Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti 1-3 moto finishes put him first overall in Round 6.
There was a lot of anticipation as the 2017 CMRC sanctioned Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan crossed the border into Quebec this weekend for Round 6. Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil was a first-time venue on the National circuit, so both racers and fans were not sure what to expect at Motocross Bon-Conseil. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise for everyone as the race track delivered some of the closest racing we have seen this year, and the massive crowd was treated to some spectacular action on a circuit that had a supercross feel with its huge jumps on the upper section and a Grand Prix atmosphere with its hilly, quarry-like section in the back.
In the MX1 class we saw Colton Facciotti and Christophe Pourcel both chip away at Matt Goerke’s series lead, and in the MX2 class there was a dramatic tightening in the points race, which will ensure that with only four rounds remaining in the series it is far from clear who will be the Champions in 2017.
MX1
Coming off a dominating win in the opening moto at Round 5, Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti qualified second this weekend and then went out and grabbed the holeshot in Moto 1, leading every lap on route to his second moto win of the season. Facciotti posted the fastest lap of the first moto and was well ahead of the field at the checkered flag, making a statement at the home track of his biggest rival for the title of fastest Canadian. Colton backed up his first moto performance with a third in the second moto. His 1-3 finishes put him first overall for Round 6, his first overall win since early in 2016, which moved him closer to the lead in the series standings.
After losing the red plate following Round 5, Rockstar Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel came into the weekend on a mission and was the fastest qualifier in the morning sessions. Pourcel got a poor start in the first moto, and after being scored in seventh on the opening lap was able to make a few passes and moved up to fourth by the end of the race. Christophe got a good start in the second moto, passed the hometown boy Kaven Benoit on Lap 6 to take the lead, and hung on for the win, his fourth moto win of the season. On the podium after the race Christophe looked quite comfortable addressing the crowd in French while accepting his trophy for finishing second overall on the day, and is now only 8 points behind Matt Goerke in the championship.
Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke started the day by qualifying seventh, his worst qualifying performance this season, and spent almost the entire first moto in fourth place behind Dillan Epstein until finally passing him late in the race to finish third. Goerke got a better start in the second moto and was less than a second behind race leader Pourcel at the halfway point, but even after posting the fastest lap of the moto could not find his way around the crafty Frenchman. Goerke would settle for second at the checkered flag. Matt’s 3-2 finishes put him third overall on the day, which allowed him to hang on to the red plate going into the next round.
Carrying a lot of momentum into Round 6 following his win at Gopher Dunes last weekend, Monster Energy Alpinestars Kawasaki’s Mike Alessi qualified fourth, then ran almost the entire first moto in fifth place where he finished. In the second moto, Alessi went off the track on the opening lap and found himself deep in the forest and at the back of the pack by the time he was able to get out. Mike charged back to finish seventh in Moto 2, thrilling the huge crowd along the way with his riding style, and ended up fourth overall at Round 6 to maintain his position of fourth in the series standings.
Royal Distributing Motovan Piller’s Race Team’s Tyler Medaglia looked really fast in the morning qualifying sessions and was the third fastest qualifier. Medaglia got a poor start in the first moto and was scored in tenth on the opening lap where he spent almost the entire race, and was tenth at the checkered flag. Tyler’s first lap position in Moto 2 was not much better but he was able to move up from ninth to finish fourth, putting him fifth overall on the day. With that finish he is still in fifth place in the championship.
In only his second race back and racing at his home track, KTM Canada Thor Racing’s Kaven Benoit qualified fifth and finished an impressive second in the first moto. Benoit then took the holeshot in Moto 2 and led for six laps in front of a wildy cheering partisan crowd before being passed by Pourcel then Goerke. On Lap 10, Kaven had a nasty crash and did not finish the second moto.
Rounding out the top 10 were Royal Distributing Motovan Piller’s Race Team’s Kyle Chisolm in sixth, Redemption Racing’s Cade Clason in seventh, Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Tim Tremblay in eighth, Nut Up Industries Kawasaki’s Dillan Epstein in ninth, and TXS Productions Suzuki’s Jesse Wentland in tenth.
MX2
If MX101 FXR Yamaha Team’s Shawn Maffenbeier becomes the 2017 MX2 Champion he will certainly recall this weekend’s race as playing a pivotal role. Maffenbeier came into Round 6 tied for second in the championship, 40 points behind the series leader Cole Thompson. Shawn qualified third and took the lead a couple of corners into Moto 1 from KTM’s Jonah Brittons, after Brittons got the holeshot, and Maff ran first for seven laps before stalling his motor and letting Josh Osby by. Maff and Osby then had a terrific battle for the lead that lasted the rest of the moto with each of them being quicker in certain parts of the race track. Shawn would come home second at the checkers but would later be rewarded with the win after race officials docked Osby five positions for jumping on a red cross flag. In the second moto, Maff would again find himself behind Osby battling for the lead, was unable to make the pass, and settled for second, giving him the overall win in Round 6. With the series leader Thompson injuring his thumb in a first moto crash and not finishing the race, we saw a huge swing in the points lead. Now Maffenbeier finds himself only 2 points back in the championship.
Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Dylan Wright continues to get stronger each weekend and his results are proving it. Wright qualified fourth and turned a top 5 first moto start into a second-place finish, his best this season, after benefitting from the Osby penalty. Dylan followed that up with a third in the second moto after passing Ryan Surratt late in the race. His 2-3 moto finishes put him second overall on the day, his season’s best. Dylan wowed the Quebec crowd on the podium after the race when he did his complete interview in French.
Coming into Round 6 tied for second in the series standings, Redemption Racing KTM’s Josh Osby proved again how much he likes the east coast dirt and was the second fastest qualifier in the morning sessions. Osby’s start was not that good in the first moto but he put his head down and charged forward. On Lap 4, Osby made a pass on Wright and then got by Jacob Hayes a few corners later when Hayes tipped over. Josh posted the fastest lap of the moto, was handed the lead on Lap 7 when Maffenbeier stalled his bike, and crossed the finish line first. After the first moto, Josh was penalized 5 positions for a red cross flag violation, putting him back to sixth, erasing his first win of the season. Not letting the penalty take away from his terrific first moto performance, Josh led every lap of the second moto on route to his first win of the year, and was third overall at the end of the day. Josh will head into the next round with a lot of momentum, and is now only 9 points back of series leader Thompson.
Nut Up Industries Kawasaki’s Ryan Surratt came into the season injured and admitted to being a little under prepared. Surratt spent almost the entire first moto in fourth place, where he finished, and was bumped up to third after the penalty. Ryan grabbed another holeshot in the second moto, his sixth this season, and ran in third for most of the moto while battling hard with Wright before being passed late in the race and settling for fourth. Ryan was fourth overall at day’s end. During the second moto, Surratt posted the fastest lap of the race, a first for this season, and is showing improvement each weekend.
Making his first appearance in the MX2 class this season, American Bobby Piazza, aboard a Husqvarna, had 5-6 moto finishes and was fifth overall for the day. Piazza looked really quick all day and came from outside the top 10 after the start in the first moto to finish fifth. In the second moto, Bobby had a better start on route to his sixth place finish and was a welcome addition to the series.
Series points leader KTM Canada Thor Racing’s Cole Thompson’s day started well when he posted the fastest time in the morning qualifying session but took a dramatic turn for the worse after that. Thompson got a good start in Moto 1 but took a nasty spill after colliding with Jacob Hayes on Lap 3 as they battled for second place. Cole did not finish the moto. It was revealed afterwards that he had dislocated his throttle hand thumb during the crash. The thumb was popped back into place and Cole was on the gate for the second moto. He managed to salvage a seventh-place finish after the thumb popped out again on the second lap. Tommy Gun’s second moto performance was a gutsy effort and allowed him to hang onto the red plate as the series moves into Atlantic Canada for Round 7, but his series lead took a huge hit because he is now only 2 points ahead of Maffenbeier.
Next weekend the series moves into Atlantic Canada as Round 7 of the CMRC sanctioned Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan will take place next Sunday, July 23th at the Pleasant Valley Motorsport Park near Truro, Nova Scotia. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets you can buy them online easily at www.mxnationals.ca/tickets. If you are in another part of the country and are unable to attend the race, you can see all the action live by downloading the free Conx2share app or logging on to www.conx2share.com and live stream every moto on either your mobile phone or computer.
Redemption Racing KTM’s Josh Osby led every lap of the second moto on route to the moto win.
MX1 Round 6 – Motocross Bon-Conseil, Quebec
1. Colton Facciotti (Hon) 1-3
2. Christophe Pourcel (Hus) 4-1
3. Matt Goerke (Yam) 3-2
4. Mike Alessi (Kaw) 5-7
5. Tyler Medaglia (Hon) 10-4
6. Kyle Chisholm (Hon) 7-6
7. Cade Clason (KTM) 9-5
8. Tim Tremblay (Yam) 8-8
9. Dillan Epstein (Kaw) 6-11
10. Jesse Wentland (Suz) 11-9
MX2 Round 6 – Motocross Bon-Conseil, Quebec
1. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yam) 1-2
2. Dylan Wright (Hon) 2-3
3. Josh Osby (KTM) 6-1
4. Ryan Surratt (Kaw) 3-4
5. Bobby Piazza (Hus) 5-6
6. Casey Keast (Yam) 4-11
7. Davey Fraser (Hus) 9-9
8. Jonah Brittons (KTM) 10-10
9. Jacob Hayes (Kaw) 16-5
10. Hayden Halstead (Yam) 7-14
MX1 Point Standings 2017 after 6 Rounds
1. Matt Goerke (Yam) 316
2. Christophe Pourcel (Hus) 308
3. Colton Facciotti (Hon) 288
4. Mike Alessi (Kaw) 269
5. Tyler Medaglia (Hon) 267
6. Dillan Epstein (Kaw) 249
7. Cade Clason (KTM) 213
8. Kyle Chisholm (Hon) 210
9. Tim Tremblay (Yam) 195
10. Nathan Bles (Hon) 162
MX2 Point Standings 2017 after 6 Rounds
1. Cole Thompson (KTM) 298
2. Shawn Maffenbeier (Yam) 296
3. Josh Osby (KTM) 289
4. Ryan Surratt (Kaw) 258
5. Dylan Wright (Hon) 245
6. Casey Keast (Yam) 198
7. Jacob Hayes (Kaw) 186
8. Davey Fraser (Hus) 181
9. Hayden Halstead (Yam) 176
10. Jess Pettis (Yam) 148
