Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Overall, Latvia was a good (looking) weekend for Team Canada at the 2014 Motocross of Nations.
Photos by Jeff Kardas
In short, last year was basically one big low for Team Canada at the Motocross of Nations. No great starts, bad luck and it all ended with a fail in the B final. It’s racing, stuff happens, let’s move on.
At the 2014 MXoN, Canada didn’t necessarily reach their potential either but they made a big step forward in the right direction, qualifying well for the A-Final, riding hard in the main three motos and finishing 17th overall (Australia was 14th). With a tad more luck (like Colton Facciotti not getting hung up with Ryan Dungey on the first lap of the final moto and leaving the track with a nasty war-wound), Canada could have easily been a top-10 team.
We had some lows but Team Canada MX had some highs as well. I’m sure everyone on the team went through for a wild emotional roller coaster ride in Latvia. Here’s a quick rundown on what happened with Team Canada during their qualifying and motos at this year’s MXoN in Kegums, Latvia.
Canadian MX champ Colton Facciotti had a great ride in his first MXGP moto, charging from 30th to 16th at the finish.
Saturday Qualifying
Everything was clicking into place quite well on Saturday. They say starts are everything, so when you get 34th gate pick – as was the case last year for Team Canada at the MXoN – it’s increasingly difficult to get a holeshot against the world’s best racers. We moved up the ladder 13 spots this time around, grabbing 21st gate pick. Not great but not bad either.
Colton Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia both had good rides in their heat races. Facciotti came around the first corner in his MXGP qualifier in 20th and worked his way up to 13th at the finish. It was a similar story for Medaglia who had a great jump off the gate but got hung up in the first turn and lost some positions. He would end up 15th in MX3.
The big story in qualifying for Team Canada came from Kaven Benoit who had the least amount of experience on the team with only one prior MXoN under his belt, but that didn’t hold the KTM rider back from scoring Canada’s best qualifying finish with a 10th in MX2. He had an okay start but rode the snot out of his KTM 250 SX-F (two or four-stroke, this kid goes!) picking off guys, and then stealing two spots right on the last lap.
Canada’s 13-10-15 placed them in 14th overall and more than assured them a spot in the A Final on Sunday. It also gave them 14th and 34th gate picks for the first moto.
The 25 year-old Kaven Benoit showed off his leadership skills on Saturday in Kegums, claiming the team’s best qualifying result with a 10th on his KTM 250 SX-F.
Sunday’s racing
Things started out well for Team Canada on Sunday with the guys putting in practice times just outside the top 20. Facciotti and Benoit were up first with the MXGP and MX2 classes. Neither had a great start, coming around the first turn just inside the top-30. It’s not a Canadian National so slicing your way through the pack isn’t quite as easy; everyone is the same speed and they don’t hold anything back. Our guys worked hard, though, with Colton climbing his way up to 16th at the finish and Benoit holding on for 34th.
All weekend, KTM’s Medaglia was thinking about grabbing a holeshot and he nearly made it happen, coming around the first turn in the second moto around fifth place. Benoit suffered another poor start and was way back on the first lap. As Benoit started making his way forward, Medaglia was dropping back fast and eventually pulled off towards the end of the race. It turned out that Tyler had suffered an eye injury and his goggles were littered with sand. Tyler would register a DNF with Benoit finishing 35th behind Toni Eriksson of Finland.
Tyler Medaglia soldiered through an injured eye to race the final moto of the day. Good thing he did because he was the only one left after Colton crashed into Dungey on the first lap and couldn’t complete his second moto (and the final moto).
With one more moto to go, Canada would need every point to nail down a respectable overall finish. It was up to Facciotti and Medaglia. Despite a bruised and battered eye, Medaglia lined up, and it’s a good thing that he did. During some first corner mayhem, Facciotti ran into the back of Ryan Dungey’s KTM and was left with a leg injury (which later turned out to be a bloody and bruised mess, but he’ll survive) so Medaglia was the only Canadian soldier left on the field.
Despite limited vision, Medaglia worked his way from 30th to 25th at about the midway point before taking a quick dip in the dirt. He would get back in the saddle and hold on for a 27th place finish behind Eriksson.
At the end of the day, Canada would record 16-34-DNF-35-27-DNF and 17th overall. All things considered, a solid result and one to build off of with our new ‘Team Canada MX’ management system.
MXoN top 3
France
Belgium
USA
15. Denmark
16. Finland
17. Canada
18. Puerto Rico
19. Ireland
