The 2011 Monster Energy Motocross nationals rolled into Moncton, New Brunswick for the 7th round of the series at the pituresque Riverglade MX Park. The weather was hot, as was the racing action as the championships begin to enter the home-stretch.
MX2 saw some great battles between Kaven Benoit and his KTM, Tyler Sjoberg and Austin Politelli and their Kawasakis, and Tyler Medaglia on his Yamaha. In moto 1, it was Benoit who was victorious over Politelli, Sjoberg and Medaglia. Politelli took the early lead over Benoit, while Sjoberg ran 3rd. Points leader and defending champ Tyler Medaglia was back in 5th early. As the race neared halfway, Politelli ran into some heavy lappers, making it difficult for him to hold off Benoit. Benoit pushed hard, eventually making the pass and just a couple of laps later, Sjoberg was able to get by for 2nd. All the while, Tyler Medaglia was closing in to make it a 4 way fight for the lead as they had seperated themselves considerably from the rest of the pack. Lappers were heavy, and made the going difficult for the front-runners. Shortly before the 2 lap board came out, Politelli was able to re-pass his teammate Sjoberg and claim 2nd place for good.
In the second moto, it was first moto winner Kaven Benoit out front first, with Sjoberg, Politelli and Tyler Medaglia once again in the top 4. Medaglia was quick to pass Politelli and the top 3 of Benoit, Sjoberg and Medaglia proceeded to put on quite a battle for the moto win. Sjoberg and Medaglia were each able to get around Benoit within a couple laps of each other, but Benoit wasn't about to give up, as he re-passed Medaglia just a couple of laps later. This allowed Sjoberg to begin opening up a slight gap in the lead, as well as Politelli to close-in a little, re-entering the battle for the podium. Despite his best efforts, Benoit was unable to hold Medaglia behind him any longer, as the champ took 2nd place back once more. By this time, Sjoberg had opened a 9 second lead. Medaglia began a charge as Sjoberg worked his way through the lapped riders. At the finish, Medaglia was able to get the lead down to less than 2 seconds, but his battle with Benoit proved costly as it wasn't enough.
Sjoberg would take the overall win with 3-1 scores while Benoit would mirror that with 1-3 for 2nd overall. Tyler Medaglia took the final podium spot with his 4-2 effort.
MX1 saw some amazing battles between defending series champ, Dusty Klatt and his Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha teammate, Colton Facciotti. In moto 1, Facciotti grabbed the holeshot with Klatt on his heels. The two immediately began putting distance on early 3rd place runner, Suzuki's Bobby Kiniry. The two Yamaha riders raced wheel-to-wheel, scrubbing and whipping over nearly every obstacle on the track. Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawsaki riders Teddy Maier and Matt Goerke hooked up together to work their way through the top 10 in an assault on 3rd place Kiniry. As the leaders continued to push the pace, it became too much for Facciotti, who made a mistake and handed the lead over to Klatt. Kiniry was also able to get by for 2nd, though Facciotti was quick to re-take the position. Out front, Klatt found himself with a massive lead and he was able to back it down and work his way safely through the lappers. As the halfway point of the race was reached, Matt Goerke had caught Kiniry for the final podium spot. Goerke was making the best of his sub-par start and putting in a great ride. Likewise was Teddy Maier, who was able to claw his way up to 5th at the finish, just behind Kiniry in 4th.
Moto 2 featured another Colton Facciotti holeshot, and once again, Dusty Klatt was sitting solidly in 2nd place. This time, though, Klatt didn't want to wait for a Facciotti mistake and made a pass to put himself into the lead. Much like the first moto, the #1 and the #10 bike began to gap the field at an alarming rate. Bobby Kiniry found himself in 3rd, while Teddy Maier had gotten a slightly better start than he did in moto 1, working his way to 5th fairly quickly. Unfortunately, 3rd place finisher from moto 1, Matt Goerke, went down after the first few laps, and had his already banged-up arm ran over by a number of other riders. Goerke would be forced to pull out of the moto. Back up front, Klatt continued to lead, barely a second ahead of Facciotti for the most part, while they continued to put seconds a lap on 3rd place Kiniry and 4th place Maier. As the two continued to battle over the lead, Maier joined Kiniry in a battle for the final podium spot. Eventually, the Kawasaki-mounted Maier would make a pass on the Suzuki-mounted Kiniry and hold on for 3rd. Despite finishing only just over a second behind, Facciotti would be forced to settle for another 2nd place, losing just his second overall win of the season, this time to Klatt.
Klatt would claim first overall with 1-1 motos, while Facciotti kept a stranglehold on his championship lead with a solid 2-2 day. Maier would take the final podium spot with a 5-3 score.
Friday, 5 August 2011
Sunday, 31 July 2011
CMRC Nationals Round 6 - Ste. Julie
The 2011 Monster Energy Motocross Nationals headed to the beautiful Ste. Julie, Quebec for round 6 of the series. The sunshine all weekend long assured a fantastic event with awesome track conditions. Ste. Julie is a polar opposite to last weeks track, Gopher Dunes, in almost every way. The track is very fast with a hard and slick surface complete with some of the most painful roost on the tour. Getting a good start is certainly among the riders' best interests!
The racing kicked off with the first MX2 moto, and KTM's Jeremy Medaglia, who sat out last week with an injury, returned to the series in a big way, grabbing the holeshot over Gopher Dunes Suzuki rider, Topher Ingalls. Behind them, chaos ensued as series points leader and defending champion, Tyler Medaglia, suffered a poor start and then crashed while trying to make some quick passes. 2nd place in the standings, Kaven Benoit, also crashed off the start. Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki teammates, Tyler Sjoberg and Austin Politelli were also mired midpack early on. Jeremy Medaglia was quick to pull out a lead of around 3 seconds, but couldn't seem to open it up any further. Ingalls also appeared incapable of getting it any closer. While the chess match for the lead went on, Tyler Medaglia was busy with his charge through the pack. Working his way through with him, was Kaven Benoit. As Benoit entered the top 10, disaster struck. The hometown hero and 2010 Ste. Julie MX2 overall winner suffered a heartbreaking mechanical failure on his KTM, all but eliminating any chance of a repeat performance. With Benoit out of the way, Tyler Medaglia had a huge opportunity to drastically increase his points lead, depending on how far he would be able to move through the tight MX2 field. The second half of the moto saw a late charge by Topher Ingalls on Jeremy Medaglia, with 2 laps to go, Topher gave it everything he had, unfortunately for him, Jeremy was able to respond and hang on to his first moto victory of the season. Sjoberg and Politelli were able to work their way up to 3rd and 4th, while the champ, Tyler Medaglia, rounded out the top 5.
