Quite a bit of local racing kicks off this weekend, making it the perfect time to get these articles back on track after a long, busy winter behind the scenes.

With riders starting to return from down south and bikes coming out of winter storage, racing kicks off in Ontario with AMO at Gopher Dunes. The pro sign-up is looking pretty solid and could be a great early indicator of how the nationals might shape up. On the other side of the country, Future West gets underway in Kelowna. Alberta also hosts its first ACM race in Brooks, although snow is in the forecast, it likely won’t stop western racers from dropping gates.

Canadian Pro Motocross Off Season catch up

There was plenty of movement over the winter with teams, gear changes, and shake-ups. Perhaps the biggest loss will be not seeing the 450 champ return to race the full season with the number 1, Phil Nicoletti. That said, it does sound like we could see him line up for at least one round. likely Deschambault. With his switch to Factory Husqvarna USA, there’s a good chance he could join the AVL team for a round, potentially bringing a #1 plate under their tent early in the teams career.

**Phil Nicoletti 2025 450 Champ Celebration**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Another big move worth mentioning is Ryder McNabb stepping up to the 450 class and leaving GDR Honda. After some confusion surrounding an announcement that he was stepping away from the sport, it was later confirmed that he will be joining Guaranteed Comfort Honda.

**Ryder Mcnabb at 2025 Press Conference in Calgary, AB**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Sebastien Racine will also be making the move to the 450 class after switching to Canadian Kawasaki SSR, formerly WLTN Kawasaki.

**Kawasaki SSR bikes on display at the Toronto AX**
*Photo: R4 Photo*

KTM Canada has signed Estonian rider Harri Kullas, who has yet to race on Canadian soil but competed at the 2025 MXoN, finishing 13th with his national team, and also added Crayden Dillon to its 250 program.

**Harri Kullas PR photo from March 4th announcement**
*Photo: KTM Canada*

Wyatt Kerr left Priority MX to join the Guaranteed Comfort Honda Team, switching to Fox gear.

It doesn’t feel like off-season news since we’ve already seen some gate drops in Canada at Arenacross, but Quinn Amyotte joins Priority MX for 2026, sporting Thor gear.

**Quinn Amyotte at the Chilliwack AX making his Priority MX Debut**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Two other riders had gate drops during the arenacross season aboard new bikes with Blake Davis to AVL and Dylan Rempel to GDR Honda.

The 250 class will see some new names added, with Vincent Wey joining the SSR Kawasaki team aboard his Pro Circuit 250.

MX101 has also announced that Ryder Malinoski will join their 250 program for the full season.

New teams are a major talking point heading into 2026, with programs like Dusty Rocks MX, Motosport Saint-Césaire, VRP Racing, and Long Live the Kings giving more riders opportunities for support and development.

Jess Pettis, Dylan Wright, Tanner Ward, and Preston Kilroy remain with their 2025 teams and, so far, sounds like they’ve had productive off-seasons. with all getting or plan to get gate drops in the US, here locally and overseas.

WMX - Off season Movement

2026 is shaping up to be a big year for women’s sports across the board, and motocross is no exception. WMX in the USA has announced major updates, including securing a bank as a title sponsor and officially designating the class as WMX Pro.

Canada is also seeing significant momentum, with more teams than ever signing WMX riders. Fox Sports will be broadcasting one of the WMX motos, and Peter from Priority MX has taken the lead in organizing the class payout, personally backing it to ensure it matches the men’s purse.

Although it hasn’t been officially announced, the WMX series is expected to move to a full eight-round schedule, replacing the East and West format used in 2025.

Hannah Cole will join the GDR Honda team, becoming the first female rider to represent the team in its 15+ year existence.

**Hannah Cole aboard her new GDR Honda Fox Racing CRF250**
*Photo: R4 Photo*

After a long winter of speculation, MX101 announced on April 14th that Kaylie Kayer will join the team for 2026. Kaylie made the switch to Yamaha on her own at the end of 2025 and later raced an MX101 bike at the Corduroy in the fall with FXR gear, which led to early speculation that something was in the works, even as time went on without confirmation, it just made sense.

**Kaylie Kayer racing the 2025 Corduroy Off-road race**
*Photo: Laposetoph*

Katrine Ferguson will join a smaller team with VRP Racing but experience under the tent with Sylvain Brodeur leading the team and spinning wrenches for Katrine.

**Katrine Ferguson at Sand De Lee 2025**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Dusty Rocks MX is new on the scene but has made a big splash by not only adding two young male riders to the team but hiring a top American female rider to come up and compete for a WMX championship with Jordan Jarvis.

**Jordan Jarvis in Australia representing Team USA at the 2026 FIM Oceania Cup.**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Keeping up with the American riders, 2025 East champ Jamie Astudillo will join Priority MX for 2026.

**Jamie Astudillo getting her 2025 WMX East Championship (Kaylie Kayer 2nd, Katrine Ferguson 3rd)**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

AVL Husqvarna has also added Brandy McLarty to their program, giving her the opportunity to race her first full season after a couple of strong breakout rides in 2025.

**Brandy Mclarty Sand de Lee 2025**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Amelie Croteau will remain with Guaranteed Comfort after joining the team midway through last season.

**Amelie Croteau racing with GCR in 2025**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Kiana Kurtz is planing on racing the full season but without any team support.

**Kiana Kurtz at Sand De Lee 2025**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

The class looks very similar to the 450 class, with clear front-runners, but the 3–5 positions are wide open and could go to anyone on any given weekend depending on starts, track conditions, and who shows up strongest that day. With most riders heading south or focused on off-season prep, Round 1 in Calgary will be a bit of a question mark, which is exactly what you want in a big year of growing the WMX class.

Walton Transcan

With the announcement at the end of 2025 that Kyle Keast has taken ownership of the Walton property and the TransCan event for 2026, changes are expected, but given his 30+ years of experience racing and being involved with the facility, they’re likely to be positive ones.

For those who don’t know, Keast raced pro in Canada for many years and is best known for his hero rides in the sand aboard his Machine Racing Honda. He later built his own company, Keast Metals, but never fully stepped away from the sport. With the purchase of Walton Raceway, he further solidifies his legacy in Canadian motocross.

The transition comes as a major shift, as the Lee family, starting with Chris and Judy Lee, have owned and operated the TransCan for over 50 years.

Kyle’s first major public move has been the rebuild of the iconic Bell Tower. While the structure is a staple of the facility, it was due for an upgrade, and it appears to be where Kyle is starting his new era of improvements

**Kyle and his two littles after he won his 2025 Transcan Championship**
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Amateur and Local Racing

With a large group of Canadian riders attempting to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s in 2026, it’s getting harder to keep track of everyone’s path. Regionals typically kick off in mid to late May, and we’ll have a much clearer picture then.

Walton Registration is now open, sign up before the qualifiers to secure your spot!

That’s it for this week, but stay tuned for weekly updates as the season gets underway. As always, we encourage feedback, tell us what you want to see and hear!