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

Grab yourself another cup this morning for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee where we talk about some of what happened in Motocross…

By Billy Rainford

That was a busy weekend of racing, even though I didn’t leave my couch to go to any of it! We had Canadians racing all over the map and events that were live streamed on YouTube that definitely caught our attention.

I hope everyone had, or is still having, a great Easter Weekend.

Our rollercoaster of a spring continues here in southwestern Ontario. We’ll go from 20C + to the freezing mark in the matter of a few hours lately. It’s been a wild ride. For example, here in London, we’ll go to 7 today, then to -5 overnight, and then to a high of zero, followed by an 18C day on Thursday. I haven’t had the YZ250 2-stroke out yet, but this weather is making it very hard to plan my bicycle rides! I have managed to get out on the MTB, gravel, and road bikes this past week though, so that’s a positive.

Anyone else here in Canada just gotten back on the roads or trails to realize just how little training on a stationary seems to do? It happens every year. You think you’re doing everything right all winter and then you go out for your first “real” ride and it still feels like you’re starting from scratch. And let me tell you, it doesn’t get better as you age, either.

The only positive I can take from this same feeling every spring is that I know it will come back, eventually. You just have to close the door behind you and start logging the miles. Not intervals or trying to beat any times you’ve done in the past, just distance and time. It’s only early April, so there is still quite a bit of time to get yourself ready for whatever you have planned this summer. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself…again this year.

On the bright side, most tracks are open for the season around here, so as soon as I see a reasonably warm day with no rain, I’ll actually load the 250 onto the back of the Dirt Care / DMX van and head somewhere to clear the cobwebs. And trust me, there are enough cobwebs to shoot a scene from The Muntsers and Indiana Jones!

Let’s get to some racing action:

What’s eating Gilbert Tomac?

Is something up with Eli Tomac? | Brown Dog Wilson photo

As I watched Eli on Saturday, something looked off. Just…off. At first, I thought it was the bike. Something didn’t look “racy” with the way it looked out there. Was it just the weird angles of the fenders, I asked myself? And why would he suddenly have bike set up problems after being the only rider with 4 wins so far this season? It didn’t add up.

Then there was that video clip doing the rounds that show him coming out of a corner and hitting the following jump while never putting his right leg down on the peg. Is this where his “problem” lies? Is he dealing with a “lower body injury,” as they’d say in Hockey?

Eli isn’t saying anything yet, so I guess we just have to say he’s suffering through a mid-season slump and see what happens this week in Nashville.

Ken Roczen is the rider with the momentum right now. | Brown Dog Wilson photo

Ken Roczen has all the momentum right now. He’s somehow making this look easy! I think we can all agree that every track every weekend every year can’t be constantly getting gnarlier and gnarlier, can we? We can’t have “the toughest track I’ve ever ridden” each week, can we? I think maybe riders have short memories of how tough tracks are each Saturday.

Anyway, Kenny made that very tricky-looking track look pretty easy when most of the other top guys weren’t, so that’s saying something about how he’s riding right now.

I’m on record picking Hunter Lawrence as the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross champion this year. However, he’s looked pretty beatable the past couple weeks. He regained the red plate in St. Louis, but he’s sharing it with Eli. Kenny is the one closing in on the two and is now just 5 points behind them. We’ve got a nice battle shaping up to finish out this season.

I wanted to look at the ages of the 250 riders, so I thought I’d better do the same for the 450 guys.

450 Points Top 5 Ages:

  1. 3 Eli Tomac 33
  2. 96 Hunter Lawrence 26
  3. 94 Ken Roczen 31
  4. 1 Cooper Webb 30
  5. 32 Justin Cooper 28
Haiden Deegan has clinched the 250 West Regional title with 2 rounds remaining. | Brown Dog Wilson photo

In the 2nd East/West 250 Showdown, I think we can all agree that Haiden Deegan is the fastest 250 Supercross rider there is right now. He came from like 10th place and took the win in the Main Event and it was impressive the way he was able to make everyone else look slow. That’s crazy to think. He was only the 3rd rider to clinch the Regional title with 2 races left to go.

Cole Davies has everyone covered but Deegan. | Brown Dog Wilson photo

For Cole Davies, he needs to think of this the same way even younger riders have to think about moving up to the Supermini classes. Haiden has a couple extra seasons of racing at this level on him. Let’s see where this next young phenom is in 2028. If what we’re seeing already from him is any indication, we should have our next dominant rider on our hands. He seems to have everyone but Haiden covered right now.

