After a very successful 2022 season which saw the GDR Honda Team win both the 250MX and 450MX Triple Crown Series Championships, we decided to reach out to team owner Derek Schuster to talk about not just last year but also the year ahead. Derek is never one to sit still, whether it concerns the GDR Honda Team or the Gopher Dunes Facility, which he also owns. He is a busy man and a hard one to pin down, but we did, and once on the phone, we talked to him for over an hour. So get comfortable, and we hope you enjoy this MXP Chatter with Derek Schuster.
MXP: Hey Derek! How are things down in beautiful Tillsonburg and how is your winter going so far?
DS: It’s definitely been a different winter down here with little or no snow. Typically, we don’t get too much snow anyway, but it hasn’t even been that cold. So that’s been a little strange for sure. However, we’ve been doing our normal yearly process of closing out everything from last year, and then recently; we’ve started to plan for this year.
Since Gopher Dunes has many elements to it, this must be a busy time of the year as you have a lot of different things to plan for.
For sure! We had the race team part of it to look after and secure for 2023. That always takes some time as we had to find a way to re-sign Dylan Wright and also find a new 250 rider which we did with Jacob Piccolo. There is also the event side of things at Gopher Dunes that takes a lot of planning, as well as the pro shop that we have, and then there’s the maintenance that has to get done on all of the equipment that we use daily during the riding season. We always joke around here that there either is no off-season or that it goes by really fast, but it really does. Soon it will be time to build some races bike so the boys can head south to ride.
I’m unsure if people realize how much work gets done during the off-season. Whether it’s Gopher Dunes, Sand Del Lee, or even Walton Raceway, the big things get done once the riding season is over. The items that you don’t necessary have time for during the summer.
Absolutely! During the riding season, we’re just kind of maintaining items like the machinery, as you don’t have too much time to do major items. So unless something breaks during the season, we normally do all the maintenance items during the winter months. So yes, for us there, we’re pretty much busy for the entire year. It’s just that our tasks might change from season to season.
You mentioned the pro shop which is open year-round. You’ve done a great job of keeping the store stocked up with items. Are you happy with the traffic that goes through there during the winter months?
For sure! Obviously, there’s less traffic during this time of the year as no one is here riding, but overall it’s been okay as we have a good customer base. We also have people in and out of here all time as they’re dropping items off for service or suspension with Colton. Something new for us also is that we carry Trek bicycles. I have bikes arriving regularly so if you are looking for a new bicycle stop in to check them out!
Do you find that as soon as the riding season concludes and winter sets in, you feel like you have a long time to get things done? However, pretty soon the winter is flying by, and it isn’t long before you start feeling the time crunch to get things done.
That’s exactly how it usually goes. I create an off-season to-do list for myself and my staff of things I need to be done and projects I want to accomplish before re-opening again in the spring. Well, here we are, just past the mid-point of January, and I look at the list, and I’m like, we have to get moving on some of these items as time is flying by. We’re getting better and better at time management, but it’s like that every year, as we just have so much going on.
I want to ask you a track question. Come spring and when you want to open up the track for practice, it is better for track conditions at that time if you have a winter like last year when you had a lot of snow, or like this winter so far when you don’t have any. Which is better for the track in March?
I would say that there are pros and cons to both. I know I like it when there is more snow because then I can get out and ride my sled, but for the track, it depends on a few things. Sometimes the track has responded well to having a thick blanket of snow on it because it gets protected from the frost getting too deep into the ground. But in the spring, snow obviously turns to water, and in years past, the track has been wet in March and early April. I guess there is no perfect winter so we just take it as it comes and then in the spring, we deal with it. Like I said though, I’d rather have snow right now because when it’s like this you can’t really do anything.
It’s definitely been a strange winter as I’m two hours north of you and we don’t even have any snow. We had a big storm around Christmas, but that snow all melted and now the ground is just brown and frozen. Well, you looked like you got a nice little break from winter two weeks ago when you headed down to Anaheim for the opening round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series. From the photos, I saw that you treated the trip as a mix of business and pleasure. I always tell people that they should try and experience Anaheim 1 at least once in their life as it’s such a cool event to attend.
I agree completely! The hype and the energy you feel from just being there is unlike anything else in our sport for sure. But yeah, I always try and make going to A1 a mix of business and pleasure as I have important sponsors that I only get to see a couple of times a year. Companies like Pro Circuit and Fox Racing are important partners to our program, so seeing them and talking to them in person is valuable. They know what we’re doing up there through Social Media and conversations I have with them throughout the season, but to talk to them face to face and network with them is important. Also, watching the race and enjoying a little California sun is not a bad thing either.
