Monday Morning Coffee Opinion Column by Bigwave about Motocross and other interesting topics

By Billy Rainford

We have some answers following round 1 of the 2026 Canadian Triple Crown Series presented by Makita. Heading in to Wild Rose MX, we thought it was the final time we’d be at the iconic track with the view of the downtown skyline, but it turns out there will be at least one more year at the facility.

As always, we all had our opinions on how the racing would shake down.

In the 250 class, most thought the top American amateur riders were going to be the ones to beat, but don’t try telling that to defending champion Preston Kilroy. I got the sense he had an “Oh ya, we’ll see” attitude heading into the weekend and the series.

He’s also an American and is one of the smoothest, most technically sound riders in the 250 class, for sure, but was he as fast as the new, young upstarts? Yes. Yes he was.

As I’m sure you all know by now, he finished 1-1 ahead of our own #24 Dylan Rempel, who gave him just about all he could handle. Dylan closed in but didn’t have the necessary pace on the rough track to take the win. He said afterward that every time he’d try to push it a little bit extra he’d start making mistakes, so he sort of settled in to his place in 2nd.

Most were expecting #227 Vincent Wey to be the rider who gave Kilroy fits, and I still think he will, but he had his own issues to work through on Sunday.

He was forced to claw his way forward in moto 1 and made it up to 3rd and was closing on the leaders. IN the 2nd moto, he was down early and into the mechanics area where Donk had to kick his shifter into an acceptable posion before he could get back in the action, way at the back. He made it up to 12th for 7th overall. Not what he wanted but it really could have been much worse.

The 3 younger US riders we were keeping an eye on also included #177 Kade Johnson and #31 Ryder Malinoski.

Kade skipped his high school graduation to be in Calgary and had a solid day, going 4-4 for 3rd which he said he wasn’t too thrilled about on stage at the end of the day.

Malinoski showed he was one to watch in moto 2 and put in lap times that had him charging toward the front. He ended up with 9-3 motos for 4th place. The 3 American riders we’re expecting big things from will be the one to deliver big things as the series moves east. Kilroy and Rempel are the ones to beat, but these 3 will be mixing it up with them very soon.

#27 Josh Boaz got the chance to race on the AVL Husqvarna team and it looks like he’s going to make it pay off for them. He looked really good on the 250 and finished just 1 point behind Malinoski in 5th.

The rider I was probably most impressed by was #16 Tanner Scott who dropped down to the 250 class for 2026 on his privateer ride. He took 5th in moto 1 and was on a nice charge. He was doing the same in moto 2 until a big crash completely destroyed him KTM and banged him up pretty good.

He managed to make it to the finish line area and waited for the checkered flag to cross the line. I hope he’s not too badly hurt after that one. He broke both front and rear fender off in this one!

We’ll talk more in depth in future columns and in our video recap brought to you by Callus Moto.

Here’s a look at the results:

250:

  1. 1 Preston Kilroy YAM 1-1
  2. 24 DYlan Rempel HON 2-2
  3. 177 Kade Johnson KAQ 4-4
  4. 27 Josh Boaz HQV 6-5
  5. 31 Ryder Malinoski YAM 9-3
  6. 64 Wyatt Kerr HON 7-6
  7. 227 Vincent Wey KAQ 3-12
  8. 247 Tegan Kortenbach KTM 10-7
  9. 214 Tyler Gibbs YAM 8-10
  10. 28 Zach Ufimzeff YAM 11-8
  11. 51 Josh Clark YAM 12-13
  12. 42 Danik Paradis KTM 13-14
  13. 126 Ayrton Pomeroy HQV 16-16
  14. 16 Tanner Scott KTM 5-29
  15. 150 Dexter Seitz KTM 15-20
  16. 54 Jacob Frederickson HQV 21-15
  17. 411 Duncan MacLeod KTM 17-19
  18. 100 Cale Kuchnicki GAS 20-17
  19. 605 Blake Broderick KTM 19-18
  20. 157 Cole Dekoninck YAM 18-23
  21. 41 Jayden Riley HQV 34-9
  22. 555 Zach Phifer YAM 23-21
  23. 168 Chaz Collins YAM 22-22
  24. 25 Cole Pranger GAS 35-11
  25. 228 Ryden Safron YAM 24-25
  26. 63 Mars Millar GAS 14-35
  27. 761 Cass Loutitt KTM 28-24
  28. 158 Nathan Snelgrove HQV 25-28
  29. 277 Seth Unrau YAM 27-27
  30. 745 Jayden Ostaszewski HON 30-26
  31. 195 Drake Plotts HON 26-33
  32. 394 Xavier Peterson KTM 29-31
  33. 112 Bentley Tondu HON 32-32
  34. 103 Lehi Dummar GAS 36-30
  35. 703 Jay Olsen SUZ 33-34
  36. 976 Joseph Pilsner YAM 31-36
  37. 93 Kaes Knights KTM 37-37
  38. 167 Dylan Hansen YAM 38-DNS
  39. 715 Hunter Cranston 39-DNS

