Cole Thompson wins MX1 at Sand Del Lee
Austin Politelli claims fourth MX2 win of the season
With temperatures hovering around 23ºC, Round 6 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals at Sand Del Lee in Richmond, Ontario on Sunday offered more ideal racing weather than one week ago at a blistering Gopher Dunes.
And for the first time since Brett Metcalfe started his winning streak at Round 2 of the title hunt early in June, the MX1 overall did not belong to the Australian but to Cole Thompson.
The Brigden, Ontario native, who took over an injured Colton Facciotti’s Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM ride for the eastern leg of the series, won his first career MX1 National on the strength of 1-2 motos.
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| Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM,’s Cole Thompson scored his first national win with 1-2 moto scores. |
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Austin Politelli returned to the top spot on the box in the MX2 class – the first time since Round 3 – thanks to 6-1 motos.
In a reversal of the usual staging order, the MX1 class took to the track first with Thompson taking over the lead from holeshoter Jeremy Medaglia on lap four. Thompson then went on to build a comfortable 10 seconds margin by the end of the moto.
Behind Thompson MX101’s Medaglia and Thompson’s KTM teammate, Tyler Medaglia, were unable to make any challenges for the lead. J. Medaglia managed to keep second place ’til the checkered flag while T. Medaglia surrendered third place to Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier around lap 10.
Maier’s Leading Edge teammate and series points leader Brett Metcalfe started midpack but went down in a first turn pile-up. It took him ’til the halfway point of the moto to make his way into fifth place, displacing Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha Motovan.com’s Bobby Kiniry from that position.
In the closing laps, Metcalfe who stayed on the gas, challenged T. Medaglia for fourth place, successfully passing him to set his sights on Maier and J. Medaglia. Both succumbed on the final lap to Metcalfe, who put on a drag-racing charge to claim second place.
Unfortunately for Metcalfe, Maier, and T. Medaglia, their hard earned results were for naught as the trio were docked 10 spots for jumping under a Red Cross flag situation, which severely changed the outcome of their overall results as well.
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| Jeremy Medaglia managed both MX1 hole shots to earn the Royal Distributing Triple Crown Award of $1,200. |
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While Metcalfe still salvaged a respectable third overall on the strength of 12-1 motos, Medaglia had to take satisfaction with seventh overall, thanks to 15-4 motos. Maier, who crashed out of the second moto shortly after the start, ended up taking home a tepid 18th place, based on his official first moto result of 13th place.
Fast starter Jeremy Medaglia nailed the second moto Royal Distributing holeshot with Metcalfe, Thompson, Real Deal Honda’s Mike Sottile and Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM’s Dusty Klatt in tow. Medaglia’s lead was short-lived, however, as Metcalfe took possession of that spot on the second lap.
By lap four Thompson had relieved J. Medaglia of second place while Metcalfe was starting to put some distance on the chase group. Some time later Sottile, who struggled in moto one to finish 29th, snuck past J. Medaglia as well and from that point on the top three were decided.
Way behind the frontrunners, Tyler Medaglia, who went down in turn one, was working hard to connect with the top-10, something he did by lap three. By the halfway mark of the moto he was battling for fifth and by the end of the moto he was challenging younger brother Jeremy for fourth, picking up that position on the last lap.
Although it looked like Thompson was going to challenge Metcalfe for the lead at one point, after the Leading Edge ace made an error and went down, Metcalfe remounted quickly enough to stay in the lead and start rebuilding a gap.
For Thompson it was all a moot point, as he was racing for the overall and with Metcalfe losing his first moto second spot due to the Red Cross flag penalty, Thompson could ride on cruise control.
Thanks to the penalties doled out to Metcalfe, Maier, and T. Medaglia, Kiniry and Machine Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Keast ended up sealing the top-five overall. Kiniry recorded fourth on the strength of 3-7 motos, Keast fifth on the strength of 6-8 motos.
The first MX2 moto holeshot went to KTM mounted Jerry Lorenz, followed by Fox Racing KTM’s Jesse Wentland, Cycle North Honda’s Brad Nauditt, Devil Lake MX Kawasaki’s Joshua Clark, and RTR Performance Honda’s Topher Ingalls.
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| Josh Clark took the second MX2 moto holeshot and third overall. |
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Lorenz was unable to sustain the speed necessary to race up front and by lap six was pushed out of the top-five; he would finish 14th.
Minnesota native Wentland grabbed the lead from Lorenz on lap two and went on to build an eight seconds buffer zone on his way to his first Canadian National moto win. Clark brought home second while Ingalls sealed the podium with third.