Moto 2 saw Tyler Sjoberg grab the holeshot on his KX250F, just head of Kaven Benoit. Benoit, fresh after sitting out much of the first moto, immediately made a pass on Sjoberg and tried to make a break. Unfortunately for him, Tyler Medaglia got a much better start this time around, and was into the lead before the end of the first lap. Just a couple of laps in, first moto winner, Jeremy Medaglia, pulled into the mechanics area with what appeared to be bike trouble. Following in suit of what happened to his teammate in moto 1, Jeremy was forced to pull out of the moto with a mechanical. As Tyler Medaglia began to stretch out a massive lead, Topher Ingalls, who finished runner-up in the first moto, was on the move along with Austin Politelli. The two were in a tight battle of their own as they worked through from the tail end of the top 10 together. By the halfway point of the moto, they had gotten into 5th and 6th, respectively. Due to some over-watering of the track during intermission, Tyler Sjoberg was forced to throw away his goggles as mud clouded his vision. The final few laps of the race would see Ingalls and Politelli fight their way up another position each. As the checkered flag flew, it was Tyler Medaglia taking a convincing win, securing the overall for the day. 2nd in the moto was Kaven Benoit, Sjoberg 3rd, with Ingalls and Politelli 4th and 5th.
Tyler Medaglia, after having his streak broken at Gopher Dunes, returned to his winning ways at Ste. Julie, going 5-1 for 1st overall. 2nd overall was Tyler Sjoberg, using his consistent 3-3 scores. Grabbing his first career overall podium was Topher Ingalls with 2-4 moto finishes.
After any shot of winning every overall this season was taken away by Matt Goerke at Gopher Dunes, Colton Facciotti set out with something to prove at Ste. Julie. He started off on the right foot by grabbing the holeshot in the first MX1 moto ahead of Rockstar Suzuki's Bobby Kiniry and Dusty Klatt. Klatt wasted no time in engaging in a fierce battle with Bobby Kiniry for 2nd in an effort to keep Facciotti in sight. Kiniry put up a fight, but was displaced only a lap later. As if Kiniry wasn't frustrated enough by losing 2nd place, he then began to fight some issues with the bike as he hit the ground a couple of times in a row. Bobby was eventually forced to pull out of the moto and regroup for moto 2. With Kiniry pulling out, Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki teammates Teddy Maier and Matt Goerke inherited 3rd and 4th positions and engaged in an epic battle that would go right down to the last lap. Maier would hold the position until around the halfway point, when Goerke would make a great move and put himself into the podium position. Maier stayed close, but it appeared that Goerke would hold on as the race began to come to a close. However, a late crash by Goerke allowed Maier to squeak back by. Up front, Klatt rode hard, but was never able to keep sight of Facciotti, who took a very dominating moto win. Maier would finish 3rd with Goerke and a rider making his 2011 Canadian debut, Travis Sewell, taking 4th and 5th.
Moto 2 saw another Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha take the holeshot, but this time it was Dusty Klatt, determined to get his first overall win of the season. Matt Goerke grabbed a great 2nd place start behind Klatt, while Facciotti was just outside of the top 5. However, it didn't take long before Facciotti was putting a sweet move on 2nd place Goerke and 3rd place Robby Marshall, passing both of them in the same corner to take 2nd. Facciotti then seemed to catch Klatt by surprise, making the move and immediately stretching out a lead, just as he had done in the first moto. At about the halfway mark, Facciotti made an uncharacteristic mistake in the back section, handing the lead back to Klatt. Klatt once again held the lead over his teammate, holding about a 5 second advantage before Colton regrouped and began to attack once more. In only 1 lap, Facciotti had taken Klatt's lead back down to just 2 seconds, when Klatt took a soil sample of his own. It seemed that neither Blackfoot rider was prepared to win this moto, as their crashes had allowed 3rd place Goerke to close up a little. Teddy Maier had meanwhile been working his way up, along with Bobby Kiniry who was putting his first moto DNF behind him. The pair sat 4th and 5th as they each got around early front-runner, Robby Marshall. In the end, it was Colton Facciotti taking the moto and the overall. Klatt would take a convincing 2nd over Goerke, who seemed out of his element in comparison to his dominating performance a week ago at Gopher Dunes. Nevertheless, it was a solid effort for Goerke, taking 3rd overall. Maier was 4th and Kiniry was 5th in the moto.
Colton Facciotti has now taken 5 out of 6 overall wins this year and finished 2nd in the only race he hasn't won. He appears well on his way to reclaiming the championship he lost just a year ago. Dusty Klatt sits solidly in 2nd after taking another 2nd place overall finish. Matt Goerke continues his run up the points standings by taking 3rd overall. Maier moves into 3rd in the points as he took 4th overall at Ste. Julie.
The racing kicked off with the first MX2 moto, and KTM's Jeremy Medaglia, who sat out last week with an injury, returned to the series in a big way, grabbing the holeshot over Gopher Dunes Suzuki rider, Topher Ingalls. Behind them, chaos ensued as series points leader and defending champion, Tyler Medaglia, suffered a poor start and then crashed while trying to make some quick passes. 2nd place in the standings, Kaven Benoit, also crashed off the start. Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki teammates, Tyler Sjoberg and Austin Politelli were also mired midpack early on. Jeremy Medaglia was quick to pull out a lead of around 3 seconds, but couldn't seem to open it up any further. Ingalls also appeared incapable of getting it any closer. While the chess match for the lead went on, Tyler Medaglia was busy with his charge through the pack. Working his way through with him, was Kaven Benoit. As Benoit entered the top 10, disaster struck. The hometown hero and 2010 Ste. Julie MX2 overall winner suffered a heartbreaking mechanical failure on his KTM, all but eliminating any chance of a repeat performance. With Benoit out of the way, Tyler Medaglia had a huge opportunity to drastically increase his points lead, depending on how far he would be able to move through the tight MX2 field. The second half of the moto saw a late charge by Topher Ingalls on Jeremy Medaglia, with 2 laps to go, Topher gave it everything he had, unfortunately for him, Jeremy was able to respond and hang on to his first moto victory of the season. Sjoberg and Politelli were able to work their way up to 3rd and 4th, while the champ, Tyler Medaglia, rounded out the top 5.
