Frid’Eh Update #12 | Sebastien Racine | Brought to You by Dirt Care
Week #12 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update belongs to Sebastien Racine from Casselman, ON and is brought to you by Dirt Care.
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #12 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by Dirt Care. I’m happy to report that all the snow and snowbanks are long gone and tracks are opening all over the place! Here in London, Ontario, we’re lucky enough to have at least 6 riding spots within an hour’s drive. I had planned last year to ride every one of them on the same day, but it didn’t happen and hasn’t yet. I’ll see if I can change that this season.
We actually hit 20 Celsius on Wednesday! We’re back to I guess “normal” temperatures again, so we’re climbing up to around 8C today. Nothing to get too excited about but still warm enough to throw a leg over a bike!
I won’t be heading to Birmingham this weekend for Round 10 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. I’ve had a few people ask me how it is travelling in the USA as a Canadian these days. To be honest, I didn’t even know it was a concern! I’ve been told Canadians have been pulled over and hassled while driving down south. Man, I’ve got Canada flags on the #dmxvan, I’m a rolling target!
We’re all out here just trying to live our lives and not act like politics is the #1, all-encompassing thing. My plan is to hit all of the upcoming northeast SX rounds in Foxborough, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh. Please tell me it’s not going to be a thing, driving around with Ontario plates and “Canadian motocross news, first.” on my back window…
Anyway, Sebastien Racine is career #12 here in Canada. We’ve known him and his parents since he was just a little kid on a 50 ripping up the tracks here and at the big US Amateur National events. He always ran #2 (or 122) back then and could be found on the podium wherever he was racing.
He’s poised for a breakthrough season. I thought it was going to be last summer, but he had a couple setbacks that kept him from running with the top couple riders. Here’s a look at his 2024 Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals season:
As you can see, he’s one of the riders ready to take the 250 crown and run with it. Will it be 2025? Here’s what Sebastien said from GPF when we contacted him this week:
Direct Motocross: Hey, Sebastien. It looks like I missed you by a day down at GPF! I want to first ask you about the 2024 season. You came in hot and I was expecting to see you as a regular on the podium. You ended up 4th overall in the 250 class but only landed on the podium once at Pilot Mound in Manitoba. Can you sum up the series from your perspective?
Sebastien Racine: My 2024 season started off amazing! I was riding decently at round 1, round 2 was a breakout ride for me and really gave me confidence but didn’t really show due to my DNF in moto 1, but I still got P2 in moto 2. Round 3 I got a podium so that was great! Round 4 I got caught up in the first turn crash and in moto 2 I was last and came back to P5, so I was pretty happy with my riding. But unfortunately at round 5 at Sand Del Lee I hurt my foot pretty badly which caused me to stop riding during the week. So the last 3 rounds were hard for me.
It came down to a battle between you and Wyatt Kerr for that 4th place. It looked like neither of you wanted it at the final round at Walton Raceway! You were 11th and he was 16th. Were you aware of how close that battle was?
I knew but I was just trying to ride the best I could but ended up riding horrible! For sure my toughest weekend of the year but that’s behind us now.
The top 3 riders will likely not be back this summer (Kaven Benoit, Drew Adams, and Gage Linville) but we’ve got a couple others joining the 250 class. You must feel like this is your year to shine in the 250 class?
For sure, this year is the year to prove what I can do!
We’ll have the return of 2-time champion Ryder McNabb, Dylan Walsh will be here all summer, and your teammate Preston Kilroy will drop to the 250 class. I guess the class hasn’t really gotten much easier has it? Lol. What are you working on to make sure you have a solid summer with speed and results gains?
The class has not gotten easier but this year I switched my off season training a lot. I am now training with Jess Pettis who is the 2024 450 champ. He has been teaching me a lot and it’s just been good to have someone push me on the track.
I know you’re down south now but what did you get up to after the season ended last summer? It’s been a long time since we’ve talked!
After the summer I took a bit of time to relax and reflect on my year and honestly didn’t do much. I was riding my dirt bike having some fun and then when the winter started to roll around I got back into my gym training with my trainer, Rob Mouland.
I saw how fast you are on the 450 at Pax Trax last winter. Will this be your final 250 season, do you think? How old are you now?
I just turned 19 years old so for me I think I still have a lot to prove to myself and the team before going and racing the 450, but for sure I feel good on the 450.
You guys have a nice big #1 plate in the 450 class over there at MX101 with Jess Pettis. How has this affected things on the team? Heads must be held a little higher?
