2025 Factory Ride Awards

The 2025 season was FULL of BLU CRU successes! One of them being the Factory Ride Awards which is handed out to the top scoring amateur Yamaha rider at each of the Canadian Nationals; WCAN in Alberta, ECAN in Quebec and the TRANSCAN in Ontario. This year had stacked classes so the winners had to fight hard for these awards.

Travis Gibbs - The first winner and younger brother of Yamaha rider Tyler Gibbs, is one fast dude. Travis swung a leg over his first bike at 3 years old. He was inspired by watching his older brother ride so his dad bought Travis a PW50 and started racing not long after.

The highlight of Travis’s racing career so far has been switching to a Yamaha only a few weeks before the 2025 racing season for a chance to win the Factory Ride Award – and then winning the first one of the year!

Travis’s goal for the 2026 season is to beat his brother, which unless you’re Jett Lawrence, is everyone’s younger sibling’s goal. He will be competing in the Triple Crown Series for 2026 and we can’t wait to watch him next year.

We asked Travis what advice he would give to his younger self, “practice a lot and never get discouraged from losing. A winner is a loser who kept trying”. We couldn’t agree more.

Jonathan (Johnny) Bergeron – Winner number two of the season and taking home the eastern Factory Ride Award. Johnny started riding at the age of three on his PW50 equipped with training wheels. Safe to say he has outgrown it now!

Growing up, the Bergeron family was lucky enough to have a big yard to rip around a PW50. “I loved it so much my dad decided to bring me to the closest track called MX101 Sand del Lee. I moved up to a 50 junior with my first race being at Sand del Lee. I was one of the last kids to cross the finish line but my love for racing grew from there.”

Johnny is one of the talented young racers under the MX101 amateur tent. “It has helped me grow as a rider as well as a person by exposing me to the Canadian national tracks. It has given me experience talking and riding with the pros which then helps a lot with my creativity on the track. The whole experience started in 2022 and is a huge part of the rider I have become today.”

Looking forward to the 2026 gate drop, Johnny is on the hunt for his first ever Loretta Lynn’s ticket. He has been dreaming of it for a while and we think it is in his grasp.

We asked Johnny what advice he would give his PW50 riding younger self. “Your mindset is your biggest advantage and disadvantage at the same time. So, make sure to take advantage of it.”

Chandler Powell – The third and final Factory Ride Award winner and one of our youngest! At only 12 years old, and like many, he started riding at 3 years old on a PW50 and has been hooked ever since.

“My first race was only a week after my 4th birthday at Sand Dee Lee. Unfortunately, it rained the night before and the track was super rutted so my dad ran behind me the whole race to push me through the ruts when both pegs would drag. I only got two laps in that race (I think the leader did 7). But I never gave up and the next race I did 3 laps. Eventually I was the one doing the lapping!”

Though it hasn’t been long, the highlight of Chandler’s racing career was the whole 2025 season. He was able to qualify for Loretta’s, win his 6th ECAN championship, secure his win his 3rd and 4th Canadian championships at Walton TRANSCAN and win the YZ65 class at Super Finale.

We asked Chandler to reflect on his TRANSCAN experience. “Unfortunately, in the 85 class I got stuck in the mud for a lap but was still able to secure the ATLAS Brace Award to the youth rider that scores the most points. That is an award that really means a lot, winning it this year made me so happy. And thank God I was also able to win the Yamaha Factory Ride Award at Walton! Another award I really wanted which I missed last year by 1 point. So, this year I was determined to get it. It was super cool and I’m excited to get a big wheel 85 with it. Even though my dad says that I have enough bikes and he’s going to get a street bike for himself.”

The 2025 season was full of BLU CRU wins and saw Yamaha reconfirm its place at the top of off-road racing.

The MX101 Yamaha Amateur Team managed to win 5 Canadian titles with Jonny Bergeron (2), Chandler Powell (2) and Talon Medaglia (1), the Atlas Brace award, Yamaha Factory Ride Award, Bronze Boot Award and Zach Pfifer won the most improved rider award.

Chandler summed it up best with, “Yamaha killed it this year”.

All three of these young rippers are amazing ambassadors for sport and we can’t wait to see what they do next year aboard their Yamaha Factory Ride.