Facciotti annihilates MX1 – Politelli snares MX2 overall

CMRC MEDIA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Stouffville, ON – June 3, 2013)

 Colton Facciotti convincingly put his Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM into the MX1 winner’s circle with a clean sweep at Round 1 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals in Nanaimo, BC on Sunday.

Facciotti left no doubt in anyone’s mind that after injuries dropped him from a No.1 ranking to No. 9 last year, he is back in full force. The BC native put on a surgically precise clinic, slicing up the competition in both motos as if they were bacon on a cutting block.

In the MX2 division, Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge/Kawasaki’s Austin Politelli claimed the overall on the strength of 1-2 motos. The first moto was totally dominated by the American while the second moto saw Red Bull/Fox/Royal Distributing/KTM’s Kaven Benoit inherit the win from Politelli towards the end of the moto.

Benoit, who greeted the first moto’s checkered flag in fourth position, took home a noteworthy second overall on the day, thanks to the second moto win.

Although intermittent rain welcomed the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals Tour’s teams and privateers to the opening round of the series on Friday and Saturday, race day proved to be the exact opposite of last year’s mudfest. Sunny skies and temperatures hovering around the predicted 21ºC mark made for ideal racing weather and spectating. The event drew one of the largest crowds in years and BC fans got a home province with Facciotti.

Redemption Racing KTM’s Eric Jeffery surprised by grabbing the first MX1 moto holeshot. But with Factory KTM’s Colton Facciotti and Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha/Motovan.com’s Bobby Kiniry breathing down his neck, Jeffery’s up front ride was short-lived and he soon disappeared from the top-10 club.

Jeffery’s teammate, Gavin Gracyk, who ran top-five for a while, kept Redemption in the mix by finishing the moto in seventh place. Gracyk would finish the second moto in seventh also, recording seventh overall on the day.

Facciotti wasted no time putting plenty of real estate between himself and Kiniry, Kal-Gard/FXR/ApexCycle/KTM’s Dylan Kaelin, Monster Energy/Parts Canada/Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe and Teddy Maier, also of the Leading Edge squad.

While Facciotti checked out, looking as smooth as ever, the main battles would be fought over the rest of the top-five positions. Metcalfe, making his debut in Canada, started threatening Kiniry for second place halfway through the moto.

Kiniry used every trick in the book to keep the Australian at bay, but towards the end of the moto he had met his match and Metcalfe took over second place. Metcalfe followed Facciotti across the finish line 15 seconds after the three-time MX1 national champ had written the moto win under his name.

Kiniry brought home third. He was followed across the line by Maier and Facciotti’s KTM teammate, Tyler Medaglia, who cemented the top-five.

Gavin Gracyk shot out of the gate like a rocket man to deftly claim the second MX1 moto holeshot. Following him closely into turn one were Facciotti, Metcalfe, Tyler Medaglia, Kiniry and Maier.

As in the first moto, Facciotti left nothing to the imagination and simply snatched the lead soon after he and the other frontrunners got through turn one. He put on another clinic and went on to win the moto 20 seconds ahead of Metcalfe. Although Metcalfe would post the fasted lap time in this moto, he could do little more than watch Facciotti ride off into the sunset.

While Facciotti and Metcalfe went on to race their own undisturbed race, the battle for the remaining top-five would be fought tooth-and-nail between Tyler Medaglia, Kiniry, Maier, and MX101 Yamaha’s Jeremy Medaglia.

Halfway into the moto, in the heat of battle for third, T Medaglia and Kinirybanged handlebars, as neither would give an inch. While they worked overtime to stay upright, which they did, J Medaglia and Maier shot past them both.

Kiniry recovered quickly enough to retake Maier and then challenge J Medaglia for third. This time Kiniry, not one to throw in the towel under any circumstances, connected with J Medaglia and both went down, allowing T Medaglia to scoop up third again.

Although visibly shook up, J Medaglia managed to remount quickly enough and stay in the mix. He rechallenged his brother for third, actually grabbing the spot away from him on the final lap and claiming third overall on the day on the strength of 6-3 motos.