How closely do you work with the HRC Honda Team in the USA? Obviously, Dylan Wright’s CRF450R is a lot different than Chase Sexton’s, but do you guys share ideas?
For sure we do! We’re all pretty close and we talk regularly. Yes, our bikes are different, but we share information on certain parts and things that come up with the bikes during the season. They keep close tabs on what our riders are doing up here as far as results, and they like to know everything that is going on. Overall, they want to see us winning here in Canada as well and provide me with the support I need to help make that happen.
Okay, let’s move on and talk about the GDR Honda Team. But before I get to the 2023 race season, which as we said is fast approaching, I want to ask you about last season. Your team ended up winning both the 250MX and 450MX Championships in exciting fashion. It was a solid year for everyone and in particular with Ryder McNabb, who as a 16 year old won his first-ever pro title. You took Ryder from the Supermini class and put him straight into the pro class, and two years later, he won the title. It’s a pretty remarkable story so my questions are, how did you do that, and second, how is he not part of the team moving forward?
Well, let me start with agreeing with you that 2022 was an amazing season for our team. The season didn’t come without its challenges, but we battled hard all summer with Ryder and Dylan, and they came out on top. For Dylan, he was at the top of his game all summer and dominated the 450 class winning every moto. No one has ever done that before, so it’s truly amazing. As far as Ryder goes, he got better and better as the summer went on, and when it mattered the most, he rose to the occasion and got the job done. We knew he had it in him as he’s had to deal with pressure, expectation, and adversity since he was a child. A few people were surprised when we took him out of the Supermini class and straight to a 250F, but if there was anyone who could do that, I knew deep down it was Ryder which is why I was willing to roll the dice on him. Also, as a team we set our goals and expectations high at the start of each season. How do you expect to meet those goals if you don’t? Every team member is held accountable for what they do, and for us, that is how we work and one of the reasons we continue to find success.
To the second part of your question and going back to the Ryder situation. When you bring a young rider on a team like ours, you’re asking a lot of him and the rider’s family. So it is inevitable that you forge a strong relationship with them and together you all basically become one big family. For the better part of the last few years, the McNabb Family lived at Gopher Dunes so we’d see each other every day, and we became very close. For me, I love that we’ve won five straight 450 titles with Colton and Dylan, but I also love the development side of things, so to be able to work with Ryder and help him get to the level he’s at has been very rewarding. However, one thing that makes athletes like Ryder so good is that they never want to settle. They want to keep improving. Colton was like that, Dylan is like that, and obviously, Ryder was like that. So I knew as last season was coming to an end that we might be losing him as he wanted to do more racing in the USA and try and take the next step. It was a challenge to sort through, but at the same time, I want what is best for my riders and in Ryder’s case, he’s still young and if he wants to try and make a go of it in the USA, now is the time.
I had known for a period of time that in all likelihood that Ryder would be moving to the US for 2023, and a deal was structured for him to go to the Phoenix Honda team. So I began the process of hiring a new 250 rider for the team to work with. I’ve always enjoyed watching Jacob Piccolo ride a dirt bike as I don’t think there are many riders as talented as he is. I spoke to him and had him come and live at Gopher Dunes for six weeks, as I wanted to get to know him and I wanted him to see how our program works. As you know Palms, our program isn’t for everyone as the demands are high. My staff and I work very hard and don’t cut corners. Obviously, we demand the same from our riders, and they’ve responded well over the years. With that said, I wanted Jacob to be aware of how we do things before we committed to each other. So Jacob came here for six weeks and rode and trained and I was very impressed with him overall. I mean, his skills on a bike speak for themselves, but off of the bike, he worked hard, and he fit right in with my staff, my family, and how we do things here. Ultimately, we worked out a deal and I couldn’t be more excited for this season. As I said earlier, I love the development side of things so I’m really looking forward to working with Jacob and helping him achieve his goals.
That’s an interesting story Derek, and I love hearing about the process and what goes on behind the scenes. So you got a deal done with Jacob but in the end, Ryder didn’t end up going to the USA, and he ended up signing with KTM Canada for 2023. In the end, everyone must have been happy with how things ended up?
I think so! I can only speak for us, but yeah, we’re happy. There are no hard feelings with Ryder or how things ended here, he’s a great kid, and his family is great. In fact, they were still living here right up until the holiday’s so all is good there. I wish him all the best in 2023 and beyond. But now we’re focused on our riders and the season ahead, and I’m very excited for things to start rolling.
Okay, now we can move on to 2023 and the immediate future for the GDR Honda Team. What is the plan moving forward and in the next few months?
