By Billy Rainford

Hello and welcome to another Monday Morning Coffee to start the week. Now that the Mini O’s are done, we find ourselves heading straight for the Christmas/Holiday break before we hit the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season in full stride.

It looks like we’re going to have a few Canadians either competing in the entire series or doing a few races in 2022. Let’s have a look at who we can expect to see:

#134 Jess Pettis – Jess will head to California to race the 250 West series on his Red Bull Thor KTM Canada bike. He’s been busy down at Baker’s Factory in Florida, just like he did before last season. He’s fit and healthy and looks to pick up where he left off last season, which was fast and ready to put himself in the mix. This should be fun to watch!

Cole Thompson: Cole is in a contract year and has shown on social media that he is ready to race some more SX. As we all know, he has the talent and speed to be competitive. It will be fun to have him and his flawless style back behind the gate in the USA. He will have an announcement of his official plans very soon.

Julien Benek: Julien is hard at work down at SOBMX in South Carolina with the rest of his Partzilla PRMX team that includes the tutelage of Justin Hill in the 450 class. At this point, it looks like Julien will also compete in the 250 West series, but we don’t know that for sure as they are still getting him up to pace.

#551 Guillaume St Cyr: Guillaume is training with the PRMX team but on his own program on his Junior Mechanique Peak KTM 250. He will keep preparing and be ready when the 250 East series start in February.

There may be a few more making appearances at various races and we’ll try to confirm their plans.

Kicker Arenacross is also set to start up in January. The information on the website isn’t accurate, as they are in the process of updating it for the 2022 season.

I do know that we’ll have Canadian Connor Stevenson back in the mix this year. Connor calls Colorado home but is a very proud Caunuck who would love to get back to Canada to make his Pro debut.

(Sorry for the terrible quality. This was a screen grab off my phone, emailed, and then uploaded. Ugh.)

Future West Moto Arenacross Schedule

From FWM:

Due to the current situation in the Lower Mainland with flooding, we have decided to postpone the races scheduled for November 26-28th and December 2 – 5

Rescheduled dates are:

January 7-9 2022

January 13-16 2022.

Your 2021 membership is still good for these 2 rounds. All current entries, including camping, wristbands, and schools will be moved over to this date unless requested otherwise for a full refund will be issued. We feel that this will be sufficient time for the roads to be opened and things to get back to normal. We hope that you understand and that you will continue to support Future West Moto in the new year.

Thank you

Here are a short Instagram Reel videos from our Canadians at the Mini O’s:

I want to end this Monday Morning Coffee with a tribute to Rene Hofer who lost his life in an avalanche while skiing with friends in Austria a couple days ago.

I never got to meet him, personally, but he sure made an impression on me the few times I did get the opportunity to watch him ride at the MXON in Italy and then the final two rounds of the MXGP series back at Mantova MX.

Here’s a really nice introduction to him from Red Bull Motorsports as he entered his first season in the MX2 class at the World Championships back in 2020:

From KTM.com:

The entire KTM family is deeply saddened by the terrible news that MX2 factory racer Rene Hofer, along with two of his friends, has passed away following a skiing incident in Austria.  

KTM would like to send love and heartfelt condolences to Rene’s family, friends, his team, along with the entire motocross community during this incredibly difficult time. Rene, a multi-time junior champion and GP winner with a bright future in Grand Prix ahead of him, will be remembered not only for his talent on the track, but also for his approachable, fun-loving and friendly personality, along with his ever-present smile.   

Tragically, shortly after midday on December 4th 2021, during an alpine skiing trip with 10 friends, the 19-year-old Austrian and seven others in his group was caught by an avalanche. Rene and two of his friends did not survive the incident.  

Rene will be greatly missed by everyone in the KTM family.  

Ride on peacefully Rene. You will be missed immeasurably. #711

Here are a few photos I was able to grab of Rene in Italy.

RIP Rene Hofer