Monday Gate Drop

As I write this I’m sitting at the Vancouver airport waiting to catch the red eye home to Toronto after a great day of racing in Nanaimo. I figured that I’d better get some words down before the flight and before I am so tired that this becomes totally incoherent. Anyway, I think I have said on more than one occasion that the Nanaimo track is one of my least favourite, not just on the Canadian circuit, but in the free world. The layout, the dirt and everything in between has just never appealed to me. Not to mention the fact that I’ve never really had too many good finishes there, so that’s probably the real reason.

As you can see the ruts were really deep at Nanaimo

  Well, thanks in part to a few things falling into place (it rained a lot Friday night) and the fine work of Derek Schuster on the bulldozer, the track was in the best shape it ever has been for a National. The moisture stayed in the dirt, the layout was cool, and enough bumps and ruts formed that made it a challenge for all riders. Every rider I spoke to said they thought this was the best it’s ever been. So kudoss to the Nanaimo track promoters and to Derek Schuster for doing such an awesome job.

Heading into Sunday’s race there were a few unanswered questions that left a lot of people guessing. Questions like, how fast would Colton Facciotti be after not racing for so long? How good would the series newest rider Brett Metcalfe be on Canadian soil? I guess this is natural with the opening of any series in any sport, and the only way these questions get answered is to get everything started.

The first question that got answered in a huge way was the Colton Facciotti question. Right from the first timed practice Colton proved why he is a three-time Canadian Champion and one of the most talented riders we’ve ever seen. I think a lot of riders could learn from just how Colton approaches his racing. He never says much heading into a series, he’d rather just wait for the races to begin and let his riding do the talking. On Saturday he was noticeably absent from the pre-race press conference, on Sunday morning when his name was called for the opening ceremonies, he was nowhere to be found. I am not sure if this was all done intentionally by him, but for whatever reason it worked.

When the gate dropped for the first MX1 moto, Colton was front and centre. Right from lap one Colton put on a riding clinic, he had his own version of lines, he was aggressive when he had to be and he rode cautiously when it was called for. In moto one it was American rider Bobby Kiniry that he rode away from, in moto two he waited a few laps until he felt 100% comfortable before he waved goodbye to Australian Brett Metcalfe. Colton came into Nanaimo a little under the radar and left right back where he likes to be, in the points lead of the MX1 Series. Now I’m not saying that the MX1 script is going to be like this every weekend, but for the two motos at Nanaimo it was crystal clear the Colton Facciotti is back.

The Nanaimo track offers the riders a lot of elevation changes.

In the MX2 class there was little surprise as Austin Politelli and Kaven Benoit were the fastest riders by far. New Cycle North Honda rider Brad Nauditt kept these two in sight for a short time, but their pace was just too quick for Nauditt and everyone else. Politelli won the first moto going away, and with three laps to go he had moto two in the bag as well but a little mistake led to a brief off-track excursion. This opened the door for Benoit to take the lead and the moto win, but Politelli’s 1-2 moto scores will gave him the overall for the day.

As the series now heads to Kamloops for round two next weekend, it will be interesting to see if Facciotti, Politelli and Benoit can win in the same convincing fashion as they did in Nanaimo. All I know is that I had a great weekend on the West Coast. I got to hang out with my old buddy Ryan Lockhart all weekend, I also got to see two of the greatest BC riders of all time: Darcy Lange and Kyle Beaton. If round one is any indication, the 2013 series is going to be one of the best ever. Our thoughts are also with the riders that had some bad luck yesterday and unfortunately suffered injuries. We hope you heal up quickly and can get back to the series as soon as possible. Look for a photo report, interviews and videos from round one this week on this site, we have everything covered.

Racer, Atlas Brace guy, Matrix guy, 100% Goggle guy, Model, is there anything Newf doesn’t do?