Racing

What Really Happened: Rockstar Energy CMRC Canadian Nationals Round 2 Nanaimo, BC.

June 10, 2015

Kaven Benoit gave the two-stroke lovers someone to cheer for. He showed everyone that a two-stroke machine could go really fast on hard pack terrain.

The CMRC Rockstar Energy Canadian Nationals resumed at the Wastelands in Nanaimo, BC last Sunday. Round two gave the riders a vastly different type of terrain than they had in Kamloops last weekend. High temperatures, high humidity, a hard pack track, and dusty conditions made for a difficult racecourse for a lot of the riders. In MX2 action points leader MX101 Yamaha’s Jimmy DeCotis ran into motor trouble in the first moto (which he DNF’d) and lost his points lead while KTM Canada’s 250 two-stroke mounted Kaven Benoit took home the 1-1 moto sweep on the day, giving the KTM rider the red plate for next week in Calgary. GDR Honda’s Jeremy Medaglia scored another consistent 3-2 scores leaving him second overall on the day. Rockstar Yamaha’s Shawn Maffenbeir had a couple of big crashes but managed to salvage a podium at the end of the day with 2-7 moto finishes.

The MX101 Yamaha team had a rough weekend with DeCotis DNF’ing moto one with a reported blown engine. DeCotis is now 27 points down going into the third round. The good news for Jimmy is that the second half of the series is almost all sand tracks, which he prefers.

GDR Honda’s Colton Facciotti is Mr. Consistency. His 2-3 day left him with a third and only eight points out of the points lead.

KTM Canada came away with another win with Cole Thompson getting his first win of the year with a 1-2 finish in the MX1 class. This is the first win for the new KTM FE 450 this season. Cole switched from racing in the states to racing full time up in Canada this season and it seems to be really paying off. Rockstar Yamaha’s Matt Goerke looked the fastest all day but couldn’t quite get the start in Moto one. If it wasn’t for a first moto crash the fast American would have probably walked away with the overall on the day. In the second moto he showed his true speed and simply checked out but his 4-1 moto scores netted him second overall on the day. Colton Facciotti is hanging in there on this west coast swing. He scores consistent finishes and keeps the point’s gap close with 2-3 moto scores for third overall. Fans will get an added bonus next week for round three in Calgary when MCR/Smartop Racing’s Mike Alessi will be on hand for the next two rounds.

Dirt Rider’s Kris Keefer is moonlighting for the MX101 Yamaha team and bringing some insight to the American fans about the series. This was his last race until San Del Lee but he showed that his 36-year-old body can hang with the young bucks and scored an impressive ninth overall in the hyperactive MX2 class.

In his final week in Canada, Dirt Rider’s own Kris Keefer redeemed his poor performance from round one and came away with a ninth overall on his MX101 Yamaha in MX2. Keefer was as high as sixth in moto two until a mishap in a back sweeper put him back a few positions. Look for him at the San Del Lee round to give it another shot on the east coast later in July.

If you never met Bobby Kiniry do yourself a favor and talk to the friendly New York veteran. He is one of the most engaging and passionate racers that America motocross has to offer. Bob had a great weekend getting a sixth, considering his wife was about to go into labor with their second child! He rushed back immediately after Sunday’s race hoping to get back home before the little one did.

MX1:

Cole Thompson (KTM)
Matt Goerke (Yam)
Colton Facciotti (Hon)
Brett Metcalfe (Kaw)
Tyler Medaglia (Hus)
Teddy Maier (Kaw)
Bobby Kiniry (Yam)
Cade Classon (KTM)
Kyle Keast (Hon)
Dylan Schmoke (KTM)

MX2:

Kaven Benoit (KTM)
Jeremy Medaglia (Hon)
Shawn Maffenbeir (Yam)
Brad Nauditt (Yam)
Morgan Burger (Yam)
Jesse Pettis (Yam)
Blake Savage (Yam)
Seth Rarick (KTM)
Kris Keefer (Yam)
Jared Petruska(Yam)

Cole Martinez had a big get off in the second moto and hit his head pretty hard resulting in a DNF.

Jeremy Medaglia rode the hard pack well for a sand specialist and keeps gaining momentum to make a run at the 2015 MX2 championship.

Brett Metcalfe was caught up in a second corner pileup and came from way back in the second moto. He still salvaged the day and recorded a fourth on a circuit he was vocally not fond of.

Shawn Maffenbeir was the only other rider to keep Benoit in sight the first moto, however in the second moto “lil muff” landed on a lapped rider. With bike banged up he soldiered to seventh and somehow managed to get his first podium of the year.

Brad Nauditt got great starts and stayed out of trouble that sometimes Nanaimo can provide, for the first few laps of a an MX2 moto. His 6-3 was good for fourth on the day. Nauditt’s trainer Sean Hamblin was up in Nanaimo to keep an eye on him and it sparked up his riding on the weekend.

Cole Thompson used his smooth riding style to his advantage on the slippery Wastelands surface. Thompson looked in control all day and when he was under pressure he never seemed to waiver. Look for more of these rides by the friendly Canadian this season.