Among the victims of a huge first-turn pileup were series leader Austin Politelli and local up-and-comer Dylan Wright. By lap four both were in the top-10.
Although Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Politelli would get up to fifth place, he lost it back to Honda-mounted Blake Savage in the closing laps. MX101 Yamaha’s Wright, meanwhile, greeted the checkered flag in seventh place.
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| Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Austin Politelli finish with 6-1 motos to take the overall. |
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| Politelli’s teammate, Tyler Villopoto, who has been dealing with health issues since Round 1, recorded his best finish to date with a fourth place.
A midpack start for Villopoto on the second moto saw him finish eighth, which earned him sixth overall on the day.
Joshua Clark snared the second moto holeshot followed into turn one by Politelli, Honda-mounted James Roberts, Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha/Motovan.com’s Shawn Maffenbeier and Dylan Wright. Politelli took control of the lead on the second lap and never looked back.
Once Politelli was up front, the push was on behind him for the remaining top-five positions, with Maffenbeier hounding Clark until he passed him on lap five. Topher Ingalls, who started inside the top 10, had motored into fourth place with Roberts dropping back to fifth.
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| Shawn Maffenbeier put his YZ250 two-stroke on the podium with a second place finish in moto two. |
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By the halfway mark, Wright, who had crashed earlier while making a move for third place, remounting seventh, was back in the top-five mix, gunning for Ingalls who was still holding down fourth.
In the closing laps, Ingalls stuck a pass on Clark for third, and even though he was reeling in Maffenbeier for second place, the Californian ran out of time and settled for third.
The first moto winner, Wentland, went down shortly after the start and remounted at the back of the pack. He was unable to connect with the top-10 and finished in18th place, taking home eighth overall on the day.
Round 7 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals will be held on Sunday, July 28th in Deschambault, QC.
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| 1. Cole Thompson 2. Jeremy Medaglia 3. Brett Metcalfe |
MX1 Overall Results1. Cole Thompson (KTM) 1-2
2. Jeremy Medaglia (Yam) 2-5
3. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 12-1
4. Bobby Kiniry (Yam) 3-7
5. Kyle Keast (Yam) 6-8
6. Dusty Klatt (KTM) 11-6
7. Tyler Medaglia (KTM) 15-4
8. Ross Johnson (Hon) 8-10
9. Brock Hoyer (Yam) 10-9
10. Gavin Gracyk (KTM) 7-13
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| 1. Austin Politelli 2. Topher Ingalls 3. Josh Clark |
MX2 Overall Results1. Austin Politelli (Kaw) 6-1
2. Topher Ingalls (Hon) 3-3
3. Joshua Clark (Kaw) 2-4
4. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yam) 8-2
5. Blake Savage (Hon) 5-6
6. Tyler Villopoto (Kaw) 4-8
7. Dylan Wright (Yam) 7-5
8. Jesse Wentland (KTM) 1-18
9. James Roberts (Hon) 10-9
10. Kyle Swanson (Hon) 9-12
Points Standings After 6 of 9 Rounds
MX 1
1. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 275 pts
2. Bobby Kiniry (Yam) 215
3. Tyler Medaglia (KTM) 205
4. Jeremy Medaglia (Yam) 174
5. Teddy Maier (Kaw) 167
6. Gavin Gracyk (KTM) 152
7. Morgan Burger (Yam) 135
8. Brock Hoyer (Kaw) 135
9. Ross Johnson (Hon) 107
10. Kyle Keast (Yam) 66
MX 2
1. Austin Politelli (Kaw) 249 pts
2. Topher Ingalls (Hon) 215
3. Joshua Clark (Kaw) 213
4. Brad Nauditt (Hon) 186
5. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 154
6. Jared Allison (Yam) 145
7. Blake Savage (Hon) 133
8. Richard Grey (Yam) 129
9. Nathan Bles (Hon) 126
10. Kyle Swanson (Hon) 117
Rogers Sportsnet Broadcast
Be sure to catch Round 2 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops, British Columbia on Rogers Sportsnet this week at the times listed below:
SN One Mon, 07/22/13 14:00
SN One Tue, 07/23/13 19:00
SN Pacific Tue, 07/23/13 21:00
SN East Tue, 07/23/13 0:00
SN Ontario Tue, 07/23/13 0:00
SN West Tue, 07/23/13 1:00
SN One Wed, 07/24/13 14:00
SN One Wed, 07/24/13 19:00
SN One Thu, 07/25/13 23:00
SN One Fri, 07/26/13 14:00
SN Pacific Fri, 07/26/13 21:00
SN One Sat, 07/27/13 14:00
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