Williams Lake motocross racers had a good season in 2023 and are already looking forward to the 2024 season, according to Brock Hoyer.
While Hoyer himself is no longer racing in the professional class, he is using what he has learned throughout his years of racing to help bring other riders up through the ranks.
Hoyer is the acting president of the Williams Lake Dirt Riders Association and coaches a team out of Kamloops with some of those riders also from Williams Lake.
The Williams Lake riders train and have hosted races at their dirt track facility above Thunder Mountain Speedway, and Hoyer said they are back on the map for motocross with a race planned for Sept 21, 2024.
The event will be part of the Future West B.C. Provincial Series and Hoyer said the event will be good for local riders.
Hoyer said climate conditions in the 2023 season did make training difficult, as smoke can be hard to ride in for the physical motorsport, but luckily, there were not any race cancellations due to the conditions.
Riders do summer races and some also do an arena season, competing at indoor events where the facilities exist.
Cole Rochefort is a Williams Lake rider who finished seventh overall in the 250 intermediate category and seventh overall in the open intermediate categories of the Future West Moto Series.
Hoyer said despite facing a number of challenges including bike malfunctions, Rocheford managed to still pull off a solid season.
Annalyse Lopushinsky is another local motocross racer and has been racing for nine years.
Last year, Annalyse won second in the Canadian Women’s Nationals in Kamloops against the fastest women in western Canada.
She raced throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to finish the series in sixth place overall.
Annalyse also races indoor in arena events, winning Women’s Arenacross Champion three years in a row. She also won the 2023 AMORacingreloaded Arenacross as the women’s champion and placed second among women in the 2023 Future West Outdoor series.
Abel Cheung and Ruth Cheung are siblings who both race motocross. Abel, now nine years old, placed ninth in 50cc open and seventh in 50cc 7-8. He placed 13th in 50cc open class Arenacross and eighth in 50cc 7-8 Arenacross. While Ruth, now seven years old, was in the tykes division, which they don’t officially score, explained her dad Kingsley Cheung, but she was one of the fastest out there. She placed 14th in the 50cc 4-6 for Arenacross, however.
Noah Porter, at 16, placed first overall in all four of his race classes for the season: Pro Am, under 30, 250 intermediate, and open intermediate for the Futurewest Series.
He also raced in the Triple Crown Canadian series, placing 16th at a race in Edmonton, 22nd in Kamloops, 19th in Calgary and 20th in Walton, Ontario.
Noah also won the Rick Joseph Memorial award last year, which recognizes determination, grit and potential in intermediate riders.
Emma Porter, Noahs’ sister, also races at 12 years old. Emma competed in the Futurewest Series and placed 17th in the 85cc 7-11 class, fourth in the girls 8-16 class, and seventh in the ladies class. At a Pacific Northwest Motorcycle Association enduro/offroad series, Emma took second place at the Big Kahuna event in beginner class.
Deakin Hoyer, a nine-year-old motocross racer and son of Brock Hoyer, won first place in the 50cc 7-8 class of the Future West BC Outdoor Series, first place in the 50cc Open Future West BC Outdoor Series, 12th pace in the 50cc 7-8 Walton Transcan Grand National Championship in Walton, Ontario, second place 50cc 7-8 AMO Arenacross Series and first place in the 50cc GP AMO Arenacross Series.
Brock Hoyer himself placed first in the +30 vet master class of the Future West BC Outdoor Series, second in the +25 open Walton Transcan Grand National Championship in Walton, Ontario, and first place in the +30 vet master class of the AMO Arenacross Series.
The student has also become the teacher in Brock Hoyer’s case, as his uncle, Galvin Hoyer, who had helped Brock get his start in racing, is now taking some guidance from Brock.
Using his years of professional experience, Brock now gives some technical and mechanical guidance to his uncle, who won the +50 class for the B.C. provincial championships and winning the +40 class provincial championship for the Future West Moto Outdoor series. Galvin has now brought home 24 championships throughout his years of racing motocross.
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