Walton Raceway in Walton, Ontario was the site of round 9 of the 2011 Monster Energy Canadian Nationals and the worst mud race I’ve ever been to. The torrential downpours began on Saturday afternoon, just as the week-long Trans Can Grand National Amateur Championships were wrapping up. By Sunday morning, the rain had let off, but the track was a mess and first practices had been cancelled. And there were more storms in the forecast for Sunday.
Adding some excitement in addition to the wild weather, a few new faces would be making their season–and in most cases, their career–Canadian motocross debuts. These included newly crowned MX3 World Champion Julien Bill who would race MX1 on a #225 Honda CRF450, longtime AMA pro Kelly Smith who would ride a #171 Yamaha YZ450F with support from Redemption Racing, 2010 2nd overall in MX1 Kornel Nemeth who would be filling in on the #2 Rockstar Suzuki RMZ450 for the injured Bobby Kiniry, current AMA 250 motocross privateer standout Darryn Durham who would be riding a #371 CRF250R in MX2, and making his pro debut, Ontario native Cole Thompson, a product of the US amateur motocross program, riding MX1 on a #160 CRF450R.
The impact that the new riders would make was evident right off the bat as Darryn Durham shredded the Walton slop aggressively, taking 2nd place in qualifying behind Blackfoot’s Tyler Medaglia. In MX1, last year’s championship runner-up, Hungary’s Kornel Nemeth, topped the lap charts on his Suzuki ahead of newly crowned champion, Colton Facciotti. Young Canadian Cole Thompson would make his presence felt his first time on the track as a pro, qualifying 3rd in MX1.
Despite a light sprinkle of rain during opening ceremonies, MX2 moto one went off according to schedule. Grabbing the holeshot was points leader and defending champ Tyler Medaglia on his Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha. Hot on his heels was American speedster Darryn Durham, KTM’s Kaven Benoit and Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki rider Austin Politelli. The very sloppy conditions were quick in claiming Durham, as he fell back to 5th before the end of lap two. Tyler Medaglia did his best to ride the track as if it were dry, pulling out a ten-second lead in just the first two laps. Beyond that, most of the riders looked to be in survival mode.
Politelli was able to find some speed in a few sections of the track and used it to his advantage, moving into 2nd. At that point, the skies gave way as sheets of rain began pounding the track. As quickly as the rain moved in, Darryn Durham was moved back into 2nd place, all over the rear of Medaglia for the lead. The two had pulled a massive lead over Politelli who continued to soldier along in 3rd place. As the rain and wind continued to pound the racers and spectators alike, Durham was able to sneak past Medaglia for the lead. While most of the field struggled to not get stuck in the ruts, pools of water or one of the slick uphills, Durham and Medaglia were somehow able to keep an impressive pace at the front of the field.
As soon as it looked like Durham was going to pull away, Medaglia would close back in. The two seemed to be trading mistakes back-and-forth. As the 2-lap board was coming out, so was the sun, and the rain began to taper-off. When the last lap board came out, Durham and Medaglia were still stuck together at the front while Politelli was over a quarter of a track behind the lead duo. Shortly before the finish line, Medaglia was able to get past to take the win and, more importantly, the 2011 MX2 Championship. Durham grabbed the runner-up spot with Politelli rounding out the podium. Jeremy Medaglia grabbed 4th and Benoit held on for 5th.
With the first MX2 moto out of the way, it was time for the MX1 boys to tackle the quagmire. As the gate dropped, it was Colton Facciotti grabbing a massive holeshot, looking to make his quest to conquer the mud as easy as possible. Defending champ, Dusty Klatt, was dead last off the start, appearing to have stalled the bike out of the gate. In his first pro moto, Cole Thompson was 2nd off the start and looking to make a statement by keeping Facciotti in sight–which is exactly what he did. The two riders looked poised to emulate the MX2 battle between Durham and Medaglia, but Facciotti would make a mistake and find himself 3rd behind Thompson and KTM’s Robby Marshall.
Around the same time, the skies once again opened-up, dumping massive amounts of water on an already soaked track. Somehow, among all of the ensuing chaos, Facciotti was able to work his way back in the lead while Thompson found himself in the pits, recording a DNF in his first moto. Marshall clung to 2nd, but was losing ground quickly. Klatt, meanwhile, looked to be one of the fastest riders on the track, attacking while others were simply holding on for dear life.
