Frid’Eh Update #5 | Tyler Medaglia | Brought to You by GasGas Canada
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #5 of the DMX Frid’EH Update this week brought to you by GasGas Canada. This Friday finds me once again sitting in my office at home in Ontario as the snow continues to pile up outside my window. It’s snowing so hard here in London that we may need to break out the snowblowers again after this Update is posted. In fact, we definitely will.
The drive from California to Ontario hasn’t gotten any shorter. I took the lower route again on the way home to avoid the snow that I may have encountered up on I-80. Of course, I hit freezing rain and sleet for about 4 solid hours through Oklahoma and Missouri on I-44, so the snow would have actually been a better drive!
Anyway, I managed to make it home safely in the DMX Van. What can I say about that thing?! I can’t believe they’re discontinuing the Dodge Caravan after all these years. I mean, I guess it makes sense, since the thing seems to want to last forever! “These things are lasting too long. We can’t have that!“
I went full #vanlife this time, except for a couple nights at Viney Ranch in Murrieta. Thank you to Cheryl and Ulf Viney for the hospitality. It was also nice timing that Maggie and Peter were also there to spend some time with. Oh, and #12 Parker Ross and I can hold our heads high as current and next year’s defending Euchre champs. Parker’s play is unorthodox, to say the least, but we trusted the process, hit our marks, and got the job done.
They were trying to put in the new tracks when I was there but the rain was so bad that they had to postpone the work. It has since gone in and it looks fantastic. Noah Viney is back on the bike after his wrist injury but it wasn’t until after I’d headed back home, so I didn’t get any coverage of him or the tracks.
Key to my survival this time was my Planet Fitness Black Card membership. These things are like Tim Hortons up here in Canada – they’re on every corner! Showers and wifi were nice…and I even worked out a bit! I strongly suggest any privateer doing the series in their van take advantage of these cheap and readily available gyms.
I’ll have to take a short break from the series while I head west to Kamloops, BC to look after my mom for a couple weeks to give my sister and her husband the chance to take a little holiday. I’ll pick up the action again when we get to Daytona International Speedway for some Bike Week shenanigans.
And believe it or not, the track design we posted IS for this year. Yes, it looks pretty much exactly like last year’s track. Ricky Carmichael appears to have mailed this one in but perhaps there’s more to the story??? Let’s hope so.
Tyler Medaglia from Brookfield, Nova Scotia, is career #5 here in Canada and it’s his turn for the Update interview. He was actually driving down to Florida when I got in touch with him, so we decided to do the interview as a podcast.
Tyler is the Mike Brown/Ryan Sipes of Canada. He’s older and still fast at any 2-wheel discipline he tries. And he doesn’t appear to be planning to slow down any time soon. He’s got another wild schedule for the upcoming 2023 season that will include the Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals with the Part Canada GasGas team.
Tyler finished 2nd (every time) overall in the 450 class in 2022 and hopes to give last year’s undefeated rider Dylan Wright fits in the new year.
He will also race as much off-road as he can, ride for Team Canada MXON again if chosen, and the ISDE for Team Canada, too. I think he should try some flat track after Round 2 of the GNCC Racing series at Hog Waller in Palatka, Florida. What do you think, Tyler?
Here’s a look at his 2022 Canadian MX season:
Tyler dropped to the 250 class for the final round at Walton Raceway to see if he could help his teammate, Mitchell Harrison, move up in the standings. Unfortunately, Tyler crashed while leading and ended up hurting his hand and more in the fall.
The hand gave him trouble for the rest of the racing season and he was forced out of the ISDE and then had to try to ride with a badly damaged hand for Team Canada at Red Bud for the MXON. He’s healed up and ready to get back down to business.
As I mentioned earlier, he was on his way to Florida when we spoke with him this week. Here’s our conversation as a podcast:
Find it wherever you get your podcasts and SUBSCRIBE to Direct Motocross while you’re there and never miss a new one.
Jake Piccolo at Club MX
If you’re wondering how Jake Piccolo is adapting to his new Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing 250, he’s doing just fine.
2023 Canadian Triple Crown Schedule
We are waiting for a Press Release that will outline a few of glaring things that appear on this schedule.
- The SX/AX and MX combo at Round 1 in Edmonton.
- The Vancouver round of the SX/AX is the same night as the WSX Championship round there.
- All SX/AX rounds are in the west except for what we’re assuming will be in Sarnia for Round 2.
We’ll be sure to post it up as soon as we see it. We’re told that will still be today.
