FXR Racing Presents Andy White’s Mid-Week Report

We headed back to the Maritimes for Round 8 of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan and this week we were in Moncton, NB. Resident MX guru Larry Northrop has been promoting this event forever. I’m pretty sure I saw “The Glade” stickers that said “Since 1977.” That’s a heck of a lot of years running. My first time racing the pro national at Riverglade was back in 1986 on my YZ490 two-stroke. The track has not changed that much in 30 years of its existence. The start is in the same place, the finish line is pretty well untouched, of course the jumps were much smaller and speed was much slower back in my day. This track has had some really good races in the past with guys like Marco Dube on his KTM Factory SX 540 against Mike Craig, JSR against his own teammates on the Blackfoot program, plus Allan Dyck, Ross Pederson, Carl Vaillancourt, Mike Treadwell, Jimmy Decotis and John Dowd have all put in laps at this race facility. This place is stacked with motocross history.

Davi Millsaps was dominant in Riverglade. Photo by James Lissimore

This year we have Davi Millsaps competing in the series, which marked his first time for him at “The Glade.” I heard that he said this was one of the best tracks on the circuit; it must be the jumps and the dirt! Well, he must have felt good all day because he was untouchable from the minute the gate dropped right to the checkered flag. Can you say “Domination!” I think this was by far his best ride of the series. He was aggressive and stylish all day. Moto 1, Millsaps grabbed the holeshot on his Factory KTM450 and was gone. Moto 2, his teammate, Benoit, sneaked in for the holeshot but it didn’t take long for Millsaps to slice under Benoit for the lead. It was a little aggressive but there was no contact. That’s pretty well how it was for the day. Second overall for the day with a 2-3 was Benoit on his Factory KTM 450. Benoit looked much more confident this weekend. He had way better starts and was a lot more aggressive. Talking with Kaven the day before, he said the bonus checks have not been coming in steady like the past two years. It’s time to get on the podium. I bet we will see the #11 on the box this weekend in Deschambault. Third overall on his OTSFF Yamaha was Matt Goerke with a 7-2. Not the best weekend for the former champion but a podium finish is pretty darn good. The first moto, Matt was way back after a tip over on lap one. He pushed hard to move up from 25th to 7th. Moto two started off better with a top 5 start. It took the whole moto but Matt was able to push hard and make a last lap pass on Benoit. Matt is another rider that will be ready for the sand track this weekend. I would have to say this was one of Mike Alessi’s best days on the Monster Kawasaki 450. He looked great and had solid starts. He was running up in the front pretty well the whole day. Moto 1, it looked like Mike was going to make a pass on Benoit until a rock knocked his goggle lens sideways in the frame. This slowed Alessi down as he couldn’t get too close to the roost. Moto 2, he had another great start and was looking to move the Kawasaki up into second but the rear brakes let go with just a few laps to go. This meant he only had a front brake to slow the 450 down. Mike’s 3-5 gave him a fourth for the day. Rounding out the top five was Tyler Medaglia on his Husky 450. He looked solid again. Not quite the speed to get on the podium but a huge improvement from his western results. Tyler never gives up and it showed on the weekend with a 5-4 for the day. Brett Metcalfe didn’t have the day he was hoping for with a 4-6 for 6th overall. Good speed but little tip overs and not the best starts will bite you.

After a few weeks of coming close, Dakota Alix finally got a win at round 8 in Moncton. Photo by James Lissimore

The MX2 class was once again the class to watch. I think there were four different leaders over the two motos. Dakota Alix had a strange weekend. It started off with bike issues in the first practice but KTM Canada came to the rescue with parts. The qualifying practice started off okay until the bike stalled and Dakota missed out on a few laps of well needed practice. Moto 1, Dakota pulled a massive holeshot and pulled a Davi Millsaps on his KTM 250, because he basically checked out. Moto 2, he started out in the top three but just past half way, Dakota stalled the KTM and struggled to start it up. Luck was on his side because there was a downhill where he was able to bump start the bike up and finish fourth. That’s all he needed to capture his very first overall in the series. Finishing only one point off the podium was Dylan Wright on his MX101 Yamaha. I would have to say this was one of Dylan’s best rides of the year. This will give the Ontario native the confidence for the next two rounds to finish up front. Third for the day was Cole Thompson, the current points leader. Cole was the fastest rider on the track, hands down. The only problem was that Cole had a pretty good get off in the first moto, which put him back in fourteenth spot. It didn’t take him long to work his way up into the top ten. Once Cole caught up to the lead pack the race was coming to an end but he was able to work his way up to sixth. Moto 2, the Cole we know was out front and put down some blistering laps. Thompson has a huge points lead and can lock down the championship next weekend. It was good to see Mark Worth up near the front. Solid results with a 4-3 for the day on his Monster Kawasaki 250. Mark looked at home on the Riverglade soil. I hope he has the same speed for the next round in the sand. Finishing fifth was a rider that should have been on the box. Shawn Maffenbeier had a good moto one, finishing second. Moto 2 started off with Shawn stopping in the mechanics area on lap one. Apparently the engine was bogging on the face of the jumps. The team told him to try to see if the problem cleared itself. Well, just a few corners later the KTM 250 was working perfectly. The only problem was Shawn was way back in 30th. Time to get to work! Shawn put his head down and worked his way up to an impressive 8th. Not the easiest track to pass on but when you need points you will find a way.

The series moves to the sand track in Deschambault, Quebec. We all know how rough this track can get. With lots of lines, it is going to be a good race, for sure. There will be a ton of spectators at this round too. You better get there early to reserve your area. See you at the races.

Time for some great racing in Quebec. Photo by James Lissimore