Moto 2 saw Tyler Sjoberg grab the holeshot on his KX250F, just head of Kaven Benoit. Benoit, fresh after sitting out much of the first moto, immediately made a pass on Sjoberg and tried to make a break. Unfortunately for him, Tyler Medaglia got a much better start this time around, and was into the lead before the end of the first lap. Just a couple of laps in, first moto winner, Jeremy Medaglia, pulled into the mechanics area with what appeared to be bike trouble. Following in suit of what happened to his teammate in moto 1, Jeremy was forced to pull out of the moto with a mechanical. As Tyler Medaglia began to stretch out a massive lead, Topher Ingalls, who finished runner-up in the first moto, was on the move along with Austin Politelli. The two were in a tight battle of their own as they worked through from the tail end of the top 10 together. By the halfway point of the moto, they had gotten into 5th and 6th, respectively. Due to some over-watering of the track during intermission, Tyler Sjoberg was forced to throw away his goggles as mud clouded his vision. The final few laps of the race would see Ingalls and Politelli fight their way up another position each. As the checkered flag flew, it was Tyler Medaglia taking a convincing win, securing the overall for the day. 2nd in the moto was Kaven Benoit, Sjoberg 3rd, with Ingalls and Politelli 4th and 5th.
Tyler Medaglia, after having his streak broken at Gopher Dunes, returned to his winning ways at Ste. Julie, going 5-1 for 1st overall. 2nd overall was Tyler Sjoberg, using his consistent 3-3 scores. Grabbing his first career overall podium was Topher Ingalls with 2-4 moto finishes.
After any shot of winning every overall this season was taken away by Matt Goerke at Gopher Dunes, Colton Facciotti set out with something to prove at Ste. Julie. He started off on the right foot by grabbing the holeshot in the first MX1 moto ahead of Rockstar Suzuki's Bobby Kiniry and Dusty Klatt. Klatt wasted no time in engaging in a fierce battle with Bobby Kiniry for 2nd in an effort to keep Facciotti in sight. Kiniry put up a fight, but was displaced only a lap later. As if Kiniry wasn't frustrated enough by losing 2nd place, he then began to fight some issues with the bike as he hit the ground a couple of times in a row. Bobby was eventually forced to pull out of the moto and regroup for moto 2. With Kiniry pulling out, Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki teammates Teddy Maier and Matt Goerke inherited 3rd and 4th positions and engaged in an epic battle that would go right down to the last lap. Maier would hold the position until around the halfway point, when Goerke would make a great move and put himself into the podium position. Maier stayed close, but it appeared that Goerke would hold on as the race began to come to a close. However, a late crash by Goerke allowed Maier to squeak back by. Up front, Klatt rode hard, but was never able to keep sight of Facciotti, who took a very dominating moto win. Maier would finish 3rd with Goerke and a rider making his 2011 Canadian debut, Travis Sewell, taking 4th and 5th.
Moto 2 saw another Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha take the holeshot, but this time it was Dusty Klatt, determined to get his first overall win of the season. Matt Goerke grabbed a great 2nd place start behind Klatt, while Facciotti was just outside of the top 5. However, it didn't take long before Facciotti was putting a sweet move on 2nd place Goerke and 3rd place Robby Marshall, passing both of them in the same corner to take 2nd. Facciotti then seemed to catch Klatt by surprise, making the move and immediately stretching out a lead, just as he had done in the first moto. At about the halfway mark, Facciotti made an uncharacteristic mistake in the back section, handing the lead back to Klatt. Klatt once again held the lead over his teammate, holding about a 5 second advantage before Colton regrouped and began to attack once more. In only 1 lap, Facciotti had taken Klatt's lead back down to just 2 seconds, when Klatt took a soil sample of his own. It seemed that neither Blackfoot rider was prepared to win this moto, as their crashes had allowed 3rd place Goerke to close up a little. Teddy Maier had meanwhile been working his way up, along with Bobby Kiniry who was putting his first moto DNF behind him. The pair sat 4th and 5th as they each got around early front-runner, Robby Marshall. In the end, it was Colton Facciotti taking the moto and the overall. Klatt would take a convincing 2nd over Goerke, who seemed out of his element in comparison to his dominating performance a week ago at Gopher Dunes. Nevertheless, it was a solid effort for Goerke, taking 3rd overall. Maier was 4th and Kiniry was 5th in the moto.
Colton Facciotti has now taken 5 out of 6 overall wins this year and finished 2nd in the only race he hasn't won. He appears well on his way to reclaiming the championship he lost just a year ago. Dusty Klatt sits solidly in 2nd after taking another 2nd place overall finish. Matt Goerke continues his run up the points standings by taking 3rd overall. Maier moves into 3rd in the points as he took 4th overall at Ste. Julie.
Friday, 8 July 2011
FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Sweden
Uddevalla, Sweden was chosen to host round 8 of the 2011 Monster Energy FIM World Motocross GPs. The Uddevalla track is one of the shorter tracks on the circuit, but it provides one of the most unique vantage points in all of motocross, featuring a natural-terrain grandstand in one of the cliffs overlooking the facility.
There were no shortages of story-lines coming into the GP of Sweden, one of the largest being the status of MX1 points leader, Clement Desalle. Desalle suffered a dislocated shoulder and a finger injury at a Belgian championship race leading up to the Grand Prix of Sweden. Another one of the storylines, was the battle between KTM/Teka/Red Bull teammates Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings for the MX2 points lead. Roczen carried a slim 6 point advantage into action at Uddevalla.
