Behind the Lens: Walton Pro National

Words by Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

The fat lady has sung and left the building (and if she stayed for the after-party at Walton, odds are she won’t be singing for quite some time). As the final sights and sounds of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals fade out, it does so with two Canadians on top of the podium. In what was arguably the toughest and deepest field of talent we’ve ever seen in the Canadian Nationals, and despite attacks from foreign invaders, it was GDR TLD Honda’s Colton Facciotti topping the premiere MX1 division, and Royal Distributing KTM Fox Racing’s Kaven Benoit bettering the MX2 class.

If you looked at the margins by which Facciotti and Benoit won their respective championships, one is led to believe it came easy to them. Facciotti won his title with 40 points over Smartop MotoConcepts Racing’s Mike Alessi, while Benoit held the same gap over Alessi’s teammate, Vince Friese. For Benoit, it’s an extremely special moment as it marks his first ever Canadian Pro National title. Facciotti has experienced championship status twice before in the MX1 class, so for him, after two injury plagued seasons where he didn’t complete a full season, simply finishing the year felt like winning a championship.

Let’s give a round of applause to everyone who competed in this year’s MX2 and MX1 Canadian Championships! It was a stacked class and at times looked like anyone could win this thing. While driving from Walton back to his home in Mission, BC, James Lissimore sent us some of his favourite images from the final Canadian National of 2014 at Walton Raceway. To see everything Lissimore photographed this summer, click here.

 

LONG DAYS, LATE NIGHTS: I can’t imagine how much diesel fuel ol’ Barry pumps through his equipment during the week of the Walton TransCan, and then the pro national on Sunday. With Walton Raceway situated not far from Lake Huron, it makes weather very unpredictable. For years now, Heatherington has been working the Walton soil and it showed this weekend. We were hit with terrible rains and winds throughout the week of Walton, and even after a heavy downpour on Saturday night, the guys got the track into great shape for Sunday’s pro motos. Granted, practice and qualifying were a muddy mess, but the main events turned out near perfect. Both Alessi and Friese commented on the podium that it was their favourite circuit of the year.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND: When it comes to racing of any sort, with engines and wheels turning, there’s nothing more important than arming your rider with quality mechanical support. It doesn’t matter how fast you are, it can all come to a metal melting halt with a DNF from a mechanical. In 2014, Facciotti had ZERO DNFs from mechanicals, injury or crashes. Good job, JP!

IT’S ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN: I think that’s one of the keys to the Gopher Dunes Racing Troy Lee Designs Honda team and Facciotti’s success this summer. I only attended a few nationals, but the times I did, their pit area seemed so laid back, fun and relaxing. Nobody was stressing (yes, they did have the points lead) but everything was still very professional and organized. Kudos to young manager Derek Schuster for leading a top notch factory effort this year – and thank you Honda Canada for getting back in the ring!

TWO FOR ONE: Who says Canada isn’t producing riders as fast as the US? It seems we’re not far off with Facciotti and Medaglia sandwiching Alessi on the MX1 podium – and then beating guys like Kyle Chisholm, Teddy Maier, Josh Hill, and Bobby Kiniry. I guess we’ll find out the ‘real deal’ when Team Canada – Facciotti, Medaglia, Benoit – fly over to Latvia on September 27-28th to take on the world at the Motocross of Nations.

GOOD KNIGHT: Here’s hoping Mike Alessi and his MotoConcepts team return to Canada. It’s unfortunate about the incidents involving fans treating the MC team poorly, and then the Friese / Benoit Ulverton fiasco, because I feel their presence is a welcomed one. I mean, how cool is it to see the name ‘ALESSI’ on the line with our Canadian heroes?! Surely this raises the bar of Canadian racing in many ways. He’s a worthy racer and made sure to thank all of his Canadian competition for a great time up north.

I AM NUMBER ONE: Smooth, calm and relaxed … that’s how Colton Facciotti looked all year long on his CRF450R. Did he break a sweat? He would never tell you, but certainly he had his work cut for him this year, battling international superstar Mike Alessi, supercross giant Josh Hill and fellow hired guns, Chisholm, Maier, Kiniry and more. What’s next? Des Nations this September … then AMA Supercross?!I tried getting something out of Colt and Schuster; they said there has been a LITTLE discussion about indoors!

