Colton Facciotti rebounds in Morden to claim MX1 overall

Despite an injured ankle, which he sustained during Sunday morning practice, Toyota Yamaha Blackfoot Red Bull Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti recorded the MX1 overall at Round 4 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals in Morden, MB on Sunday, thanks to 3-1 moto results. Aron Harvey made it a perfect day for Blackfoot Racing by snaring the MX2 overall on the strength of 2-1 motos.

A steady downpour on Friday night and early Saturday morning turned Shadow Valley Raceway into a muddy mess which, compounded by heavy winds, saw Saturday’s program cancelled. Sunshine, a stiff breeze, and hard work by the track crew, who were forced to loop around a flooded section of the track, ensured that the final round of the western leg of the national tour got underway without a hitch on Sunday.

The first MX1 moto holeshot was claimed by Facciotti’s teammate Dust Klatt who was followed by Monster Energy Cernic’s Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter, PerforMX Troy Lee Norco Bikes Yamaha’s Shawn Maffenbeier, and the Rockstar Suzuki OTSFF duo Kyle Keast and Jeremy Medaglia.

An on-fire Klatt put a 15-second lead on Carpenter while the chase group found themselves even farther back. A bobble by Klatt around lap five, however, was enough for Carpenter to not only make up the gap but stick a pass on Klatt, who took some time getting back into the fray. Klatt then spent the rest of the moto chasing the American but when the checkered flew, he found himself crossing the finish line with a six second deficit. Meanwhile, Facciotti, experiencing an uncharacteristically bad start in dead last position, spent about three-quarters of the moto slicing and dicing his way into a third place finish.

The second moto holeshot went to local rider, KTM-mounted Ryan Millar, with Facciotti and Klatt hot on his tail. Millar’s lead was short-lived, however, with Facciotti taking over that enviable position on the first lap. Klatt didn’t waste much time installing himself into second while Tyler Medaglia, who was fourth out of the gate, picked off a hard battling Millar for third place a few laps later.

First moto winner Paul Carpenter, who started around 10th place, stuck a pass on Medaglia around the halfway mark to claim third but was unable to get past Klatt, despite giving it his best shot. Once he took command of the lead, Facciotti checked out to put about 25 seconds worth of real estate between himself and Klatt. Medaglia eventually had to contend with Carpenter’s teammate Bobby Kiniry, who ended up grabbing fourth while Medaglia settled for fifth.

Rounding out the overall podium were Carpenter, who carded second with 1-3 results, and Klatt who booked third on the strength of his 2-2 motos. Kiniry finished fourth on the day, thanks to consistent 4-4 motos while Royal Distributing Thor KTM’s Jeff Northrop cemented the top five with 6-7 motos

Aron Harvey picks up MX2 overall

In the first MX2 moto, Aron Harvey snared the holeshot with his Toyota Yamaha Blackfoot Fox Racing teammate Kyle Beaton, Leading Edge Kawasaki Vanquish MX’s Teddy Maier, Royal Distributing Thor KTM’s Eric Nye, and Kawasaki’s Nick Evennou in tow. By lap four Maier had taken possession of the lead, with Harvey focused on regaining on the top spot, which he failed to do. The two Americans, who dramatically turned up the pace, had already gapped the chase group led by Evennou, by about eight seconds.

At the finish line, an unleashed Maier put an additional eight seconds on Harvey. Even farther back was Nye, who passed Evennou to claim third in the closing laps. Evennou, however, was penalized one position for cutting part of the track after a slip, reshuffling the top five to include Beaton, who inherited fourth.

By the start of the second MX2 moto, many parts of the track were actually dry and becoming dusty. Kawasaki-mounted Kaven Benoit grabbed the holeshot, followed by Monster Energy’s Kawasaki’s Tucker Hibbert, Harvey, Maier, and Evennou. A super motivated Maier didn’t waste much time to stick a pass on Harvey. Benoit was next to succumb to Maier’s charge. Although it looked like Maier was going to check out for his second win of the day, just past the halfway mark a mechanical failure put him out of the race.

With Maier on the sidelines, Harvey gladly accepted the lead. Nye, who had started in ninth, closed in rapidly but was unable to make a pass before the end of the moto. With 2-1 motos, Harvey claimed his first overall win of the season. Nye on the strength of 3-2 motos, and Evennou on the strength of 5-3 motos, capped the overall podium in second and third respectively.

Conspicuous by his absence in MX2 was Dean Wilson, winner of the first three rounds. Wilson tore the end off of his middle left hand finger after crashing while practicing at Calgary’s Wild Rose MX Park on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hibbert, winner of last year’s Morden National, had a day to forget in his first appearance of the season north of the border. The Goodridge, MN native DNFd the first moto due to motor failure; early in the second moto he disappeared after a crash while running in second place.