It seems each time the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals visit Wild Rose MX Park located just adjacent to downtown Calgary, special things happen. Well, last weekend was no different as each moto produced great battles in both the MX1 and MX2 classes. When round 3 was over, Kaven Benoit and Matt Goerke came away with the points lead and the red plate that goes with the honour. As he usually is, James Lissimore was in Calgary and captured these incredible images.
Brock Hoyer loves Calgary and here he shows the crowd a little love.This battle between Facciotti, Kiniry and Thompson was just one of the many on the challenging Calgary track.After DNF’in moto one with a mechanical failure, Brett Metcalfe knew he had to win the second moto to salvage as many points as possible.Devils Lake Yamaha rider Blake Savage has been very fast so far this season and many people feel like he’s just one holeshot away from a possible moto win.After his hard second moto crash in Nanaimo, Cole Martinez tried to ride practice in Calgary but was still too sore and he was forced to sit out round 3.After a slow start to the series at round 1 in Kamloops, Cole Thompson has been on fire and in Calgary he once again finished on the podium.Cole and his girlfriend Chloe have become quite a team as she attends almost every race.After finishing on the podium in moto 1, Dylan Wright charged from almost dead last in moto 2 to finish an incredible 6th in the second moto and 4th overall for the day.Dylan Wright’s ride in the second moto was without a doubt the best of his career thus far.After winning the first moto in Calgary, Jimmy Decotis was forced to play second fiddle to Kaven Benoit in moto 2.Jeremy Medaglia has been very consistent so far in 2015. Here he soars into the clouds over one of the massive jumps in Calgary.After three rounds in the MX2 class, Jeremy Medaglia sits in second overall and exactly where he wants to be as the series prepares to move East.After two solid motos in Calgary, Kaven Benoit will once again carry the red plate into round 4 in Regina.After getting injured just prior to last weekend, Mike Alessi’s return to Canada certainly didn’t go as planned.This photo was taken early in moto 1 just before Vince Friese blew past his injured teammate and set sail for the biggest win of his career.To celebrate Yamaha’s 60th anniversary, the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Team went all yellow on their team bikes. Even the spokes and the chain were taken care of.While Brett Metcalfe still seems like the odds on favourite to win the 2015 MX1 title, his first moto DNF certainly hurt his chances of giving his Monster Energy Thor Kawasaki Team another #1 plate.One great company stands in front of one of Canada’s nicest cites.With the race being so close to downtown Calgary, there was definitely no shortage of motocross loving fans on hand.As John Nelson would say, ‘rubbing is racing’.With no shortage of massive jumps on the Calgary track, riders have a few chances to get stylish for the crowd. Here Scott Champion goes sideways for the Calgary fans.With the fear of rain in the forecast, the track crew refused to dig the track too deep before practice. By mid-day the surface was baked hard and slightly dusty.Head referee Paul Kingsley talks during the morning riders meeting and lets everyone know what they can and can’t do.For the second week in a row Shawn Maffenbeier had a great first moto and a not so good second moto. This weekend the series heads to Shawn’s backyard so look for him to be very good in Regina.With Brett Metcalfe charging hard from a bad start in moto 2, leader Vince Friese made it easy on the 2013 MX1 champion when he washed his front end and handed the lead to Metty.So far in the 2015 series, Tyler Medaglia’s moto finishes have been very dependant on the type of start he gets in each moto. With a very fast pace up front it is very hard to make up ground on the leaders.This is one of my favourite photos from Sunday. It shows just how close the battle for the lead was at the halfway point of moto 2. It also is taken just seconds after Metcalfe jumped to the inside of Facciotti after the finish line jump.For the second week in a row Kaven Benoit stands on top of the MX2 podium.Vince Friese proved on Sunday that he is a very fast MX1 rider and capable in winning races in Canada. It was also great to see Canadian stars Cole Thompson and Colton Facciotti once again on the podium.