Maier managed to cement the top-five while Kiniry, a bit slower getting back into the fray after going down with J Medaglia, crossed the finish line in sixth, taking fourth overall on the day.

The start of the first MX2 moto saw Cycle North Honda’s Brad Nauditt nail the holeshot with GA Checkpoint Yamaha-mounted Spencer Knowles, Kaven Benoit, RTR Performance Honda’s Topher Ingalls, and the Leading Edge Kawasaki duo of Austin Politelli and Tyler Villopoto diving through turn one in Nauditt’s roost.

Benoit,  a little too eager to make a move for the lead, went down on the first lap and remounted mid-pack. In short order Politelli successfully accomplished what Benoit couldn’t and took over the lead from Nauditt.

Once he established himself at the head of the pack, Politelli basically ran his own race and stayed up front right to the end of the moto, finishing well ahead of Ingalls and the rest of the top-five .

After some10 minutes of pulling out all the stops, the frontrunners consisted of Politelli, Ingalls, Nauditt, Knowles and Villopoto.

Benoit, meanwhile, had already worked his way into eighth place, systematically picking off one rider after the other. He would remain on the gas until the end of the moto, taking fourth at the checkered just ahead of Knowles.

While Politelli was busy cruising in first place his teammate, Villopoto, went down hard as he battled Nauditt for third towards the end of the moto.The resulting wrist injury not only ended Villopoto’s moto, it effectively ended his day.

The second MX2 moto holeshot went to fast-starter Benoit. The Quebec native was followed into turn one by Politelli, Nauditt, Knowles and Ingalls. Knowles and Ingalls, however, both went down while negotiating the turn. While Ingalls managed to resume the race—eventually finishing in ninth—Knowles exited the track with a dislocated elbow.

By lap three Politelli took control of the race from Benoit and it looked like he was on his way to making it a 1-1 day. Nauditt occupied a solitary third place while behind him Honda’s Nathan Bless, Kawasaki-mounted Joshua Clark and Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha/Motovan.com’s Richard Grey battled for the remaining top-five positions. Clark would eventually claim fourth at the finish line; Bless took fifth.

With some five laps left in the moto, Politelli made an error and went off the track. Although he kept it on to wheels, he still injured his leg on a footpeg and was obviously in distress the rest of the moto.

The five-second lead Politelly had held on Benoit, and a quick remount, ensured that he got back into the fray in second place behind Benoit. Nauditt, who was trailing more than 30 seconds behind, was unable to capitalize on Politelli’s get-off. But with consistent 3-3 results, Nauditt took third overall on the day.

Other than a few surprises by underdog riders in both classes—especially Jeremy Medaglia’s bravura performance in MX1—the opening round of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals unfolded more or less according to expectations. Colton Facciotti and Austin Politelli won their respective classes and sent out a strong message that they will be the ones to beat in 2013.

The tour heads from Vancouver Island to the mainland, where Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops, BC will host Round 2 this Sunday, June 9th.

MX 1 Overall – Round 1

1. Colton Facciotti (KTM) 1-1

2. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 2-2-

3. Jeremy Medaglia (Kaw) 6-3

4. Bobby Kiniry (Yam) 3-6

5. Tyler Medaglia (KTM) 5-4

6. Teddy Maier (Kaw) 4-5

7. Gavin Gracyk (KTM) 7-7

8. Morgan Burger (Yam) 9-8

9. Dylan Kaelin (Yam) 8-11

10. Brock Hoyer (Kaw) 11-9

MX 2 Overall – Round 1

1. Austin Politelli (Kaw) 1-2

2. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 4-1

3. Brad Nauditt (Hon) 3-3

4. Topher Ingalls (Hon) 2-9

5. Joshua Clark (Kaw) 8-4

6. Richard Grey (Yam) 7-6

7. Jarred Allison (Yam) 6-8

8. Nathan Bles (Hon) 10-5

9. Kyle Swanson (Hon) 11-7

10. Parker Allison (Yam) 12-10