Frid’Eh Update #30 | Tyler Yates | Brought to You by KTM Canada

Frid’Eh Update #30 | Tyler Yates | Brought to You by KTM Canada

By Billy Rainford

Welcome to Week #30 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update, this week brought to you by KTM Canada. This one is coming to you live from the pits at the 2023 ECAN at Motocross Deschambault just east of Quebec City.

Let me say thank you to Daniel Thibault and Jacob Thibault for looking after us so well at this event. Being able to park right up by the Pro Shop is a huge help as far as being able to cover the event. They’ve added a new building here that has a foosball table and a ping pong table (I’m taking all challengers)! It’s also the Media Centre where we can sit and work away in some air conditioning. Actually, I’ve just been sitting on the #DMXVan tailgate typing away, but it’s nice to know the dedicated building is just a few feet away should I decide I need it!

Edit: We just got back to the hotel and Jacob came up at the end of the day and handed us a few MX Deschambault beers! Boom!

So far the racing here has been great. Ryan Gauld is here with his AMO crew taking care of the technical side of things. From what I can tell, it looks to be a very nice improvement for the event. I heard there were quite a few dockings on race day 1 for things like disobeying yellow flags etc., but that’s to be expected when safety rules are enforced. It also means familiar faces like Tim Lee and Ron Cameron are here.

We’re expecting things to get a little moist this afternoon, so we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. This place can take a lot of rain and they’re not calling for anything biblical, so we should be all right.

Be sure to check out our Instagram page, Facebook page, and the actual webpage for up-to-the-minute coverage of the event.

Tyler Yates from Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island is our #30 honouree this week. It’s actually perfect timing because he was injured recently and we get this chance to catch up with him about what happened and how long he’ll be out of action.

I emailed him the questions so his answers were kind of funny because I joke that he should show up at the TransCan at Walton Raceway to hang out. His reply was that he’s already back here at the races in Deschambault!

He’s one of the riders who I keep waiting for to have their “breakout ride.” He’s got the speed and the talent to continue his march to the front. It’s one of those things where you have to do it once to make it the norm. If he keeps plugging away, I think his time will come.

Here’s a quick look at his season up to his injury:

As you can see, he started out up in the mix with an 9th and 9th at rounds 1 and 2. Unfortunately, a broken wrist will have him out of action until the indoor season starts up.

Here’s what he had to say when we contacted him this week. I sent him the questions and then he walked past me here at the races! 🤣

Direct Motocross: Hello, Tyler. I say we back it way up for our chat. How did you get into motocross in the first place?

Tyler Yates: So, I got into riding from my dad. He always had a bike and I started riding when I was about 3, but I never raced until I was 12. I actually came from a circle track background. My dad raced sprint cars my whole life so I raced go karts for quite a while and was always around that sort of racing, but a friend from school wanted to try a motocross race and invited me and I’ve been hooked ever since! Haha I started training with Jeff Evernden from West Shore Motocross and Graham Scott and that was a lot of fun. And here we are. 

You’re from Duncan, BC on the island. Who did you come up through the ranks battling out there?

There were quite a few guys to ride with. When I was in Junior I used to battle with Wyatt Youland quite a bit and on the mainland I always raced against Marcus Deausy and Julien Benek and those guys. I always looked up to the guys that I now race against over there!

What other sports did you do when you were younger? You’re from the island so I have to ask you if you surf? What’s your Tofino history?

I used to play baseball a lot and a few local sports like bowling and curling but mainly raced my go kart and now I race a car here and there for fun. So, I actually haven’t been to Tofino before but it’s definitely something I wanna see.  I have surfed when I was in Cali at Grindstone. Cari Schehr used to take us with her and it was a lotta fun! Although I’m not super good at it. Haha 

You earned #30 for this season. Were you happy with your season in 2022? Any highlights?

Yeah, I was pretty happy with the results I got. I definitely learned a lot last year and was happy to start riding with some confidence and believe in myself.  I think my main highlight last year was the first moto at Kamloops, finishing 10th and just staying heathy until the end of the season.

What did you do to get ready for this summer? Did you head south?

This year I went down to Cali and trained with Yanning Kervella and that was really cool. I got to ride lots of turn tracks and worked on the things I needed to for this year. I also hit some local races when I got home. 

And you came out looking really strong this summer. 8-9-13 were your finishes. How did your first 3 rounds go for you?

Yeah, the first rounds were definitely a confidence booster. I really had fun out there and was super happy to be in the top 10. That’s where I’ve always kinda wanted to be! Kamloops was also cool. I always enjoy racing there. 

I’ve been looking for your “breakout race” this summer, but now it’ll have to wait, won’t it. What happened?

Yeah, I definitely was looking forward to that happening. I felt like it was coming soon but unfortunately I ended up making a mistake in practice at Gopher Dunes went over the bars and ended up breaking my wrist and being out for the rest of the season. 

And what’s the prognosis for this injury?

So, I flew home after Gopher on Monday and went straight to the hospital in Duncan and got a CT scan. It ended up being worse than we thought, so I had to get surgery on Tuesday. I got it all plated and fixed up and we are on the mend now. It’s looking like I’ll be back for AX.

What’s next for you? 

I think I’ll probably focus on healing up and try to come back for AX! Until then probably work and do some fishing until I’m back on the bike.

What do you do for work?

In the off season I drive a truck for my dad towing cars around and I also run my own graphic business on the side. It’s called North West Design. And that keeps me pretty busy. 

What does the future look like for you? How old are you, anyway?

I’m 20 years old and the future for me is to keep racing for sure. I love it and definitely wanna stay at it and try to keep progressing and maybe find a ride in the future. I think that would be cool to be under a tent for sure!

You should come to Walton, hang out and help your buddy Marcus Deausy.

I actually just got to Quebec Wednesday night to hang out and spectate! So I’ll be hanging with Marcus here and Walton!

OK, thanks for taking time time with us this week, Tyler. Good luck and who would you like to thank?

Thanks, Billy, I appreciate you having me on! I would like to thank Fox Canada, Shift MX, Factory Connection, Works Connection, Relax Collective, Guts, Matrix Concepts, and my mom and dad.

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Jyire Mitchell Update

Jyire Mitchell raced the first 3 rounds of our series but crashed hard in moto 2 at Wild Rose in Calgary and broke a couple ribs. I fired him a message today and he said this:

“Yeah, I’m gonna try get back to race Walton. All healed up just haven’t got back.”

Jyore showed he’s got the speed to race up near the front of the 250 class so it’ll be great to have him back for the final round at Walton Raceway if he can make it.

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Jimmy Decotis to Race Deschambault

…ON A 2-STROKE!

Jimmy Decotis has announced that he will return to Canada again this weekend for Round 7 of the 2023 Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals at Motocross Deschambault to redeem himself after blowing up a bike in the first moto at Round 5 at Sand Del Lee.

Not only that, but he will be doing it on a 2-stroke that he is famous for. Check out his post on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jimmy Decotis (@jimmydecotis)

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OK, I was busy at Day 2 of racing at the 2023 ECAN at MX Deschambault, so I’m sorry this interview with Tyler Yates is late. Have a great weekend, everyone. We crowned a few champions today, so watch for a report on it later here on the site.