250 West Points Top 5 Ages:

  1. 1W Haiden Deegan (Clinched title) 20
  2. 47 Levi Kitchen 25
  3. 61 Max Anstie 32
  4. 34 Ryder Difrancesco 21
  5. 19 Max Vohland 23

250 East Points Top 5 Ages:

  1. 37 Cole Davies 18
  2. 10 Seth Hammaker 25
  3. 58 Daxton Bennick 20
  4. 30 Jo Shimoda 23
  5. 22 Coty Schock 28

The Canadians:

We had #66 Cole Thompson from Brigden, ON in the 450 class and #800 Preston Masciangelo from Brantford, ON returning to the 250 West class. Here’s how they did:

#66 Cole Thompson. | Brown Dog Wilson photo

#66 Cole Thompson 450
Qualifying: 19th
Heat 2: 11th
LCQ: 1st
Main: 18th

#800 Preston Masciangelo. | Brown Dog Wilson photo

#800 Preston Masciangelo 250 West
Qualifying: 44th
Heat: 17th
LCQ: 6th (~12 seconds behind 4th)

The series heads to Nashville, TN this weekend.

Tanner Ward was in Great Britain for Round 2 of the Motul ACU MXGB Championship. | Bigwave photo

Tanner Ward was back in the United Kingdom for Round 2 of the 2026 Motul ACU British Motocross Championship at Preston Docks north of Liverpool.

This track looked a little more like the consistency of Sand Del Lee to me from watching it on the MXGB-TV YouTube channel. It was sandy but had a bottom. And Tanner took the win at SDL in 2025!

It was crazy windy but at least it was sunny this time. I think I saw the temperature was around 13C. Not great, but not horrible either. It played some havoc on the broadcast and they said they even lost a camera tower in the wind.

Tanner qualified 15th in the MX1 class that included Jeffrey Herlings.

In the first MX1 moto, Tanner messed up either off the start or early in the race because he came around and was shown back in 34th position. He made passes throughout the moto and it looked like he must have been having a pretty good battle with British legend Martin Barr in this one. Tanner crossed the line 18th.

In moto 2, Tanner got a much better start and was up in 11th place early. He went back and forth in this one and was in a good battle with #10 Meara trying to get himself into the top 10.

Tanner made a pass stick and was in 11th place with time running out. He was lapping faster than some of the riders in front of him but was running out of laps to make it count. Ahead of him was #579 Boby Bruce and Tanner was closing fast until they waved the checkered flag and Tanner was 11th.

Overall, Tanner seemed to be much more comfortable than he was at Round 1. 18-11 put him 14th.

We’ll grab Tanner to talk about it as soon as we can.

Results from Round 2 of the 2026 Motul ACU British Motocross Championship at Preston Docks in the United Kingdom.

MX2:

PosStart NumberCompetitorClassTotal Pointsr 1r 2
1100Tommy SEARLEMX2452025
2422Charlie HEYMANMX2 U21412516
3419Joe BROOKESMX2 U21401822
4441Billy ASKEWMX2 U21351520
5574Gyan DOENSENMX2 U21321418
6184Jamie KEITHMX2 U2130228
72John ADAMSONMX2261214
8163Ben MUSTOEMX2 U21261313
9479Josh VAILMX2 U21251015
1030Charlie RICHMONDMX2 U2117512
11337Glen McCORMICKMX217116
1246Davy POOTJESMX21616
13101Tyla HOOLEYMX2 U211569
1432Calum MITCHELLMX21587
15456Ollie COLMERMX2 U2113211
16912Joel RIZZIMX21010
17134Liam KNIGHTMX299
1814Harrison GREENOUGHMX2 U21835
19687Jake RACKHAMMX2844
20472Max HARRISMX2 U2177
2148Adam COLLINGSMX2413
225Liam BENNETTMX2 U2122
23711Joel FISHERMX2 U2111
2455Ryan WAGGOTTMX2 U21
25807Luca PEGGMX2
2622Sonny ROONEYMX2 U21
27231Rory JONESMX2
28661Josh COLEMANMX2
29271Logan WILCOXMX2
3010Jonathan EVANSMX2
31407Jake DAVIESMX2 U21
32957Jake PRESTONMX2
33307Sotirios FOTAKISMX2 U21
34777Archie HICKSMX2
35415Gabriels GOLTURENKOMX2 U21
36167Jack EVANSMX2 U21
3738Gavin STEVENSONMX2
38121Lewis SPRATTMX2 U21
394George HOPKINSMX2 U21
40719Jimmy MARGETSONMX2
4141Malachi ALLANMX2

