Frid’Eh Update #27 | Felix Lopez Interview | Brought to You by Troy Lee Designs
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #27 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week brought to you by Troy Lee Designs. We’re heading back to racing this weekend and everyone is pointing their vehicles to the little hamlet of Courtland, Ontario, just outside Tillsonburg. Known as the toughest circuit on our…circuit, Gopher Dunes conjures memories of some legendary performances. Matt Goerke’s time here in Canada and specifically in the sands of The Dunes come to mind immediately.
I will forever quote John Nelson when he stood at the side of the track in awe and sarcastically shouted, “Someone needs to black flag him…I think his throttle is stuck!” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that, and I’ll see to it that you never do either. Lol
Lots of riders were on the track on Tuesday, as it was the final day they were allowed. I headed over and wandered the pits talking to riders. You can watch this edition of “Bigwave’s Walk and Talk” here:
Felix Lopez from Mexico is #27 for the 2023 season here in Canada. We haven’t seen him run the number as he’s currently making a solo run at the AMA Pro Motocross Championships down south.
He was at Red Bud last week and finished 22-37 for 32nd overall. He’s coming back from an injury but will line up again this week in the sands of Southwick, so watch for the #577.
Here’s a look at his 2022 Canadian season:
I got in touch with him this week to see how he’s been doing:
Direct Motocross: Let’s back up and talk about you racing our series last summer. Was it what you expected? If not, how was it different?
Felix Lopez: Yea, for sure, the series is very fun. I really like the friendly environment with the riders and the teams, and obviously the challenge of the high level racing.
Were you surprised at how fast our top riders were or was it as you expected?
I knew they were fast, but I was surprised, especially with Dylan (Wright). He’s world class.
I have to ask you about the Manitoba round. It was ridiculously hot and humid. I always use you as an example of how bad it was because if the guy from Mexico struggled, you know it was bad! You were really hurting by the end. How bad was that race?
Yeah, it was super hot, not even Mexico gets that hot. I was doing good in the moto and got too carried away running second place and the heat got to me. It was crazy because my body quit responding to what my mind told it to do. I even jumped off the track on the big table top… that definitely was not on purpose. Haha.
You had a few 5th overalls and ended up 5th in the 450 MX Series. What was your best race that you remember?
I never really felt like any of them were super great for me. After the Manitoba round I don’t think my body ever fully recovered. Over all, I think my best race of the season was Sand Del Lee with a 4th in the first moto.
Did you have a favourite track?
Gopher Dunes was my favorite track, even though the suffer fest was no joke.
Was there a track that you hated?
I wouldn’t say I hated it, but Drumheller definitely wasn’t fun. I’m used to dry tracks, but that was a different type of dry.
What was the highlight of your visit to Canada?
My highlight was the excitement of the first round with the new team, and also driving through British Columbia. That was the prettiest scenery I have ever seen.
What did you get up to when the series ended?
I visited my mom for a week, then went right back to training in Texas for a full month to represent my country at the motocross of nations.
I saw you at Red Bud last week. It looks like that was the first AMA National you raced. What have you been doing?
This year has been difficult with what has felt like a lot of adversity. At the first of the year I dislocated my shoulder which stopped my on-the-bike training for about 3 weeks, then I was stuck in Mexico for 2 months renewing my visa. Right after returning from Mexico I moved to Georgia. It has definitely been a different sort of season for me, but I’m thankful to have put it together with the help of a few people to show up at the races.
32 (22-37) is your result from Red Bud. How did your races go?
I fell on the start and had to come through the pack. Same thing second moto, I was coming from behind and ran out of steam and fell. I can see the lack of pre-season training and testing with the bike is definitely showing. I’m regrouping this week and coming out to Southwick.
What’s your plan for the rest of the season?
After Southwick the plan is to do two more races with the Tech Service racing team. If it wasn’t for them, i wouldn’t have done any.
Will we ever see you up in Canada again?
If the opportunity arrises, I would do it again for sure.
Well, it was nice to chat with you again, and good luck with the rest of your season. Who would you like to thank?
I want to thank you, Billy at Direct Motocross, for reaching out to me. I would like to thank Jacinto Silva Tech Service Racing, AdventureMoto KTM, FXR Moto, Juan Carlos, Victor Serna, Invictus speed crew and the Masterpool family!
Gopher Dunes National
We’re heading to what is widely thought of as one of, if not the, toughest motocross race in the world – Gopher Dunes. We got a ton of rain on Thursday here in London and it washed the humidity away with it. Today it’s sunny and perfect for racing. The forecast is for 29C feeling like 30C, so the humidity looks like it’ll stay in check but 29 is still hot.
OUT
#441 Jyire Mitchell is out after a crash in the second moto in Calgary left him with some rib injuries. I spoke with Titan Racing this week and their hope is to be back for Round 5 at Sand Del Lee.
#14 Quinn Amyotte will not be racing this week due to his finger not coming around as quickly as he was hoping. You’ll remember he lost the tip in a crash in Calgary and had some skin reattached that doesn’t look to be taking very well. He doesn’t really know when it will allow him to get back on the bike, so we’ll have to keep an eye on his progress heading into Ottawa.
#4 Jake Piccolo is back on the bike and we saw him riding a turn track at Gopher Dunes during the week. He won’t be racing just yet though.
#19 Wyatt Kerr injured his back in Calgary and underwent successful surgery but is out for a while.
#173 Hunter Schlosser will not make the trip east to Gopher Dunes.
IN
#145 Grant Hoffman
#103 Nate Mason
#881 Jerry Lorenz
#226 Cameron Horner
#787/107 Lars van Berkel from the Netherlands. 17 (19-13) at Red Bud last week.
#718 Grant Taylor will be here ripping a 2-stroke Yamaha in the 450 class. He has had some porting done to the head that makes it ineligible in the 250 class. It also makes him a very honest racer and for that we wish him well!
Chad Goodwin has lent his set up knowledge and more to Julien Perrier and his Partzilla PRMX team heading into this week. Let’s see if it will rub off on the riders: #44 Dylan Rempel, #23 Josiah Natzke, and #26 Julien Benek.
I heard an amazing story about why #20 Jeremy McKie left Gopher Dunes early on Tuesday when I was there, but you’ll have to ask him. I’m sworn to secrecy…
Kyle Thompson said he’ll send over the finalized Entry List later this afternoon and we’ll post it up.
Everything you need to know for Gopher Dunes HERE.
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Mitch Cooke thought he could sneak into Ontario and podium something without us knowing! Thanks to Dan Stenning at Danstagram for drawing our attention to this.
Mitch apparently took 3rd in the Crankworx Summer Series Air DH up at Horseshoe Valley Bike Park.
AMA Pro Motocross | Southwick
These historical notes are always good to look over, so here ya go:
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you all over at Gopher Dunes on Saturday and Sunday. We’ve got Matt Huggett from Two Twenty Six Media at Southwick this weekend, so watch for all of his stuff too.
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