Frid’Eh Update #47 | Mitch Rempel Interview | Presented by FXR Moto
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #47 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week presented by FXR Moto. The fact that I’m currently at the 50th Annual Mini O’s at Gatorback Cycle Park in Florida means I don’t have time to be digging around for stories this week. This week’s Update will consist of a nice interview with #47 Mitch Rempel. Enjoy, and we’ll see you next Friday.
Here’s what Mitch had to say when we got in touch with him this week:
Direct Motocross: Hello, Mitch. I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to do one of these Frid’Eh Update interviews with you in the past, so let’s back it way up. How old are you and where are you from?
Mitch Rempel: Hey, Billy. I am 22 years old and I am from Ariss, Ontario, a small town outside of Guelph, Ontario.
How did you get into Motocross in the first place?
So, my dad used to race sleds back in the day and so at first he got me onto a little 120cc sled and took me to a race. I can’t remember where it was but all I know was I hated it. Haha. And after that in the spring he brought home an old Suzuki RM50. I was about 5 years old at the time and I used to ride that thing all day. It just kept progressing from then on.
What was your first race number and how did you choose it?
My first number was 21. Before I started racing, I was always number 12 when I played hockey, so when it came to picking my number, 12 was already taken, so I just switched the numbers around.
The name “Rempel” is all over Canadian MX! How many of you are there, and will this continue in the future?
I have 3 siblings, one brother and two sisters. My brother also races and is 5 years younger than I am so he will be racing for a while yet, and yes hopefully in the future when I start a family I will want my kids to be involved in Moto.
Who did you come up battling against in the amateur ranks?
To be honest, I can’t remember who I battled with before I got on big bikes, but I raced against Austin Watling, Marco Cannella, and Tanner Ward. On big bikes, I remember having good battles with Jamie Powell, Seth Hughes, Sam Matthews, and Keenan Peterson.
Do you play any other sports or do any other activities besides MX?
Up until about 4-5 years ago, I played hockey every winter, and I would occasionally golf in the summer. I don’t do much other than work and MX nowadays, but this year I have gotten back into playing golf more.
You raced the 2021 Canadian Triple Crown Series in the MX Nationals. I see one race where you came very close to cracking the top 10 in 13th. How did your season go?
I am a little disappointed with how my season went. My goal this year was to be scoring points every race and to be in the top 15 most of the races, but this year I was dealing with some pretty bad arm pump that I’ve never really had before, so I’d say that most of the rounds were not what I was hoping for in terms of results.
Then, Sunday at Deschambault, I had a bad crash in qualifying on the big double and I developed a pretty good hematoma on my arm and cut up my back pretty good. I raced this first moto but pulled out of the second. I did decide to race the one moto on Monday. I was glad I did because I got my best finish of the year with a 13th.
Overall, I can’t really complain because I came out of this season healthy and I had some good finishes.
We didn’t see you race Supercross. Why not? Is that something you’ll do in the future?
I raced Supercross last year but ended up crashing out of the second round. I believe you have a pretty good photo sequence of that crash. Haha, I ended up breaking a rib and getting a pretty good concussion. I’d be lying if I said Supercross doesn’t scare me a little, and I came into Supercross last year with only two days of riding it.
This year, we talked about it and decided to skip it. I’d say Supercross just isn’t my thing. lol. As for the future, maybe I’ll try it again, but for now I’m just focussing on the moto side.
What do you do for work? What have you been doing since the season ended?
I work for my dad who owns a concrete pumping business, so I am a concrete pump operator. After the season ended I pretty much threw my bike in the shop and didn’t even look at it for a couple weeks. We have been very busy with work this year so that’s pretty much all I’ve been doing.
What are your winter plans?
I am hoping to go south sometime in February, but we will have to see what happens with all the COVID protocols. I didn’t get the chance to go down this year to get some riding in so hopefully I can make it happen.
Assuming we go coast to coast in 2022, will you race the Nationals?
I’m not 100% sure what my plans are for 2022 yet, but if I don’t go coast to coast I will definitely do the rounds in Ontario and Quebec.
Hey, where’s Dylan? I assumed we’d see him ripping it here at the Mini O’s.
Haha. I actually get asked this type of question a lot. My family and Dylan Rempel‘s family are not related, even though we share the exact last name. I can’t tell you where he is but I am surprised he’s not down there.
Well, that was embarrassing. OK, thanks for letting us get to know you a little better. Good luck and who would you like to thank?
Thanks again, Billy. I’d like to thank everybody who supports me:
My mom and Dad, Rempel Concrete Pumping, Rem Crane, Greame at Two Wheel Motorsports, Linda at Zdeno Cycle, Matrix Concepts, FXR, 6D, Austin, Isaiah, and Brad from Interlaced.
Oh, I do have time to say a couple things while we’re all here. I mentioned I’d heard a rumour that Jess Pettis may have injured his wrist while training for Supercross down at Baker’s Factory in Florida. Well, there is truth to the rumour but the good news is that he’s already back on the bike, so he’s still on schedule to race 250 West starting in January.
Dylan Wright is over in Paris to race the Paris Supercross this weekend – Saturday, November 27th.
If you want to watch it LIVE, here’s the LINK.
OK, thanks for reading and have a great weekend, everyone. My trip home will include a stop in at South of the Border to check in with Julien Perrier and the PRMX Partzilla team riders.
From there, I’ll go see our old friends at Club MX to see what they’ve got cooking over there in Chesterfield, SC.
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