"There Are So Many Woman Around the Pits...Working Their Butts Off. It's Important For My Nieces to See This" | Kourtney Lloyd

The Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha teamed recently announced Kourtney Lloyd as their Team Manager for the FIM World Supercross Series. Kourtney has an abundance of experience managing teams within the industry. She has been the amateur and pro Team Manager for Cycle North Powersports for a number of years as well as a three-time Team Manager for Team Canada’s MXdN team. 

        For the full interview, check out the YouTube video right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: Lets start with a bit of your background in moto.

Kourtney Lloyd: We grew up in Vanderhoof, BC. My parents had two dealerships, so my dad ran the one here in Prince George and my mom ran the one there. All I really know is powersports and retail. Family businesses can be hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. My brothers used to race Snocross and I think that's where I got a little bit of the bug from. 

Vital MX: Why do you have such a strong passion for Moto?

Kourtney: We always sponsored people growing up. When I was around 20, Jesse Pettis, who everybody knows, we sponsored him. He was on 50s and 65s. One day he said, “Would you come on and watch me at the track?”. I'm like, “Oh, I don't want to spend my weekends out there”. I didn't really want to go. And I went out and I just literally fell in love with the environment and the families. All these kids that shouldn't want to hang out with their parents every weekend, but they do. I got a motorhome so that I could go and be around all the families each weekend. I was just hooked. I found a little community for myself away from the business and my family. I cannot pinpoint what exactly it was. But I'm sure glad that Jesse invited me out there. 

Vital MX: Is that how the amateur and pro teams came about for Cycle North Powersports? 

Kourtney: Yeah, for sure. It was a natural progression with Jesse and some other local kids and always making sure I was at the track for them. When everyone started getting older and turning pro, it was, ‘I guess we're in the pro class now’. As time progressed my family gave me a little bit more budget each year to do more and more. 

Vital MX: In 2016 you became the first female team manager in MXdN history for Team Canada. Tell us about that.

Kourtney: The year before that Ryan Gauld was the Team Manager. He did such a fantastic job, but he didn't get along with our sanctioning body. So, it just kind of fell apart. I phoned him and said, “Would you be upset if I applied for the job?”. He said, “No, but good luck with it”. I relied on Gauldy a ton, but it was honestly the best thing that I have ever done. It was so rewarding. That first year when we went to Italy and we had a couple of fans, we didn't have a crazy number of fans there, but you'd see the Canada flag and the crowd, and it was so sic to see. The whole motocross community and Canada in general got behind us. I worked really hard to make it good for the community that paid for us to go. I think it's important to get back to how Gauldy set the tone for that. I kind of just copied them, so I can't take the credit for that. 

Vital MX: There is not a lot of female involvement on the front lines of this sport. It's a male dominated sport. Yourself, Christina Denney, and now Livia Lancelot and Amanda Klingenberg have made a presence as Team Managers recently. Is that something you’re proud of?

Kourtney: I feel really proud. I feel like Christina really paved the way. I looked up to her for years before I even met her. I was so impressed with what she did, and I would see her at the track, and I'm like, ‘Oh, my God, that's Christina Denney’. I was such a super fan. And then at Anaheim one year, I waited in line at her truck and the boys were doing autographs and I asked if I could meet her. I explained that I ran a team up in Canada and we became really good friends. We laugh about it. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have had the courage to go after a team manager role. There are so many women that I see around the pits and around the teams working their butts off. I think it's important for my nieces to see someone like myself doing things like that. I want them to look up to me and be like, you know, my aunt did this so I can go do whatever I choose to do. 

Vital MX: You were named Team Manager for the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX  Yamaha WSX team. How did that role come to be?

Kourtney: I had applied for a World Supercross license myself. It didn’t work out for a few reasons. I was kind of bitter and I was complaining to Phil Nicoletti about it. Then Phil called me one day and he said, “I talked to Brandon Haas today and he wants to know if you would want to do something together”. I had doubts because I've never really worked with another team manager. I've never been an employee before if that makes any sense. I don't know how to act. I wasn't going to do it. I was telling my mom and dad about it a couple of days later and my dad says, “What is wrong with you? You are so dumb if you're going to pass up an opportunity like this just because of your ego”. “Is that what I'm doing”? And he goes, “1,000%. You're butthurt that you didn't get your license and now you're going to pass on this opportunity. And every time you see one of these things being streamed, you're going to watch it and be grumpy”. I realized he's probably right. I went back to Phil and asked if they're willing to talk to me. Then Scott Jeffrey called me and then Brandon called me. They gave me the encouragement to go ahead and say yes and do it. It's been fantastic. They're a great group to work with and it alleviates a lot of pressure off me because they already have such structure in place. 

Vital MX: What are your roles as team manager? You talked about getting the mechanics together and that kind of stuff, but what are your day-to-day roles? 

Kourtney: It’s been trying to get all the riders signed. Getting the mechanics all lined up. We have to have the crates, and everything packed up here pretty soon. So just trying to coordinate people, getting all the fluids and stuff overseas. I got ahold of some local Yamaha dealerships in the towns that we're going to be in and we're going to get the fluids there and I'll pick them up when we land. Coordinating flights and rental cars. And there's a lot of different visas now after COVID that you need to get into all these different countries. So just making sure that the boys have all their visas so that when we land there, we're not going to run into a bunch of issues. Trying to find local chefs that understand they can't eat anything crazy the night before race. I want to make sure that I have everything dialed so that Brandon and Scott don't regret bringing me on. 

Vital MX: Have we officially announced the riders

Kourtney: Yes! We only have three riders right now. We haven't actually sent out the team press release until we get that fourth guy. But as of right now, it's going to be Enzo Lopes, Jace Owen, and Cade Clason.

Vital MX: What are your goals for the team? Not so much winning or losing, but the involvement the team will have with World Supercross, long term goals, and building the Club MX brand as a World Supercross team. 

Kourtney: I think for right now it’s to help continue to grow Club's name. I would like to continue doing the World Supercross series with them. 

Vital MX: We reached out to a few of Kourtney’s past riders and colleagues to see what they thought of her.

Tyler Medaglia: “Kourtney is a very caring person with a fun, bubbly personality. When the time comes for getting stuff done and working hard, she switches into high gear. She went above and beyond to make sure the athletes were comfortable and confident and had everything they needed. I expect nothing but success for her”

Christina Denney: “Kourtney is one of the most genuine, hardworking, and charismatic people I know. With all these attributes put together, she’s sure one heck of a friend. I just wish she didn’t live so dang far away!”

Colton Faccioti: “I think she’s great! She’s done a lot for Canadian moto, and has always gone above and beyond. I was skeptical of her running the team at first. But she did one of the best jobs out there for the teams I was on. It’s been great to work with her.”

Ryan Gauld: “She has passion and heart. She’s a great friend and great for the sport!”

Phil Nicoletti: “Kourtney is one of the most enthusiastic people in our sport. We became friends while I raced in Canada. She truly cares about moto and the people that are a part of it. She always goes above and beyond for anyone that asks for help. Kourt and her family at Cycle North are a huge factor in motocross”