Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
When you look back at the past year in Canadian motocross, there are many great stories and many great performances. In both the amateur and pro classes, we all witnessed riders push their limits on the race track while battling for moto wins and championships. As I’ve done for the past five years, this is the time of year that I sit down and compose my annual Golden Elbow Awards that celebrate the memorable moments from the past year. Whether it was Jess Pettis and his incredible MX2 title run, or Cole Thompson’s historic Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series Championship, there were multiple moments that will no doubt leave people talking for years to come. This week I will choosing the Golden Elbow Award winners for 2018 presented by KTM Canada.
Due to the difficult track conditions and the long day, the Calgary National in my opinion was the Toughest of the Year. Photo by James Lissimore
Toughest National of the Year: Calgary, AB
Throughout the summer, the riders of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series experienced numerous difficult conditions during their nine round tour. There was the dusty and dry track in Popkum, the rain and cold of Prince George, and of course the heat and sand of Gopher Dunes and Sand Del Lee. This past summer each of the nine rounds tested the riders in every way imaginable. However, my choice for the Toughest National of the Year goes to the opening round of the MXTour in Calgary. The reason I picked Calgary over say Gopher Dunes was that back at the opening round the race schedule wasn’t quite streamlined yet. With practice running long, track work to be done, as well opening moto starting late, the final 450 moto didn’t leave the concrete starting pad until 6:30pm. Between the extremely long schedule, the hard packed and choppy track conditions, I think it’s safe to say that the opening round was the most trying day for everyone involved. It was definitely a difficult opening round, but to their credit the Jetwerx made adjustments in the days that followed Calgary and by Round 2 in Popkum the race schedule ran like a Swiss watch. From Round 2 on the MXTour schedule was run with perfection.
Prior to the race day at Walton, Colton Facciotti and Cole Thompson talked about just how good their final moto would be later that day. Photo by James Lissimore
Moto of the Year: Final 450 Moto of the MXTour
This was definitely the toughest award to pick as there were so many great motos in 2018, both indoors as well as outdoors. The 250 class with its gate full of young and aggressive field obviously had some entertaining races that kept us all on our feet. In the 450 class, there were also a heap of great battles between the top riders at almost every round. However, for me the best moto of the year was the final 450 at Walton Raceway where we got to witness the incredible mano a mano 30 minute battle between Colton Facciotti and Cole Thompson. When you take into account what happened between these two champions last month in Quebec City, it makes that final Walton moto even more interesting.
During that final 450 moto, Colton knew that he didn’t have to beat Cole in order to secure the 450 MXTour title, but after Cole had won the previous two rounds in Moncton and Quebec, Colton wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. After all, at the time he was contemplating retirement so this moto could’ve been the final outdoor race of his long and successful career. Cole on the other hand was riding with a ton of confidence as he’d not only won the past two rounds, but thanks for some bike changes and long hours of training, he felt like he had finally figured out how to race a 450 outdoors.
With the stage set for a good old Canadian showdown, Colton and Cole were first and second on the opening lap. For the next 25 minutes these two warriors were only separated by a few bike lengths. Each lap Colton would either pull a little bit or Cole would catch up a little, depending on lappers. Cole would tell me in his year end interview last month that he got really frustrated behind Colton because he just couldn’t make up time. Colton would also tell me that whenever possible he always makes it a point to win the final moto of the year and he just simply wasn’t going to let Cole beat him. Obviously, both riders wanted to win this moto and after 25 minutes of giving it everything they had, Cole finally relented when the two lap board came out. Colton went on to win this battle, as well as the outdoor war. I picked this moto as the Best Moto of the Year simply because it was so awesome to watch these two champions sprint as hard as they could for almost 35 minutes.
Because of his smooth and near perfect technique, Shawn Maffenbeier gets my vote as the Most Stylish Rider of 2018. Photo by James Lissimore
Most Stylish Rider of the Year: Shawn Maffenbeier
You might wonder why I would pick Shawn Maffenbeier as the Most Stylish Rider of the Year when I had smooth and precise riders like Colton Facciotti and Cole Thompson to choose from. I mean, Colton has that effortless riding style that makes it appear like anyone could ride a dirt bike at his speed. Cole, on the other hand, has that ultra smooth throttle control that connects his KTM to the race track like it’s on rails. However, when I factored everything in I still love the way Shawn Maffenbeier rides a motorcycle. When he’s on the track he is almost always in the perfect position, and regardless of the conditions, he rarely makes mistakes. He has great throttle control, his head is always in a good position, and he likes to stand up and let his legs do most of the work. If you ever want to know what good style looks like, all you have to do is watch Shawn Maffenbeier ride. Hopefully he can carry this efficient riding style over to the 450 class in 2019.
