounds of the 2018 Monster Energy SX Series. I spoke to Pettis last week and he says that his SX preparation is going very well and he cannot wait for Anaheim 1. He also told me that since every dollar earned is crucial to his off-season program, he and his mechanic are driving back to BC this week so he can race the next two weekends in Chilliwack. The money that he will earn over the next two weeks will go right back into his training program, then he will head back to California right after the AX rounds in Chilliwack.
When I heard from Jess about his upcoming plans, my first thought was back to the way some of our riders used to do spend their off-seasons when the only money they earned was from racing. I think back to Ryan Lockhart in 2006 when he spent the winter at Sean Hamblin’s house in California training for the SX season. Once he competed in the western rounds he hopped in his pick-up truck and headed to some of the eastern rounds, sometimes sleeping in his truck with one eye closed and the other keeping an eye on his bike. After the Detroit SX in 2006, Ryan came and lived at my house for two months as he prepared for the CMRC Outdoor Series. The stories of his off-season adventures were still fresh in his mind so I got to hear all about them. Things were definitely not easy for him that year, but I can tell you that it sure made him a better rider. I’m not saying that this type of off-season is for everyone, but if you’re young, talented, and motivated to get better, other than maybe a little time off in September and October to recharge your batteries, there really is no off-season. One of my best seasons came after a winter of racing in Germany, six rounds of the SX series in the USA, and a lot laps on hot and dusty tracks in Florida.
Will we see this big smile under the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha tent in 2018? Photo by James Lissimore
As Jess Pettis drives up and down the west coast of North America, his teammate, Shawn Maffenbeier, is not only busy trying to get ready for this weekend in Chilliwack, but he’s also one of the most wanted riders for 2018. A few weeks ago, we heard that he was offered a deal to race the MX1 class for the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha Team. Shawn no doubt gave this offer some serious consideration but decided he that he wanted to return to the MX2 class and defend his 2017 title. Since then, the big rumour is that the OTSFF team has signed to race along side Matt Goerke in the MX1 class. Also, word is that they also are planning to have rookie Marco Cannella under their tent in the MX2 class, which is very exciting. I love to see these kids getting a shot on a good team as they kick-off their pro career. As for Shawn, he is also entertaining an offer to race a Kawasaki next year in the MX2 class. Regardless of what Shawn decides to do (I think he’ll end up staying with the MX101 Yamaha Team), it must be nice to be wanted. I guess this is what happens when you’re the Champ!
In other very sad news, our thoughts and prayers go out to Joey Paul’s family and friends as the young Quebec rider took his own life last week. Joey was #52 and raced all of the east MX2 rounds aboard a Yamaha. His best overall finish was 13th at Gopher Dunes, then went on to finish 25th overall in the 2017 MX2 series with 77 points. RIP Joey, we all hope you find peace and happiness where ever you are!
That’s it for me this week. I hope you all have a great week, and good luck to everyone racing both in Chilliwack this weekend as well as the Mini Olympics in Florida. Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends this weekend! In closing, check out this video of the famous Georgia Dome in Atlanta getting imploded this morning. Since it opened in 1992, the Georgia Dome has seen just about every type of large sporting events from the Superbowl, NCAA events, the 1996 Summer Olympics, and of course Supercross. There has definitely been some very memorable SX races in this building and it’s sad to see it come down. Sadly, nothing is forever! Have a good week everyone.