James Lissimore shares some his favourite images from Round 2 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals in Kamloops, BC …
Photos By: James Lissimore
Captions By: MXP Staff
Round 2 of the Monster Energy Motocross Naitonals took place once again in beautiful British Columbia. This time on the mainland, at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops.
Gopher Dunes’ Derek Schuster has certainly been a welcomed addition to the series. “Mr.Whoops” has been working the heavy equipment at both rounds, and not only is doing a professional job, he’s also asking and taking in feedback from riders and industry reps. Sure it’s impossible to make everyone happy when it comes to track design, but the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding has been full of good racing thus far.
Do you think it would be funny if someone walked up to Brett Metcalfe and recited this bit from Dumb and Dumber?
Royal Distrbuting is putting up the big bucks for holeshots in 2013! As if $200 per holeshot wasn’t sweet enough, RD cranked it up to $300 per MX1 holeshot, and if you holeshot both motor in either class, you double your money! KTM’s Tyler Medaglia is the first to holeshot both motor, taking home a total of $1200. Not too bad.
There shouldn’t have been any issues for making passes in Kamloops. Even without elevation changes, like, zero, Whispering Pines proved to be a great racing and spectating track.
If there’s one thing Andy White knows, it’s ordering tasty treats for his Red Bull KTM Fox Racing Team. I think I saw Donk stuffing these into his tool belt ….
“Bad” Brad Nauditt is no stranger to good starts, grabbing the first holeshot of the day in Kamloops. The Cycle North Honda rider rode solid in both motos, even leading a good chunk of the first. He would eventually finish 3-5 for 4th overall.
I’m waiting for something big to happen with OTSFF Yamaha’s Richard Grey. This kid can ride, but his results aren’t showing his potential. At Kamloops, Grey pulled a great start in moto one and was showing podium speed until the later stages of the moto, when Nauditt and Topher Ingalls got by him. With a little more ‘jam’ Grey can be on the box. Lots of racing left and so far Grey has put himself in good position, sitting 6th overall in MX2.
I like this shot, has a US feel to it with fans on the fence lines and the Acerbis track markers running up into the corner. Plus, Ingalls is on the gas in the pic and looks to be baring down on his 3rd place finish in the second moto.
Kaven Benoit isn’t giving up. While most would be more than satisfied with a 2-2 and a second overall, it wasn’t good enough for Benoit in Kamloops. He expects to be winning, and even though Politelli has gotten the best of Benoit so far, the French Canadian has a big heart and won’t let up.
Speaking of Politelli, here is the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider taking another MX2 win. The Californian now has three moto wins after two rounds, and a 10 point lead over Benoit in the series.
Teammates Tyler Medaglia and Colton Facciotti showing off some style in the ‘loops. A great day for Medaglia (2-2), but a bummer day/year for Colt (DNF-DNS, broken leg and damaged hand). Kamloops hasn’t been kind to Facciotti, as this is the second year in a row that he’s been injured there.
How quick things can change in motocross … after a podium finish to kick things off in Nanaimo, RM Motorsports Yamaha’s Jeremy Medaglia suffered a first moto DNF in Kamloops. During the first lap, Medaglia and another rider tangled, leaving his YZ450 why a few dozen spokes shy in the front wheel. Jeremy doesn’t want to hear me mention this probably, but his rough weekend in Kamloops drops him from 3rd to 8th in the standings. Still 14 motos to go!
Brock wears pink! A regular to the Kamloops track, Brock Hoyer was happy with the track and racing in his home province. By the sounds of it, Brock is planning to travel to all 9 rounds of the Nationals. Go team go.
Things were getting pretty interesting in 2013 before this mess happened … nobody’s fault really, just a bad chain of events.
“Rocky” Kiniry hasn’t softened up a bit since becoming a daddy. The Yamaha rider bulldogged his way, from way back, in moto one … and then crashed … and got back up to finsh 11th. In moto two, Rocky again charged back from outside the top 10 to take the final podium spot. The best thing about Kiniry’s ride though, was the following PR and beauty headline: “A bit of Rock and Soul for Kiniry and Grey.” Makes me wanna dance! http://www.cmrcracing.com/a-bit-of-rock-and-soul-for-kiniry-and-grey/
Gratuitous Monster girl shot … (right now Paul Kingsley is downloading this to his iPhone or desktop).
I think Benoit will be a really good 450 rider. Not that he isn’t a great 250 rider, but he will make things more interesting in MX1 next year.
Look out: now that Tyler Medaglia has pulled two holeshots, it could be tough for anyone else in MX1 to nab the Royal Distributing cash. Medaglia pumps up his 450 SX-F every chance he gets, noting how powerful the motor is. Good job, Andy McLean!
Shout out also to Redemption Racing KTM’s Gavin Gracyk who is really on it, considering his lack of racing and seat time on a KTM. Josh Snider has got Joe Skidd tuning the suspension, and with Chad Goodwin spinning the wrenches (long history of working on orange bikes), it should be no surprise Gracyk is getting comfortable this fast. The guy’s got faith!
From orange to blue, Dylan Kaelin is keeping it true in the top 10. Cool stat of the weekend was seeing 5 Yamahas finishing in the top 10 of the second MX1 moto (3rd – Kiniry, 5th – Burger, 7th – Medaglia, 9th – Hoyer, 10th – Kaelin … and 11th Robinson).
Who is this guy? The 2-0-5 is that of Brandon Brady, and he finished 9-8 for 8th overall in Kamloops. Not bad for a nobody. Of course, Brady is not really a nobody but unfamiliar to most. A quick Google search shows he finished top 10 in the B class at Loretta’s in ’09, so for sure he’s raced against some fast guys. Hopefully the John Burr Cycles Suzuki sticks around for more.
Brett Metcalfe is going to fit into Canadian motocross, as seamlessly as Kiniry has. In the pits and on the track, he shows respect and his podium speeches are like he rehearsed them, although, not templated. I suppose he should have been in good spirits in Kamloops, considering he went 1-1 and took the MX1 points lead.
Your MX1 podium. (Hey, for a guy who says he’s not a 450 rider, Teddy Maier sure has no problem finding MX1 podiums…)
3388