In the first MX2 moto, Ken Roczen, who had claimed pole position on Saturday, also claimed the holeshot and the early lead ahead of Gautier Paulin. Third was Herlings, with Osborne in fourth and Anstie in fifth. Just a few turns into the race, however, Osborne washed out in a turn, falling all the way to the back of the pack. Some unexpected rain had made the track very slippery early on, and the riders looked to be biding their time and feeling things out. Tommy Searle was the next one to fall victim to the slippery surface, as he slid completely off the track and down a small embankment. He was able to get going again, but was relegated to 34th at the end of the first lap. Up front, Roczen and Paulin had begun distancing themselves from Herlings. Zach Osborne, who had crossed the line in 25th after the first full lap had been complete, began to work his way into the points paying positions, trying to keep his aspirations for glory alive. Tommy Searle seemed to suffer some bike trouble, possibly caused by his earlier crash. He was forced to pull out of the race having only completed 4 laps. The running order stayed the same at the front, with Rozen continuing to pull away from Paulin, and Paulin from Herlings. One of the riders on the move, was Jeremy van Horebeek, who was just returning from an injury. Van Horebeek was eventually able to dislodge Jake Nicholls from 5th, and get within striking distance of Anstie for 4th. On the final lap, Van Horebeek turned in his quickest lap of the moto, however finding himself within one second of Anstie. Meanwhile, Van Horebeek had pushed Anstie to within 3.3 seconds of Herlings for 3rd. The final running order was Roczen, Paulin, Herlings, Anstie and van Horebeek. Osborne was able to make his way up to 11th.
The second MX2 moto saw Ken Roczen grab another huge holeshot, a sight that the rest of the field most certainly did not want to see. Herlings and Paulin both had good starts as they did in the first moto. Anstie was once again in 4th, this time Nicolas Aubin had a good start in 5th. Tommy Searle was 7th on the first lap, not what he had hoped for considering his disappointment in the first race. Zach Osborne put the disaster beginnings of the first moto behind him by grabbing a top 10 start. Rozen was quick in establishing a large lead, perhaps thanks to the track being more rough than the previous race. Searle and Osborne began working hard to try and make up as much ground as possible early in the moto. By lap 4, Searle found himself up to 5th behind his teammate Max Anstie. He began to reel him in, riding very aggressively, probably fueled by his misfortune earlier in the day. On lap 6, Searle was able to get around Anstie, and a lap later, Anstie lost another position to the hard charging Arnaud Tonus, teammate to Zach Osborne who was running in 8th. Once again, the front runners began to spread out, with the young German, Ken Roczen, looking flawless in the lead. When it was all said and done, Roczen took the checkers by nearly 20 seconds over his teammate and closest title competitor, Jeffrey Herlings. Gautier Paulin took his Monste Energy/Yamaha to 3rd place, while Monster Energy/CLS/Kawasaki teammates Tommy Searly and Max Anstie would finish 4th and 5th. American Zach Osborne grabbed the final spot in the top 10.
The first race in the MX1 GP of Sweden, featured a holeshot by Russian Evgeny Bobryshev. 3rd place in the MX1 standings and MX1 rookie, Steven Frossard would follow him behind in 2nd. Tony Cairoli found himself up front, looking to make up big points on the injured Clement Desalle. Unfortunately for Tony, disaster struck in turn 2 when he lost the front end and tumbled to the ground. The fall caused him to start the race from the back of a very talented field on a track that hadn't allowed for much passing throughout the day to this point. Cairoli would round the first lap in 26th, with Desalle, the injured championship leader, in 5th. Tony was very quick at making passes, passing 6 riders on the 2nd lap of the race to move up to 19th. Clearly, he knew the matter of the situation and the points that were potentially able to be made on Desalle. A great ride was being had early on by Carlos Compano, who held down 4th place as late in the race as lap 6, until he crashed and fell back to the tail end of the top 10. Cairoli continued his torrid charge through the pack, reaching the top 10 on just lap 9. Right around the same time, a battle was taking place between Rui Goncalves and Xavier Boog for 3rd place. Goncalves had held the position since the start of the moto, whilst Boog had been working his way through the top 10. Boog was eventually able to make the pass stick on lap 8, but Max Nagl quickly appeared having displaced Goncalves, ready to battle for the podium. Boog was not to be bothered, though, and kept hs energy focused onwards. On lap 13, Cairoli caught up to the back of Desalle, who was obviously in pain, working his way slowly backwards. It didn't take long for the Italian to make the pass, and he immediately began putting distance between himself and Desalle, no doubt trying to prevent any retaliation.Late in the race, when others began to tire, it seemed that 3 riders in particular began to stand out. Frossard was putting pressure on Bobryshev for the lead, and Ken de Dycker, who suffered a start around 15th, had began pusing through towards the top 5, just ahead of the ever-charging Cairoli. On lap 19, Frossard was able to make the pass on Bobryshev stick, and took the checkered flag, claiming his 4th moto win of the season. Bobryshev would finish 2nd, Boog would hang on to 3rd, while de Dycker and Cairoli's charges would pay off, as they finished 4th and 5th. Desalle was able to salvage an 8th place finish.
In the second MX2 race, it was first moto winner Frossard taking the holeshot, Cairoli got a great start once again, rounding the first turn in 2nd. This time, he didn't throw it away in turn 2, and set his sights on stopping the momentum that Frossard had started to establish in race 1. 3rd place was David Phillapaerts, while Bobryshev and Desalle both had poor starts, sitting outside of the top 10 on the first lap. Bobryshev was charging early, looking to get back to the front of the pack where he had finished the first race. Also looking to move forward was Desalle, though he was having less luck with the task than he would have surely liked. Behind Phillapaerts who was running 3rd, was a fierce battle between Steve Ramon, Rui Goncalves and Ken de Dycker who had grabbed a much better start for race 2. The trio spent a few laps trading spots back and forth between them, but it became clear that Goncalves was heading backwards. Ramon and de Dycker then recruited Phillapaerts to join them, and the battle for 3rd was suddenly red hot. Meanwhile, Frossard was looking quite comfortable in the lead, steadily pulling away from Cairoli, who was perhaps happy with his 2nd place given all he had been through on this day. The trio of de Dycker, Ramon and Phillapaerts received company on lap 6 in the form of first moto runner-up, Bobryshev. The Russian had came a long way in a short amount of time, and was one of the fastest riders on the track. The battle appeared to stabilize on lap 15 with de Dycker 3rd, Phillapaerts 4th, Ramon 5th and Bobryshev 6th, but a mistake by de Dycker allowed the other 3 riders to all go past, setting the big Belgian rider back to 6th. Around the same time, Bobryshev was able to complete the pass on Ramon to move into 4th. With 2 laps to go, the order at the front appeared set, but Desalle was looking for a way around Goncalves for 7th, a position that could end up being vital when the championship is awarded at the end of the season. Clement was able to take the position, but he could get no further. Still, it was a valiant effort considering his injuries. Frossard took the moto win and the overall GP, Cairoli would finish 2nd in the moto and 3rd overall. 2nd overall would go to Bobryshev, with his 2-4 score. Perhaps most important, is the 10 point lead the Cairoli has taken in the championship, netting himself the red plate as the world championship heads to round 9 in Germany.
