AUGUST 2, 2005
--press release--
Team ALDO KTM Royal celebrated their first CMRC Canadian National Motocross Championship victory on Sunday, 31st July, as Michael Willard stormed to overall MX2 East honors (1-2) at Riverglade MX Park in Moncton, New Brunswick.
Willard dominated the first of Sunday’s motos on the KTM 250 SX-F, the 19-year-old from Ohio cruising to his second moto win of the season. He followed up his victory with a solid second place finish in Moto2 to capture the glory at Riverglade and boost his MX2 East championship challenge heading into the fourth and final round at Ste. Julie in two weeks time.
Thanks to a combination of great weather and hard work by the organizers track conditions were perfect all weekend and the KTM MX2 line-up of Willard, Matt Barnes and Pierce Chamberlain kicked off riding duties with Saturday’s qualifiers. Barnes rode to fifth in the first session while Willard led the pack home in the second with Chamberlain rounding out the top-five riders.
There was a blaze of orange at the front of the field as Moto1 heralded the start of Sunday’s action. Matt Barnes pulled the holeshot on the #378 bike with Willard and Chamberlain in hot pursuit. As the KTM boys led a team 1-2-3 the rest of the pack gave chase in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season. Willard passed Barnes for the lead, firing the #749 bike into the distance and onto the win.
Barnes then clashed with Ryan Lockhart on the back section, both riders hitting the dirt hard. Matt recovered but finished a disappointing 27th. Pierce Chamberlain rode well in the opening laps but he couldn’t match the pace Willard was setting at the front. The Ontario-native settled for seventh on the #49 entry, a welcome return to the top ten following his results at Joliette a week earlier.
Moto2 later in the day gave the home crowd something to cheer about as local favorite, Mitch Cooke, claimed the win ahead of Michael Willard. Michael started well, capturing Team ALDO KTM Royal’s sixth consecutive Royal Distributing Holeshot award, but it wasn’t enough to keep Cooke at bay.
A safe second place combined with his win was good enough for Willard and KTM to celebrate their first overall MX2 Nationals victory with the 250 SX-F.
Matt Barnes bounced back from his fall in the first moto to show his true potential in the second. Caught up in the mid-pack at the start of Moto2, Barnes charged his way through the running order to come home fourth at the flag, the Ohio rider’s third top-five finish of the season, leaving Moncton with a 27-4 record.
The bad luck that dogged Barnes earlier attached itself to Pierce Chamberlain in the second. While fighting for position he was forced to pull out to remove trapped dust from his goggles. This cost him valuable time and position but he rallied to a 16th place finish to score tenth overall on the day with 7-16.
Michael Willard now sits third overall in the MX2 East standings, two points from Mitch Cooke in second and just nine back from current leader Kyle Chisholm on 125. Matt Barnes and Pierce Chamberlain also hold top-ten positions for KTM, sitting eighth and ninth respectively.
Celebrating KTM Canada’s victory Team Manager Andy White commented:
“What a great weekend! We deserved to win today as Michael’s performance was awesome. I know he wanted to go 1-1 for the day but we’re delighted to take the win with a 1-2 and the points that go with it. The whole team works really hard and I’m delighted that our efforts off-track are being rewarded on-track. We’ve got two weeks to go before the final round and we know what we have to do in that time. It’s great to be heading back to Quebec in the thick of the action. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!”
The final round of the MX2 East Championship takes place Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th August at Ste. Julie, Quebec.
Team ALDO KTM Royal hits the track this season thanks to support from the following partners; ALDO, Royal Distributing, Axo, FMF, Protech Suspension, M2R, Pirelli, Polisport, Regina Chain, Renthal, Twin Air, Motorex, TAG Metals, Ogio, Mechanix Wear, NelsonMX.com, TriStar, SDG, SFB Racing, Universal, Arnette, DRD, One Industries, LRP, Furious, Hinson Clutch Components, E-Line, Cycra, Excel, Works Connection, Atpac, Aussie/Sport, Jagg448, Sponsorhouse.com and SBS Brakes.
