Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore
Is this the year? Is it that elusive racing season we’ve been begging for where we see the championship go down to the very last moto … maybe between three or more riders? It’s what every fan dreams of, unpredictability and an opportunity for more than one rider to win. Let’s not get our hopes too high, but two rounds, 8 motos in, I’d say the Rockstar Energy Motocross Nationals are shaping up to be ‘The Year’.
Nanaimo was good and Kamloops may have been even better, with a little bit of drama, ON (Alessi and Facciotti bumping and grinding again) and OFF (Alessi going off the track and being docked 5 positions). I had the good fortune to attend the Kamloops National last year at Whispering Pines Raceway. It is flat, like Sand Del Lee, but features a long winding layout with some technical sections and good, moderately sandy soil. Some riders complained of the track being over watered in spots and dry in others, but Colton Facciotti and Vince Friese had no problems getting around it.
In MX1, it appears Alessi and Facciotti are the two fastest followed closely by Josh Hill, Tyler Medaglia, Bobby Kiniry, and surprisingly Dylan Kaelin. Thinking of this last name here, I remember when Dylan was 14, his buddy Rob Pelletier (a fast young racer in his day) was telling me to watch out for Kaelin, that he was killing corners down at their sand pits corner-tracks. Old Robby was right on the money and Kaelin takes Top Privateer honours this far into the series.
Alessi was his typical self in Kamloops, taking two great starts and working to take off the from the pack as quickly as possible. He managed to do that in moto one, except he went off the track by accident and was docked 5 spots for not returning where he exited. A bummer for sure, but he rebounded with another holeshot in the second moto and led for 15 minutes until being passed by a fast moving GDR Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Colton Facciotti. Now, Alessi did say in his post race interviews, well, more like allude to, that there was something going on with his MCR450 in the second moto. I think he’s telling the truth because his lap times dropped quite a bit; fitness can’t be an issue with Alessi, so I chalk it up to bike problem. I guess we’ll find out this weekend in Calgary when we go best two out of three.
We may have underestimated MotoConcepts Racing’s Vince Friese coming into the series. I for one didn’t think he would be a real threat, as in taking two holeshots and checking out on the pack in the MX2 class. I felt he could win but I didn’t see him dominating like he did this past weekend. Again, Calgary will be the tie breaker and will reveal the cards a little more, but it’s great to see Friese poking his nose in there. First Benoit sweep, then Friese … is Jeremy Medaglia next?
MX1 Top 5 – after two rounds
1 . Colton Facciotti – 95
2. Josh Hill – 82
3. Mike Alessi – 82
4. Teddy Maier – 68
5. Bobby Kiniry – 66
MX2 top 5 – after two rounds
1. Kaven Benoit – 88
2. Shawn Maffenbeier – 72
3. Vince Friese – 66
4.Austin Politelli – 65
5. Topher Ingalls – 62
6. Jeremy Medaglia – 62
Despite a quiet performance at the opening round in Nanaimo, I think we all knew it would only be a matter of time before we saw the real Jeremy Medaglia come out to play. That would be the very next moto in Kamloops when the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki rider put in his best result so far, finishing second behind Vince Friese. It didn’t come easy either. The big #4 started outside of the top 5 and had to make some passes to get up on the box. He took 4th in the second moto, which gave him third overall on the day. Jeremy’s still 26 points back of leader Benoit, but there are still 8 rounds left and he made up a lot of ground in two motos this week.
Whoa, welcome to Canada Vince Friese! Round 1 definitely wasn’t an indication of what this MotoConcepts Racing rider has to offer in the MX2 class. Nanaimo was rough on Friese, with an okay 5th place in the first moto and then he DNF’d the second after suffering bike troubles. Not only did Friese win both motos, he did it so convincingly; grabbing two big Royal Distributing holeshot cheques, the fastest lap times in both motos and kept a comfortable gap of 4-7 seconds over the next guy. The points were definitely needed and now Friese is back in the championship hunt, sitting third place in the series and only 12 points behind first. That’s good, we want to keep the MotoConcepts team happy so they stay in Canada, especially after some goofballs egged and toilet papered their truck and trailer on Saturday night. Sorry guys, please don’t let that experience tarnish your relationship with the rest of Canada!
No matter where Mike Alessi goes, he gives fans something to talk about … the most recent came on Sunday in Kamloops when Alessi overshot the finish line jump, rode off the track and then rode back on in maybe not the best fashion/area. The MotoConcepts rider would win the moto, but later be docked 5 positions for his error. Right away, Alessi and the team were fired up, but after discussing things with referee Paul Kinglsey and seeing that the Canadian rulebook docks positions instead of time, things were all good and everyone was back to business. Alessi’s fun to watch, of course grabbing half of the holeshot money so far and rubbing elbows with Colton Facciotti, Bobby Kiniry and others. Alessi would lose the second moto and overall to Colton but he admits that a bike problem in the second race kept him from pushing hard from the midway point on. Calgary will give us the answer – best two out of three! Still hard to believe we are seeing names like ALESSI and HILL on Canadian tracks…. it’s awesome!
I wonder which rider (or mechanic, track worker, truck driver, man friend, medic, journalist) has had the best pick up line yet when chatting up the new Rockstar Energy Drink girls? For sure Paul Kingsley has them as a screen-saver on his cell phone and desktop. Here’s one line I heard that I liked: “I have a job and don’t live with my mom.”
With Colton on the podium Stallybrass might need to invest in a taller backdrop. (On that topic, I do enjoy the new backdrop with the big bold Rockstar logos. Good job Stally.) What a star studded cast, eh? Josh Hill, Facciotti and Mike Alessi … it would take a lot of speed and one heck of a big name to beat these guys. Canada’s got talent in 2014! Rumour has it that Roczen and Dungey could be up here next year.
The field doesn’t get any slower in the MX2 class with Kaven Benoit, Vince Friese and Jeremy Medaglia filling the podium in Kamloops. Both classes are open-season, it could be anyone’s game at this point.
See you in Calgary!
