Race Report: Canadian MX Nationals – Round 8 – Sand Del Lee

The penultimate round of the 2011 Monster Energy Motocross Nationals ventured to Sand Del Lee Motocross Park in Richmond, Ontario. With only two rounds remaining on the calendar and some large leads at the top of the standings, there was championship potential in the air as Blackfoot’s Tyler Medaglia and Colton Facciotti had commanding leads in their respective divisions.

MX2 – Round 8

Tyler Medaglia would get the first chance to put some of the final pieces of his championship puzzle together as the MX2 class was off and running for their first moto. Grabbing the holeshot and the early lead was Tyler’s younger brother, Jeremy Medaglia. Sand Del Lee marks a hometown race of sorts for the Medaglia brothers, as they grew up a short distance away in Kemptville. Jeremy looked to use his local knowledge to pull away from the rest of the field which included Tyler Sjoberg, Austin Politelli and Kaven Benoit. Defending Champ and points leader Tyler Medaglia was, once again, in for a rough day as he started out near last place.

Jeremy was quick to open up a near two-second advantage as Sjoberg seemed unable to do anything with the pace at the front. That was when Politelli looked to make a move into 2nd spot. Coming under fire from his teammate on the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki seemed to spark Sjoberg, as he began to close back in on the leader. While the running order at the front stayed mostly unchanged, Tyler Medaglia was busy hustling from the back of the pack. By the time the checkered flag flew, he found himself all the way up to 5th place and not too far back from the lead group of riders. Clearly, the rest of the field was going to keep their eye on him if he got a good start in moto 2.

Unfortunately for Tyler, that good start didn’t come as he found himself barely hanging onto a top 10 spot early. Doing what he must to keep from losing his championship hope, Kaven Benoit shot out to the lead and began to sprint, pulling a little gap in the first couple of laps. His KTM teammate and first moto winner, Jeremy Medaglia was running in 2nd. Another pair of teammates, Sjoberg and Politelli followed the KTM duo in 3rd and 4th. Tyler Medaglia was quickly able to work his way into 5th and began his charge to close in on the top 4, and that he did.

Just as Jeremy Medaglia took the lead away from Benoit, Tyler Medaglia had closed in on Politelli and Sjoberg in their raging battle for 3rd place. Before Tyler could strike on Politelli, the Kawasaki rider threw it away and handed the position to the champ. This left Sjoberg all by his lonesome to try and hold off the big #1 Yamaha, but he couldn’t hold up the flag long, and Tyler found his way past.

By this point, it seemed like the gap from the KTM duo running in 1st and 2nd would be too big for anyone to overcome. In fact, as soon as it looked like Jeremy Medaglia was safe in the lead, Benoit began to charge again. At one point, it looked almost certain that Benoit was going to get past, but Jeremy used his knowledge of the facility to navigate the lappers well and take the second moto win.

The overall would see Jeremy Medaglia take his first win of the season with a 1-1, his first career clean sweep. Taking 2nd overall would be Kaven Benoit with 4-2 scores, while 3rd would be Tyler Sjoberg with 2-4 scores. Tyler Medaglia would settle for 4th overall and miss claiming the Championship a round early by a mere 5 points.

Top 10 Overall MX2

MX1 – Round 8

As the gate dropped on the first MX1 moto of the day, it was Teddy Maier grabbing the holeshot on his Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki KX450F ahead of Colton Facciotti, Kyle Keast, Shawn Maffenbeier and Dusty Klatt. Facciotti wasted no time taking over the lead from Maier, and Klatt was on the move as well, passing Maffenbeier very early while setting his sights on Keast and Maier.

Another rider with a solid start to the moto was the #101 of Matt Goerke, who looked to be enjoying the sandy Sand Del Lee circuit as he made a pass on Shawn Maffenbeier for 5th. The next man to make moves was Dusty Klatt, as he quickly passed both Kyle Keast and Teddy Maier to take over the 2nd position behind Facciotti. From there, it appeared that the majority of the riders began to settle in, perhaps waiting for moto 2 to give it their all. Facciotti would hold on to win, Klatt 2nd, Maier 3rd, Keast 4th and Goerke 5th.

In moto 2, it was Colton Facciotti grabbing the holeshot on his Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha just ahead of Maier, Klatt, Maffenbeier, Goerke and Keast. Klatt quickly began to look for a way past Maier as Goerke slipped past Maffenbeier. Keast decided to follow suit, knowing urgency was required to keep pace with the Yamahas of Facciotti and Klatt.

Once Klatt was able to get around Maier, it almost seemed as if he let his guard down as a hard-charging Goerke–who had just displaced his teammate Maier–was quick in hunting him down. Goerke spent a lap looking for a way by, but without an easy option to be found, opted to force the issue. He tried a risky inside move, and it didn’t work. Both Klatt and Goerke ended up on the ground. Klatt got the short end of the stick as he stalled his bike and took a while to get it going again. With Facciotti leading, it was imperative that Klatt finish higher than 7th place to ensure that he would still have a shot at retaining his #1 plate at the final round.

Kyle Keast was the benefactor of the Klatt/Goerke incident, as he had gotten around a seemingly tiring Maier and inherited 2nd place. By this point, Facciotti had a roughly 20-second lead and looked to be on cruise control. Back in the saddle and charging, though, was Matt Goerke. The sand-specialist was hard on the gas as he re-passed Teddy Maier for 3rd place and set his sights on Keast. Goerke put in some of his hardest laps of the day, and was quickly able to latch on to the rear wheel of Keast. If Goerke was contemplating a way to pass the stubborn KTM rider, he didn’t have to do so for long; Keast threw it away, handing 2nd over to Goerke.

Keast was able use his electric start KTM to his advantage and remount in 3rd, but he had allowed a rejuvenated Teddy Maier to close back in. As the 2-lap board came out, the two were neck-and-neck. Many times they bumped and nearly locked bars over the final couple laps of the race. At one point, it appeared Maier had the spot, but Keast used his elbows to make himself as wide and hard to pass as possible. In the end, Keast was able to use his physicality to hold on to the final podium spot. Facciotti would take a fairly easy-looking moto win.

In the end, it would seem that Goerke’s attempt to pass Klatt was a Championship winning moment for Colton Facciotti, as it forced Klatt to settle for 7th place, allowing Facciotti a 51-point lead over Klatt with one round remaining. In addition to his 1-1 clean sweep, Colton claimed the 2011 CMRC MX1 National Championship. 2nd overall on the day belonged to the exciting Matt Goerke on the strength of his 5-2 day. Kyle Keast would take his KTM home 3rd overall, with 4-3 scores.

Top 10 Overall – MX1

MX2 Points Standings After 8 Rounds

1. Tyler Medaglia 351
2. Kaven Benoit 306
3. Austin Politelli 275
4. Jeremy Medaglia 251
5. Tyler Sjoberg 245

MX1 Points Standings After 8 Rounds

 1. Colton Facciotti 385
 2. Dusty Klatt 334
 3. Teddy Maier 274
 4. Kyle Keast 248
 5. Matt Goerke 209