Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Round 3 of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan will take place this weekend, June 18-19, at the Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, Alberta. The Wild Rose MX Park is located just outside of downtown Calgary, and is one of the best tracks in the country. The track is hard packed with some differing soil conditions, as well as significant elevation changes.
As the riders and teams begin the summer long trip east, they have a little time to reflect on how the West Coast races played out for them, as well as the opportunity to look forward to the rest of the series. The Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals is ten rounds of bar banging action that travels coast to coast before crowning its Champions. Although the series cannot be won in the first two rounds, riders can certainly put themselves out of contention, or dig themselves into a hole that only race wins can take them out of.
MX1
Honda Canada Racing Fox GDR’s Colton Facciotti will come into Calgary with the series lead and the Red Plate on his motorcycle. Although the Canadian hero has not won a moto yet this year, he had great results on the West Coast finishing third in the season opener, followed up with an overall victory last weekend in Nanaimo. Colton is exactly where he wants to be in the standings, and has good memories of last year’s event in Calgary where he finished on the podium. If “Colt 45” wants to win his fifth MX1 National Title this year, he will have to start winning races and Wild Rose MX Park is a good place to start.
After winning the first moto last weekend and then being bumped back to eleventh position for a flag violation, KTM Canada Thor Racing’s Davi Millsaps came out in Moto 2 and took the win with a totally dominating performance. Millsaps has been as good as we knew he could be on Canadian soil; the KTM team has to be happy with the way the American superstar has dominated the MX1 class thus far this season. Expect Davi to come out flying in Round 3 as he feels the Red Plate should be on his machine and will be looking to prove that this weekend.
Monster Energy Alpinestar Kawasaki’s Mike Alessi comes into Calgary in third position in the standings, and is only 12 points behind the leader. After last weekend’s penalties, Mike ended up as the winner of the first moto and second overall for the day, and he has to remember his totally dominating 1-1 performance in Calgary from 2014. Alessi has been called the best starter in the world but we have not seen the great starts we are used to seeing out of him yet this season.
After grabbing both the Royal Distributing Holeshots on route to a podium finish last weekend in Nanaimo, Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Brett Metcalfe comes into Round 2 fourth overall in the standings. Metty looked more comfortable on the bike last weekend than he did in the opening round, and the great starts he put in are proof that he is quickly adapting to his new motorcycle and team. Brett was dominant in Calgary last year when he was forced out of the first moto with a mechanical issue while leading and then came back and won the second moto.
Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke suffered the same fate last weekend as Millsaps and was penalized after finishing third in the first moto. Goerke ended up 13-4 on the day. Although he lost a few points on his competition in the series standings, he sits in fifth position and is only 3 points behind third place. Matt was forced to take the week off riding prior to Round 2 to help heal his blistering palm that occurred at Round 1, so expect the defending MX1 Champion to have a better outing in Calgary this weekend.
Monster Energy Alpinestar Kawasaki’s Vince Friese will be happy to leave the West Coast and head to a track where he won last year. After finishing seventh in the first moto of the season, Friese has not scored a point, and is a questionable starter in Calgary after crashing hard during last weekend’s first moto and sitting out Moto 2. Vince was the fastest qualifier at Round 2 and has the speed to run up front but hasn’t been able to show it so far this year.
A broken chain while running fourth in the first moto last weekend could prove to be costly for KTM Canada Thor Racing’s Rookie Kaven Benoit, as he was pushed down to ninth position in the series standings after doing well in the opening round in Kamloops. Kaven won the MX2 Class last year in
Calgary and is looking to rebound this weekend and capture his first MX1 podium. Parts Canada Husqvarna’s Tyler Medaglia also had a mechanical issue in last weekend’s first moto but bounced back to finish sixth in Moto 2. Tyler rode well in that moto and will carry that momentum into this weekend’s race.
MX2
One of the biggest challenges in the MX2 class at the first two rounds was surviving the first moto’s first turn crashes. Most of the pre-season favourites have gone down in the first turn, and already we have Monster Energy Alpinestar Kawasaki’s Jacob Hayes out for the season following his first turn crash in the season opener. In last weekend’s first moto we saw three top riders go down in Turn 1 and not one of them was able to finish the race.
