MXP Chatter With Derek Schuster

Not that he wasn’t busy before trying to run a race team, a motocross track, and a family, after adding Mike Alessi and Jake Tricco to his GDR Fox Honda Team that was already made up of Dylan Wright and Colton Facciotti, Derek Schuster will now have four talented riders under his tent in 2019. With the Gopher Dunes facility getting busier each year, and now his growing race team, this season is going to be non-stop for Derek and his crew. This past weekend at the Toronto Motorcycle Show we caught up with the ever-jovial Mr. Schuster to get his take on the upcoming season.

MXP: Hey Derek, first off, I think it’s great to see you and 3/4 of your team out here at the bike show signing autographs and talking to all of the fans. I think I even saw Alessi trying to sell a couple of nice, new Honda Side-by-Sides, so it’s good that you have them all working.

DS: Was he really? That’s awesome. Well, this is a large show, and with its close proximity to the Honda Canada office it’s always good to get our riders out and networking with everyone. It’s good for them, it’s good for Honda to see them here, and it’s good for me to have them here.

For the past two seasons you’ve had a pretty successful two-man team with Dylan and Colton. There have been race wins, championships, just about everything you could ask for, really. Here we are now, six weeks from the 2019 season beginning, and you have expanded your team to four riders! I guess my question is, why change something that has obviously been working so well?

Well, that is a good question and it’s something that I had to think long and hard about. I think to answer it I have to go back to last season when I had to imagine how our team might look without Colton Facciotti in 2019. There was a chance that last year was going to be his final season of racing so I had to not only worry about the here and now but also the future. Thankfully, Colton is racing again in 2019 so that’s good for everyone, but I figured it was time to add a couple more riders to try and make our team that much stronger.

I guess Jake Tricco and Mike Alessi are in the opposite ends of their careers so I think that makes for a cool story. On the Jake side of things, I believe that it’s imperative to give these young kids a chance to make a name for themselves on a large team. If the teams don’t bother then what does the next generation have to look forward to?

Exactly! If none of these kids got rides when they turned pro, then what do the younger kids have to look forward to? It’s great that we were able to make room for a rider like Jake. He’s obviously young but he’s so talented, and last summer we saw some of his speed in the 250MX East Series. Now he has to take another step, and for him, as a young rider, how could you not want to be around riders like Colton and Mike to learn from them? Even Dylan, he doesn’t have the same experience as his older teammates, but I still think Jake can learn from him about just how much effort it takes to win.

So, with Alessi, was that just a case of wanting to give a legendary rider one more chance to really succeed?

I’ve always liked Mike and over the past few years. He’s actually spent a bunch of time at Gopher Dunes riding and hanging out. I think this is a perfect fit for both of us as we needed another 450 rider to back up Colton in the outdoor series, and Mike needed a situation that worked for him. He’s bringing with him a few sponsors, which again helps both of us, so really it wasn’t a difficult decision to bring him on board.

Obviously, any successful team is built around having good chemistry. You have always prided yourself on making that happen at the races. Does it worry you at all that having two more riders in 2019 might throw that off a little?

No, not really. As you saw today at the show, these three riders all get along, and even though they’re different, their personalities seem to gel well together. Once we’re at the track they all do their own thing and they just worry about racing. But I also feel like they can help each other if needed. I’ve seen Colton take on more of a mentor role to Dylan during the past two seasons, Mike is good at that also, and I feel like right now Jake is just a sponge and he’ll just absorb so much this year. It’s definitely not going to be boring, Palms, I can tell you that.

I don’t think this interview would have much validity if I didn’t ask you about last year. With everything that happened last year, good and bad, how exhausted were you by the end?

I was pretty spent by the end of November, that’s for sure. As you said, as a team we had some huge highs and some big lows, so that definitely took its toll on me and the entire team. It was a shame how it ended, not only with not winning the Triple Crown but also with Colton getting injured and being treated the way he was. That was then and now we’re on to a new season and hopefully some more success.

I think the length of last season, and just how gruelling it was, took a lot out of everyone. How long did it take for you just to move on and focus on 2019?

I think it’s just a process that takes a certain amount of time to go through. How last season ended was shocking for not just me but I think for everyone involved in our sport. So that took a little time to get over, especially with Colton being injured and how long those injuries have taken to heal. However, after a few weeks we were busy with Christmas and family and that became my focus. After that I think we just started thinking about the future, and if we do look back at 2018, then we have to think about all of the success we had as a team.

During the MXTour you had not just one but two weekends where both Dylan and Colton won the overall. Those moments, as well as Colton’s 450MX Championship, were pretty special.

Those moments don’t happen every year, so when they do come along you have to really enjoy them. To win both classes at a national is just so cool, and then to be able to do it twice last year was just amazing. It’s those moments that make us all want to keep racing.

Looking ahead to 2019, are you excited to get the racing started or are you just worried about getting prepared to go racing?

I think a little of both, really. Obviously, we still have a lot to do before we go racing, but it will all come together. Colton is heading to GPF this week, Dylan has been with Mike riding at his place in Florida, and Jake is currently down at County Line riding now. Trust me, the next six weeks will fly by and then it will be time to race.

That sounds very exciting! How is everything looking for Gopher Dunes this year?

Everything is looking great for 2019. Hopefully we have an early spring and can get out riding sooner than later, but yes, everything is progressing as it should. We’re going to have a few new events that will be announced soon. Our race schedule is done, all we need now is for the snow to melt and some nice weather.

Exactly, all we need now is some nice weather! Thanks for doing this Derek. I will let you get back to the show so you can make sure your riders are behaving.

I’m sure they’re doing just fine! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Palms. Hopefully 2019 is a good one for both of us.