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MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS NATIONALS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Stouffville, ON – August 4, 2010)
Canadians lead international cast
As the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals start to wind down at Sand Del Lee in Richmond, Ontario this Sunday with Round 8 of 9, Canadians are leading an international cast in the MX1, MX2 and Women’s Championship.
This is the first time in more than a decade that a Canadian is at the top of the points chase in both pro classes at the end of the season.
With Dusty Klatt well in command of the MX1 division, Tyler Medaglia dominating MX2, and defending champ Heidi Cooke leading the Women’s Nationals presented by Honda, it’s looking like we may have a clean sweep of the series on our hands.
The competition has been fierce this year across the board, thanks to an international cast of riders – predominantly American – looking for fame and glory in the Great White North’s MX wars.
Every year the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals seem to attract more and more foreign riders, of which the 2010 MX1 title hunt is a good indicator. In the current top-10 rankings, five are from the U.S.; one is from Hungary and another from New Zealand.
In the MX2 title chase, which has been mostly the domain of the Americans since the 125 East and 125 West days, one South African and three Yanks occupy the top-10, including defending champion Teddy Maier from Iowa.
Although Rockstar Energy/OTSFF Racing/Two Wheel Suzuki’s Cooke has only a handful of points on Florida’s KTM-mounted Jacqueline Ross, the Yamaha/Red Bull/Blackfoot/Fox Racing duo of Klatt and Medaglia are in much better shape as they square off against their own American adversaries.
Klatt, who took up the Canadian torch in the MX1 title hunt from an injured Colton Facciotti, leads New York’s Bobby Kiniry by 32 points. Although Rockstar Energy/OTSFF Racing/Two Wheel Suzuki’s Kiniry has been a worthy opponent with a number of podium finishes, he has yet to win a moto or an overall. In fact, the only ones to win motos and the overalls are Klatt and Facciotti.
Medaglia, who will be racing on his home track this weekend at Sand Del Lee, has a 14 points lead on Monster Energy/Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier.
DNFs by the main contenders have played a serious role in the title hunt this season. No one has been spared! Facciotti, Klatt, Kiniry, Monster Energy Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Josh Demuth, Royal Distributing KTM’s Kornel Nemeth and Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast, all have had to bite the bullet in MX1. In MX2, the hand of fate has dealt blows to Medaglia, Maier, his Kawasaki teammate Shawn Rife, and Royal Distributing KTM’s Eric Nye.
While Facciotti vacated the lead in MX1 after two serious crashes – one at Round 3 and one at Round 6 – Medaglia has been top dog in the MX2 series since the get-go. All the Kemptville, ON native has to do in the remaining two rounds is keep Maier at bay and he’ll be the first Canadian to lay claim to the MX2 National title since Blair Morgan won the 125 National Championship in 1999.
It will also be the first MX2 Championship for Blackfoot Racing. Although the powerhouse Calgary-based team has all but dominated MX1 since 2001, the MX2 Championship has eluded them. The team won 125 (MX2) East and 125 (MX2) West titles, but never both in the same year.
MX1 Points Standings After Seven Rounds
1 Dusty Klatt 276 (BC)
2 Bobby Kiniry 244 (USA)
3 Kornel Nemeth 212 (Hungary)
4 Josh Demuth 209 (USA)
5 Kyle Keast 205 (ON)
6 Colton Facciotti 200 (BC)
7 Mason Phillips 199 (NZ)
8 Freddy Karrle 190 (USA)
9 Troy Adams 183 (USA)
10 Kevin Urquhart 156 (USA)
MX2 Points Standings After Seven Rounds
1 Tyler Medaglia 292 (ON)
2 Teddy Maier 278 (USA)
3 Jeremy Medaglia 246 (ON)
4 Kaven Benoit 231 (QC)
5 Jared Allison 209 (AB)
6 Eric Nye 187 (USA)
7 Shawn Rife 172 (USA)
8 Parker Allison 161 (AB)
9 Spencer Knowles 153 (BC)
10 Kerim Fitz-Gerald 133 (SA)
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Again, Team Yamaha Red Bull Blackfoot Racing “stayed the course” taking the overall in MX-1 with an absolute solid ride by Dusty Klatt while team-mate Tyler Medaglia captured the overall with his 2-1 finishes!
“The day went really well today,” smiled Dusty Klatt. “ My bike was working so good today. These new 450 Yamaha’s are so strong it made my job a lot easier. Also tire choice was critical as the track kept changing and deteriorating over time. Thankfully I am on Michelin’s as they were awesome. I did what I needed to do today, however, I am not going to get too excited as there are 4 motos left and anything can happen. I am just taking it corner-by-corner and lap-by-lap right now. Just trying to have some fun out there! Thanks to Andrew my mechanic, Joe Skidd for his great suspension as well as all the other team members, our sponsors and of course all the fans for cheering me on!”
In the first MX-2 moto, Tyler did not get the start he was looking for as he had contact with another rider requiring him to back down to stay upright. He found himself only in the top 10 after the first corner however this did not deter him, as by the halfway point he found himself in 4th behind race leader Teddy Maier, Benoit and Eric Nye. As Nye was applying pressure on Benoit for 2nd, he went down moving Tyler back into a podium position. Medaglia knew what he had to do and made a pass on Benoit with 3 laps to go to take second position behind Maier.
His twin brother Parker was also on the pace on the hard pack track with very respectable finishes of 7-5 for 6th overall for the day.
