Frid’Eh Update #14 | Quinn Amyotte Interview | Brought to You by Yamaha Motor Canada
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #14 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week brought to you by Yamaha Motor Canada and their new electric assist mountain bikes.
It’s another weekend at home for me, as I will not be making the trip out to Arizona for this week’s Triple Crown Supercross in Glendale. There’s a good chance you’ll find me over at Gopher Dunes on Saturday to dust off the cobwebs on the Yamaha 250 2-stroke. It looks like we’ve finally turned the corner and nice weather is in our forecast. At this point, it’s saying it’ll be sunny and 23C next Wednesday, so that one is a no-brainer, but Saturday is only supposed to be 9C, so I’m still up in the air about tomorrow. Anyway, I hope you’re able to get out and ride wherever you find yourself this long weekend.
Quinn Amyotte is #14 and just raced 3 rounds of 250 East Supercross and should be proud of his efforts. Like I always say, sometimes we have riders who just look like they’re trying to make the obstacles out there, but he was riding aggressively and looked like he belonged out there lining up against some of the best in the world.
He’ll stay down at Dreamland in north Florida until the end of the month before heading home to Ontario to continue preparing for the upcoming Canadian Triple Crown Series that starts in Edmonton, Alberta, June 3rd.
Here’s a look at Quinn’s 2022 Canadian season:
He finished 4th in 250 MX and then was 2nd in the SX/AX portion placing him 3rd overall in Triple Crown points behind Mitchell Harrison and Ryder McNabb. He should be very proud of that season in a tough 250 field.
We got in touch with him this week to talk about it all. Here’a what he had to say:
Direct Motocross: Hello Quinn. Where do we find you today and what are you up to?
Quinn Amyotte: Hey guys! I am just out at Dreamland putting in my motos. Today was sprints and now just sitting down for some lunch then going for a run!
OK, we gave you our Congeniality Award at this year’s DMXies – you always seem like you’re having a good time. But we also could have given you the Most Improved Award. How do you balance fun and the seriousness of racing?
I’ve had this asked to me a lot because I feel like I have one of the lighter attitudes in the pits which sometimes comes off like I don’t care or I’m just here for fun, but I take this very seriously and I put in a lot of work. But at the end of the day, we are racing our dirt bikes and I like to keep things fun. I put in just as much or more work than the next guy but I am having much more fun. Personally, I think that will prolong my career and it always ends up helping my results!
Do you have a regular crew or are you able to slot in wherever you find yourself? Have you always been able to do that?
I have always been good at just fitting in with whoever is around, but I still have my main friends that I talk to every day.
What kind of kid were you in the classroom?
Honestly, was always kinda the quiet kid during class and did what I was told to do. Teachers love that which leads to better grades. Haha
We’re heading into a 250 MX season that looks very stacked at the front end. You were close but not quite there last summer. What will it take for you to make that next step and is that whet you’ve been working on?
Ya, the class is looking stacked this year and of course we are trying to be up there every weekend. We are working a lot of speed and technique to not only go fast but stay consistent to be with those guys at all the rounds and stay in the chase.
You raced 3 rounds of 250 East Supercross this winter. Do you think getting these gate drops against the best in the world will help you this summer?
I definitely think doing the Supercross helped a lot. I learned more in the 2 month of Supercross with Luke (Renzland) and getting those gate drops in with those guys than I have in a long time and it’s definitely helping with my outdoor riding as well.
What would suggest to someone who maybe doesn’t have full support but wants to race some Supercross? Is it possible to do in this day and age?
I would say it’s definitely possible. Put in a good few weeks on a legit track and if you can connect it all together and make the night show the payout is definitely worth it to be paying your own dime.
You raced Tampa, Arlington, and Daytona. Can you sum up the experience for us? What was the main thing you learned that you can use moving forward?
I learned so much from 3 races. Tampa, I just got in and honestly just survived the night, but saw it wasn’t as scary as I thought. Arlington, I came in with more practice and confidence and qualified good. Unfortunately, that one was a Triple Crown so I would have had to make a main event to make the night, but that LCQ race was a lot better and I was actually able to race for positions. Daytona, I came in ready to try to make the main and unfortunately had that crash in the whoops that resulted in a fractured wrist, but I still learned a lot and was happy with my riding up until then. I think I can use everything I have learned moving forward and will help my summer a lot.
Is your plan to race more Supercross next season and in the future?
Yes, the plan is to race the whole east coast and put some more time in training beforehand.
What will you do between now and Round 1? Will we see you on the line in a pre-season race?
I am at Dreamland until the end of the month working with Kody (Renzland) then when I get home I will definitely be hitting up some AMO races!
You know how fast the top 250 guys are now from last season. How do you see this summer shaking out?
Definitely have a goal in mind but you never really know until round one, but I am putting in a lot of work and I’m excited to see where we stack up.
What’s your favourite training method? Are you a cyclist? Gym guy? What do you like?
My cardio of choice would be running then I do enjoy gym workouts as well!
And let me ask you this…are you OK with a 250 2-stroke in the 250 class in Canada? Have you guys considered it?