MX1:

PosStart NumberCompetitorClassTotal Pointsr 1r 2
184Jeffery HERLINGSMX1502525
2426Conrad MEWSEMX1442222
3919Ben WATSONMX1381820
483Oriol OLIVERMX1382018
5811Adam STERRYMX1311516
623Taylor HAMMALMX1311615
7184Jamie CARPENTERMX1261313
8579Bobby BRUCEMX1231211
916Tom GRIMSHAWMX121912
106Carlton HUSBANDMX120146
1133Ben EDWARDSMX119118
1210Jason MEARAMX11587
1341Tristan PURDONMX11414
14249 🇨🇦Tanner WARD 🇨🇦MX113310
15217Eddie WADEMX11019
1650Martin BARRMX11055
17925Lennox DICKINSONMX11010
1874Thomas MURPHYMX1963
19592Freddie BARTLETTMX1844
20421Bayliss UTTINGMX177
2172Raife BROADLEYMX122
2228Charlie COLEMX122
23555Mckenzie MARSHALLMX111
24103Max BROADBELTMX1
2522Travis STEELSMX1
26401Jack BENISTONMX1
27141Nathan GREENMX1
28133Josh GREEDYMX1
2940Ezra BLACKWELLMX1
3091Charlie PUTNAMMX1
31211Jaydon ASHWELLMX1
323Josh GILBERTMX1
33714Brad TODDMX1
3426Louis BROOKESMX1

MX1 Moto 1 – 2:31
MX1 Moto 2 – 4:58

R3 / 03 May
Lyng

Cadders Hill, Lyng is a natural hillside motocross circuit without too many man made obstacles. Run by the Norwich Viking MCC team, Lyng is a spectacular, physically-demanding venue that has played host to many titanic battles for championship points.

Hmm, I wonder if Tanner will make another trip across the pond for Round 3?

The 2 Stroke World Championships were held at Glen Helen Raceway for the 17th time. The big draw for me was Ryan Surratt on the Honda CR500 2-stroke conversion kit.

He didn’t win on paper but he definitely won in the hearts of everyone standing at the side of the track, I imagine!

Defending champion Dante Oliver took the win on his KTM. Derek Drake had bad luck last year with a mechanical and looked like he would be challenging for this overall after getting 2nd in moto 1, but something happened to him in the 2nd moto that nobody seemed to have an answer for.

Here’s the live stream archive”

I happened to see on Tyler Medaglia‘s Instagram Stories that Talon Medaglia raced the Area Qualifier at Lake Sugar Tree over the weekend. I spoke with Tyler last week and pointed out that this track was David Bailey‘s local home track back in the day.

I scrolled the results looking for any other Canadians I could find (top 9 advanced):

