Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Round 7 of CMRC’s 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan was in Truro, Nova Scotia last weekend. It’s one of my favourite areas to visit in this great country of ours. You fly in to Halifax, hop in your rental and head into town for some fish and chips. The harbour area is an excellent place to relax the day before a motocross race. There are a ton of things to check out in the city. Halifax has a number of great restaurants, forts and there must be a pub on every corner of town. It’s the east coast law.
The following day I made my way to the Pleasant Valley track. This track has not had a national since 2002 and I believe JSR was the overall winner that weekend way back then. The track is tucked away on a back road in a wooded area. The dirt looks like chocolate cake when it’s tilled and moist. But don’t be fooled, the top layer is soft and loose but the dirt underneath is pretty hard with a rock base. The riders said the dirt was good but very deceiving. For the most part the riders really only complained that the track was a little narrow in some areas. I thought the track set up was A1! The white picketed fences, the cut grass and the banners lining the track kind of made me think I was at Unadilla.
With a perfect 1-1 moto score, this is the only view that the rest of the MX1 class were able to get of Davi Millsaps at round 7. Photo by James Lissimore
The 450 class regulars were all there except for Vince Friese. Not really sure when or if he will come back for this series. Davi Millsaps was on it this weekend going 1-1. This is the best I have seen him ride so far in the series. Right out of the gate he was untouchable on his factory KTM 450. For a rider that struggled last week at Ulverton due to blisters, Davi really didn’t have any issue this past weekend. The only rider that kind of kept Millsaps in view was Brett Metcalfe who went 2-2 on his OTSFF Yamaha. Brett is really starting to gel with his YZ; with much better starts he is starting to look like the old Metty. Finishing third for the day was local hero Tyler Medaglia on his Husky 450. This is the best I have seen Tyler ride all season long, I guess it helps that he lives two minutes down the road and has put in more than 3000 laps there. Tyler had great starts and charged hard both motos. It was good to see Tyler back on the box. You could hear the fans cheering for him as he raced around the track. Last year’s MX1 Champ, Matt Goerke, didn’t have the weekend he needed to challenge Millsaps for the championship. Matt looked good and fast but when you have bad starts it’s not easy to come from behind. In Moto 1, it took Matt too long to get around Tyler for third. In the second moto, Matt had to work his way up to fourth from a bad start. Finishing fifth on his factory backed KTM was Kaven Benoit. This was an off weekend for the 450 rookie. His starts were not great and working your way through the pack burns you out. Kaven and Cade Clason must have passed each other 10 times total in both motos. Colton Facciotti had a weekend he would like to forget, I’m sure. Colt went down hard right off the start in Moto 1. He was able to work his way up to seventh. Moto 2, his start was good but the next straightaway Colton got sideways and was t-boned by Alessi and a few other riders. That was it for the four-time champ. I hear that he is on the fence about this weekend’s race in Moncton. Mike Alessi found himself on the ground of the start in both motos. He was able to work his way through the pack to salvage a seventh overall.
Even though Cole Thompson has a massive 74 point lead in the MX2 class, the dogfight for second overall is shaping up pretty good with three rounds remaining. Photo by James Lissimore
The best racing on the weekend had to be the MX2 class. Cole Thompson, Shawn Maffenbeier, Dakota Alix and Dylan Wright all led at one point in both motos. Cole Thompson had to work hard but he was the overall winner with a 1-1 for the day. His points lead in the series is now at 79 points. Three rounds to go and anything can happen. Second overall was Dakota Alix from Vermont on his KTM with a 3-3. Dakota is getting stronger each weekend. I’m pretty sure you will see him on the top of the box soon. Finishing third was Redemption Racing’s Shawn Maffenbeier on his KTM. Shawn looked solid all weekend except when he was making a pass for the lead on Dakota. The two riders hit in the air and Shawn got the worst of it. Dylan Wright was on it again this weekend. The first moto Dylan worked his way up to the lead but slid out in one of the corners, handing the lead to Thompson. Moto 2, Wright started off well and was in second until Thompson again put a block pass on him. I think this motivated Dylan as he chased down Dakota and put the pass on him late in the race for a second place. His teammate, Jesse Pettis, on his MX101 Yamaha had a pretty good weekend with a 4-6. Local MX2 class hero, Davey Fraser had the crowd cheering him on all day. There must have been 200 Fraser t-shirts around the track. Fraser had one of his best weekends by finishing 6-7 for a seventh overall. “Iron Man” Brock Leitner from BC made it out for Round 7 after his crash at the Hangtown National back in May. Brock signed up for both classes. He said he needs the points so why not race both classes. In theory that works but four long motos right off an injury is not easy! Brock pulled out of the MX2 classes after practice and focused on the 450 where he finished eleventh overall. Well done!
The series moves to Moncton this weekend. Larry Northrop and his team have always put on a first rate event. I am looking forward to seeing the local riders Tyler Medaglia and Davey Fraser up in the lead again. See you at the races.