There were no shortages of story-lines coming into the GP of Sweden, one of the largest being the status of MX1 points leader, Clement Desalle. Desalle suffered a dislocated shoulder and a finger injury at a Belgian championship race leading up to the Grand Prix of Sweden. Another one of the storylines, was the battle between KTM/Teka/Red Bull teammates Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings for the MX2 points lead. Roczen carried a slim 6 point advantage into action at Uddevalla.
In the first MX2 moto, Ken Roczen, who had claimed pole position on Saturday, also claimed the holeshot and the early lead ahead of Gautier Paulin. Third was Herlings, with Osborne in fourth and Anstie in fifth. Just a few turns into the race, however, Osborne washed out in a turn, falling all the way to the back of the pack. Some unexpected rain had made the track very slippery early on, and the riders looked to be biding their time and feeling things out. Tommy Searle was the next one to fall victim to the slippery surface, as he slid completely off the track and down a small embankment. He was able to get going again, but was relegated to 34th at the end of the first lap. Up front, Roczen and Paulin had begun distancing themselves from Herlings. Zach Osborne, who had crossed the line in 25th after the first full lap had been complete, began to work his way into the points paying positions, trying to keep his aspirations for glory alive. Tommy Searle seemed to suffer some bike trouble, possibly caused by his earlier crash. He was forced to pull out of the race having only completed 4 laps. The running order stayed the same at the front, with Rozen continuing to pull away from Paulin, and Paulin from Herlings. One of the riders on the move, was Jeremy van Horebeek, who was just returning from an injury. Van Horebeek was eventually able to dislodge Jake Nicholls from 5th, and get within striking distance of Anstie for 4th. On the final lap, Van Horebeek turned in his quickest lap of the moto, however finding himself within one second of Anstie. Meanwhile, Van Horebeek had pushed Anstie to within 3.3 seconds of Herlings for 3rd. The final running order was Roczen, Paulin, Herlings, Anstie and van Horebeek. Osborne was able to make his way up to 11th.
The second MX2 moto saw Ken Roczen grab another huge holeshot, a sight that the rest of the field most certainly did not want to see. Herlings and Paulin both had good starts as they did in the first moto. Anstie was once again in 4th, this time Nicolas Aubin had a good start in 5th. Tommy Searle was 7th on the first lap, not what he had hoped for considering his disappointment in the first race. Zach Osborne put the disaster beginnings of the first moto behind him by grabbing a top 10 start. Rozen was quick in establishing a large lead, perhaps thanks to the track being more rough than the previous race. Searle and Osborne began working hard to try and make up as much ground as possible early in the moto. By lap 4, Searle found himself up to 5th behind his teammate Max Anstie. He began to reel him in, riding very aggressively, probably fueled by his misfortune earlier in the day. On lap 6, Searle was able to get around Anstie, and a lap later, Anstie lost another position to the hard charging Arnaud Tonus, teammate to Zach Osborne who was running in 8th. Once again, the front runners began to spread out, with the young German, Ken Roczen, looking flawless in the lead. When it was all said and done, Roczen took the checkers by nearly 20 seconds over his teammate and closest title competitor, Jeffrey Herlings. Gautier Paulin took his Monste Energy/Yamaha to 3rd place, while Monster Energy/CLS/Kawasaki teammates Tommy Searly and Max Anstie would finish 4th and 5th. American Zach Osborne grabbed the final spot in the top 10.
The first race in the MX1 GP of Sweden, featured a holeshot by Russian Evgeny Bobryshev. 3rd place in the MX1 standings and MX1 rookie, Steven Frossard would follow him behind in 2nd. Tony Cairoli found himself up front, looking to make up big points on the injured Clement Desalle. Unfortunately for Tony, disaster struck in turn 2 when he lost the front end and tumbled to the ground. The fall caused him to start the race from the back of a very talented field on a track that hadn't allowed for much passing throughout the day to this point. Cairoli would round the first lap in 26th, with Desalle, the injured championship leader, in 5th. Tony was very quick at making passes, passing 6 riders on the 2nd lap of the race to move up to 19th. Clearly, he knew the matter of the situation and the points that were potentially able to be made on Desalle. A great ride was being had early on by Carlos Compano, who held down 4th place as late in the race as lap 6, until he crashed and fell back to the tail end of the top 10. Cairoli continued his torrid charge through the pack, reaching the top 10 on just lap 9. Right around the same time, a battle was taking place between Rui Goncalves and Xavier Boog for 3rd place. Goncalves had held the position since the start of the moto, whilst Boog had been working his way through the top 10. Boog was eventually able to make the pass stick on lap 8, but Max Nagl quickly appeared having displaced Goncalves, ready to battle for the podium. Boog was not to be bothered, though, and kept hs energy focused onwards. On lap 13, Cairoli caught up to the back of Desalle, who was obviously in pain, working his way slowly backwards. It didn't take long for the Italian to make the pass, and he immediately began putting distance between himself and Desalle, no doubt trying to prevent any retaliation.Late in the race, when others began to tire, it seemed that 3 riders in particular began to stand out. Frossard was putting pressure on Bobryshev for the lead, and Ken de Dycker, who suffered a start around 15th, had began pusing through towards the top 5, just ahead of the ever-charging Cairoli. On lap 19, Frossard was able to make the pass on Bobryshev stick, and took the checkered flag, claiming his 4th moto win of the season. Bobryshev would finish 2nd, Boog would hang on to 3rd, while de Dycker and Cairoli's charges would pay off, as they finished 4th and 5th. Desalle was able to salvage an 8th place finish.