03. Women
1st#74GasGasKELSEY HARRIS
jefferson , MD
M1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#22YamahaKIAH REED
Dade City, FL
M1: 2ndM2: 2nd
3rd#112 🇨🇦YamahaROSALY SYLVESTRE
BERTHIERVILLE *Canad, QC 🇨🇦
M1: 3rdM2: 3rd
4th#221GasGasHARPER WELLS
MORRISVILLE, VT
M1: 5thM2: 4th
5th#715YamahaCHLOE KOPPENHAFER
SUSSEX, NJ
M1: 6thM2: 5th
6th#29KTMHANNAH PEYTON
WIMAUMA, FL
M1: 4thM2: DNS
05. 250 B Limited
1st#143KawasakiJACOB HAUCKHILTON, NYM1: 3rdM2: 1st
2nd#41KTMBRADY OLSONDRIPPING SPRINGS, TXM1: 4thM2: 2nd
3rd#105YamahaROSSI SHUMATESouthwest Ranches, FLM1: 5thM2: 3rd
4th#667 🇨🇦KTMTYLER KIRBYHawkesbury *Canada*, ON 🇨🇦M1: 7thM2: 4th
5th#934KTMBRAYDEN CARPENTERLOUISBURG, NCM1: 1stM2: 13th
6th#47HusqvarnaJAYDEN STRUBLEThree Rivers, MIM1: 8thM2: 7th
7th#83HusqvarnaKYLAN STEWARTBELTON, SCM1: 6thM2: 9th
10. 450 B Limited
1st#143KawasakiJACOB HAUCKHILTON, NYM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#41KTMBRADY OLSONDRIPPING SPRINGS, TXM1: 2ndM2: 2nd
3rd#25YamahaJACKSON MCCARTYBOGART, GAM1: 5thM2: 3rd
4th#57YamahaCOOPER BERGERONGray court, SCM1: 3rdM2: 5th
5th#934KTMBRAYDEN CARPENTERLOUISBURG, NCM1: 7thM2: 4th
6th#667 🇨🇦KTMTYLER KIRBYHawkesbury *Canada*, ON 🇨🇦M1: 4thM2: 7th
7th#477HusqvarnaJAYDEN STRUBLEThree Rivers, MIM1: 6thM2: 8th
8th#83HusqvarnaKYLAN STEWARTBELTON, SCM1: 8thM2: 9th
9th#276KTMKISON HILLMANVIPER, KYM1: 13thM2: 6th
26. 65cc (10-11) Limited
1st#26HusqvarnaABSHUR HALLMorganton, NCM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#469KTMLEVI LEDDYOxford, FLM1: 3rdM2: 2nd
3rd#29CobraLEVI MEYEROkeechobee, FLM1: 5thM2: 3rd
4th#77KTMCARTER HOLMESGroveland, FLM1: 2ndM2: 6th
5th#30KTMHUDSON COHENINMAN, SCM1: 4thM2: 5th
6th#123 🇨🇦CobraJR GIONETTE
BLIND RIVER *Canada*, ON 🇨🇦
M1: 6thM2: 7th
7th#52/HusqvarnaPATRICK PASTUREAUSmithville, TXM1: 13thM2: 4th
8th#44CobraJARRETT TINCHERELKVIEW, WVM1: 8thM2: 11th
9th#17/KTMLOUIS HAUCKHILTON, NYM1: 7thM2: 12th
30. Mini Sr 1 (12-14)
1st#52HusqvarnaJOHN EVERETT PASTUREAUSMITHVILLE, TXM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 3rdM2: 2nd
3rd#674KTMANDERSON WALDELELIZELLA, GAM1: 2ndM2: 3rd
4th#225GasGasNOLAN COBBPALM HARBOR, FLM1: 1stM2: 4th
5th#23KTMAUSTIN KELLEROrlando, FLM1: 3rdM2: 5th
6th#9KTMOWEN STRAWNDALLAS, GAM1: 2ndM2: 6th
7th#57HusqvarnaHANNAH JAMISONHenderson, COM1: 4thM2: 7th
8th#131KTMGARY MASSENZIOMILLSTONE, NJM1: 4thM2: 9th
9th#316KTMTALAN LEACHSPRING HILL, TNM1: 5thM2: 10th
31. Mini Sr 2 (13-15)
1st#15SuzukiCOLLON HOLBROOKWetumpka , ALM1: 2ndM2: 1st
2nd#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 1stM2: 2nd
3rd#131KTMGARY MASSENZIOMILLSTONE, NJM1: 6thM2: 3rd
4th#991KTMREID CONEACWORTH, GAM1: 3rdM2: 7th
5th#28/GasGasADRIAN EWINGSWANNANOA, NCM1: 5thM2: 6th
6th#316KTMTALAN LEACHSPRING HILL, TNM1: 4thM2: 8th
7th#23KTMAUSTIN KELLEROrlando, FLM1: 8thM2: 5th
8th#424KawasakiTUCKER DONATOBlacksburg, SCM1: 10thM2: 4th
9th#91GasGasALSTIN FRALEYGOLD HILL, NCM1: 13thM2: 10th
32. Supermini 1 (12-15)
