Grab a cup for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee about some of what happened in the sport of Motocross and usually much more…
By Billy Rainford
Happy Holiday Monday! It’s the first long weekend of the “summer” season. This MMC is going to be short and sweet so you can finish this cup and get back to whatever you had planned before heading into this short work or school week.
We had another chance to see some of our top Pro riders in action at Round 3 of the AMO Ontario Provincial Championships (OPC) at Sand Del Lee near Ottawa. As always, riders want to get some seat time on the tracks that will be hosting 1 of 8 rounds of the Canadian Makita Triple Crown Series Motocross Nationals that start at Wild Rose MX in Calgary, AB on June 7.
It’s no secret that I believe Dylan Wright and Jess Pettis are head and shoulders above the rest of our riders right now. Having said that, we’ve got a couple riders who’ve moved up to the 450 class that should make this conversation a little more interesting. I’m talking, of course, about Sebastien Racine and Ryder McNabb.
We didn’t get to see Ryder line up on race day at Round 2 at Auburn Hills MX, but Sebastien was set to be on the track this past weekend at his former, and long-time, home track.
I got to see Dylan Wright race at Round 1 at his home track, Gopher Dunes, and it’s pretty safe to say he’s on form heading into the season. This weekend, we would get to see who most feel is his biggest competition, Jess Pettis.
Not so fast…
Unfortunately, Jess and the team suffered some mechanical issue and Jess wasn’t able to line up for either moto. I’m hearing it may have been clutch issues. I’m told Jess prefers the cable clutch to the hydraulic.
That meant we wouldn’t get to see how Seb matched up against the very proven rider in the 450 class. I’m not going to lie, it made me feel much better about not making the 7-hour drive.
Sebastien finished 1-1 over a very solid field that included Ryder Malinoski, Preston Kilroy, Quinn Amyotte, Wyatt Kerr, Crayden Dillon, Jake Tricco, Tyler Shewchyk, and Noah Viney, to name a few.
Here’s a look at the results:
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2026 RD3 – Sand Del Lee – 5/16/2026
2026 RD3 – Sand Del Lee |
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Overall
The fact that Malinoski finished ahead of Kilroy tells me we may be in for a new 250 champion in 2026. With Vincent Wey and Kade Johnson coming north, it’s going to be very difficult to beat the top A class kids from down south. Wait till you meet Kade. He’s going to be adopted by the Canadian crowd pretty quickly, I’d say. I remember I interviewed him a couple years ago in…St Louis??? and talked about how well he’d fit in up here and now we’re going to find out.
I still say Vincent is going to be the one to beat, but I’ve been wrong before. Of course, I was given misinformation, so my record is still, technically, unblemished. 🤣
The other rider I can see making a dent in the top 2 finishing order could be Estonian Harri Kullas. He’s a proven, international commodity and will be coming to Canada with nothing other than wins on his mind. In fact, he’ll expect it.
European tracks can be more similar to our tracks than the big tracks of the AMA Pro Motocross circuit, so I’d say he’ll be better suited to match up against Dylan and Jess in this title fight.
I remember talking to Harri at this year’s MXON at Ironman MX and telling him to keep his telephone on or maybe give a certain team a call. I guess I should approach either him or Red Bull KTM and ask for my agent’s cut, no?
If you want to compare 250 and 450 apples to apples, check out the lap times:
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There was also a pretty solid Ladies A 12+ line-up at SDL. Here’s a look at the results:
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2026 RD3 – Sand Del Lee – 5/16/2026
2026 RD3 – Sand Del Lee |
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You could have put a blanket over the top 3 (Thank you, Irv Ford) in moto 1 with Amelie Croteau holding off the pressure of Hannah Cole by a mere 1 second at the flag.
In moto 2, Hannah grabbed the holeshot and led every lap with Kaylie Kayer getting to within 1.5 seconds of her at the flag. Amelie made a couple mistakes and ended up just under 10 seconds back in 3rd.