In the second MX2 race, it was first moto winner Frossard taking the holeshot, Cairoli got a great start once again, rounding the first turn in 2nd. This time, he didn't throw it away in turn 2, and set his sights on stopping the momentum that Frossard had started to establish in race 1. 3rd place was David Phillapaerts, while Bobryshev and Desalle both had poor starts, sitting outside of the top 10 on the first lap. Bobryshev was charging early, looking to get back to the front of the pack where he had finished the first race. Also looking to move forward was Desalle, though he was having less luck with the task than he would have surely liked. Behind Phillapaerts who was running 3rd, was a fierce battle between Steve Ramon, Rui Goncalves and Ken de Dycker who had grabbed a much better start for race 2. The trio spent a few laps trading spots back and forth between them, but it became clear that Goncalves was heading backwards. Ramon and de Dycker then recruited Phillapaerts to join them, and the battle for 3rd was suddenly red hot. Meanwhile, Frossard was looking quite comfortable in the lead, steadily pulling away from Cairoli, who was perhaps happy with his 2nd place given all he had been through on this day. The trio of de Dycker, Ramon and Phillapaerts received company on lap 6 in the form of first moto runner-up, Bobryshev. The Russian had came a long way in a short amount of time, and was one of the fastest riders on the track. The battle appeared to stabilize on lap 15 with de Dycker 3rd, Phillapaerts 4th, Ramon 5th and Bobryshev 6th, but a mistake by de Dycker allowed the other 3 riders to all go past, setting the big Belgian rider back to 6th. Around the same time, Bobryshev was able to complete the pass on Ramon to move into 4th. With 2 laps to go, the order at the front appeared set, but Desalle was looking for a way around Goncalves for 7th, a position that could end up being vital when the championship is awarded at the end of the season. Clement was able to take the position, but he could get no further. Still, it was a valiant effort considering his injuries. Frossard took the moto win and the overall GP, Cairoli would finish 2nd in the moto and 3rd overall. 2nd overall would go to Bobryshev, with his 2-4 score. Perhaps most important, is the 10 point lead the Cairoli has taken in the championship, netting himself the red plate as the world championship heads to round 9 in Germany.
Monday, 13 June 2011
2011 CMRC Nationals Round 2
http://www.motoxaddicts.com/2011/06/13/canadian-national-motocross-championships-nanimo/
Monday, 6 June 2011
2011 CMRC Nationals Round 1
This week's report has been picked up by www.motoxaddicts.com
http://www.motoxaddicts.com/2011/06/06/2086/
http://www.motoxaddicts.com/2011/06/06/2086/
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
2011 CMRC Monster Energy Motocross Nationals MX1 preview
If the 2010 CMRC Monster Energy Motocross nationals taught us anything, it's that you should expect the unexpected when it comes to motocross racing. No lead is ever safe, either in the standings, or on the track. Last year, defending MX1 champ, Colton Facciotti, won every moto he finished, but two huge crashes left him on the sidelines. That left his Blackfoot Red Bull Yamaha team-mate, Dusty Klatt, to reclaim the crown he won in 2006. But it wasn't easy for Klatt, as a pair of mechanical DNFs at Edmonton set him back a ways in the 9 round series. Still, he charged on, never giving up, and in the end, it paid off. He was even able to clinch the title with one round remaining on the calendar, as a double DNF by OTSFF Rockstar Suzuki's Bobby Kiniry at round 8 allowed Dusty to claim his second CMRC MX1 title, and fourth CMRC national title (2004/2005 MX2 west champ.)
In 2011, there's no doubt that Colton Facciotti (2011 #10) and Bobby Kiniry (2011 #3) will both be back looking for redemption against Dusty Klatt (2011 #1). But the competition doesn't stop there.
2009 MX2 champ, and last years MX2 runner up, Teddy Maier (2011 #12), has picked up an MX1 ride for the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki team. Teddy will no doubt be a front runner with his smooth style and high fitness level, not to mention his experience racing the Canadian tracks over the years.
New to the Leading Edge team for 2011, will be Matt Goerke (2011 #101). Matt was, at one point, doubtful to even line up for the Canadian series this year, as he was injured at the Jacksonville supercross, in a first turn crash that also involved James Stewart. However, Matt is in Canada and is working hard to be as ready to go as he can be when the gate drops this weekend. Matt could perhaps be considered the fastest guy on the starting line if healthy, as he is the only rider in the field to have an AMA 450 national overall victory on his resume. (Southwick, '09)
Another rider who will be looking to step up and make a run at a championship, is Roal Distributing KTM rider Kyle Keast (2011 #4). Kyle has never won a moto or an overall, but has hit the podium many times and on certain tracks has shown that he definitely has the speed to pull off a win. Armed with his new factory ride, perhaps the longtime privateer Honda rider can step up to the next level.
Also on KTMs in MX1 this summer, are Robby Marshall (2011 #774) and Michael Willard (2011 #62). Robby is a bit of a darkhorse, but has shown plenty of speed at certain AMA nationals in the past, notably Southwick. Willard is a two-time CMRC MX2 east champ, so he knows how to win titles in Canada.
The above riders are all capable of being near the front of the pack, but as usual with the Canadian nationals, there are always surprises when the first practice rolls around. Late entries and guys who have been flying under the radar, commonly have fans wondering, "Who's that guy?" Who will they be talking about this year? We can only guess, but there's bound to be at least one rider who comes out of nowhere and surprises everyone.
At the end of the day, I think it's hard not to be excited about this season. The depth of the class seems to be as good as ever, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the riders who missed out last year will have done to ensure they don't miss out again. And what about Klatt, the defending champ? Will he have stepped it up even further to make sure he keeps his #1 plate? Time will tell, and we won't know for sure for a few months, but I believe that in less than a weeks time, we'll be on step closer to having some answers.
In 2011, there's no doubt that Colton Facciotti (2011 #10) and Bobby Kiniry (2011 #3) will both be back looking for redemption against Dusty Klatt (2011 #1). But the competition doesn't stop there.
2009 MX2 champ, and last years MX2 runner up, Teddy Maier (2011 #12), has picked up an MX1 ride for the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki team. Teddy will no doubt be a front runner with his smooth style and high fitness level, not to mention his experience racing the Canadian tracks over the years.
