Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
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Metcalfe and Politelli prevail in MX wars at Wild Rose
In what turned out to be the toughest racing of the season so far, Brett Metcalfe claimed his second consecutive MX1 clean sweep to win Round 3 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, AB on Sunday. In the MX2 title hunt, Metcalfe’s Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge Kawasaki teammate Austin Politelli stayed on a roll to claim his second consecutive clean sweep and third overall win of the year.
Although Metcalfe recorded only the fifth fastest qualifying time behind his MX1 teammate Teddy Maier, the Australian was more than fast enough when it really counted in the motos.
The first MX1 moto holeshot went to Cycle North Honda’s Ross Johnson, who was followed into turn one by Maier, Metcalfe, Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM’s Tyler Medaglia and MX101Yamaha’s Jeremy Medaglia.
It only took a few turns before Metcalfe grabbed the lead. Johnson gradually disappeared from the frontrunners and would settle for seventh at the finish line. Although Maier would stick with Metcalfe for about half the race, the American was unable to mount a successful challenge and stick a pass on his teammate. Maier’s second place soon went out the window after he was victimized by a radiator hose problem, which left him on the sidelines with zero points.
Behind Metcalfe, battles for position raged between the other top-five candidates. Jeremy Medaglia hounded his brother Tyler until he stuck a definite pass to secure second. Tyler Medaglia next succumbed to Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha Motovan.com’s Bobby Kiniry and Sewer Rat Yamaha’s Morgan Burger. Kiniry had suffered a mediocre, outside the top-10 start but lay down a furious pace to slice and dice his way into the top-five. In the closing laps, he picked off Tyler Dags to then go after Jeremy Medaglia, but with time running out the New York native had to settle for third. Burger held on to fourth while Tyler Medaglia cemented the top-five finishers.
Fast starter Ross Johnson surprised by also collecting the second moto holeshot: this time ahead of Kiniry, Yamaha-mounted Jake Anstette, Jeremy Medaglia, and Morgan Burger, which in turn earned him a $600 bonus from Royal Distributing for his two holeshots on the day.
The Leading Edge duo, Metcalfe and Maier, got off to less promising starts in the second moto. Maier found himself outside the top-five – Metcalfe outside the top-10. Tyler Medaglia also faced a tepid start, buried somewhere in mid-pack. He had his work cut out for him to make his way into the top-10.
Up front, meanwhile, Kiniry wasted no time sticking a pass on Johnson to take the lead. A few laps later Jeremy Medaglia, Burger, and Maier had also passed Johnson and became locked in a dogfight over second position. Johnson eventually faded out of the top-10 and would greet the checkered flag in a distant 18th place.
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About a third of the way into the moto, Metcalfe arrived on the scene, methodically knifing his way into second place. From this point on the race for first became a slugfest that would last till the checkered flag was waved. Metcalfe went to work on Kiniry, who kept the Aussie behind him until the midway point. Immediately, Metcalfe put a few seconds on Kiniry, but was unable to totally shake him off. Together they put some distance on third place Maier, but the Iowa native wasn’t in the mood to be left out of the game and started to close in until he became part of the battle. As the moto wound down, the trio fought tooth and nail for position, with Maier hounding Kiniry and Kiniry hounding Metcalfe. But when it was over Metcalfe had managed to prevail and take his second moto win of the day, followed by Kiniry in second and Maier in third. Kiniry clinched second overall on the strength of 3-2 motos while Jeremy Medaglia nailed down third overall with his 2-4 motos results.
In the MX2 title hunt Austin Politelli had it a bit easier than his MX1 teammate Metcalfe, but he still had to work a little harder for the win than his previous clean sweep. Politelli had set the fastest qualifying time with a 2:02.105, but it was nearly matched by Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM’s Kaven Benoit, who ended up second with 2:02.323, and RTR Performance Honda’s Topher Ingalls who laid down 2:02.898 Benoit’s up front position ended not too long after he took control of the moto. He went down hard as he tried to distance himself from the chase group, breaking a lever in the process then soon headed back to the paddock.
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Politelli inherited the lead and would keep it till the finish line. Ingalls moved up to second place where he would hold a comfortable gap over Nauditt, who would greet the checkered in third. Devil Lake MX Kawasaki’s Josh Clark tried to close the gap to third but ran out of time. He held on to fourth place, continuing his strong season so far. GDR Honda rider Blake Savage cemented the top-five. Politelli grabbed the second moto holeshot and never looked back. Behind him were Clark, Benoit, Ingalls, Savage and BlackfootDirect Yamaha’s Jared Allison, all very much determined to put an end to Politelli’s winning streak. Benoit, a little too anxious to make a pass, slid out not long after the start of the moto, remounting around 10th. Ingalls then began to push the pace of the chase group. He also went down in a deeply rutted corner. Clark gratefully took over second place again with Savage staying close on his tail. Within a few laps, however, Savage tossed it away, allowing a hard-on-the-gas Ingalls and Benoit to get back into the mix. Towards the end of the moto Ingalls reclaimed second place from Clark. Benoit also stuck a pass on Clark, relegating him to fourth, where he would finish just ahead of Allison. Ingalls’ strong ride netted him second overall, thanks to his 2-2 motos. Clark took home a well-earned third overall on the strength of his 4-4 moto results. Nauditt, meanwhile, failed to reproduce his first moto holeshot, diving into turn one around sixth place in moto two. At one point in the race he dropped to 13th place, which he managed to turn back into sixth place by the end of the moto, claiming fourth overall on the day. With 6-5 motos, Alberta’s Jared Allison cemented the top-five overall. The Monster Energy Motocross Nationals head to northern Alberta, where Castrol Raceway in Edmonton will host Round 4, the final leg of the western tour, on Sunday, June 23rd. |
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1. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 1-1 Points Standings After 3 of 9 Rounds MX 1 1. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 144 pts
MX 2 Overall – Round 3 1. Austin Politelli (Kaw) 1-1 Points Standings After 3 of 9 Rounds MX 2 1. Austin Politelli (Kaw) 147 pts |
