Photo: Courtesy of Dave Pinkman
Round 4 of the 2012 Monster Energy Nationals took place just up the highway from last week’s stop in Calgary. Castol Raceway, in Edmonton, Alberta was in prime condition for great racing action.
In the first moto of the day, it was MX2 series leader Teddy Maier taking the early lead on his Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki ahead of his closest competitor so far in 2012, Red Bull KTM’s Jeremy Medaglia. Jared Allison, on his Blackfootdirect.com Yamalube Yamaha, was quick moving into 3rd with Maier’s teammate Kyle Beaton sitting 4th.
Like we’ve seen so many times already this year, Medaglia was sticking to Maier like glue as the two riders showed they are the class of the field, running a pace more than 2 seconds a lap faster than Allison and the rest behind them. The two frontrunners stayed little more than a second apart for much of the moto until, with 2 laps to go, trouble with a lapped rider allowed Maier to pull ahead by a distance that appeared to be enough.
With the white flag waving, Medaglia began putting in a furious charge, running the fastest overall lap of the moto on the final trip around the circuit, but he would ultimately come up just 8 tenths of a second short of toppling the nearly-unstoppable Maier. Jared Allison would hang on for 3rd and Beaton 4th.
Shortly before the second set of motos, the skies opened up, dropping just enough water on the hard-packed Castrol Raceway track to make conditions resemble that of an ice rink. The riders who could be smooth and minimize their mistakes were going to have the advantage. When the gate ultimately dropped, it was Brad Nauditt, on his privateer Honda, taking the holeshot ahead of Jeremy Medaglia as Teddy Maier got caught-up in the starting gate and entered the first turn in last place.
As Medaglia took over the lead, Maier was on a rampage, incredibly, finding himself in 6th place at the end of the first lap. Maier’s teammate, Kyle Beaton, was also on the move, and he was able to make an early pass on Medaglia and begin to open up a pretty considerable lead in the wet conditions. With the rain still falling off-and-on, Medaglia pulled in for a fresh set of goggles, something that would prove to be extremely valuable as he worked to run down Beaton, who had pulled out a 12+ second advantage. Maier seemed conservative—likely not wanting to make any mistakes—and looked to settle into 3rd place fairly early in the race.
With time winding down in the moto, Beaton held on to a slim advantage over Medaglia, but Medaglia, likely fueled by the shot of taking the overall win, was relentless in his attack and made the pass for the lead and the win with just 2 laps to go. Beaton would cross the line 2nd with Maier 3rd. Jeremy Medaglia took his first overall win of the season with his 2-1 score, ending Maier’s 3 race win-streak. Maier would end up 2nd, and Beaton would end up 3rd overall.
In MX1 action, the first moto saw last week’s winner, Bobby Kiniry, take his #7 Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha to the holeshot in front of Red Bull KTM’s Colton Facciotti and Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawaski pilot Matt Goerke.
Goerke, who had his perfect season and win-streak snapped just a week prior, was a man on a mission early, making an aggressive pass on Facciotti on lap 4. The top 3 of Kiniry, Goerke and Facciotti remained quite close, as they seemed to be feeling each other out. But, just a couple of laps after his pass on injured defending champ Facciotti, Goerke began to search for a way by Kiniry for the lead.
On lap 8, Goerke made his move, and despite a valliant effort by Kiniry, was able to take the lead. Kiniry and Facciotti did their best to keep Goerke in-sight, but ultimately, they were unable to get close enough to make the pass, and the top 3 finished the moto somewhat spread-out. Red Bull KTM rider Dusty Klatt would finish a lonely 4th, while Tyler Medaglia brought his Gopher Dunes Honda ride home in an equally lonely 5th.
In the 2nd moto, Colton Facciotti took the holeshot before being passed by Redline Yamaha fill-in rider, Zeb Dennis, who was making his season debut. Dennis was quickly passed by Kiniry and Facciotti, but leading the first lap of the moto was sure to be a thrill for the surprising Ontario-native.
First moto winner and series points leader, Matt Goerke, was in a quiet 3rd early on and almost seemed content to stay there as Kiniry rode away from the ailing Facciotti. But, on lap 8, Facciotti—who was a close 2nd at the time—seemed to hit a wall, likely feeling the pain from his separated shoulder, and Goerke took over 2nd place.
With the rain subsiding and traction beginning to return to the race surface, Goerke began to pick up the pace. He slowly whittled Kiniry’s lead down until eventually, on lap 14, he was able to sneak by. Kiniry did everything he could to stick to Goerke’s rear wheel, but he had lost his goggles earlier in the moto and was at a disadvantage to Goerke and his roll-off system.
Late in the moto, a fired-up Tyler Medaglia, perhaps taking some inspiration in his younger brother’s MX2 win,would pass Facciotti—who was likely trying to salvage any points he could. Tyler would have to settle for 3rd, but it was a notice that, as the series heads east where he’s more comfortable, he’s going to be ready for battle.
Goerke would take the overall win with Kiniry 2nd. Facciotti would hang on to 3rd with his 3-4 score beating out Medaglia’s 5-3. 4th place rider in moto 1, Dusty Klatt, suffered some bike troubles and was relegated to 17th in moto 2, giving him 10th overall.
