Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
The Canadian MX national wagon train has packed up and left Calgary. If you had to choose, what were the highlights of this particular weekend? Well, the crowd was great. I don’t think I have seen that many people at the Calgary round in previous years. The infield area was absolutely packed. The rider turnout this year was solid as well. This is the third round where the rider turnout has been on the high side. The first round there were just over 70 MX2 riders signed up, which is pretty impressive. The track looked really good at 8am but by noon the track was dry and rough, and if it wasn’t for the wind, I think we would have had a perfect race track.
Matt Goerke rode great in Calgary and not only took the overall win in the MX1 Class, but also left Round 3 with the points lead. Photo by James Lissimore
The MX1 class results were right about where we thought they might be for the day. Dillan Epstein looked solid in the first moto. He was not really challenged at all when he went wire to wire in the first moto. Moto 2 started off great for Dillon until lap 11 when he tipped over just after the start. That tip over cost him the overall. Goerke, Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia snuck by and put Epstein in fourth. The four riders were no more than a few seconds apart for the balance of the race. With a 1-4 moto result, that gave Epstein second for the day. The overall for the weekend went to Matt Goerke. This dude never gives up. I was impressed with his effort and his ‘never give up’ attitude. I thought Matt had the overall last week in PG until Pourcel passed him just before the finish line. However, this past weekend he made sure to stamp it and he is now the current red plate points leader too. Finishing third for the day was Colton Facciotti who went 4-2. He is looking better each round. I know he has not won a moto yet but I feel it will happen real soon. Every round Colt gets closer and closer and his starts have improved too. Tyler Medaglia finished 4th overall for the day with 6-3 moto scores. The results really don’t tell you the whole story. Tyler killed it in the second moto and that’s probably about the best I have seen him ride in a long time. Stu and the team have to be pumped with the results. Finishing off the podium for the first time was the Factory Husky rider Christophe Pourcel. The weekend started off okay for CP. The first moto he finished a solid third but the second moto is where things went all wrong. Right off the start, Pourcel looked like he was up front until they hit corner two where he hit the ground pretty hard. I think he was even surprised, but he walked away from that one with no scratches. It didn’t take long for Pourcel to start passing riders. When you’re seven to ten seconds a lap faster, you move up the result page pretty fast. Again, he looked like he was not even trying until you look at the lap times. They don’t lie. Just off of the top five was Mike Alessi. I feel he had one of his better weekends even though he was telling us that his knee is giving him some problems.
These two riders were this close all day in Calgary. Photo by James Lissimore
Looking at the MX2 class, was I surprised that the MX101/Yamaha/FXR rider on the #12 was going to run up front. No? I knew Shawn was pissed that he DNFd the second moto last week after having a solid first moto. Maffenbeier has the speed and the confidence with an overall win at Round 1, and almost won the first moto last week at PG until a tip over. This past weekend in Calgary we saw a new confident rider. He knew what he had to do. He needed points and he needed overalls. The first moto looked like he was on the move from a 3rd place start but on Lap 4, Shawn tipped over and moved back to sixth. For the next ten laps Shawn put his head down and worked his way to the front. On Lap 8, Shawn put in an incredible lap and went from third to first just like that. Moto 2 started off okay in fourth. By Lap 9, Shawn was right on the rear fender of points leader Cole Thompson. The two riders were no more than a second apart until Shawn made the pass on Lap 13. Would you believe the fastest lap of the moto was on Lap 14 by #12? That’s unreal. Finishing with a 2-2 for the day was Cole Thompson on his factory KTM. I am sure Cole is happy to leave with consistent results and he still holds the points lead with 19 points. Josh Osby had a good day with a 5-3 for a third overall. Josh commented on the podium that he is looking forward to getting on some soft dirt in the east. Josh trains at ClubMX and their tracks are pretty well all sand, so I am thinking we will see Osby up front real soon. Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki rider Jacob Hayes looked way more comfortable on his factory 250F. Jacob finished a 6-3 for a 4th for the day. Finishing 5th for the day was Ryan Surratt on his Nut Up Kawasaki. One rider that had a day he would like to forget is Dylan Wright. The factory Honda rider went 7-16 for 12th overall. Another rider that had his first DNF for the year was Jess Pettis. Moto 2, Jess was caught up in a crash on the face of the plateau on the first lap. Jess hit the ground hard and thought he had broken his shoulder or collarbone but with a quick visit to the hospital, the x-rays showed no broken bones. Great news and we will see him in Regina. Round 4 of the series heads to Regina. Let’s hope for some great weather and some exciting racing. See you at the races!
See you all in Regina. Photo by James Lissimore