New to the Leading Edge team for 2011, will be Matt Goerke (2011 #101). Matt was, at one point, doubtful to even line up for the Canadian series this year, as he was injured at the Jacksonville supercross, in a first turn crash that also involved James Stewart. However, Matt is in Canada and is working hard to be as ready to go as he can be when the gate drops this weekend. Matt could perhaps be considered the fastest guy on the starting line if healthy, as he is the only rider in the field to have an AMA 450 national overall victory on his resume. (Southwick, '09)
Another rider who will be looking to step up and make a run at a championship, is Roal Distributing KTM rider Kyle Keast (2011 #4). Kyle has never won a moto or an overall, but has hit the podium many times and on certain tracks has shown that he definitely has the speed to pull off a win. Armed with his new factory ride, perhaps the longtime privateer Honda rider can step up to the next level.
Also on KTMs in MX1 this summer, are Robby Marshall (2011 #774) and Michael Willard (2011 #62). Robby is a bit of a darkhorse, but has shown plenty of speed at certain AMA nationals in the past, notably Southwick. Willard is a two-time CMRC MX2 east champ, so he knows how to win titles in Canada.
The above riders are all capable of being near the front of the pack, but as usual with the Canadian nationals, there are always surprises when the first practice rolls around. Late entries and guys who have been flying under the radar, commonly have fans wondering, "Who's that guy?" Who will they be talking about this year? We can only guess, but there's bound to be at least one rider who comes out of nowhere and surprises everyone.
At the end of the day, I think it's hard not to be excited about this season. The depth of the class seems to be as good as ever, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the riders who missed out last year will have done to ensure they don't miss out again. And what about Klatt, the defending champ? Will he have stepped it up even further to make sure he keeps his #1 plate? Time will tell, and we won't know for sure for a few months, but I believe that in less than a weeks time, we'll be on step closer to having some answers.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Las Vegas 2011 Supercross Finale
Well, the final round of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA/FIM World Supercross championship in Las Vegas has came and went. As you would expect if you watched any of the races this year, it contained plenty of excitement and drama. It also contained, for the first time ever, 4 main events, 3 of which would determine the years Supercross champions.
Things started off with the Lites East Main event. This race acted as a heat race of sorts for the famed East/West shootout, in addition to being the championship deciding race. Justin Barcia had a big lead in the points and didn't need to win this one to clinch the title. Justin rode smart to finish a solid 3rd, finishing just ahead of the other championship contender, Dean Wilson, claiming his first career pro title for the GEICO Powersports Honda team. Blake Baggett took his 2nd win of his rookie season, and Ryan Sipes finished 2nd.
In the Lites West main event that followed, there was plenty of drama. Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Broc Tickle held a slim 2 point lead over GEICO's Eli Tomac heading to the line. The 2 of the riders started in close proximity a little ways back in the pack. They worked their way through towards the front, battling the whole way. As they came up on a group of riders near the front that included Cole Seely and Tickle's team-mate, Josh Hansen, Tickle was able to make a big move and put himself ahead of Tomac for good. Tickle would finish the race in 2nd and clinch his first career pro championship. Tomac was forced to settle for 4th. Ken Roczen took his first career SX Lites win on his Red Bull KTM.
The top 9 in each of the Lites main events transferred to the 10 lap East/West shootout, as well as an additional 2 that transferred in through a last chance qualifier. East rider Ryan Sipes took the over the top spot when the leader went down, before handing it over to 2nd place Cole Seely. Later on in the race, Seely returned the favour, handing the lead back to Sipes. Sipes would take the win on his DNA Shredstix/Star Racing Yamaha, while Seely finished 2nd on his Lucas Oil Troy Lee Designs Honda. West main event winner Ken Roczen worked his way from a start just inside the top 10, to finish on the podium in 3rd. West champ Broc Tickle was victim of a poor start and could only work his way up to 10th, while things were even worse for the east champ, Barcia. He was up front leading the early laps, before crashing. Another crash later in the race would see him finish 16th.
With the Lites events out of the way, all eyes shifted to the main event for the premier division. Ryan Villopoto put himself in great position last week by taking the win in Salt Lake City and carrying a 9 point cushion over Chad Reed to the finale in Las Vegas. The main event saw all of the major players up front early on, with James Stewart in the lead followed by an energized Kevin Windham. Villopoto was in 3rd followed by his championship pursuers, Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey. Stewart tried to sprint away, but was matched at every opportunity by Windham. On lap 6, Stewart, as he has done so many times this year, made a big mistake in the whoops and took Windham down, along with himself. This allowed Villopoto to take over the lead with Reed and Dungey hot on his heels. VIllopoto, no doubt feeling the championship pressure, seemed to decide that he should let Reed and Dungey by and that's exactly what he did. Dungey put on a charge with a few laps remaining and got close to Reed, but could never make the pass. Villopoto hung on to finish 3rd and claim his first career 450 title. Neither Stewart nor Windham finished the race.
With Chad Reed's win, he solidified the runner-up spot in the championship hunt while Dungey finished in 3rd. Villopoto took the #1 plate by 4 points over Reed, and was absolutely elated on the podium following the trophy presentation.
Another season of Supercross has came and gone, and this was arguably the best one ever. Every race was more unpredictable than the last, and nearly all of the contenders stayed healthy to the end. I'm sure 2012 is already on many peoples minds, I know it's on mine.
