Hometown hero, Tyler Medaglia, earned his first pro podium at Sand Del Lee.

By Danny Brault
Photos by Allison Kennedy

Canadian motocross has been all about hometown heroes as of late. First, we had KTM's Marco Dube headlining the Riviere Du Loup Arenacross, then Kyle Keast stepping onto the pdoum for the first time ever at Gopher Dunes and just last weekend, our most recent hometown hero, Tyler Medgalia, finished second in the final MX2 East moto of the year which earned him second overall and top Canadian in the series. Medaglia, who has restored his superstar status this summer with great rides at every round, couldn't hold back a smile from the moment he was interviewed on the podium until he pulled out of the Sand Del Lee track Sunday night. If you missed Medaglia's impressive ride at SDL, don't worry--you can catch him this week at the Walton TransCan as he battles with Pierce Chamberlain, Trever Hall and others in the ever entertaining Youth class.

RXC: Tyler, how does it feel to make the hometown proud?
Tyler Medaglia: Oh, it feels awesome. I’m so happy. I waited so long to ride a national here. It’s just great to put a exclamation point on everything and show what I have to offer with some good starts. I’m pretty happy.

Please take us through your first two motos.
The first moto, I had a good start. I had to make a few passes. I think I had to pass three or four guys. Then I got into third and I just rode consistent. Ended up with third. In the second moto, I had a decent start and had to pass a few people again, then I was in third. I came over the hill and saw that Chisholm was down—or his bike was on the ground. Then I was in second and I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ I had a good spread on the guys behind, so I was like, ‘Alright, Just ride smart and not fall.’

Were you nervous at all with the crowd cheering?
A little bit. Not too much. I was just trying to focus on my lines and hitting all of the corners good. But I was a bit nervous.

Having ridden this track for years, what’s your take on the Sand Del Lee facility this weekend?
Well, MX101 and all of thos guys did such a good job. They’ve turned it around drastically. It’s good. It was good—even for me—it was change. It wasn’t the same old track that I ride every Wednesday.

Any sections you liked or favoured?
Well, yeah, I liked the new sections. There were good lines in there. The front S turns, those were the ones I was used to. Just all of the sections, it all added up.

Medaglia will be racing the youth class this week at Walton and a 450 on the weekend.

Heading into this season, did you expect finish fourth overall in the MX2 series and top Canadian?
I don’t know, you know, I’m super happy. After the first round, I knew I had the speed and after going to the states and doing well in the states, I knew had what it takes to get on the podium. I had bad luck in Moncton, but I was really looking forward to this race.

Running with all of those fast guys in the states, do you think that helped your speed?
Oh, definitely. Down there, it makes you more aggressive because those guys are there for a purpose and they are wide open everywhere. So you have to be really aggressive and don’t worry about who’s behind you because there is always somebody there.

What’s you plan now? Are you going to Walton this week?
Yep. I’m going ride Youth.

Are you allowed to ride Youth?
Yeah, because I’m not riding the little class. I’m just going to ride the 450 in MX1.

So you’re not riding the shootout. How come?
I don’t know. I don’t want to.

You just want to focus on the MX1 class?
Just for Walton, because … I want to race Walton, it’s fun there during the week, so I want to go there and ride during the week. I just want to try one round focusing on the big bike.

Well, that will give you a good chance to test you speed in MX1, you always ride well at Walton.
Yep, for sure.

Awesome. Anyone you want to thank this weekend?
Yep. My family and all of the people cheering me on. And all of the usual people: Powersports Honda, Blur, Azonic, Gaerne Boots, O’Neal, Hindle, Bondi of course, and that’s pretty much it.