Since going down on the opening start of the season and charging back to finish fourth, KTM Canada Thor Racing’s Cole Thompson has been on a tear winning the next three motos by significant margins. Cole was second last year in Calgary in the MX1 class and carries a lot of momentum and the Red Plate coming in to Round 2 at a track he seems to like.
One rider who has managed to steer clear of the first turn carnage is Redemption Racing Big Steel Box KTM’s Shawn Maffenbeier who sits second to Cole in the standings and only 5 points back. Shawn stood on the top of the podium after Round 1, and has finished second in all four motos this year. Look for “Maff” to have a good race this weekend and finish in the top 5, improving on his sixth place result from last year.
After landing on the podium last weekend following a fourth at the season opener, Triple Effect/Strikt/Stewarts Kawasaki rider Brandon Leith sits third in the standings coming into Round 3. Leith is doing what you need to do to contend for the championship and that is finish races.
KTM’s Dylan Kaelin has finished well inside the top 10 in all but one moto this year and that consistency puts him fourth in the series standings. Kaelin is familiar with the Wild Rose Track in Calgary and finished seventh there in 2014.
Honda’s Brad Nauditt put in an impressive 3-6 performance last weekend and landed on the podium. Brad has shown great speed this year and has finished well in all but one moto. He currently sits fifth in the standings and is coming into a racetrack this weekend that he knows quite well after finishing fourth there in 2013.
After a great start to the season in Round 1 that saw MX101 FXR Yamaha’s Dylan Wright and teammate Jess Pettis both land on the podium in the first moto, with Wright taking the first MX2 moto win of his career, what has happened since has been a series of ups and downs for the team. They have only one overall inside the top 10; Dylan jumped the gate then crashed in Kamloops and Jess retired due to a mechanical issue in the second moto. Last weekend the two of them went down hard in the first turn of Moto 1 putting them both out of the race. Moto 2 saw Wright finish third, on an ankle he could barely get up the stairs to the podium, and Pettis finish fourth. Both these talented young riders have shown tremendous speed early in the season but must find a way to keep it on two wheels if they want to be in the hunt for the Championship.
Another pre-season favourite who had a first turn crash last weekend is Honda Canada-GDR-Fox rider Jeremy Medaglia who tangled with Dylan Wright on the start of Moto 1 and needed help to get off the track. Medaglia didn’t line up for the second moto and lost a lot of ground in the standings. Jeremy finished on the podium last year in Calgary so look for the talented Canadian rider to try to bounce back this weekend.
The weekend’s weather forecast looks good, and with the Wild Rose MX Park so close to downtown Calgary, a large crowd is expected. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets you can buy them online easily at the mxnationals.ca website. If you are in another part of the country and are unable to attend the race you can see all the action live by downloading the free Conx2share app and live stream every moto on your mobile phone or computer, or you can watch the live lap times on your mobile at mobile.cmrcracing.com. The live stream coverage includes the insightful and witty commentary from race announcer Brian Koster as well as an invited guest. During the first round Koster was joined by Jimmy Decotis, and last weekend he had former MX1 Champion Dusty Klatt calling the race with him in the booth.
MX1 Point Standings 2016
1. Colton Facciotti (Hon) 106pts
2. Davi Millsaps (KTM) 102pts
3. Mike Alessi (Kaw) 94pts
4. Brett Metcalfe (Yam) 92pts
5. Matt Goerke (Yam) 91pts
6. Cade Clason (KTM) 76pts
7. Tyler Medaglia (Husq) 64pts
8. Keylan Meston (Yam) 64pts
9. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 62pts
10. Austin Kouba (Kaw) 61 pts
MX2 Point Standings 2016
1. Cole Thompson (KTM) 113pts
2. Shawn Maffenbeier (KTM) 108pts
3. Brandon Leith (Kaw) 86pts
4. Dylan Kaelin (KTM) 73pts
5. Brad Nauditt (Hon) 66pts
6. Casey Keast (Yam) 61pts
7. Mc Cough Brough (KTM) 59pts
8. Dylan Wright (Yam) 55pts
9. Ryeley Gallup (KTM) 51pts
10. Davey Fraser (Hus) 50pts
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