Round 2 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals, which returned to beautiful Vancouver Island at the Wastelands in Nanaimo, turned out to be more or less a rerun of Round 1 with Yamaha Red Bull Blackfoot Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia taking home the bacon.
Facciotti accomplished the task with his second consecutive clean sweep of the season in the premier MX1 class while Medaglia pulled off top honours with consistent 2-1 results.
Brock Hoyer took his Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki to the first MX1 holeshot only to lose the lead to Yamaha Red Bull Blackfoot Fox Racing’s Dusty Klatt, riding on his tail, just seconds after turn one.
By the end of the first lap Klatt had pulled some 10 bike lengths on Hoyer and the rest of the chase group which included Rockstar Energy Troy Lee Designs OTSFF Suzuki’s Bobby Kiniry, Royal Distributing KTM’s Robby Marshall, Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier, Facciotti and Kini Red Bull KTM’s Mason Phillips.
While Hoyer quickly disappeared from the front, Kiniry and Maier battled for second with Facciotti coming up behind them, intent on claiming the same position. A few laps later, after sticking a pass on the two Americans, Facciotti set to work on Klatt.
The Blackfoot duo swapped the lead back and forth for about another four laps, with Facciotti finally taking control to take it all the way to the finish line.
Although Klatt stuck with his teammate for a number of laps, by the time the checkered was waved Facciotti had close to a five seconds advantage. Kiniry, who lost some ground towards the end of the moto, lost third place to Maier. Marshall stayed in the mix to cement the top-five, trailing Kiniry across the finish line by only a bike length or so.
Bobby Kiniry grabbed the second MX1 moto holeshot followed by Maier, for Team Yamalube Blackfoot Direct Troy Lee Designs Racing’s Parker and Jared Allison, Facciotti and Klatt.
Some three laps into the moto Maier stuck a pass on Kiniry, whose day basically ended not long after that when he crashed. By the time he managed to resume racing on a damaged bike, the New York native was a lap down.
Facciotti went down on the same lap as Kiniry, going from third place to sixth – but he was far from done. He joined Klatt, who was now running in second, in no time at all and together they set out to displace Maier from the lead.
Although there was plenty of drama for a top-10 finish all around, the main action was up front with a three-way battle for first involving Maier, Klatt and Facciotti. Klatt finally stuck a pass on Maier just before the halfway mark of the moto. Facciotti, who followed suit within a lap, hounded his teammate for about five laps before managing to stick a pass on him.
Meanwhile, behind them, Maier ran his own race in third place without ever being threatened for position. Royal Distributing KTM’s Kyle Keast, never one to throw in the towel, systematically worked his way from a start just inside the top-10 to a fourth place, which he lost to his KTM teammate Mason Phillips on the final lap.
Image Tech Motoconcepts Honda’s Brad Nauditt pegged the first MX2 moto holeshot, but the race belonged to Royal Distributing KTM’s Kaven Benoit, who installed himself in the lead about ten minutes into the proceedings. Once at the head of the pack, Benoit never looked back.
Up until Benoit took control of the moto, there had been a three-way battle for first involving Benoit’s Royal Distributing KTM’s teammate Jeremy Medaglia, Spencer Knowles and Tyler Sjoberg, both on a Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki ride.
Tyler Medaglia, who shot through turn one around 10th place, spent a good part of the moto making up real estate. Pushing hard the entire moto, he managed to make his way into a third place finish behind Sjoberg, who crossed the finish line about a bike length behind Benoit.
But that’s not how the official results tallied up. Sjoberg inadvertently made a jump during a Red Flag medic alert and was docked 10 points, allowing T. Medaglia to record second, J. Medaglia third, Knowles fourth and Austin Politelli fifth.
Tyler Medaglia pegged the second moto holeshot with Austin Politelli, Sjoberg, J. Medaglia and Benoit funnelling through turn one behind him. Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Politelli whipped by Medaglia to take the lead moments later, but it would be his for no more than about three laps. That’s when Medaglia reinstalled himself as lead dog to take it all the way to the checkered.
Although it looked like second place was going to go to J. Medaglia, who snuck by Politelli in his brother’s wake, fate intervened. While on the move to reel in his older brother, J. Medaglia’s motor gave up the ghost about three-quarters of the way through the moto. A disappointing end, thus, for the up-and-comer.
Rachel Springman grabbed the first Women’s Nationals moto holeshot only to lose the lead to Denaye Giroux shortly after entering turn one. Giroux, the only woman to attempt all the jumps, checked out leaving Springman, Dickson, Baker, and Hackett to battle for the remaining top-five positions.
An aggressive riding Dickson, on a mission to displace Springman from second, went down for a soil sample late in the moto. Her crash left the door wide open for Hackett to claim the remaining podium slot. Giroux crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of Springman, who was followed by Hackett, Dickson and Baker to complete the top-five.
Springman went on to claim the second moto holeshot but with Giroux in her rear wheel, it didn’t take long for Giroux to take over up front. Once in control, Giroux set to work to put a comfortable lead together on the chase group, which included Springman, Dickson, Hackett, and Baker.
With Giroux never threatened for position, the main battle was fought behind her for the remaining podium positions. When all was said and done, and a number of position swaps between them, Hackett crossed the finish line in second place, followed by Springman in third. Baker snared fourth while Dickson, who appeared to be having a mechanical problem, cemented the top-five.