Who’s Riding Where in 2023
Silly season is starting to wind down here in Canada, but we still haven’t seen the full roster for a couple of our main teams. Let’s have a look at what we know so far:
250 MX:
- Ryder McNabb – KTM Canada
- Mitchell Harrison – Thor GasGas
- Sebastien Racine – MX101 Yamaha
- Quinn Amyotte – Manluk Racing Yamaha
- Jeremy McKie – in talks with Walton Kawasaki
- Jake Piccolo – Honda Canada GDR Fox
- Josiah Natzke – Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki
- Wyatt Kerr – Priority Mechanical KTM
- Marco Cannella – had offer with Walton Kawasaki but will sit out 2023
- Tyler Gibbs – still in talks with a couple teams
- Zach Ufimzeff – Manluk Racing Yamaha
- Tyler Yates
- Teren Gerber
- Julien Benek – Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki
- William Crete
- Tanner Scott – still in talks but likely on his own
- Preston Masciangelo – Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki
- Dylan Rempel – Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki
450 MX:
- Dylan Wright – Honda Canada GDR Fox
- Tyler Medaglia – Thor GasGas
- Shawn Maffenbeier – MX101 Yamaha
- Tanner Ward – Walton Kawasaki
- Felix Lopez – not returning to Canada
- Chris Blackmer – SSR TLD GasGas
- Daniel Elmore – Cycle North Honda
- Westen Wrozyna – looking for a home
- Yanick Boucher – Husqvarna
- Liam O’Farrell – retiring from National competition
- Tee Perrott – Manluk Racing Yamaha
- Ryan Derry
- Logan Leitzel – coming back to Canada
- Keylan Meston – at the crossroads
- Max Filipek
- Tommy Dallaire
- Parker Eales – at the crossroads
5 Minutes with Guillaume St Cyr
As #551 Guillaume St Cyr from Quebec starts his journey in the 450 class at the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Saturday in Houston, Texas, we thought we should get in touch with him for a brief chat. Here’s what the rider known as ‘Guac’ (or ‘Gullimer,’ if your name was Jeff McConkey) had to say just before the big day.
Direct Motocross: Hello, Guillaume. Where have you been training for 2023 SX and how has it been going?
Guillaume St Cyr: Hey, Billy. I’ve been training at Club57MX WW Ranch in Jacksonville, FL. I’ve been working hard and I’m liking how I’ve been riding.
Why did you choose to ride the 450 class? Lower entries usually but it’s a stacked class this season! And you’re a 350, right?
Yeah, I chose to ride 450 class on my 350 this time just because the pay check is twice as much and of course most of the time there’s less riding so there’s a better chance to make it in! I’m also saving on modding the motor and buying race gas.
Which races are you doing/looking forward to?
I’ll be pretty much all the East Coast rounds, but I’m looking forward to being back racing in Texas since they always have good dirt.
What are your goals for the series?
To make it into the night show every weekend.
What are your summer racing plans?
Going to be defending my title in the Québec Arenacross and will get ready for the Canadian Arenacross.
Excellent. Good luck this weekend. Who would you like to thank?
Thank you, Billy! I’d like to thank:
@junior_mecanique_plus @ktm_canada @berubegm @peakouterwear @bblplumbingservices @woodygraphics @guts_racing_inc @mobiusbraces @fctn_14 @dirtbikesforpresident @kdeam_optics @woodygraphics @pirellimx @mxboot.com_ @alienlab.cbd @distinctionconstruction @mxtechsuspension @motostar_wheels @stoneysockco @drinkhydropower @automotoco @williams_motowerx @dirt_care @sintoexpert @boscomoto @stp1958 @pneusvic @insportfashions @redbullspecteyewear @specteyewear #pirellination
2023 Daytona Supercross Track Design Causing Confusion and…Anger?
With the release of the 2023 track design for the Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway people have been quick to point out its similarity to the 2022 design. In fact, when it was pointed out to us we had a difficult time spotting any difference at all! So what’s up?
Here’s RC with the announcement on IG:
They are obviously under strict dimension limitations inside the race track, but you would definitely think they’d have made the track go in a few different directions, no? As of this article’s posting, we don’t have an explanation from RC about why it is the same layout. We’ll keep trying to get an official word.
Jake Tricco and Dan Tricco on Bikes and Heading to Club MX
It’s so cool to see Jake Tricco back on a bike and having fun. His dad, Dan Tricco, won the DMX Total Devotion Award brought to you by Club MX at the TransCan at Walton Raceway way back in 2015 after crashing in one of his Vet races, going to the hospital, but making it back all battered and bruised to spend the rest of the week looking after his two sons and their racing.
Dan will finally be making use of his FREE WEEK at Club MX along with his older son, Jake. Have a blast, guys!
As we head into Houston, here’s a look at the 450 points and the Entry Lists for the event:
In case you’re wondering, yes, it’s still snowing outside here at my place. It looks like it’s time to head outside and fire up ours and our neighbour’s snowblowers and get to work. Emily and I will end up doing 5 driveways out there, so we’d better get to it before our one 85-year-old neighbour heads out to pretend he’s going to do it to prod us into action.
We’re supposed to have a few nice days in a row next week. If Gopher Dunes ends up opening up, I may just have to head over there and spin some laps. They’re less than an hour from here but they get much less lake effect snow than we do here in London, so we’ll wait and see how it goes.
Enjoy the racing Saturday.
I have to leave it with this photo of #69 Phil Nicoletti with the lights up on his forks because the story is so good. From Mike Bonacci at Club MX:
“Let me explain: we have a great relationship with Feld and when they want to try some new ideas, they send their engineers over and pitch us on them and we try to implement the procedures. This is not new to us and we do a good job of being discreet when they ask. This was just one more project where they want to add lap leader lights to the bikes to enhance the show for everyone in the audience and at home. So, I said – “lets test it on Phil’s bike, he’ll never lead any laps. He’s thirty-three years old racing all those young bucks. He’ll ride around in five though ten and you can play with the lights where no one will even notice.” Leave it to Phil to get the holeshot in race #2 and lead all but two laps WITH HIS LIGHTS ON! Long story short, my apologies to the broadcast crew. I will do a better job moving forward as we head into the east coast rounds. What could possibly surprise anyone …. I guess we will just wait and see.”
Love it!
That’s one of those stories that will find its way into the lexicon of SX. Trust me, it will be talked about again in the future.
See you at the races…
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