Who doesn't love the great outdoors? With one round in the books, you have eight more chances to get out and catch a Monster Energy Motocross National. So round up your buddies, coolers, sunscreen, an umbrella, some beers, and get out to your local national!

photo: Danny Brault

Report by Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

CMRC President Mark Stallybrass needs to contact Tony Alessi and order some of those "Believe the Hype" t-shirts that were handed out three years ago for Alessi's pro debut at Millville. Why? Because the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals are full of hype - and they're more than living up to it. Heading into the first round in Ste-Julie, Quebec, no one really knew who was going to win either class, not even us "experts" at RXC.

And what did happen over the weekend, no one could have predicted. Sure, Team Toyota Yamaha/BlackfootDirect.com/Fox Racing's Colton Facciotti won the MX1 class, and he was an obvious contender, but did anyone really believe he would sweep both motos - with a first-degree shoulder separation? In the Lites class, we knew that Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki's Teddy Maier and Nick Evennou would be tough to beat - and they did go 1-2 - but with the speed shown by Eric Nye, Jeremy Medaglia, and Kyle Beaton, it's really anyone's race next weekend in Gopher Dunes or the following rounds. So what exactly happened in Ste-Julie? Let's have a look ...

Canada's favourite motocross midget, Kyle "KD Beets" Beaton (22) edged out Jeremy Medaglia (34), Davey Fraser (23), and Nick Evennou (41) for the first holeshot of the series. The Clearbrook Yamaha rider definitely isn't kidding when he says his YZ250F rips, as he grabbed a second-place start behind Evennou in the second moto, too. Sadly, other than great starts and the fastest lap times (as usual), Beets' results were hindered when he stalled his bike in moto one, and then came together with Medaglia in moto two. He went 8-13 for 10th overall. Hey, no worries, there are still 16 motos to go!

Royal Distributing/Thor/Riverside KTM Canada's Eric Nye "The Science Guy" used the theory of propulsion to propel himself by Nick Evennou in the first MX2 moto. Unfortunately, the theory of "it's racing and anything can happen" bit Nye hard in the second moto and he finished 12th for fourth overall.

I've always thought that the first section following the start was a little dangerous in Ste-Julie because the riders are still so close together (remember what happened last year in MX1?), but there were no issues this year. Evennou was determined to win the second moto, but his teammate Maier had a little more determination as he fought through another seventh-place start to take the lead around the halfway mark. Maier and Evennou tied in points, but Maier's 3-1 earned him the overall.

Blackfoot's Aron Harvey didn't have the greatest Canadian debut, falling down in the first moto and then taking forever to fire up his flooded bike. The Vegas kid regrouped in the second moto, however, and came through for third-place. Check out Blackfoot's team manager, Dean Thompson, in the back - don't worry, Dean, lots of racing left!

photo: Brault

The opening round of the Women's Canadian National Series kicked off with a bang, as Heidi Cooke (1), Jacqueline Ross (734), and Sarah Whitmore put on a great battle for the lead in both motos. All three feature aggressive riding styles, similar to the boys, and the sound of Ross' KTM 144 SX was way too cool! Monster Energy Cernic's Kawasaki's Cooke did her best to hold off the charge of the two American girls in the first moto, but they eventually worked by her late in the race with Whitmore taking the win. Ross ended up with the overall after winning the second moto, Cooke was second with a 3-2, and Whitmore was third with a 1-3. 

Check out this sweet Fox lid that Andre Roy of 66 Graphx painted up for us! I believe Dan Stenning will be shipping this puppy out to one very lucky RXC 2.0 newsletter subscriber.

Jimmy Nelson showed us that he can ride a 450 just fine. Jim rode a nice consistent day to 5-4 moto scores for fourth overall. 

The Campbell River Crusher, Dusty Klatt, posted the fastest qualifying time on Sunday. He stayed within striking distance of Tyler Medaglia for much of the first moto before making a pass for the lead. Colton Facciotti eventually made his way past Medaglia too, and then caught and passed Klatt for the win. Fans were hoping to see another battle between the three juggernauts in the second moto, but it was not be. Klatt went down in the first corner with Blair Morgan, and Medaglia rode all by himself for second. Again, there are 16 motos to go and all three of these guys are more than capable of winning motos this season. Believe the hype!

Orange Motorsports KTM's Liam O'Farrell has to be stoked with his first Canadian national. The South African finished 8-10 for ninth overall, one spot ahead of my guy, Kyle Keast. Also, here's a quick shout out to Orange Motorsports' Richard Grey who qualified for Loretta Lynn's over the weekend! 

The Northern Californian, Jeff Northrop, proved he's ready for two 35-minute motos. "Norcal" had okay starts in both motos, and then passed Nelson in both motos for a 4-3 score and third overall. He tells us he likes the sand too!

It was pretty cool to see Marco Dubé running second in the first moto, until he went cartwheeling over the triple in the front section. He continued racing, however, while rockin'  the speedster look sans helmet visor. He had a solid ride in moto two for sixth-place. 

Give it up for the privateers! Label It's Jason Burke rode his butt off this weekend, beating some of the factory dudes, and finishing 9-7 for seventh overall. Hopefully his boss, Rob McCullough, will give him some time off this week to rest and prepare for the demanding Gopher Dunes track.  

photo: Brault

Go Colton Go! Like Ste-Julie last year, when he came from way, way behind to finish fourth, Facciotti overcame a shoulder injury suffered in practice to sweep both MX1 motos. His girl, Jocelyn Killough, was obviously pretty happy for her boy ... I mean, man.