Lites East Main Event:
1. Blake Baggett
2. Ryan Sipes
3. Justin Barcia
4. Dean Wilson
5. Malcolm Stewart
6. Matt Lemoine
7. Lance Vincent
8. Hunter Hewitt
9. Les Smith
10. Justin Sipes
11. Chris Gosselaar
12. Taylor Futrell
13. Levi Kilbarger
14. Tyler Bright
15. AJ Catanzaro
16. Johnny Moore
17. Killy Rusk
18. Ricky Renner
19. Brad Ripple
20. Gannon Audette
Lites West Main Event
1. Ken Roczen
2. Broc Tickle
3. Kyle Cunningham
4. Eli Tomac
5. Cole Seely
6. Tyla Rattray
7. Ryan Morais
8. Travis Baker
9. Martin Davalos
10. Josh Hansen
11. Bruce Rutherford
12. Nick Paluzzi
13. Jake Canada
14. Ben Evans
15. Casey Hinson
16. Dakota Tedder
17. Landon Powell
18. Tommy Weeck
19. Gared Steinke
20. Topher Ingalls
Lites East/West Shootout
1. Ryan Sipes
2. Cole Seely
3. Ken Roczen
4. Dean Wilson
5. Martin Davalos
6. Eli Tomac
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Lance Vincent
9. Travis Baker
10. Broc Tickle
11. Tyla Rattray
12. Blake Baggett
13. Nick Paluzzi
14. Matt Lemoine
15. Ryan Morais
16. Justin Barcia
17. Les Smith
18. Malcolm Stewart
19. Jake Canada
20. Hunter Hewitt
Supercross Main Event
1. Chad Reed
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Chris Blose
5. Andrew Short
6. Jake Weimer
7. Austin Stroupe
8. Nick Wey
9. Kyle Regal
10. Tye Simmonds
11. Tyler Bowers
12. Weston Peick
13. Davi Millsaps
14. Michael Byrne
15. James Stewart
16. Kevin Windham
17. Tommy Hahn
18. Mike Alessi
19. Justin Brayton
20. Bobby Kiniry
Things started off with the Lites East Main event. This race acted as a heat race of sorts for the famed East/West shootout, in addition to being the championship deciding race. Justin Barcia had a big lead in the points and didn't need to win this one to clinch the title. Justin rode smart to finish a solid 3rd, finishing just ahead of the other championship contender, Dean Wilson, claiming his first career pro title for the GEICO Powersports Honda team. Blake Baggett took his 2nd win of his rookie season, and Ryan Sipes finished 2nd.
In the Lites West main event that followed, there was plenty of drama. Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Broc Tickle held a slim 2 point lead over GEICO's Eli Tomac heading to the line. The 2 of the riders started in close proximity a little ways back in the pack. They worked their way through towards the front, battling the whole way. As they came up on a group of riders near the front that included Cole Seely and Tickle's team-mate, Josh Hansen, Tickle was able to make a big move and put himself ahead of Tomac for good. Tickle would finish the race in 2nd and clinch his first career pro championship. Tomac was forced to settle for 4th. Ken Roczen took his first career SX Lites win on his Red Bull KTM.
The top 9 in each of the Lites main events transferred to the 10 lap East/West shootout, as well as an additional 2 that transferred in through a last chance qualifier. East rider Ryan Sipes took the over the top spot when the leader went down, before handing it over to 2nd place Cole Seely. Later on in the race, Seely returned the favour, handing the lead back to Sipes. Sipes would take the win on his DNA Shredstix/Star Racing Yamaha, while Seely finished 2nd on his Lucas Oil Troy Lee Designs Honda. West main event winner Ken Roczen worked his way from a start just inside the top 10, to finish on the podium in 3rd. West champ Broc Tickle was victim of a poor start and could only work his way up to 10th, while things were even worse for the east champ, Barcia. He was up front leading the early laps, before crashing. Another crash later in the race would see him finish 16th.
With the Lites events out of the way, all eyes shifted to the main event for the premier division. Ryan Villopoto put himself in great position last week by taking the win in Salt Lake City and carrying a 9 point cushion over Chad Reed to the finale in Las Vegas. The main event saw all of the major players up front early on, with James Stewart in the lead followed by an energized Kevin Windham. Villopoto was in 3rd followed by his championship pursuers, Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey. Stewart tried to sprint away, but was matched at every opportunity by Windham. On lap 6, Stewart, as he has done so many times this year, made a big mistake in the whoops and took Windham down, along with himself. This allowed Villopoto to take over the lead with Reed and Dungey hot on his heels. VIllopoto, no doubt feeling the championship pressure, seemed to decide that he should let Reed and Dungey by and that's exactly what he did. Dungey put on a charge with a few laps remaining and got close to Reed, but could never make the pass. Villopoto hung on to finish 3rd and claim his first career 450 title. Neither Stewart nor Windham finished the race.
With Chad Reed's win, he solidified the runner-up spot in the championship hunt while Dungey finished in 3rd. Villopoto took the #1 plate by 4 points over Reed, and was absolutely elated on the podium following the trophy presentation.
Another season of Supercross has came and gone, and this was arguably the best one ever. Every race was more unpredictable than the last, and nearly all of the contenders stayed healthy to the end. I'm sure 2012 is already on many peoples minds, I know it's on mine.
Lites East Main Event:
1. Blake Baggett
2. Ryan Sipes
3. Justin Barcia
4. Dean Wilson
5. Malcolm Stewart
6. Matt Lemoine
7. Lance Vincent
8. Hunter Hewitt
9. Les Smith
10. Justin Sipes
11. Chris Gosselaar
12. Taylor Futrell
13. Levi Kilbarger
14. Tyler Bright
15. AJ Catanzaro
16. Johnny Moore
17. Killy Rusk
18. Ricky Renner
19. Brad Ripple
20. Gannon Audette
Lites West Main Event
1. Ken Roczen
2. Broc Tickle
3. Kyle Cunningham
4. Eli Tomac
5. Cole Seely
6. Tyla Rattray
7. Ryan Morais
8. Travis Baker
9. Martin Davalos
10. Josh Hansen
11. Bruce Rutherford
12. Nick Paluzzi
13. Jake Canada
14. Ben Evans
15. Casey Hinson
16. Dakota Tedder
17. Landon Powell
18. Tommy Weeck
19. Gared Steinke
20. Topher Ingalls
Lites East/West Shootout
1. Ryan Sipes
2. Cole Seely
3. Ken Roczen
4. Dean Wilson
5. Martin Davalos
6. Eli Tomac
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Lance Vincent
9. Travis Baker
10. Broc Tickle
11. Tyla Rattray
12. Blake Baggett
13. Nick Paluzzi
14. Matt Lemoine
15. Ryan Morais
16. Justin Barcia
17. Les Smith
18. Malcolm Stewart
19. Jake Canada
20. Hunter Hewitt
Supercross Main Event
1. Chad Reed
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Chris Blose
5. Andrew Short
6. Jake Weimer
7. Austin Stroupe
8. Nick Wey
9. Kyle Regal
10. Tye Simmonds
11. Tyler Bowers
12. Weston Peick
13. Davi Millsaps
14. Michael Byrne
15. James Stewart
16. Kevin Windham
17. Tommy Hahn
18. Mike Alessi
19. Justin Brayton
20. Bobby Kiniry
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