Rider Of The Decade- Colton Facciotti

 

If you look back at the last number of decades, in many ways each one has belonged to either one rider or a couple of riders at the most. For instance, the 1980’s was most certainly the decade of Ross Pederson. His success from 1980 to the final day of 1989 was unmatched both in Canada as well as on the world stage. Ross was a beast during the ‘80s, and his hard work and determination is still something to be marvelled at. Ross’s success even bled into the early 1990’s by winning races and championships right up until his retirement at the end of 1993. If I had been a journalist at the time I most certainly would’ve named Ross Pederson the Rider of the Decade for the 1980’s.

As we moved into the 1990’s and away from hair bands and some of the best music ever created (in my opinion), we entered into a decade where just about anything worked. In the early part of the 1990’s there was very little money in Canadian motocross as not only was the economy going through a recession but the CMA had our sport on life support. By the mid-way point of the decade things were beginning to improve thanks to the CMRC and a revived Canadian National Series. Ross had retired, Quebec legend Carl Vailancourt had also called it quits after winning his final outdoor title in 1995, and there were some new names on the top step of the podium like JSR, Marco Dube, and Blair Morgan. Because of this melting pot of talent, it makes it very difficult to pick the best rider from the 1990’s. However, due to his immense talent both on a dirt bike as well as on a snowmobile, I’m going to say that the rider of the 1990’s was Blair Morgan. Although his success mostly came from1996-1999, he was very dominant in those years.

 

As the 1990’s ended and we catapulted ourselves into a new millennium, our sport exploded in Canada. For the next ten years we went through the largest expansion that we’ve ever seen. Big teams were formed with major OEM support, riders were once again getting paid to race, and if a rider wanted to win at the national level they had to train hard. JSR sensed the opportunity to make his mark on Canadian motocross so after a few years of battling the Americans in the USA, he returned in full force to the CMRC Series in 2001. For the next five seasons the MX1 class belonged to JSR as he fought off not only his Canadian competition but also some very talented American visitors. JSR won five Championships in a row in stunning fashion, with each more exciting than the last. When the MX1 class made the switch from two-strokes to four-strokes, JSR was forced to follow suit, but unfortunately he was unable to adapt as quickly as a few of his younger competition. In 2006, Dusty Klatt finally dethroned the king and ended JSR’s remarkable run. However, even though his last title came in 2005, this decade was all JSR, in my opinion, as he either won titles or directly influenced those who did. For the opening ten years of this century, JSR was the Rider of that Decade.

So that brings us to the last decade and the years 2010 to 2019. The choice for the Rider of the Decade is an easy one as no rider has enjoyed the success that Colton Facciotti.. Since 2010, he’s won four big bike championships, including his final most recent title this past summer. That brought his total to six championships, and I think it will be a long time before we see another rider touch this record. Like his former Blackfoot Yamaha teammate JSR, Colton also had to battle some very fast American and International riders to win his titles, not to mention the homegrown Canadian talent that gave him fits as well. It’s been quite a run for Colton and with him now officially retired, the door is wide open for the next rider to step up and try to make the next decade their own. To get his thoughts on the last ten years, we caught up with Colton on this first day of a new year.

MXP: Hey Colton, Happy New Year! What have you been up to?

CF: Not too much, we made it through Christmas okay and now it’s just back to the routine.

Well, it sounds as though you’ve been keeping busy. Looking back at the past decade it’s definitely been a great ten years for you. You’ve had countless moto wins and multiple championships. Are there a few moments that stand out more than others?

It’s definitely been a great decade for me and I cannot believe that another one is coming to an end. There are a few moments that stand out, for sure, not just race results but also how I felt on the bike at the time. A few of my title runs stand out: 2014 was a good one, 2018 was fun as I felt great on the bike all season long, and then this past summer was also good. I’m glad I was able to finish off my career the way I wanted. Also, I remember going to Southwick in 2011 and having a great moto where I finished 5^th. I was riding really well at the time and I felt very confident on the bike. To go there and battle with those guys was a lot of fun.

Coming into this season, was it hard to regroup and get motivated to try to win one more outdoor title, especially with how last season ended in Quebec City?

No, not really. It took a few months to recover from that crash in QC but once I got healthy and started training again, the motivation to win took over. I’ve always taken my training very seriously and once it gets going I feel pretty good.

 

Did the weight of knowing that 2019 would be your final season of professional racing make it more challenging?

I would say yes it did. Leading up to the opening round I was kind of on the fence about whether or not I was making the right decision. Speed-wise and how I still felt on the bike I knew that I could most likely be competitive for another two or three years, so trying to decide when to hang it up obviously was tough. However, once the MXTour Series began I knew that I was making the correct decision. The motos this summer felt different and some of the motivation I’ve always had wasn’t quite there. Not to mention that at my age it just takes longer and longer to recover from each weekend. Anyway, I got the job done and it was the right time to move on.

It was definitely a great ending to an incredible career. To honour all of your success from the past ten years, MXP Magazine has decided to name you the Rider of the Decade. So congratulations and I hope things are going well. Other than the retirement parties and all of the housework that you’ve been doing, do you feel more relaxed than you normally do during this time of year knowing that you don’t have to head south to start riding anytime soon?

For sure, things have changed around here and I’ve been slowly getting used to being retired. My ‘dad bod’ is coming along nicely, that’s for sure. (laughs)

So you haven’t been trying to stay in shape?

I’ve always hated training to be honest and now that I don’t have to I definitely haven’t been doing any. But I’ll get going soon and get back to my gym. Right now I’m just trying to figure out what is next and what I’ll be doing to keep busy. Derek Schuster has helped out a lot and as of right now I know I’ll be at the races helping the team out. I’ll also be doing some riding schools all year long with the first being at MP County Line in the spring. Other than that, I’m keeping busy and things are good.

While I have you on the phone I have to asked you about Dylan Wright. You tested with him a little this fall so you’ve seen him on a 450. How does he look and how do you see him doing in 2020?

It’s definitely going to be a steep learning curve for him on the bigger bike, but he looks very good on the 450, like really good! Let me put it this way, he will win motos this summer and I’m glad I don’t have to race against him.

Those are very complimentary words, especially coming from you. Well, take care Colton and once again, Happy New Year!! Thanks for all of the memories and we cannot wait to see what the next chapter involves for you.

Happy New Year to you and your family as well and thanks for naming me the Rider of the Decade.