- press release -

Another double-moto win for Facciotti in MX1 – Kyle Beaton struts his stuff for MX2 clean sweep

Colton Facciotti put Team Toyota Yamaha Blackfoot Fox Racing into the winners circle with yet another double-moto victory to take the overall at Sand Del Lee in Richmond, Ontario on Sunday. It was Facciotti’s sixth clean sweep and seventh overall MX1 victory of the season, giving the Aldergrove, BC native a firm hold on the points standings as the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals head to Walton, ON for the final round this coming weekend. After near hits and more than his share of bad luck this season, Clearbrook Yamaha’s Kyle Beaton finally received his due, logging a clean sweep of the MX2 class and subsequently taking a major jump in the points standings from 4th to 2nd.

In moto one of the MX1 title hunt, the expected battle between the three championship contenders unravelled as per expectations. Monster Energy Cernics Kawasaki’s Dusty Klatt took the pack in tow after the gate dropped with Team Suzuki Rockstar Energy OTSFF's Tyler Medaglia and Facciotti in pursuit. Klatt, third in the points rankings, and number two, Medaglia, swapped positions for the lead on the third lap. Medaglia was only able to capitalize on his home track advantage till lap seven; that’s when Facciotti revved it up a notch to stick a pass first on Klatt, then on Medaglia. Once the lead was under his control, Facciotti cruised on to take it all the way to the checkered. Medaglia held on to 2nd place while Klatt had to take satisfaction with 3rd. American star and KTM guest rider Nick Wey followed the trio across the finish line in 4th. Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast cemented the top five.    

In the second moto, Facciotti tolerated no competition whatsoever. He jumped into the lead after the gate dropped and never looked back. His Blackfoot Yamaha teammate Blair Morgan briefly ran in 2nd place but the Prince Albert, SK motocross icon was relieved of that position before the end of lap one by Klatt. Campbell River, BC’s Klatt ran there for most of the moto until a surprising Kyle Keast stuck a pass on him in the closing laps to take it to the checkered. With his 3-3 results, Klatt took 2nd overall on the day while Keast snared 3rd overall on the strength of 5-2 results. Wey’s 5th place finish in the second moto saw him record 4th overall on the day while Morgan sealed the top five thanks to 4-10 results.

Meanwhile, for Tyler Medaglia moto two turned out to be a worst case scenario. Although the Kemptville, ON native managed a 6th place start, which he parlayed into 4th moments later, a crash on lap four sent him for an excursion over the handlebars and a trip to the hospital as a precautionary measure. With the second moto DNF leaving him without any points, he recorded his worst result of the season, chalking up 10th overall on the day and losing his 2nd place in the rankings to Klatt who trails Facciotti’s 354 points by 38.
 
Kyle Beaton for his part led the first MX2 moto from start to finish and was never really challenged for position. Behind him there was plenty of action as KTM Royal Distributing Thor Riverside MX's Ryan Lockhart – in his best race so far this season – battled for 2nd place with local favourite Jeremy Medaglia. The Team Suzuki Rockstar Energy OTSFF rookie disposed of Lockhart on lap two but a mechanical failure on lap five signalled the end of Medaglia’s moto. This put Lockhart back into 2nd; the Springhill, NS native went on to finish in that position. Rounding out the top five were Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier, 3rd, Lockhart’s KTM teammate Eric Nye, 4th, and Equipe les Chutes Motovan Kawasaki’s Kaven Benoit, 5th.

The second MX2 moto was a repeat of the first as far as Kyle Beaton was concerned. The Surrey, BC native once again led wire to wire to register his first overall win of the season. Doing it with a definitive clean sweep put the icing on cake for Beaton who was cheated out of possible overall wins earlier in the season thanks to DNFs. Jeremy Medaglia faired much better this time out turning a 7th place start into 2nd place by the fifth lap. He held onto it till the end of the moto, carding 9th overall on the day. Combined with his 4th in the first moto, Nye’s solid 3rd place finish in the second moto saw the series points leader nail down 2nd overall. It should be little more than a formality for the Californian to wrap up the title this weekend at the Walton TransCan Grand National. Maier, who finished 4th in the second moto wound up with 3rd overall while Lockhart nailed down 4th overall on the strength of a 5th place finish in moto two.