Also working his way through from a less-than-stellar start was MX3 world champ, Julien Bill. Bill had started around 15th place, but was determined to show the Canadians what he was capable of. By the time the race was winding down, he had worked his way up to 3rd, just ahead of Rockstar Suzuki’s Ian Hayden.
As the 2 lap board came out–signaling mercy to most of the field–the one rider who was probably wishing for more time was Dusty Klatt. Klatt had managed to come from 40th place–about ten seconds behind 39th–all the way up to 4th. It was apparent to those who could tell who he was through his thick coating of mud, that Klatt was one of the fastest riders on the track.
With the white flag waving, Bill had managed to catch Marshall for 2nd place, but with only one lap remaining, could he make the pass? Bill hounded him all the way until the final corner, when he was finally able to make it stick. Facciotti would take a commanding win with Bill 2nd, Marshall 3rd and Klatt, with a phenomenal ride from 40th, in 4th.
During intermission, the off-again on-again rain continued, making track maintenance slow-going and causing a lengthy delay. Eventually, the decision was made to go ahead with the second MX2 moto in-spite of the pouring rain. Durham grabbed the holeshot in the second MX2 moto, followed by Tyler Medaglia and Austin Politelli. With that, the stage was set for another Durham-Medaglia battle. Medaglia would close the gap to Durham only to have Durham pull the gap back out.
Only a couple of laps into the race, riders were already throwing their goggles, as vision was nearly impossible. Just past the halfway point, Durham had pulled a decent lead and looked like he might have the moto under control. However, just before the final lap, Durham fell victim to the elements, and Tyler Medaglia was leading once again. Durham ended up with a DNF for all of his hard work in a heartbreaker. Politelli would finish 2nd and Orange Motorsports KTM’s Richard Grey would finish 3rd. The overall podium would look the same with Tyler Medaglia going 1-1, Politelli 3-2 and Richard Grey 9-3.
MX2 Overall – Round 9
1. Tyler Medaglia (Yamaha) 1-1 2. Austin Politelli (Kawasaki) 3-2 3. Richard Grey (KTM) 9-3 4. Dylan Kaelin (Suzuki) 7-5 5. Josh Clark 6-6 6. Zack Ruff (Kawasaki) 13-4 7. Michael Bugg 10-8 8. Darryn Durham 2-DNF 9. Jeremy Medaglia (KTM) 4-DNF 10. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 5-DNF
MX2 Series Points
1. Tyler Medaglia (Yamaha) 401 2. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 322 3. Austin Politelli (Kawasaki) 317 4. Jeremy Medaglia (KTM) 269 5. Tyler Sjoberg (Kawasaki) 250 6. Kieran Leigh (KTM) 199 7. Brad Nauditt 192 8. Topher Ingalls (Suzuki) 180 9. Dylan Kaelin (Suzuki) 138 10. Dylan Schmoke (KTM) 126
Just as the final MX2 moto of the season was finishing up, it began to hail. That, along with the worse-than-ever track conditions, led to the cancellation of the final moto of the 2011 Monster Energy Nationals. That meant the MX1 overall podium would be Facciotti, Bill and Marshall. So ends another year of Blackfoot domination: 1st and 2nd in MX1 competition and 1st in the MX2 Championship. One thing I can take from this season is that I hope to see Coton Facciotti make a move to race the AMA series next year. I believe he has what it takes, and it sounds like he’s going to give two of the final AMA Nationals a shot this season. I can’t wait to see how he does, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Canadian motocross in 2012!
MX1 Overall – Round 9
1. Colton Facciotti (Yamaha) 1 2. Julien Bill 2 3. Robby Marshall (KTM) 3 4. Dusty Klatt (Yamaha) 4 5. Iain Hayden (Suzuki) 5 6. Kyle Keast (KTM) 6 7. Kornel Nemeth (Suzuki) 7 8. Kelly Smith (Yamaha) 8 9. Matt Goerke (Kawasaki) 9 10. Bryan Wallace (KTM) 10
MX1 Series Points
1. Colton Facciotti (Yamaha) 410 2. Dusty Klatt (Yamaha) 352 3. Teddy Maier (Kawasaki) 278 4. Kyle Keast (KTM) 263 5. Matt Goerke (Kawasaki) 221 6. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yamaha) 200 7. Bobby Kiniry (Suzuki) 196 8. Mason Phillips (KTM) 194 9. Michael Willard (KTM) 163 10. Kevin Urquhart Kawasaki) 161
Photos by Marc Landry – MotoXAddicts would like to thank MXPMag.com for their help this year in covering Canadian Nationals.