Unfortunately for everyone, Dusty Rocks MX made the move of the year by grabbing Jordan Jarvis from the USA. The only thing the rest of the field has going for them is that “JJ” may come into a couple rounds sore and under-slept after racing an AMA WMX round the day before and taking a red-eye flight to be at our races…like will happen at round 1 in Calgary.
Defending WMX East champion Jamie Astudillo should be the rider to keep Jordan honest and should be feeling fairly confident after keeping her in sight in Australia. Unless something drastic happens, I don’t see anyone beating these two rippers from south of the border. The question, in my mind, is who gets 3rd? That’s where it should be interesting, as most of our top riders look to have made improvements over the off-season with added team support.
In sum, if anyone is asking me for my picks for titles in the 3 classes, I guess I’m on paper as saying:
WMX: Jordan Jarvis
250: Vincent Wey
450: Dylan Wright
Hey, this is an opinion column, so I can say whatever I want, even if none of these predictions are exactly earth-shattering.
Let me add: The 250 and 450 class will come down to this – since both my picks are their own worst enemies, they can’t crash or make mistakes and win. They have to be in it to win it! Yep, I said it.
Let me end this MMC with a little story about a guy who wasn’t ready for a long MTB ride on the first hot day of the summer:
I’m leaving for Greece on Wednesday, so, just like I did in University, I’m cramming to be ready. I want to get a few long rides in before leaving for 11 days of no cycling, so I headed out for my usual long ride that takes me from my house near the forks of the Thames River, out and around the trails at Fanshawe Lake. It’s no secret that it one of my favourite rides in all of North America. Crazy, I know.
I could tell pretty early that it was hot out, yet, for some reason, I pressed on in the early part of the ride as if it were mid-August and I’d been riding in the heat for a couple months. Also, there was a tailwind heading out which A) made it easier and B) mede it even hotter.
It was an odd-numbered day so that meant we went in a counter-clockwise direction. That also means there are a few uphill climbs, some steep and some longer and more gradual. I could tell I was breathing pretty hard and that I was already being affected by the heat.
Fortunately, I had brought 2 bottles with Ryno Power Hydration Fuel and a gel pack. I was drinking at my usual times but could tell I was losing a bit of steam and found myself fighting the urge to remove my helmet to cool down – never a good sign.
When I came around the far end and crossed the Thorndale Bridge, I started asking myself when the trail came closest to the man-made lake for a possible cooldown dip – also never a good sign.
I remembered this place were we used to ride our “clunkers” down a little hill to a jump we’d made into the lake, so I thought that’d be a good place to stop and try to cool down.
I rolled down to the water’s edge and saw nothing but fish heads and ponds scum. Great. But I really needed to cool down so I removed my shoes and socks and waded in.
I stood there and did the old “pull the water up with my hands to the backs of my knees and my arms” for a couple minutes while trying not to throw up at the thought.
I sat for maybe a couple minutes and thought about what I’d do if I actually did bonk. Emily was at work and had ridden a bike, so she couldn’t even help me if she wanted to. My buddy, Shawn Reeder, was already home after doing his loop of the lake but had plans and needed to be somewhere other than driving the sag wagon to pick me up. I guess I’d have to call a cab if it came to that.
If you’re like me, you never like drinking the very last of your bottles. There’s just something about knowing you still have a little left no matter how bad you feel. This time, I told myself the liquid is doing absolutely no good in the bottles and drank them down.
I also took the gel and headed back up the short hill and back onto the trail to continue my way home.
Fortunately, the liquid and gel started to make me feel a little human again and I could remember my name and address. I slowed my pace and rolled the rest of the way home, getting there in around 3:00 flat. This ride usually takes me just over 2 1/2 hours when I’m actually ready for it. Ouch.
It’s one of those stories where it all could have been avoided if I simply took my own advice. I would have told anyone else in my situation to cut the ride short in that heat and with that level of preparedness, but your own advice is the hardest to take.
And you know what’s even more ridiculous? I’m meeting Shawn for a ride later this afternoon…
Enjoy the rest of your long weekend and the upcoming short week. When I get home from Greece I will have a full night to pack the van and get ready to head to Calgary. Nothing like having time to relax after a vacation! 🤦♂️
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