I don’t think it changed much on the team. It feels good to have the big 1 under the rig but at the end of the day the team is working hard to give us the best chance to succeed as possible.
You’re at GPF now. Are you guys doing your own thing or are you in the group there?
So, I’m at GPF with Jess to ride but I still am doing my own gym program with Rob off the bike.
Who all is down there riding right now with you guys?
My mechanic Alex and Austin are down here right now with us but there are also a lot of people riding here including the KTM group.
How is Jess looking on that Yamaha 450? Can anyone keep up with him?
He’s looking good on the bike. It took him a little bit to get used to it but he’s riding well now for sure. Let’s say I’m not that far off. Hahah!!
What’s your favourite off-bike form of training?
I love mountain biking for sure, it’s one of my favourite things to do in general. But right now I’m doing a lot of road biking and I’m starting to enjoy it more every time.
What’s the plan for the rest of the winter? The weather has finally gotten pretty good back here at home.
I’m staying at GPF until April 8th and after that I will see if I go home or if I stay for a bit longer. It all depends if the tracks at home are good.
Will you race the first couple AMO or Quebec Provincial races before the Canadian Triple Crown Series starts out west?
As of right now, I think I will race round 1 of the AMO Series at Gopher Dunes and that’s really the only one on my radar so far.
I’ve known you guys for a long time now. What’s the craziest thing your dad has in the garage these days?
We have a lot of things. Lol. But he is now a dealer for Segway Powersports so we are getting a lot more side-by-sides and ATV’s now so that’s cool.
Are there any big changes in your program? Same motor builder (Alan Brown) and suspension (SSS)? What’s the biggest change for you this season?
Nothing crazy, just putting more work into myself. We still have the same motor builder but we are working on some new stuff which has been great so far. We are also still with SSS Suspensions.
OK, thanks for taking some time with us for one of these interviews again. Good luck with your preparation and who would you like to thank?
No problem, it’s always a pleasure to do these!
I want to give a massive thanks to everyone: MX101, Yamaha Canada, FXR, Factory Ride, Decal Works, SSS Suspension, Maxima, Pro Filter, Dunlop, Rekluse, Fmf, Renthal, Ride Engineering, Acerbis, Works Connection, Matrix Concepts, VP Racing Fuels, DID Chains, Rob, Alex, Austin, Allan, Kevin, mom, dad and just everyone who is making this happen.
Round 10 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend for another Triple Crown. It’s Round 5 of the 250 East Division. Defending champion #1 Tom Vialle holds a slim 1-point lead over #31 Max Anstie. #56 Seth Hammaker and #24 RJ Hampshire are also only separated by 1 point in their current fight for 3rd.
In the 250 class, I’m going to go ahead and say that Seth Hammaker is probably the most normal guy away from the track. In the 450 class, I’ll give that title to #2 Cooper Webb. Agree?
250 EAST POINTS
1 1 Tom Vialle 79 17 18 22 22
2 31 Max Anstie 78 25 22 16 15
3 56 Seth Hammaker 68 18 5 20 25
4 24 R.J. Hampshire 67 4 20 25 18
5 41 Nate Thrasher 53 14 17 14 8
6 10 Chance Hymas 51 16 16 18 1
7 59 Cullin Park 48 15 11 13 9
8 34 Daxton Bennick 43 -5 22 0 15 11
9 92 Maximus Vohland 40 -3 1 13 17 12
10 60 Carson Mumford 40 12 14 11 3
11 47 Levi Kitchen 39 13 25 1 N/A
12 83 Austin Forkner 35 5 15 5 10
13 55 Henry Miller 33 11 12 10 0
14 87 Hardy Munoz 31 9 10 12 0
15 89 Trevor Colip 21 6 9 6 0
16 50 Cameron Mcadoo 20 20 0 0 N/A
17 75 Gage Linville 20 10 8 2 0
18 192 Jack Chambers 19 3 7 9 0
19 195 Lance Kobusch 8 8 0 0 0
20 350 Chandler Baker 8 0 0 8 0
In the 450 class, #2 Cooper Webb is moving away from the rest of the field and currently holds a 15-point lead over #4 Chase Sexton. #94 Ken Roczen sits 3rd, 11 points behind Sexton.
