Cowtown Breakdown: Calgary Photo Report

Photos by James Lissimore

Time flies by. It’s hard to believe that we’re already three rounds into the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals. Weren’t we only just in Nanaimo? This past weekend the series made its annual stop in downtown Calgary, at the Wild Rose MX Park. A fast, technical circuit, Wild Rose develops some wild ruts and this year was no different.

While the soil conditions and location may have changed, the thrills and spills of the Canadian motocross series didn’t slow down in ‘Cowtown.’ Mike Alessi made up ground on Colton Facciotti in the MX1 points, sweeping both MX1 motos; Austin Politelli got his first win and then lost a potential second one after a bike problem caused a DNF; and Canadian Tyler Medaglia showed he’s not afraid to bump elbows with the big guns, as he and Josh Hill tangled in the second MX1 moto.

We take a look back at what happened in Calgary with these great images from James Lissimore:

Tyler Medaglia
Royal Distributing KTM Canada Fox Racing

Motos: 5-7-3-6-4-3
Overalls: 7^th, 4^th, 3^rdSeries: 5^th – 103 points

Tyler would like to be higher than 5th in the series (like his younger brother, he’s always racing to win), but he’s only 13 points back of third, which is Josh Hill. After a slow start in Nanaimo, Tyler is progressing quickly, picking up two third-place moto finishes in the last two rounds in Kamloops and Calgary. With one more western round this Saturday in Regina, Medaglia will find another gear in the east, where knows the tracks better and usually does better at.

Teddy Maier
Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki

Motos: 2-6-4-8-3-5
Overalls: 4^th, 6^th, 4^thSeries: 4^th – 104 points

Like Tyler Medaglia, and pretty much everyone else who isn’t winning, Teddy Maier is not where he wants to be. A two-time MX2 champ, and proven MX1 moto winner, Maier wants to be battling for wins or finishing on the podium at the very least. He has done the latter, but it’s been mixed with mucky finishes like an 8th in Kamloops, which have hurt his overall in the points race. To stay in it with Alessi and Facciotti, Maier will need to be more consistent and minimize the points loss every moto out.

Colton Facciotti
GDR Honda Canada Racing

Motos: 1-3-1-1-2-2
Overalls: 2^nd, 1^st, 2^ndSeries: 1^st – 139 points

Not surprisingly, Colton’s results have come just the way he rides a motorcycle: easy. The oft-injured rider is riding as smooth as ever, getting good starts and showing fitness is not an issue. He’s the only one so far to have beaten the titan Mike Alessi, and was awarded an additional moto win after Alessi was docked 5 positions for cutting the track in moto one at Kamloops. Is Facciotti faster than Alessi? That’s not a decision we want to make at this point, especially since he just lost two motos to Alessi in Calgary. Let’s wait until we’re a few more races in before taking bets.

Mike Alessi
Smartop MotoConcepts Racing

Motos: 3-1-6-2-1-1
Overalls: 1^st, 3^rd, 1^stSeries: 2^nd – 132 points

Had it not been for a track-cutting, position-docking error in Kamloops, Mike Alessi would be leading the MX1 championship. It hasn’t taken long for him to chip away at Facciotti’s lead however, sweeping both motos in Calgary and closing the gap from 13 to 7 points. Normally a good starter, Alessi struggled with starts in both motos, even hitting the gate in the second moto. It ended up being a hard day of work for Alessi as he charged from 30th to first, but boy will it make for good TV!

Dylan Wright
MX101 Yamaha Motor Canada

Motos: 8-7-36-22-9-5
Overalls: 6^th, 25^th, 5^thSeries: 9^th – 55 points

Hmm … had it not been for a burst of bad luck at the second round in Kamloops, rookie sensation Dylan Wright could be top 5 in the MX2 points. All things considered, the 16 year old is riding quite mature for his age and experience and should be a real threat come the sandier tracks on the East Coast.

Topher Ingalls
RTR Performance KTM

Motos: 9-4-7-4-4-4
Overalls: 5^th, 4^th, 4^thSeries: 4tth – 98 points

The Top Two-Stroke award currently sits with Topher Ingalls, who is keeping old school racing hearts alive on his KTM 250 SX. It’s been interesting watching Ingalls battling his 2-stroke against the 4-strokes of Politelli, Benoit, and Friese. He’s hanging in there, and when things move to the East Coast, a two-stroke will favour the softer dirt and sand at tracks like Gopher Dunes, Sand Del Lee, Deschambault and Ulverton.

Vince Friese
Smartop MotoConcepts Racing

Motos: 5-DNF-1-1-3-1
Overalls: 12^th, 1^st, 1^stSeries: 2^nd – 111 points

In the same boat as his teammate, Mike Alessi, MotoConcepts Racing’s Vince Friese could be leading the MX2 series right now, had it not been for a DNF in Nanaimo. Regardless, Friese has stepped up and won 3 of the last 4 motos, moving him into second in the points, only 19 back of Benoit. There’s still a lot of racing left, so that’s not a huge gap to make up.

Kaven Benoit
Royal Distributing KTM Canada Fox Racing

Motos: 1-1-4-3-2-3
Overalls: 1^st, 2^nd, 2^ndSeries: 1^st – 130 points

Let’s not jinx anything … but, could this be the year of Kaven Benoit? He’s been following the simple teachings of five-time Canadian champ, Jean-Sebastien Roy: go fast and do it often. After sweeping the opener in Nanaimo, Benoit has yet to take another win, but he’s been on the box in 3 out of 4 motos and holds a good lead over Friese in second. Will be interesting to see how things can change in the East, when (or if) Benoit switches to a 250 two-stroke…