FXR Presents Mid-Week Update With Andy White

The beautiful Deschambault circuit was a gracious host for the 2015 ECAN and for Round 7 of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. photo by James Lissimore

Last weekend the national tour rolled in to the province of Quebec. The track is located approximately 60 km west of Quebec City in a small town called Deschambault. Daniel Thibault and his team have built a really nice race facility deep in the wooded area on a sand base terrain. This event attracts a good number of French Canadians spectators to this national every year. This particular round reminds me of a GP in Europe, the fans are loud and really into the motocross race. You can see them leaning into the track, yelling and waving towels at their favourite riders. I must admit, this is one of my favourite tracks on the whole circuit. Lots of jumps, elevation changes and the huge sand berms that really get build up. I don’t hear riders complaining about how the track is so one-line here. Let’s review what happened in the MX2 class: Local French Canadian, Kaven Benoit continued his winning streak this past weekend. That’s 6 moto wins and 6 hole shots for the Royal Distributing/Fox/KTM rider.

Kaven Benoit continued his dominance last weekend in the MX2 class again winning both motos. photo by James Lissimore

I know the fans were really excited to see Kaven dominate once again. Basically it was a repeat performance from 2014. Right now Kaven has a 63 point lead in the series with only 3 rounds to go. 2nd overall for the day with a 5-2 goes to Shawn Meffenbeier on his OTSFF Yamaha. Shawn looked solid and very consistent in the sand. It seems like he gets stronger and faster as the series works its way east. Then there was Blake Savage with a 3rd overall going 3-4 for the day. Probably the best I have seen Blake ride on his Devils Lake Yamaha. He was very comfortable and aggressive in the sand.  Jimmy Decotis had a pretty good day going 4th overall with a 2-6. Moto one started off with a descent start and he worked his way into 2nd. Moto 2 didn’t start the way the Canada’s Motorcycle/FXR/Yamaha rider had planned. Going down on the first lap is not good. Jimmy said, “I got crossed rutted and went down, and I was pissed that I was near the back of the field. I put my head down and charged until the checked flag.” Rounding 5th for the day with a 4-5 was Dylan Wright. Descent starts were the key Dylan stated. “My Canada’s Motorcycles/FXR/Yamaha worked great. I did my best to get on the podium but I missed it by a few seconds.”

I have said this just about every weekend, the 450 racing is getting better and better every weekend. Matt Goerke pulled the hole shot and lead for pretty well most of the race until Colton got by him with 2 laps to go. Moto 2, Matt had a pretty good start back in 3rd. As the race went on Matt found some great lines that moved the OTSFF Yamaha mounted rider up to the front. On the podium Matt commented by saying, “I gave everything i had for the win today. I am looking forward to a few days of to get ready for Moncton next week.” California resident Brett Metcalfe looked strong all day, if he could only get better starts he could take the overall win. Metcalfe remained consistent going 3-2 for the day for a 2nd overall. Third overall  with a 1-6 was Colton Facciotti on his GDR Honda. Colton looked really solid on his 450, making a last minute pass on Goerke for the win in moto 1. The second moto started out great with a hole shot and Colt tried to put some distance between him and the rest of the field. Around the 20 minute mark Brett Metcalfe was putting pressure on the champ, The two riders were both fighting for the inside line on a downhill. Colton cross rutted and slowed down enough for Brett to accidently bump Colton to the ground. Colton was pinned under his bike until he could get help from a flagger, 20 plus seconds had gone by. This put Colt back in 5th for the moto. Cole Thompson had a good start to the day with consistent starts in both motos. This gave him a 4-3 for a 4th overall for the day. I was a little surprised to see Cole fall off the leader pace both motos around the 20 minute mark. I’m not sure Cole is completely over his injury from round one yet. I am sure he will find some extra speed in the next 3 rounds. Rounding out in 5th with a 5-4 for the day was Tyler Medaglia. Tyler looked great on his Husky 450 all weekend, you can never count out the likeable maritimer.

Brett Metcalfe put up a big fight in Deschambault but came up just short on winning the MX1 class. photo by James Lissimore

Just a few shout outs: Jesse Pettis had in my view one of the best races all year. He looked really comfortable in the sand. Jeremy Medaglia always does well at Deschambault, unfortunately not this time though. He suffered some engine issues in moto 1. Jeremy had a solid 2nd moto with a 3rd overall. It was cool to see Iron Mike Treadwell, riding the lites class on a KTM 250SX two stroke. Look for Mike to make a return to Canada at the Ulverton round in two weeks. In the 450 class Kyle Keast had a pretty good weekend with a 10-11 on his Honda. Dylan Schmoke looked solid in the sand with a 10th overall. Michael Dasilva had a really good weekend by going 11-14 for a 13th overall. Look for more from this friendly French Canadian at Ulverton in a few weeks.