In the 450 class, it looked like we were going to get the battle we were all hoping for between #9 Dylan Wright and #15 Jess Pettis. Our 2 top riders went at it tooth and nail the entire first moto. Pettis led the majority of the laps until he made a slight bobble in a 180 right-hander in front of me, allowing Wright to take advantage around the outside and take the win.

There were no finger guns or gestures at the flag when Wright crossed the line just in front of Pettis this time. They were evenly matched and kept things cool.

Behind them it was the rider from Estonia who we all knew was going to be their biggest challenge, #151 Harri Kullas. You can tell Harri races all the time as I’d say he looked the most natural out there. He even managed to make his KTM 450 sound like a 350. He looks good.

In moto 2, I was standing over by the start when the field came by after completing a lap and #15 was nowhere to be seen. It turns out he tipped over after the finish line and #14 Quinn Amyotte had nowhere to go and ran into him. I was told it wrecked his killswitch and the bike wasn’t able to continue, sending Pettis back to the pits on foot. It was a tough blow to start the season for him.

The biggest “surprise” was how good #6 Ryder McNabb looked out there on the 450. The team was downplaying their expectations, instead focussing on keeping things fun for the new 450 rider from Manitoba.

He ended up with 5-3 motos to round out the podium and should continue with good results if he can keep enjoying it out there.

#12 Sebastien Racine is also new to the 450 class and his 4-4 motos put him 4th. What’s weird is that he had to come from last in moto 1 to get 4th and then finished there in moto 2 as well. That tells me he’s likely got the pace to have everyone covered behind Wright, Pettis, and Kullas, but we’ll see what happens this week.

Here’s a look at the results:

450:

  1. 9 Dylan Wright HON 1-1
  2. 151 Harri Kullas KTM 3-2
  3. 6 Ryder McNabb HON 5-3
  4. 12 Sebastien Racine KAW 4-4
  5. 377 Daniel Elmore HQV 7-6
  6. 84 Tanner Ward GAS 9-5
  7. 14 Quinn Amyotte GAS 6-8
  8. 208 Logan Leitzel BET 8-10
  9. 18 Parker Eales KTM 10-12
  10. 482 Teren Gerber YAM 12-11
  11. 15 Jess Pettis 2-DNF
  12. 10 Keylan Meston 11-15
  13. 19 Noah Porter YAM 21-7
  14. 737 Tee Perrott YAM 15-13
  15. 36 Tyler Shewchyk HON 14-14
  16. 62 Danny Robertson KTM 13-16
  17. 58 Blake Davies HQV 24-9
  18. 132 Seth Hughes HON 16-18
  19. 85 Alex Gatt KTM 19-17
  20. 499 Bryant Humiston YAM 17-19
  21. 187 Layne Nuyens TRI 18-20
  22. 819 Dawson Gravelle GAS 20-23
  23. 250 Seth Pleice KTM 23-21
  24. 623 Travis Gibbs YAM 22-DNS

In the WMX class, all eyes were on #301 Jordan Jarvis who finished 4th on Friday and Saturday at Round 1 of the AMA WMX races at Hangtown in California.

Anyone who finishes that high in that field automatically becomes the rider to beat up here. That’s just the way it is.

She didn’t make it easy on herself after heading out dead last in moto 1 and clawing her way up to 3rd by the flag as she closed on the leaders. In moto 2, she got a better start and had a nice battle with #2 Kaylie Kayer and #38 Isla Phillips who also raced at Hangtown.

Jarvis took the win and the overall with 3-1 motos equalling Kayer’s 1-3 to share the red plate heading to Prairie Hill MX this week.

#1 Jamie Astudillo avoided me and my GoPro during my Race Tech Walk and Talk but I chatted with #208 Logan Leitzel and he said she wasn’t very happy with herself and that she just has to go faster. Of course, he said it with a smile on his face.

