Courtesy of CMRC Head Office

Clean sweeps in all three classes at Kamloops

The opening round of the 2009 Monster Energy Motocross Nationals at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops, BC turned out to be a clean sweep for Colton Facciotti, Dean Wilson and Heidi Cooke in MX1, MX2 and Women’s Pro Nationals respectively.

And while most of Canada experienced below seasonal temperatures on the weekend, Kamloops and the BC interior found itself baking under temperatures that reached into the mid-30s. As if the scorching heat wasn’t enough, a nearby grassfire had to be extinguished before races got underway on Sunday.

For defending MX1 Champion Colton Facciotti, his home province race proved to be a slam dunk. The Toyota/Yamaha/Blackfoot/Red Bull/Fox Racing ace convincingly won both motos. In the first moto, the Aldergrove native got a top start and quickly made his way to the front to take the lead from Team Rockstar Suzuki OTSFF’s Tyler Medaglia, who had nailed the holeshot.

As anticipated, the battle for the top three positions went down between Facciotti, his teammate Dusty Klatt, and Cernics Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter, the ’08, ’07, and ’06 MX1 Champions respectively. Campbell River, BC’s Klatt greeted the checkered flag in second place while Ithica, NY’s Carpenter finished third.

In the second moto, Team Rockstar Suzuki OTSFF’s Kyle Keast nailed down the holeshot and led the pack till about the halfway mark. He was then passed by an on-fire Facciotti who had suffered a bad start and had to make up quite a bit of ground. By the end of the moto Keast had to contend with the Hungarian Kornel Nemeth (KTM) who eventually got by him to snare second place. Nemeth, who finished fourth in the first moto, saw that result scratched from the books because he clipped one of the caution flag personnel and thus found himself disqualified.

Klatt and Carpenter, meanwhile, battled for the remaining top five positions finishing fourth and fifth respectively, which saw Klatt record second overall on the day and Carpenter third. The top five was cemented by Keast (6-3) in fourth and Royal Distributing KTM’s Jeff “Norcal” Northrop (4-7).

Tyler Medaglia’s day proved to be a disaster, especially in the second moto. Despite recording the fastest practice times and a first moto holeshot, crashes in both motos left him out of contention. The No.3 ranked rider finished the day with 8-19 motos that saw him take home a tepid 15th overall. His brother, Jeremy, meanwhile, making his MX1 debut, had an even worse day thanks to DNFs in both motos.

In MX2 action, Canidae Motorsport/Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson showed no mercy as he rocketed his way to a double moto win. The Albertan, who only rode one national in 2008, looks like he could be Canada’s big hope to wrest the title from American hands this year.

Although Wilson didn’t peg the first moto holeshot, that honour went to newcomer to the series Kirk Haws (KTM), it didn’t take him long to take command of the race. In the second moto, Wilson shot into turn one ahead of the pack and went on to take care of business without any major challenges.

In both motos, the main action was for second place which was claimed by Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier after a fierce battle with Royal Distributing/Thor/KTM’s Eric Nye. In the second moto, the roles were reversed with defending champion Nye beating Maier to the checkered. Based on those results Nye chalked up second overall on the day while Maier grabbed third. Kyle McGlynn (KTM) 5-6 and Cole Siebler (Kaw) 7-5 cemented the top five with fourth and fifth respectively.

Kyle Beaton’s first outing for Team Toyota Yamaha Blackfoot in the MX2 class proved to be disaster when the Surrey, BC native crashed and broke his hand in the second moto. He garnered 11th place in the fist. His teammate, Aron Harvey, DNF’d both motos. It’s not known at this time how long Beaton will be on the sidelines but it looks like his chances to finally claim the MX2 title are going to be next to non-existent. Harvey, a top contender last season, has his work cut out for him if he hopes to have a say in the title chase over the next eight rounds.

In the Royal Distributing Women’s Nationals Presented by Suzuki, Monster/Cernics/Kawasaki’s Heidi Cooke, like her counterparts in MX1 and MX2, ruled the roost by claiming victory in both motos. She put about a thirty second gap between herself and second place Sara LaLiberte (Yamaha) in moto one and Jocelyn Killough (Suzuki) in moto two. Killough claimed second overall on the day thanks to 3-2 motos while LaLiberte sealed the podium with third on the strength of 2-3 motos