1st#4YamahaCOOPER JOHNSONWhite oak, PAM1: 2ndM2: 1st
2nd#52HusqvarnaJOHN EVERETT PASTUREAUSMITHVILLE, TXM1: 1stM2: 4th
3rd#15SuzukiCOLLON HOLBROOKWetumpka , ALM1: 4thM2: 2nd
4th#57HusqvarnaHANNAH JAMISONHenderson, COM1: 3rdM2: 3rd
5th#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 5thM2: 5th
6th#9KTMOWEN STRAWNDALLAS, GAM1: 7thM2: 7th
7th#327KTMLEVI HOGSTONWILMINGTON, NCM1: 6thM2: 8th
8th#23KTMAUSTIN KELLEROrlando, FLM1: 9thM2: 6th
9th#991KTMREID CONEACWORTH, GAM1: 8thM2: 10th
33. Supermini 2 (13-16)
1st#4YamahaCOOPER JOHNSONWhite oak, PAM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#15SuzukiCOLLON HOLBROOKWetumpka , ALM1: 2ndM2: 2nd
3rd#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 3rdM2: 3rd
4th#74GasGasKOLDEN OELENBERGERSTATESVILLE, NCM1: 4thM2: 4th
5th#131KTMGARY MASSENZIOMILLSTONE, NJM1: 5thM2: 5th
6th#23KTMAUSTIN KELLEROrlando, FLM1: 6thM2: 6th
7th#327KTMLEVI HOGSTONWILMINGTON, NCM1: 7thM2: 7th
8th#316KTMTALAN LEACHSPRING HILL, TNM1: 8thM2: 8th
9th#991KTMREID CONEACWORTH, GAM1: 9thM2: 9th
34. 125 Jr. (12-17) B/C
1st#4YamahaCOOPER JOHNSONWhite oak, PAM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 2ndM2: 3rd
3rd#51KTMKAYKY DE PINHOhamer, SCM1: 6thM2: 2nd
4th#72YamahaCHASE MOYNIHANJacksonville , FLM1: 5thM2: 4th
5th#3KTMAUSTIN WEBBWENDELL, NCM1: 4thM2: 5th
6th#711KTMTRENTON BURTONCairo , GAM1: 3rdM2: 9th
7th#15HusqvarnaBECKETT FERRYSenoia, GAM1: 7thM2: 7th
8th#912YamahaCOLT LACKEYHiddenite, NCM1: 10thM2: 6th
9th#39YamahaBROCK LAMBSWAINSBORO, GAM1: 11thM2: 8th
35. Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C
1st#72YamahaCHASE MOYNIHANJacksonville , FLM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#51KTMKAYKY DE PINHOhamer, SCM1: 3rdM2: 2nd
3rd#4YamahaCOOPER JOHNSONWhite oak, PAM1: 2ndM2: 3rd
4th#3KTMAUSTIN WEBBWENDELL, NCM1: 4thM2: 4th
5th#5 🇨🇦YamahaTALON MEDAGLIA
CANADA *Canada*, NS 🇨🇦
M1: 7thM2: 5th
6th#912YamahaCOLT LACKEYHiddenite, NCM1: 6thM2: 6th
7th#711KTMTRENTON BURTONCairo , GAM1: 5thM2: 7th
8th#15HusqvarnaBECKETT FERRYSenoia, GAM1: 8thM2: 9th
9th#39YamahaBROCK LAMBSWAINSBORO, GAM1: 11thM2: 8th
36. Girls (11-16)
1st#57HusqvarnaHANNAH JAMISONHenderson, COM1: 1stM2: 1st
2nd#177GasGasBRINLEY SHEPHEARDMYRTLE BEACH, SCM1: 2ndM2: 2nd
3rd#112 🇨🇦HusqvarnaROSALY SYLVESTRE
BERTHIERVILLE *Canad, QC 🇨🇦
M1: 3rdM2: 3rd
4th#111KTMCHEYENNE HINZEMontello, WIM1: 5thM2: 4th
5th#21KTMTIANNA HOLSCLAWJOHNSON CITY, TNM1: 4thM2: 6th
6th#429KTMAUBRIE BLACKWELDERIRON STATION, NCM1: 8thM2: 5th
7th#11KTMZOEY BOSSOLAKILL DEVIL HILLS, NCM1: 9thM2: 8th
8th#76HusqvarnaALIVIA FRANCISOdessa , FLM1: 6thM2: 11th
9th#412YamahaGABRIELLE HOWARDFOUR OAKS, NCM1: 12thM2: 7th

Full results HERE.
Qualifiers list HERE.

OK, enjoy your extended weekend if you’re lucky enough to have one. I hope the weather is improving wherever you are. We’re still a week or so away from leaving sub-zero nights behind us. Thanks for reading.

Let’s let Tarah Gieger from Popkum in 2018 say it: “See you at the races…” | Bigwave photo