The weekend that Canada has been waiting for finally happened in Kamloops BC. After months of anticipation, the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals kicked at the very challenging Whispering Pines Raceway. Not only is this one of the roughest tracks in Canada, but the Kamloops area is also one of the hottest parts of the Country. Both lived up to their reputation this past weekend as Shawn Maffenbeier and Davi Millsaps survived the extreme conditions and took home the MX2 and MX1 wins. Great rides were also put in by Dylan Wright who won his very first MX2 moto of his young career, and Canadian legend Colton Facciotti who dug deep and almost won the second moto and the overall in the MX1 class. It was an exciting day of racing in Kamloops and round two in Nanaimo, BC this weekend should be no different. Here are a collection of awesome photos by James Lissimore of Sunday’s action.
After timing the gate perfectly in moto 1 and getting the holeshot and the moto win, Dylan Wright tried it again in moto 2 and it didn’t quite work the same. Either way, Dylan rode great on Sunday and took home the first moto win of his career.
Everyone feels bad for this guy and for the Monster Energy Alpinstar Kawasaki Team. Right off the start of moto 1 Jacob Hayes tangled with Jeremy Medaglia and blew out his knee.
In his very first MX1 National Kaven Benoit rode very solid to finish 4th overall.
Cade Clason had an okay day in Kamloops and finished 8th overall in the highly competitive MX1 class.
Brett Metcalfe had a day that I’m sure he’d like to forget in Kamloops. However, even on this bad day he still went 5-5 for 6th overall.
Local BC kid Casey Keast rode great at the opening round and gutted out a 9th overall in the MX2 class.
Colton had a very solid day in Kamloops and rode to an impressive third overall in the MX1 class. Colton’s charge to Millsaps rear wheel in the closing stages of moto 2 was something almost inhuman.
It’s great to see Brad Nauditt back in Canada for yet another year of racing. On Sunday he finished 5th in moto 1, but ran into trouble in moto 2 and finished in 32nd.
Brandon Leith surprised everyone in Kamloops with a very impressive 3rd overall in the MX2 class.
The opening round kicked off with some very cool sky divers who came in hot and landed on the start straight.
In moto 1, Cole Thompson charged from way back to finish in 4th. In moto 2, he came out swinging and took home the win in dominating fashion.
Coming into the opening round everyone knew that Davi Millsaps would be very fast. However, few expected him to dominate the way he did on Sunday. Millsaps rode hard and went 2-1 for the overall win.
Mike Alessi rode well in Kamloops to finish in 5th overall. However, a broken shifter in moto 2 held Mike back from what could’ve been a top 3 finish.
I guess we can excuse Matt Goerke for backing it down a little in moto 2 and taking third place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blister that large on a human being.
With the blister the size of a loonie on the palm of his hand, it’s amazing Goerke finished as high as he did.
Your talented but exhausted MX1 podium from Kamloops. These three riders left it all on the table at the opening round and put on a great show. Not sure about these trophies though?