Perfection: The River Glade track in Moncton, New Brunswick featured probably the best conditions yet through seven rounds of the Monster Energy MX Nationals. Mother Nature teased us with overcast skies all weekend but, thankfully, the rains never came.  

By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

Atlantic motocross rules! There's just something about racing in the Maritimes that leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside ... or maybe it's the lobster. The River Glade track was once again in tip-top shape, fans lined the fences and pits, and Larry McCaw kept us informed from inside the announcer's tower. The weather forecast and skies predicted showers all weekend, but fortunately, for the riders and fans, the rain never came. (I think the only two people hoping for rain were Clearbrook Yamaha's Shane Wiebe and Kyle Beaton.)

Jared Allison (51) grabbed his first holeshot of the year, just edging out "KD Beets" (22), in the first MX2 moto. Jared would go on to finish 9-7 for eighth overall. His brother, Parker, also had a good day, finishing 12th overall. It's nice to see these two back out east, and thanks to the Stratton family for taking care of them. Blackfoot's Aron Harvey was continuing his roll from Nanaimo and Edmonton, leading the first moto, before being thrown off his bike over the finish line jump. Harvey was left with a broken femur and will not be racing the final two rounds.

Suzuki/OTSFF/Rockstar's Jeremy Medaglia set the fastest lap times all weekend in MX2, but struggled when it counted. Medaglia went down early in moto one and worked his all the way up to 10th. In moto two, JM rode strong, coming up from ninth to third behind Mason Phillips and Beaton. Medaglia will no doubt be "going for it" next weekend at his hometown race at Sand Del Lee.  

Zulu Warrior: Morgan Racing's Kerim Fitz-gerald and his girlfriend, Chloe, joined Chuck Mesley and I on our road trip to Moncton. After learning that Ketchup makes grilled cheese sandwiches taste better, the South African finished second in the first moto and took third overall for his first podium of the year.  I would like to think that Fitz-gerald has to be on the factory teams' shortlist for 2009; he's fast, works hard and is easy to please.

Beets sure beat'em in the second moto! After racing his first ever AMA National in Washougal, Beaton went 5-1 at Moncton for second overall. The Clearbrook Yamaha rider was leading the first moto as well, but a small tip over dropped him back. Beets is fourth in points and only five behind Phillips who sits third.  

Danny Brault managed to put his Sturgess Cycle/Troy Lee Designs/Ogio/Podium Grafix/Ignition Racing/RG3/Sunline/GoPro Kawasaki in the MX2 main events at Moncton. Well, it really wasn't that hard as only 40 guys signed up. Nonetheless, he rode well considering his lack of riding/racing this summer and finished 27-23 for 27th overall. A big thanks goes out to Leading Edge for a new rear fender, Jeff Sutherland for a new rear tire, and Derek Schuster and Steve Simms for new bar mounts, that definitely helped drop his lap times by at least five seconds.  

Your Moncton MX2 podium: Kyle Beaton, Mason Phillips and Kerim Fitz-gerald. 

Hometown Hero: Springhill, Nova Scotia's Ryan Lockhart was the top Atlantic finisher for the third year in a row, earning him the coveted Brian House Memorial award. Lockhart and Mitch Cooke were both sixth overall in their respective classes, but Newf's 6-5 scores bettered Cooke's 5-7. Lockhart was also kind enough to help with hosting duties in this week's Moto Show. Check it out here.

Label It's Jason Burke (20) returned to the series with a bang, challenging Colton Facciotti (2) for the first MX1 holeshot. After missing two rounds because of wrist injuries, Burke battled back and forth with Mesley in both motos to finish 10-9 for seventh overall. Can anyone stop the Facciotti train? I don't think so, but it will be interesting to see if MDK/KTM's Nick Wey can put some pressure on Colt this Sunday at Sand Del Lee. Facciotti won both motos in Moncton, convincingly, and now holds a 21-point lead over Tyler Medaglia in the series. 

Together again: Whether it's practice, qualifying or racing, Kyle Keast (8) and Blair Morgan (12) are always banging bars. In their classic tradition, Keast and Morgan had crappy starts in both motos (Morgan was dead last in moto one) but worked their way up front. Keast went 6-4 for fourth overall while Morgan went 7-5 for fifth.  

After spending three days working with Ryan Hughes, Tyler Medaglia figured he had found what he needed to beat Colton. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough as TM finished third to Colton and Klatt in both motos.  Don't count out TM just yet; he's determined to win another one of these before the series wraps up and he's always strong at the final two rounds at SDL and Walton.

I'm sure Dusty Klatt would prefer a 1-1, but a 2-2 is nothing to sneeze at. The Monster Energy/ Cernic's Kawasaki rider was the second fastest MX1 guy all weekend, despite riding with a broken foot suffered in Nanaimo. He's still in the championship hunt as well, sitting just seven points back of TM.  

Wouldn't it be nice to look like Mitch Cooke on a motorcycle? I think so anyway. The Suzuki rider rode solid in both motos and was catching Jeff Northrop for fourth in the first moto but time ran out. Mitch treated us to some goodies from his family's bakery in Brookfield, NS, and boy were they good! Mesley preferred the Chocolate whoopie pies while I enjoyed the fresh bread and peanut butter squares. Excellent race fuel, for sure.

I knew Johnny Montes would be good for a few laps, but I honestly didn't expect to see him remain in the top-10 for an entire moto. Thanks for proving me wrong, Johnny! The Atlantic Motoplex Yamaha rider finished 12-10 for tenth overall.

Motocross is alive and well in the Maritimes! 

See you at the races!