By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore
We’re now halfway into the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, with five rounds behind us and five in front. Arguably, the guys leading both the MX2 and MX1 series’, Kaven Benoit and Colton Facciotti, have been the best of the best thus far, showing everything necessary to keep doing what they’re doing down to the very last moto at Walton.
Of course, both Canucks do have the aggressive American duo of Vince Friese and Mike Alessi hot on their tail. The Smartop MotoConcepts riders have had their share of issues (Friese’s bike troubles and DNF in Nanaimo, Alessi’s track cutting in Kamloops and fuel loss at Gopher Dunes) but continue to keep Canadians honest on their own soil.
Wild, eh? Imagine if we were down in the AMA Nationals right now, I think things would be the opposite and Alessi and Friese would actually be a few spots ahead of Facciotti and Benoit. I want to say otherwise, but I need to see evidence first….
After a second-place finish at Gopher Dunes, Kyle Chisholm looks to keep it going at Sand Del Lee this weekend. He’s ridden there twice before, when he battled for MX2 glory against Michael Willard in 2005 and 2007.
Behind the top two in each class, things are sorting themselves out a little but it’s far from over. Gopher Dunes saw Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha’s Kyle Chisholm bounce back to his normal self with a second overall in MX1, while Josh Hill slid further to the back in the championship with just-okay results in the Gopher sand.
We are at another sand track this weekend in Sand Del Lee, and then Deschambault after that, but those two are not quite like Gopher Dunes. They have a base under their sand, so things begin packing up more so than Gopher where nothing stays the same from lap to lap. Although, Hill still won’t feel as cozy as Alessi at SDL or Deschambault, since Hill and his team didn’t take advantage of a little pre-race practice before the nationals move in. Smart move by the Alessi clan to fly into Ontario and ride as many tracks on the East Coast as possible. Has anyone seen a #800 out at Moncton or Ulverton yet?
Tyler Medaglia, Teddy Maier, Bobby Kiniry, Morgan Burger, Kyle Keast, and more are still healthy and ready to race again this weekend in Sand Del Lee. A tip of the hat goes to Colt and Mike for the win, but it’s more than reasonable that anyone of these guys could pull off a win. We’ll see on Sunday!
This week on the forum I saw mention of people having problems or confusion with ticket prices. I’ve been there too, like most of us, but if you’re reading this and going to Sand Del Lee this weekend (or Sunday only), the prices are (purchase online and you save $5.)
OTTAWA MX National WEEKEND: Adult – $50, Under 12 – $30, Pre-Schoolers Free!
OTTAWA MX National SUNDAY: Adult – $30, Under 12 – $20, Pre-Schoolers Free!
Jeremy Medaglia (left) and his dad, Derek, get to spend this weekend racing in front of friends and family at Sand Del Lee.
Things are coming down to the wire for who will represent Team Canada at the Motocross of Nations in Latvia. Team Manager, Ryan Gauld, has raised $15,000 for the organization, but they still need to double that to ensure all details are met when sending a team to the ‘Olympics of Motocross.’ Gauldy’s ‘shaking what momma gave him’ and grinding every penny he can. Every dollar counts, so don’t be shy, give up a Tim Horton’s coffee this week and donate it to Team Canada HERE. To view the latest Team Canada newsletter, please go here.
The team won’t be announced until the Moncton National on August 3rd. As it stands right now, favourites for the team are Colton Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia in the MX1 class, and Kaven Benoit and Shawn Maffenbeier in MX2. Hard to argue with these names, as they are the two fastest Canadians (and Facciotti and Benoit lead their respective championships) right now. A pretty good line up with experience at the MXoN as well, everyone has been except for Maffenbeier. I know my buddy Kyle Keast really wants to go, and he’s done well in the one time he went in 2008, but it’s hard to not go with guys who have been racing all year. Let’s leave the tough decisions to Gauldy on this one.
We all know how rough and tough Gopher Dunes can become, but when sharing some Mike Alessi POV WASPcam footage this week, VitalMX member kept commenting on how smooth and easy Gopher looked. Of course, it’s like going and watching a supercross in the stands or from TV; it looks easy when looking down, but it’s a completely different story when you actually walk the track. I suppose the same can be said for Gopher as well, because the track doesn’t look overly rough in this video. However, keep watching and it doesn’t take long before berms, ruts and bumps begin to shake and shift:
Canadian moto media took some flack for not covering much of the Western Canadian Amateur National (WCAN). This is unfortunate but I can say that each moto-pub has a small team who is multi-tasking, so at some point, an event or rider is going to miss some coverage. Heck, does anyone ever attend the Deschambault Eastern Amateur National and cover it? Anyways, GLOBAL TV didn’t miss out on the 2014 WCAN. Here’s a cool clip I spotted on their website:
Also in mainstream news, the Ottawa Community News featured MX101 Yamaha’s Dylan Wright as he enters his hometown national at Sand Del Lee. Read the article here.
See you at Sand Del Lee this weekend!