The Riverglade Track is all ready for round 8 of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals.
As everyone is now situated at one of their favourite stops of the series in Moncton, NB, Saturday brought us a lot of chat and of course Head Referee Paul Kingsley’s right hand man, Darrel Murphy’s 26th birthday. So happy birthday Darrel and thanks for all you do each weekend, just please don’t wear that hat tomorrow. now, on to the business at hand.
Obviously with no pro racing, most Saturdays at the track consists of a lot of talking and then some more talking. The day before the big race is always a good chance to catch up with riders and mechanics as they’re usually very relaxed. Today was no different as I made my way around the pits to see just how happy everyone was to get a break from the sand. The consensus among the group was that the harder packed conditions that Riverglade MX Park will bring tomorrow will be a very welcomed change from the last three weekends. You definitely can’t blame the riders or the mechanics as the sand races of the last three weeks have been very taxing on body and machine.
One rider who looked very relaxed today was MX1 points leader Colton Facciotti who comes into Moncton 27 points up on his arch rival, Mike Alessi. I mentioned to Colton just how much I loved his slick line he had in moto two in the split lane section last weekend and he told me that he waited until just the right time to pull it out of his bag of tricks. Considering he won the second moto last weekend by 15 seconds, I’d say his decision making was spot on. He also commented on how much he likes the Riverglade track except for how much the roost hurts. As I said, with Colton’s chilled demeanour you wouldn’t know that he’s engage in a fierce championship battle. I guess that is why he’s a three time Canadian MX1 Champion, though.
Mike Alessi and Colton Facciotti have been on the podium together at almost every round this summer.
Another great conversation I had today was with the man who’s chasing Colton for the MX1 Championship, Moto Concepts Smart Top rider Mike Alessi. I haven’t really spoken to Mike much this summer so I figured today would be the perfect time to do it. Although you can read the interview in its entirety this coming Tuesday on this web site, I can tell you that Mike has so far enjoyed every moment of being in Canada in 2014. He also feels that if you take away some unfortunate incidents that he’s had to endure then he’s tied with Colton or slightly ahead of him in the MX1 points. I don’t think anyone would argue with him on that as it was only a few short weeks ago that he ran out of fuel while leading the first moto at Gopher Dunes, and then who can forget his grip coming loose while leading the final MX1 Moto at Sand Del Lee? Mike also added that win or lose this championship, he feels like this summer has been a success.
I think this speaks very highly of not only the tracks of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, but the series itself as it’s welcomed Mike and his team with open arms. He certainly has added something a little extra to this summer’s series and if the look in his eye today is any indication, Mike is going to be very fast tomorrow.
Finally, one rider who was deservedly walking proud in the pits today was KTM rider Liam O’Farrell. Liam is coming off the best finish of his career last weekend in Quebec as he went 2-2 in the MX2 class. The #26 is a great guy both on and off the track and he definitely has a lot of fans pulling for him to continue the success tomorrow. It definitely made him feel great today to have everyone congratulating him on his awesome finish last weekend. Let’s hope he can keep it going.
It was also interesting to note today that MX2 points leader Kaven Benoit put both his two-stroke and four-stroke through tech inspection today so he may try and ride both in practice tomorrow to see which is better for him. This shows how immensely talented this kid is as switching back and forth between these two bikes has to be extremely difficult. However, Benoit has been the points leader since the opening round of the 2014 series so I think he may know what’s he’s doing.
That is all from Saturday at Riverglade. Tomorrow should be yet another great day of racing in both classes. The weatherman is calling for a slight chance of rain tomorrow but other than that it’s just going to be hot! Please follow MXP Magazine on Twitter (@mxpmagazine) for updates on the action from our most easterly national. For the Royal Distributing Marin Internet Radio Show visit this site tomorrow at 11:30 AST and log on to listen.