With
the three-week long mid-season hiatus coming
to an end this weekend, the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals resume on
Sunday at Gopher Dunes in Courtland, ON, to kick off
Round 5 of the MX1 and MX2 title hunt.
For
those riders who’ve enjoyed their time off lying in the sand at the
beach, they’ll quickly discover that the gnarly sands of Gopher Dunes,
considered to be the ‘toughest track in Canada’, will be anything
but an extended holiday.
With
the four rounds of the western leg of the national tour now in the rear view
mirror, it’s time for the title contenders to get back to business at the
five eastern rounds. And with the top five points in both classes being tight
enough to fit into a clenched fist, expect the rumble for supremacy to be a
motor slugfest till the bitter end.
If
history repeats itself – think back to the 2008 season, when Tyler Medaglia was leading the points chase because defending
champ Colton Facciotti had missed a race due to a
shoulder injury – current MX1 points leader, Bobby Kiniry,
could see his reign at the top of the pile come to an end at Gopher.
Unless
Rockstar/OTSFF Racing/Two Wheel Suzuki’s Kiniry has discovered the secret of Yamaha/Red
Bull/Blackfoot/Fox Racing’s Facciotti’s
MX success formula over the past three weeks, Facciotti
will no doubt be back in the driver’s seat at the end of the second moto on Sunday. Only 10 points separate Kiniry
from Facciotti. The heat is on!
Once Facciotti has control of the points, and doesn’t
succumb to another wicked get-off like he did in Calgary, the remaining rounds
will no doubt be about where the rest of the players find themselves in the
illustrious top five club.
Facciotti’s
teammate Dusty Klatt, currently in fourth place
trailing Kiniry by 24 points, has his work cut out
for him if he’s going to finish runner-up again in the series. Veteran
Josh Demuth, who’s holding down third aboard his Monster
Energy/Cernics Kawasaki holding two points on Klatt, has surprised friend and foe alike with his Canadian
comeback performance. If he keeps stepping it up each moto
the way he did out west, he should be assured a top five ranking at
season’s end.
Look
for Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast to score some major points on his home track this
weekend. Currently holding down a fifth place in the rankings, Keast has proved to be a man to be reckoned with and will
ride the wheels off of his bike to hold on to fifth, if not improve on it, by
the time the checkered flag signals the end of the season at the Walton TransCan Grand National.
As in
the MX1 title hunt the MX2 class should prove to be a rock ‘em sock ‘em affair for the
remaining rounds. While Yamaha/Red Bull/Blackfoot/Fox Racing’s Tyler Medaglia has a fairly solid grip on the points lead,
don’t expect defending champ Teddy Maier to rest on his laurels and race
for runner-up in the series. The Monster Energy/Leading Edge Kawasaki ace
currently trails Medaglia by 17 points.
Maier’s
teammate Shawn Rife, who has proved to be one of the big boys of the MX2 class
with three moto wins, two of which were at Round 4,
trails Medaglia by 31 points. In his first full
season of racing in Canada, the American has exceeded all expectations. If he
keeps up the momentum, Rife may just end up being the big surprise of the year.
Former
MX2 champ Royal Distributing KTM’s Eric Nye, and
Orange Motorsports KTM’s Jeremy Medaglia are
currently tied for fourth place, trailing Tyler Medaglia
by 39 points. Look for Jeremy, who’s enjoying his ‘break-through’
season, to pull out all the stops and nail down a top five ranking, when it’s
all said and done.
No
matter how the dice are tossed Gopher Dunes will be a pivotal round for all of
the above and the remaining top 10 candidates. As always, Gopher will separate
the men from the boys, the players from the dreamers, and set the stage for the
remainder of the season!
MX1
Points after 4 Rounds
1. Bobby Kiniry 160
2. Colton Facciotti
150
4. Dusty Klatt 136
5. Kyle Keast 129
6. Mason Phillips 118
7. Freddy Karrle
116
8. Kornel Nemeth
106
9. Liam O'Farrell 97
10. Kevin Urquhart 95
MX2 Points after 4 Rounds
1. Tyler Medaglia
178
2. Teddy Maier 161
3. Shawn Rife 147
4. Eric Nye 139
5. Jeremy Medaglia
139
6. Jared Allison 115
7. Kaven Benoit 109
8. Spencer Knowles 101
9. Parker Allison 96
10. Kerim Fitz-Gerald 70