RESPECT THE COMPETITION: Granted there was paint rubbed between Facciotti and Alessi over the 10 rounds of the Canadian Nationals, but when it was all said and done, both athletes made sure to applaud the other for a job well done.

ELBOWS UP, EYES FOWARD: Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier stays focused on a tricky and technical Walton Raceway track. The heavy rains on Saturday night left things in a muddy mess for morning, but things dried out well for the motos. That said, there was still a maze of ruts in many sections of the track which kept riders on their toes.

RIGHT THERE: Tyler Medaglia continues to remain one of Canada’s best MX1 riders, finishing 3rd overall and second Canadian in the series. After 10 rounds and 18 motos, TM recorded one moto win (Ulverton), 7 moto podium finishes, 4 podium overalls, and only finished outside the top 4 twice. After a season like that, hopefully Medaglia isn’t left waiting until the 11th hour of 2015 for a final contract.

50/50: In the MX2 class, Canadians again proved we can hang with the Yanks with Benoit and Maffenbeier crowding American Friese on the series podium. Actually, looking at the top 10, things are split right down the middle with 5 Canadians and 5 Americans.

PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR: And he did! Just kidding. Kaven Benoit stayed over at Walton Raceway on Sunday night, enjoying good times with friends and fans while supporting the Team Canada MX fundraising dinner. He didn’t do anything wild, but you can definitely tell he and his long time mechanic/ friend, Jerome Therrien will be savouring this championship for some time!

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER: Where one goes the other is sure to follow – that’s the case with Benoit and his mechanic Jerome. The two maintain a great friendship and get the chance to experience some amazing times together chasing success on the Canadian national circuit. Next up: defending their #1 plate in 2015 … and then onto the MX1 class!

 

TOUGH YEAR FOR THE TOUGH GUY: Normally we see Bobby Kiniry wrapping up the season with a big #2 on his Yamaha. Not in 2014. The New Yorker struggled this year with crashes, bike problems and general bad luck. He did score a muddy win in Regina and recorded three podium finishes – including third overall at the final round in Walton. By the sounds of things, we’ll see Kiniry rebounding in 2015 again with Andre Laurin’s OTSFF race program!

 

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT: Kornel Nemeth is a proven winner on the Canadian National circuit and was expecting to shake things up when he entered Walton on a Husky 450. The rough and rutty conditions suited the friendly Giant just fine, but a loose oil plug cap created too much heat and steam in the first moto putting an end to is day. Maybe we see Nemeth back in 2015 on the Husky Canada program?

 

WHY NOT WALTON? Since its inception in 1991, Walton has played host to many top US riders’ first pro events. For instance, this past weekend, GPF’s Josh Woods – who rode and won his first pro race at Walton in 1999 – encouraged Tallahassee, Florida’s Josh Cartwright to use Walton as his professional debut. Good idea! After learning the Walton track and winning the Youth title at the TransCan, Cartwright qualified for MX2 Pro on Sunday and went on to finish 4th overall!

 

GROWING PAINS: The last time MX101 Yamaha’s Dylan Wright raced at Walton, it was only a year ago and he won just about everything there was to win – including the Bronze Boot. In 2014, Wright returned but as a pro but didn’t have quite as favourable results. In the first MX2 moto, the 16-year-old was caught in a first corner crash and was working his way through the pack when his clutch burnt out and he was forced to walk back to the pits. He would rebound in moto two taking 7th and ending the year 9th overall. Not bad for a first year Pro.

 

DYNAMITE DEBUT: Another rider using Walton to gain pro racing experience was Honda rider Marshal Weltin. He was up front in both MX2 motos finishing 2-5 for third overall.

 

QUIET ENDING: Vince Friese certainly made it one exciting conclusion to the Canadian Nationals, when he, the Benoit brothers and Ulverton, QC crowd exchanged words and paint. Fans were expecting another fireworks show at Walton but they never got it. Friese holeshot and took off with the first MX2 moto win, and in the second, it was Benoit collecting $200 from Royal Distributing and checking out on everybody.

 

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING: Minnesota’s Jesse Wentland made a great one with Canadian motocross and the MX101 Yamaha team. Fast, fit and friendly, the crew at MX101 says they loved having the kid around and he was productive on the racetrack as well, picking up a couple of moto wins, a handful of podiums and a fourth overall – just 11 points shy of third. I think it’s safe to say we’ll see JW back in Canada in 2015.