Monster Energy Motocross Nationals Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta June 24, 2012 Round 4 of 9 MX1 Pro Class (Moto Finish) 1. Matt Goerke, Lake Helen, Florida, Kawasaki (1-1) 2. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, New York, Yamaha (2-2) 3. Colton Facciotti, St. Thomas, Ontario, KTM (3-4) 4. Tyler Medaglia, Kemptville, Ontario, Honda (5-3) 5. Morgan Burger, Nampa, Idaho, Kawasaki (9-5) 6. Gavin Gracyk, Blissfield, Ohio, Kawasaki (8-6) 7. Shawn Maffenbeier, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Yamaha (6-9) 8. Zeb Dennis, Berkley, Ontario, Yamaha (12-7) 9. Tyler Villopoto, Poulsbo, Washington, Kawasaki (7-12) 10. Dusty Klatt, Campbell River, British Columbia, KTM (4-17) 11. Jason Burke, Hamilton, Ontario, Honda (10-11) 12. Jaromir Romancik, Czech Republic, Kawasaki (14-8) 13. George De Graff, Coalhurst, Alberta, Kawasaki (16-10) 14. Brock Hoyer, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Kawasaki (13-13) 15. Bryar Perry, Woodland, California, Kawasaki (11-33) 16. Julian Cerny, Calgary, Alberta, Kawasaki (15-18) 17. PJ Stratton, Whitecourt, Alberta, Honda (26-14) 18. Todd Sewell, Calgary, Alberta, Yamaha (25-15) 19. Josh Allen, Kamloops, British Columbia, Kawasaki (27-16) 20. Jordon Currington, Evansburg, Alberta, Yamaha (17-30) MX1 Pro Class Championship Standings 1. Matt Goerke, Lake Helen, Florida, Kawasaki – 197 2. Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, New York, Yamaha – 169 3. Colton Facciotti, St. Thomas, Ontario, KTM – 144 4. Tyler Medaglia, Kemptville, Ontario, Honda – 142 5. Tyler Villopoto, Poulsbo, Washington, Kawasaki – 113 6. Dusty Klatt, Campbell River, British Columbia, KTM – 110 7. Gavin Gracyk, Blissfield, Ohio, Kawasaki – 100 8. Morgan Burger, Nampa, Idaho, Kawasaki – 88 9. Jason Burke, Hamilton, Ontario, Honda – 77 10. Brock Hoyer, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Kawasaki – 76 11. Shawn Maffenbeier, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Yamaha - 62 12. Jaromir Romancik, Czech Republic, Kawasaki – 58 13. Kyle Keast, Lindsay, Ontario, Yamaha – 54 14. Shawn Robinson, Gatineau, Quebec, Yamaha – 40 15. PJ Stratton, Whitecourt, Alberta, Honda – 39 16. George De Graaf, Coalhurst, Alberta, Kawasaki – 38 17. Josh Allen, Kamloops, British Columbia, Kawasaki – 35 18. Bryar Perry, Woodland, California, Kawasaki - 30 19. Todd Sewell, Calgary, Alberta, Yamaha - 23 20. Jared Stock, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Yamaha – 23 MX2 Pro Class (Moto Finish) 1. Jeremy Medaglia, Kemptville Ontario, KTM (2-1) 2. Teddy Maier, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Kawasaki (1-2) 3. Kyle Beaton, Surry, British Columbia, Kawasaki (6-3) 4. Dylan Kaelin, Grand Bend, Ontario, Yamaha (4-5) 5. Jared Allison, Delburne, Alberta, Yamaha (3-7) 6. Spencer Knowles, New Westminster, British Columbia, Yamaha (8-4) 7. Brad Nauditt, Spokane, Washington, Honda (7-6) 8. Topher Ingalls, Templeton, California, Honda (5-8) 9. Ross Johnson, Tenino, Washington, Suzuki (9-10) 10. Parker Allison, Delburne, Alberta, Yamaha (11-9) 11. Richard Grey, Keswick, Ontario, Yamaha (10-11) 12. Trae Franklin, Fort St John, British Columbia, Honda (14-13) 13. Nicky Beatty, Wyoming, Ontario, Honda (13-14) 14. David Gassin, Arnold, California, Honda (12-16) 15. Keylan Meston, Calgary, Alberta, Honda (39-12) 16. Zach Deiana, Coleville, Saskatchewan, Suzuki (19-15) 17. Josh Pfrimmer, Carman, Manitoba, Kawasaki (16-20) 18. Jared Petruska, Calgary, Alberta, Kawasaki (15-39) 19. Joel Currington, Evansburg, Alberta, Yamaha (20-17) 20. Aaron Pfrimmer, Carman, Manitoba, Kawasaki (17-38) MX2 Pro Class Championship Standings 1. Teddy Maier, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Kawasaki – 184 2. Jeremy Medaglia, Kemptville, Ontario, KTM – 169 3. Kyle Beaton, Surrey, British Columbia, Kawasaki – 130 4. Jared Allison, Delburne, Alberta, Yamaha – 126 5. Brad Nauditt, Spokane, Washington, Honda – 118 6. Topher Ingalls, Templeton, California, Honda – 102 7. Ross Johnson,Tenino, Washington, Suzuki – 101 8. Spencer Knowles, New Westminster, British Columbia, Yamaha –101 9. Parker Allison, Delburne, Alberta, Yamaha - 98 10. Dylan Kaelin, Grand Bend, Ontario, Yamaha – 96 11. Richard Grey, Keswick, Ontario, Yamaha – 78 12. Keylan Meston, Calgary, Alberta, Honda – 53 13. Zach Deiana, Coleville, Saskatchewan, Suzuki – 45 14. Trae Franklin, Fort St John, British Columbia, Honda – 44 15. David Gassen, Arnold, California, Honda - 39 16. Nicky Beatty, Wyoming, Ontario, Yamaha – 37 17. Cody Woodworth, Palmer, Alaska, Yamaha – 36 18. Eric Jeffery, Oshawa, Ontario, Yamaha - 29 19. Jared Petruska, Calgary, Alberta, Kawasaki – 29 20. Ryan Abrigo, Sultan, Washington, Honda – 21
