Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

This past weekend, the picturesque circuit in Deschambault played host to Round 9 of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals, but also the 2017 Motovan ECAN. Over the past few years, the Deschambault track and facility has been making steady improvements to almost every part of the property. For this year, the ECAN crew built a brand new stage, they made the pit parking lot a little bigger, and they also made some changes to the track itself. All the changes made were great and from talking to the promoter, this is just the beginning, next year will be even better. It’s has been pretty awesome to watch this track transform itself over the past few years. If you’ve never been there before, you have to put this event on your calendar for 2018. Last week’s ECAN featured a lot more riders from Ontario and the Maritimes, even Jacob Piccolo travelled there from his home in BC to race. Next year could feature even more riders from right across the country, making it a true National competition.

With the ECAN racing wrapping up on Saturday, Mother Nature once again played a huge role. From Friday evening until Sunday morning a massive amount of rain fell that resulted in the cancellation of some of the final ECAN motos. I arrived at the track at noon on Saturday and I can honestly say that it rained hard for almost two straight hours, and that was after all of the rain on Friday. Even though Deschambault is considered a sand track, under the loamy sand is very hard clay, so the water takes a long time to absorb. This left a lot of standing water everywhere and a very messy track. However, after a few hour delay on Saturday afternoon, the gate once again dropped on a few of the final ECAN motos, as well as the second Eastern Canadian Women’s  Nationals moto. I want to say great job to all of the riders who participated in the 2017 Motovan ECAN, including Ontario riders Tanner Ward and Jake Tricco, who completely dominated their classes. Tricco even took home the first big Yamaha Canada Award of the year as he won a brand new Yamaha of his choice for 2018. Look for a story on this awesome event in the next issue of MXP Magazine in three weeks.

Shawn Maffenbeier didn’t have the day he wanted in Deschambault, but he still holds an 11 point lead heading into the final round in Barrie. Photo by James Lissimore

So with our top amateur riders battling it out all week, on Sunday it was time for the pros to take to the track. In the MX2 class, it was points leader Shawn Maffenbeier who had the most to lose in yesterday’s adverse conditions. A mud race can quickly produce just about any situation. Even if you’re doing everything you can to stay out of trouble, when the conditions are sloppy like they were in Deschambault, bad luck can strike fast. After racing to a very safe third place in Moto 1, Maffenbeier ran into a downed rider in the opening laps of Moto 2 and was forced to DNF. All of this was happening while his closet competitor, Ryan Surratt, was out front winning both motos. The result was a huge point swing that pretty much used up all of Maffenbeier’s 46 point cushion that he had coming in. With just two motos remaining his lead is down to 11 points over Surratt. Maffenbeier’s day almost brought tears to everyone’s eyes as so many people are cheering for him to win his first major pro title. Now Maffenbeier and his MX101 FXR Racing Yamaha Team head into Round 9 with a lot more stress than they should’ve had. But, this is motocross and anything can happen. Maffenbeier has been the fastest MX2 rider all summer long and now he simply has to go out and prove it when it matters most. It is stressful and definitely a lot more pressure than I’m sure he wanted during the final round, but he still has an 11 point lead, which means that if Surratt somehow can win both motos again, then Maffenbeier must finish at least third in both motos. This task won’t be easy, but I’m sure Maffenbeier can handle it. I mean, at least he is in control of his own destiny, that’s much better than being down 11 points!

This coming weekend will get even more interesting in the MX2 class as there will be a few new fast kids on the starting line. Not only will Tanner Ward be there again with his newfound confidence and speed, but this weekend the MX2 class will be welcoming Marco Cannella and Austin Watling to the gate for the first time. This is very exciting for the MX2 class as the next generation has now all arrived. Tanner Ward and Casey Keast were the first this summer, and now Cannella and Watling are making their pro debut. I would’ve said prior to the eastern rounds starting that Cannella was the fastest of this group of new pros, but after Keast’s solid series and Tanner Ward’s incredible riding of late, now I’m not so sure. I mean is Cannella or Watling going to do better than second this weekend in the MX2 class (that was Ward’s overall finish at Deschambault)? it’s possible, but not likely. Anyway, wherever these young riders finish, it’s going to be awesome to watch them all. With Cannella, Watling and Ward being Ontario riders, I’ve had the privilege of watching them race since they were just little kids. As we’ve seen with Ward in the past few weeks, these kids are more prepared than ever to enter the pro class and they definitely have bright futures ahead of them. KTM Canada is also bringing up Orange Brigade star Connor Mullennix from the USA for this weekend, so that should add to the excitement. Oh yes, our sport’s young riders will be full of piss and vinegar this weekend in Barrie while one of our most seasoned riders does his best to try and win his first title. It definitely has all of the makings of a Hollywood script.

Colton Facciotti was the first 450 yesterday to jump the famous 130 footer, and he did on the opening lap of Moto 2 while leading. Photo by James Lissimore

In the MX1 class, it was GDR Fox Honda rider Colton Facciotti that took both moto wins in convincing fashion. After starting second in both motos, Colton grabbed the lead before the end of the opening lap and never looked back. Above I spoke about our young riders and just how good they are and how mature beyond their years they seem to be. However, yesterday I got a glimpse of just how important experience is when it comes to competing at the highest level. I had a conversation with Colton prior to the second MX1 moto that I don’t think he’ll mind I share as it’s pretty cool in my mind. We were talking about a few lines that I had noticed during the second MX2 moto and he mentioned that he was a little nervous about the massive 130 foot double down in the valley. I asked him why he was nervous as he’s Colton Facciotti. He said that he hadn’t had a chance to jump it yet, during the first moto it was still too muddy, and he didn’t race here last year. I had never even thought of that, so I told him that I don’t think Goerke jumped it last year either so he definitely wasn’t alone. I also told him that it did look much drier so that the leaders would probably be jumping it for a few laps anyway. I then mentioned that if he could get in the lead early and jump it for a few laps that it would be huge. Finally, I asked him what he thought. He smiled and said, “I’ll try to get the lead right away and then I’ll just send it!” On the opening lap Colton did grab the lead and as he approached that big double I wondered what he was going to do. Much to the delight of the crowd, he held his CRF450 wide open in fourth gear and cleared the 130 foot gap and landed it perfectly. Behind him, Matt Goerke and Christophe Pourcel I think were surprised and weren’t able to jump it, so Colton’s lead was large after lap one. I just thought that was pretty cool. Every rider knows how stressful it sometimes is jumping a new jump for the first time. Even at this level, riders can get a little nervous about big jumps. After Colton jumped it on lap one, all of the top riders, including Colton, jumped it for the rest of the race. Needless to say that the crowd loved it!

,Well that is it for me this week. In closing, I’d like to say congratulations to all of our Canadian riders who competed last week at Loretta Lynn’s in Tennessee. You all made us so proud and we cannot wait to hear all about it. Again, look for a feature story on our Canadian group in the next issue of MXP Magazine. In the meantime, here is the link to all of the results from last week at Loretta Lynn’s: http://lorettas.tracksideresults.com/class.asp. Thanks for reading and please have a great week! I will see you all at the final round of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals this weekend at RJ Motosport Park.

It’s great to see all of our Canadian kids doing so well. Yesterday Tanner Ward went 2-2 for second overall in the MX2 class. Photo by James Lissimore