Five Minutes with … Tyler Medaglia
MARCH 17, 2008

Suzuki City/OTSFF/Rockstar's Tyler Medaglia joins a shortlist of Canucks who have qualified for AMA Supercrosses.

photo: Allison Kennedy

By Danny Brault

Suzuki City/OTSFF/Rockstar’s Tyler Medaglia qualified for his first ever AMA Supercross Lites main event in Minneapolis on Saturday night. While Medaglia was coming close in the first three rounds, bad luck, bike troubles and crashes hindered his results. Fortunately, things clicked perfectly inside the HHH Metrodome for TM. He was actually back in 34th for qualifying, but went on to finish eighth in his heat and 17th in the 15-lap main event. We checked in with Medaglia this morning for the low down on his big weekend.

RXC: Tyler, congrats on making your first AMA Supercross!
Tyler Medaglia: Thanks a lot.

It probably took longer than you expected, but it has to feel good regardless. What clicked for you in Minneapolis?
It was, you know. I came into it with a different approach. I rode my 450 all week. I was just happy and excited. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it because I had some bad luck at the last few. It went good. I almost holeshot my qualifier and was up there for a while, and then I cased this jump and lost a few spots. I tried to stay smooth and not screw it up.

You were riding the 450 on the supercross track or outdoors?
I did a little bit of both. I rode the outdoor track and I feel it helped me with my fitness, because I went out in both of my practices and never pulled off. I could just ride and ride the whole practice.

Take us through the main event.
My start was decent, but when I came into the first corner, I was bottlenecked with a bunch of other guys and got pushed off the track a bit. I was last, and then got on it and made some passes. On the second lap, I was doing this section that I did in practice, it was like a step-on step-off section, and there was big rut in there from the 450s; I wheelied before the rut, my rear wheel spun and I nosed into the jump. My neck brace and helmet and everything hit me in my throat. It hurt! My chest protector broke and was flapping around for the rest of the race.

Medaglia will be racing the Lites in Toronto, along with his teammate, Willy Browning.

photo: Doug Engstrom

You have to be proud of yourself for just making it into an AMA Supercross; it’s not an easy chore for anyone. Where does this rank on your list of accomplishments?
It’s definitely a big accomplishment and I’m really excited about it. I wanted to prove to the team and everyone that I can do it, because I know I have the speed and ability. When I practice, I’m really fast and I’m working hard. I knew it was going to pay off this weekend; I felt really good and I liked the track. This weekend, in my second practice, I had a really good lap going—and would have had an awesome time—but I fell in the last corner [laughs].

Has your dad, Derrick, been offering any advice over the last few rounds?
He lets me know what I have to do, for sure. He always has good ideas and is very knowledgeable when in it comes to racing. He told me this week, he didn’t want me to pull off during my practices and I worked hard this week, riding longer motos rather than sprints. I think it paid off because I learned more about the track. I practiced some starts on the big bike too and got good starts in my qualifiers.

What’s your plan this weekend while the series takes a break?
Nothing planned, really. I’m just going to hang out here, and then go home to Ottawa—I’m still going to train and ride—and hopefully everything works out in Toronto.

Is your whole team coming up to Toronto with the rig?
The rig will be there, but not the whole team. [Jimmy] Albertson was going to come, but he broke his collarbone in the LCQ and I think Willy Browning might come up.

Cool. We’ll see you in Toronto, Tyler.
Yeah, you too.