450 POINTS
1 2 Cooper Webb 193 18 20 14 22 22 25 25 22
2 4 Chase Sexton 178 25 16 18 25 17 20 20 17
3 94 Ken Roczen 167 22 18 22 20 1 22 22 25
4 32 Justin Cooper 144 15 11 16 9 18 17 18 18
5 27 Malcolm Stewart 140 12 15 13 12 25 18 13 16
6 21 Jason Anderson 136 20 9 20 15 20 16 11 14
7 51 Justin Barcia 129 16 14 12 10 16 15 16 12
8 46 Justin Hill 114 14 8 7 16 12 12 17 15
9 7 Aaron Plessinger 105 13 0 0 13 14 13 15 20
10 14 Dylan Ferrandis 82 0 13 6 11 0 14 14 10
11 12 Shane McElrath 82 9 5 5 8 13 10 9 11
12 3 Eli Tomac 80 17 25 15 18 5 0 0 N/A
13 17 Joey Savatgy 80 1 12 11 7 15 9 12 13
14 1 Jett Lawrence 71 10 22 25 14 N/A N/A N/A N/A
15 49 Mitchell Oldenburg 71 6 3 9 5 11 8 10 9
16 96 Hunter Lawrence 62 11 17 17 17 0 0 0 N/A
17 45 Colt Nichols 56 -5 0 4 8 6 10 11 7 7
18 57 Benny Bloss 48 0 6 10 3 9 0 5 6
19 86 Mitchell Harrison 34 5 0 0 0 6 6 6 5
20 11 Kyle Chisholm 32 2 2 0 4 7 5 2 3
How to Watch:
Outside the US
Race Day Live
- 1:30 p.m. Eastern: SuperMotocross VideoPass
Race
- 7:00 p.m. Eastern: SuperMotocross VideoPass
Team Spotlight | AVL Race Team
“AVL” in AVL Race Team stands for the Morin family: Alex, Vincent, and Louis Morin. The team is based out of Drummond, NB and will be a force in 2025 and the future. Erin, Ontario’s Sam Gaynor will return after some very serious scaphoid reconstruction surgery and Telkwa, BC’s Daniel Elmore still has unfinished business to attend to.
With the 2 of these riders on the track in the 450 class, the team should be ready for some good results. Here’s a little bio on the team from their web page, AVLRacing.com:
The AVL Racing Team was established in 2019, by Louis Morin, a man with a passion for motorsports.
Louis’ desire to establish a team in the sport of motocross stemmed from the many years he competed with the Arctic Cat Snowmobile Team in Canada. Throughout this time, he enjoyed observing the operations side of the team, just as much as he enjoyed competing. This fuelled his dream to own and operate a team of his own.
The AVL Racing Team desires to offer a stress-free, team oriented environment for our riders, providing them with state of the art equipment and resources to perform at their best; while staying community minded, giving back to young and up-in-coming riders.
As the 2025 season approaches, the AVL Racing Team has partnered with the legendary manufacturer, Husqvarna for the season, with dealership support from Toys for Big Boys.
Daniel has been training down at Moto Bros in Punta Gorda, Florida.
Canadian Regional Race Schedules
BRITISH COLUMBIA
ALBERTA
SASKATCHEWAN
MANITOBA
ONTARIO
QUEBEC
ATLANTIC
If your schedule isn’t shown here, fire me an email at billy@directmotocross.com and we’ll add you into the separate post for the site.
Oh, and don’t rake up the old leaves on the ground that fell late last fall, yet. Just like your teenagers, honey bees are not ready to be forced out of bed. We were in the hot tub yesterday and there was one sitting on the side of the tub. I thought it seemed early so Emily Googled it and found out that’s what’s happening to them right now. It’s still going to drop below freezing a few more times, so it’s not time to send them out into the elements.
We were just out in the backyard for lunch break here at World HQ and as I walked around the back yard with a coffee in my hand, I got to talking to our back neighbour. He was just there to look after his ex’s dog while she’s away on holidays. He started asking me questions about Direct Motocross and Motocross in general. It turns out he used to race the Vet classes at TVR in the area about 10 years ago. What a small world.
I showed him the #739 Yamaha YZ250 2-stroke and he was on cloud 9. I’ll have to fire it up for him next time and see if he can break the rear fender for me…
We put up a few new videos on YouTube and Instagram this week:
Have a great weekend, everyone. Enjoy the racing and I hope you get the chance to dust off their old bike or break in a new one, wherever you are! I’ve got a bunch of new Leatt stuff to try out, so I’m itching to get out there, myself.
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