Dylan will be fully recovered from his double knee surgery and ready to ride in about a month’s time, and he and I will be attending the Toronto Motorcycle Show on February 17th and 18th. So if anyone wants to come to the show, meet Dylan and get his autograph, we will be there. From there, he’ll head down south to begin riding and training for the 2023 race season. As far as Jacob, currently he’s at ClubMX in South Carolina riding and getting some SX training in. He loves riding SX, and he wanted to work on those skills right now. So he’s there for the next month and then he’ll join Dylan at our home base in Florida towards the end of February. At that point, Jake is going to experience an entirely new level of work as once Dylan gets going, he goes hard, really hard.
That sounds like it’s going to be fun. I’m sure Jacob will enjoy having Dylan as a training partner and in return, I’m sure Dylan is going to enjoy being around a young rider again and being able to mentor them. Let’s talk about Dylan for a minute because how do we do an interview and not talk about your star rider? It was no secret that he had multiple offers this winter to go and race for another team, but he chose to remain with you. I’m not saying that he wasn’t well compensated for re-signing with the GDR Honda Team, but it must make you feel good that he decided to stay. He seems like a pretty loyal guy!
Yes, Dylan did receive sizeable offers from the KTM and Kawasaki teams here in Canada as well as a couple of offers outside of Canada but in the end Dylan made the choice to stay with GDR. The deal we signed likely makes him the highest-paid rider ever in Canada so that is great for him moving forward and well deserved with his accomplishments to date. Something that I wanted to point out that often gets asked is when working out his new agreement, it was important to both the team and Dylan that we created the flexibility for him to compete on a world stage when applicable. He’s going to come into this season completely healthy for the first time in a while, so time will tell how schedules play out and what international events we hit in 2023.
You’ve mentioned a few times that you love the development part of dealing with your riders. Dylan has been with you now for a number of seasons and we’ve seen a significant transformation over those years. He used to be pretty wild and I remember some people in the industry didn’t think he could adapt to a 450. Can you take us through how you’ve seen Dylan evolve over the years?
It’s funny you mention this because I was thinking about it recently. When we first signed him as an 18-year-old he was a little wild, and he did run a loose program. He knew what he wanted to do, but he didn’t know how to get there. I believe this is where our team structure comes into play and if you asked Dylan, he would likely tell you that I was really tough on him early on and he probably wasn’t the biggest fan of me in the early years. But obviously he recognized that my thoughts and actions had a purpose from which he has reaped the rewards. Also I should point out that this is where being around Colton was key for him as at the time, there was no one more methodical than him. Colton can also be a little bit of a hard ass when it comes to calling someone out on their work ethic or cutting corners. I don’t think we have ever signed a rider who didn’t tell me that they have amazing work ethic and train hard, but actions speak louder than words and it’s not long before you see how much effort someone actually puts into themselves. But little by little Dylan figured things out, and it’s been fun to watch the progression. I know you and I have spoken about this before, but with regard to Colton, the thing that impressed me the most with him was how mentally strong he was when it came to racing and training. With Dylan, yes he’s mentally strong as well, but the thing that impresses me the most about him is that he will do whatever it takes to win. Whether it’s during the week or on race day, there is nothing he won’t do to win. He’s the most determined person I’ve ever met. So over the years, he’s used that determination and figured out how to be calculated on the bike, which is what makes him so good. As I said, it’s been fun to be a part of that progression with him; it’s been a journey for sure!
I agree with you. From the outside, it’s been enjoyable to watch the Dylan Wright evolution over the years and one of the things that has impressed me is that through it all, he really hasn’t changed personality-wise. He’s still the same nice guy whether he’s talking to me, my son, or the casual fan. He just has that ability to flip the switch when it’s time to go racing.
Yes, it’s pretty impressive to see him do that. But I will say, on race day during his prep before heading to the line, his entire demeanour changes. You would think that instead of looking at you, he is just looking through you. I don’t even know if he processes anything that you say to him in the minutes leading up to the gate drop because his focus is laser sharp on what he is about to do.
There was a rumour that you may go back to having a three-rider team in 2023, but it now sounds like you will continue to stick with two riders for the upcoming season.
Yes, we flirted with the idea of going back to three riders for the upcoming year as we did in some years past. I am a huge supporter of Canadian motocross and always want to be able to help the sport grow and play a part in getting the most out of the next generation. As you saw with Ryder, we were able to help a kid make that jump as a development project and eventually turn it into a Pro championship. I enjoy the process of that, but the team operates as a business, and it didn’t make sense financially to add a rider without cutting corners. It is always important to factor in if I’m going to take away from my current riders programs to add another rider? If the answer is yes, it’s likely not a wise decision. I will never say never but it looks like we will head into 2023 with a two-rider squad.