She could only come up with 2-4 motos to miss the podium after tying Phillips in points for 4th. Watch for her to get back on course this week.

Here’s a look at the results:

WMX:

  1. 301 Jordan Jarvis YAM 3-1
  2. 2 Kaylie Kayer YAM 1-3
  3. 38 Isla Phillips HQV 4-2
  4. 1 Jamie Astudillo GAS 2-4
  5. 4 Kiana Kurtz HQV 5-5
  6. 7 Brandy McLarty HQV 6-7
  7. 3 Hannah Cole HON 8-8
  8. 8 Amelie Croteau HON 7-9
  9. 1W Katrine Ferguson HQV 11-6
  10. 11 Victoria Dillon KTM 9-10
  11. 6 Tea Ferguson HQV 10-12
  12. 93 Peyton Belisle 12-11
  13. 9 Ami Ferguson HQV 13-13
  14. 97 Cali Austad HQV 15-14
  15. 522 Elliah Mathison HQV 16-16
  16. 222 Emily Hunter HQV 18-15
  17. 14 Alivia Werezak YAM 17-17
  18. 513 Karen Rominick HON 19-18
  19. 304 Teegan Hood YAM 20-19
  20. 19 Thaly Girard HQV 14-DNS

The focus of the day seemed to be the new live timing system being implemented for the 2026 season. The gang from Live Laps was set up trackside and we all struggled to get used to the changes.

I’d like to apologize for the lack of timely results posted on the DMX social pages as it just wasn’t easy to get to which site was showing the correct results for each race. They ended up taking the tv screen down from the mechanics area and everyone was a little frustrated with how tough it was to get up to the minute times and placings for their riders.

I’m sure it was just some growing pains for the new system, but we really need to get this sorted out moving forward. Here’s what we need to see on the results page:

Moto results/live timing:

Super Mini 9-16
    Pos Nbr Racer Hometown Brand Lap Laptime Gap
  1st #40 WELCH, Teegan Cavan, ON KTM 5 02:00.286 –.—
  2nd #9 POWELL, Chandler Ashton, ON Yamaha 5 01:59.541 00:01.479
  3rd #32 STYS, Ethan Scotland, ON KTM 5 02:09.544 00:25.307
  4th #77 BOWES, Lane Lanark, ON KTM 5 02:08.046 00:05.328
  5th #99 KUKIELKA, Austin ON KTM 5 02:08.044 00:03.792
  6th #27 SYLVESTRE, Olivier St-cuthbert, QC Gas gas 5 02:08.516 00:02.702
  7th #35 BURKE, Bentley Woodlawn, ON KTM 5 02:08.834 00:11.822
  8th #327 ETCHES, Connor Cobourg, ON Gas gas 5 02:09.402 00:01.116
  9th #916 MILES, Landon Beckwith, ON Yamaha 5 02:10.299 00:01.722
  10th #181 FLEMING, Dallas Fenelonfalls, ON KTM 5 02:11.712 00:04.434

Overalls:

PRO-AM – Overall Finish Positions  View Laptimes  
Overall   Name Moto 1 Moto 2 Points Earned
1st
#61
 KTM  BENJAMIN MISTELBACHER
 Peterborough, ON 		 1st 1st 50
2nd
#211
 Yamaha  JACK WRIGHT
 PortPerry, ON 		 2nd 2nd 44
3rd
#77
 Triumph  LEITH NESS
 Blackwater, ON 		 3rd 3rd 40
4th
#225
 KTM  TRISTAN DARES
 Rockwood, ON 		 4th 4th 36
5th
#393
 Dodge  BRANDON SPENCER
 Picton, ON 		 5th 5th 32

We need their races numbers, bike brand, and hometowns for future archives. We also need the ability to see a printable version of the overalls for end of day reporting. I hope we can get this figured out for Round 2. I appreciate the fact that they were physically at the race and seemed willing to work with us all to get it better. They printed results for me at the end of the day with smiles on their faces, so that was nice.

I’ll leave this MMC there. I hope that was enough to get you through another cup of coffee to start your week. I’ve got a laptop full of content to start putting up as well as video content from our new guy, Austin Klassen from AKMotoEdits who is in charge of our video content this season.

We should even have some nice photos from John Meaney to look at soon too.

Have a great week, everyone, and I’ll see you in Pilot Mound, MB. Huge thanks to Evelyn and Chris Bruno for their hospitality in Ghost Lake to start the week. What a nice area this is!

We’ll get it sorted out for this week in Manitoba. “See you at the races...”