I think it’s a little weird that “factory” guys are gonna be allowed on them this year, but it’s Canada and we like to do things differently so I think it will be okay. I think the 4-strokes have progressed a lot since the last rule was implemented after (Kaven) Benoit‘s championship so I think it should be fairly even and a cool change. I personally haven’t really considered riding one.
OK, thanks for the chat this week, Quinn. Good luck, see you soon, and who would you like to thank?
Thank you guys for doing these, it’s cool to see what everyone is up to. I would just like to thank my entire team. They don’t get a lot of love during the off season without seeing them at the races but they are always working and trying to make our team better. Couldn’t be doing it without them!
RIP Josh Demuth
RIP Josh Demuth.
I never knew him personally but he definitely made a big impression on our series when he came to Canada. He seemed like a real character, a gentleman, always had a huge smile, and was the life of the party at the Walton TransCan golf “tournament” fundraiser in 2010.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Wiseco 2-Stroke MX World Championships at Glen Helen
It’s time for the 2023 Wiseco 2-Stroke MX World Championships at Glen Helen Raceway.
Live timing and scoring link HERE.
Glendale Supercross – Triple Crown
Round 12 – State Farm Stadium – Glendale, AZ
MXGP of Switzerland
The last edition of the MXGP of Switzerland in 2018 saw some intense battles in both MXGP and MX2 and ended with the victories of Jeffrey Herlings and Jorge Prado on their road to win the World Title in their respective category.
Infront Moto Racing is excited to come back to Frauenfeld especially as the track has been completely renewed which will only add to the challenge for the riders.
Let’s now see what the MXGP of Switzerland presented by iXS holds for us during this Easter period!
Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo: “I want to emphasise and thank Willy Laderach and his team for the amount of work done over the past four years to bring back the MXGP of Switzerland. It is good to be back in Frauenfeld where we had a great Grand Prix in 2018 and we are proud to be here this week. It is a great paddock, really comfortable combined with a great motocross track with very good and compact dirt. Also, most of the track can be seen by the public which will make an amazing weekend racing for all the fans”
FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela: “I also wish to congratulate Willy Laderach and his team for making this project possible, the outcome of this success is the great number of riders that we are going to have this weekend. This is a special event as they will be racing on Saturday and Monday due to the Easter Sunday and everybody is excited and want to ride in Switzerland. It has been a long wait until we finally could come back to the country for a MXGP race and there will be plenty of spectators so I wish you all a nice and successful weekend. Thank you very much.”
Organizer of the MXGP of Switzerland Presented by iXS Willy Laderach: “It is nice to be here and finally organise this event. The track is good and the paddock is amazing. We are very happy and proud that Infront Moto Racing and the FIM validated our project and stop the long wait for another MXGP of Switzerland. The track is looking good and this is thanks to Infront Moto Racing’s and our track building team who did a very good job to make this circuit operational and ready for this weekend. Thank you everybody and welcome back to Switzerland”
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado: “I am very happy to come and racing again in Switzerland. I have really good memories from last time when I won in MX2 class. It is very special to come back and really good to see Jeremy Seewer who is fighting for the MXGP title, being able to ride in his own country. I hope we can have a really nice racing and have a fun weekend.”
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer: “I am so amazed to see the passion going into this event since we arrived at the track. Coming here is so special and it feels amazing which gives me a big smile. As Jorge said, this is so important to have a local GP for riders as nothing beats the thousands of fans coming to see and support their local hero. That also makes the sport and history. I am very excited and ready to go!”
ClubLife – Beyond The Race Episode 17 : No Off Days, team battles the heat
The latest from our friends at Club MX.
Ryder McNabb Has Surgery on His Leg
The big news in Canadian MX this week was that defending 250 MX Champ, Ryder McNabb, broke his lower leg and underwent surgery on Tuesday. We spoke with him after the fall and here’s what he had to say:
Unfortunately, the rumours of defending Canadian Triple Crown Series 250 MX National champion #64 Ryder McNabb breaking his leg are true. We mentioned the rumour in the Frid’Eh Update but spoke to Ryder himself afterward.
He was putting in a couple 30-minute motos in Georgia with the Start Racing Yamaha riders on Wednesday. He said he only had two laps to go in his second moto when he had a simple, second-gear tip-over in a corner that ended up breaking his tibia and fibula on his left leg.
He said he wasn’t in all that much pain and they all assumed he’d probably just tweaked it, but went to get it checked out where it was determined to be a tib/fib situation. They aren’t broken adjacent to each other but are off-set on his lower leg.
Star Racing trainer Gareth Swanepoel has hooked the Red Bull KTM Canada Fly Racing rider up with a great surgeon in the area and Ryder is scheduled to likely have a plate and 4 screws put in the leg, taking him out of commission for the next little while.
Ryder expects they’ll head home to Manitoba next week to continue working with his trainer to be as prepared as he can be for the series that starts at RAD Torque Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta June 3rd, a little over 9 weeks away.
Have a great Easter long weekend and we’ll see you from the sidelines in Atlanta next weekend. Oh, and we’ve got 2 Canadians from Alberta racing the KJSX this week in Arizona. Watch for:
#5 Owen Rarick Medicine Hat, AB
#13 Kade Dupuis Calgary, AB
Good luck and have fun!
Unfortunately, #500 Julien Benek will not be on the track this weekend after injuring his thumb last week. Heal up, Julien.
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