I spoke to you not long after the Motocross of Nations event in late September and asked if you would do an interview about it. You said at that time you weren’t ready to comment much. Now that some time has passed, can you take us a little deeper into that weekend and the results?
Yes, I definitely was disappointed with our overall results on the weekend. When you show up to race against the best in the world, you need to show up prepared but also treat it as “business as usual” for the riders so they feel like they are at home. It was exciting for us heading into the event to have both of our guys on Team Canada, but I won’t lie and say that I didn’t have concerns about Tyler Medaglia’s wrist heading into the event. That isn’t to pick on Tyler because, as a racer, you always want to represent your country, so I wouldn’t necessarily say it should be up to him to decide to replace him with a healthier rider. I have had a rider represent Canada six times now, and you want to go into the event feeling like you have left no stone unturned when it comes to preparation, no different than when we show up at round 1 for the Canadian Nationals. I can say this year, with Tyler’s wrist and a few other little things out of my control that, I didn’t have that feeling and we definitely made a few little errors on the event weekend, some of which likely wouldn’t have affected the result anyways. Regarding results, 15th overall isn’t even close to our goals or what we are capable of. Dylan had some bad luck, but as most people saw, he rode like an absolute warrior coming through the pack after being run over multiple times. Ryder, I think was a little bit overwhelmed; it’s a big event, you are racing in front of 80,000 people and he’s still very young, but I do know it was a great learning experience for him. I don’t want to point fingers at anyone, instead, I will learn from it and make sure we are better in the future. As a team, we want some redemption at this event so you can bet we will be ready for France this October. I also look forward to working with Kourtney Lloyd again if we have riders chosen for the 2023 team now that she will be running the Canadian efforts once again.
Do you have any thoughts or opinions about the series or venues that you want to share for the upcoming season?
Well, as you know the schedule hasn’t been released yet, but Justin Thompson has been hard at work on it, and I know it is very close. I have gotten to see it, and the 2023 schedule is an improved version of 2022, so that is a step in the right direction. Covid obviously had major effects on our industry as it did with most Pro Sports but I think we are slowly and steadily getting back on track to where we need to be. It was nice seeing fans being able to attend again without restrictions or heavy capacity limits that will build the revenue stream back up for the series.
Okay, so we’ve spoken about your team and your riders, both past and present. Before I let you go let’s talk about you for a moment. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve seen a little bit of a Derek Schuster transformation over the last couple of years. Your businesses look like they are firing on all cylinders with the success you have been having. These days you seem a little more relaxed, and you appear to really be enjoying what you’re doing more and more. Do you feel this, or am I completely out to lunch?
I would agree with you Palms for sure. Being in my late 30s now and having the experience that I do I feel like I’m always trying to improve myself, no different than I expect my athletes to do as we’re just trying to enjoy what life has to offer. Whether it’s with my kids or with work, I’m trying to take it all in and really just try and be the best person I can be, along with being a great role model for those around me. I’ve been through a few challenges in the last couple of seasons, and I’d like to think I’ve managed that well in using it as an opportunity to grow as a person. As I’m approaching 40, I feel like I’m in a really good place. My kids are growing up fast, and it’s great to see them enjoying riding more as it’s something we can all do together. That is how I was raised, so it’s cool to experience the same thing but as a dad now. But Palms, don’t let me catch you breaking any rules here (laughs).
I love the older and more relaxed Derek Schuster (laughs). I also really enjoy spending time with you at the track as you are always up for some great bench racing and a joke or two. Hey, for the record, I’ve learned my lesson with regards to parking. It’s funny, the first time I ever rode at Gopher Dunes back in 1988, I remember your dad gave me crap for riding over the sound barrier berm to get to the track. He said to never, ever ride over that berm! I’ve never forgotten that and when I see people do it now, I go and tell them the same thing that Frank told me.
Well, thank you for doing this Derek, and best of luck with everything in 2023. I know I speak for many people when I say that I cannot wait for spring and for Gopher Dunes to open. Those first few rides at Gopher Dunes in the spring always feel like a right of passage in our sport, and I love that I get to experience it with my son now the same way my dad used to take me there to ride. Anyway, thank you again and I’m sure we’ll see each other soon!
Thank you for calling Palms; yes I always enjoy a good chat at the races as well! I know you wanted to do this interview for a little while so I’m glad we were able to finally get it done! I do also want to take a moment to thank all of the staff at both Gopher Dunes and GDR, I won’t name them all but I will say that I’m lucky to have such a great crew of motivated, hard-working individuals that create a great team and are a major key to the success of both companies! We also get a ton of support from our partners who sponsor the team and support the Dunes so thank you to all of them. Lastly, I want to say best of luck to you and your new role with MXP Palms, and yes, we’ll talk again soon.