Goerke, Maffenbeier Clinch Canadian Motocross Nationals Titles
![Goerke, Maffenbeier Clinch Canadian Motocross Nationals Titles](http://rxi.iscdn.net/2017/08/149783_goerke3.jpg)
Report provided by CMRC
A huge crowd was on hand Sunday at RJ Motosport Park in Barrie, Ontario as it hosted the last round of the CMRC sanctioned 2017 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan. RJ Motosport Park is an hour north of Toronto and proved to be a great test for the riders, and provided spectacular viewing for the spectators. The track itself is a combination of sand and loam, which becomes nasty rough for the riders as the day progresses.
Champions were decided in both the MX1 and MX2 classes this weekend as both series went down to the last moto in 2017. It was a great day for Yamaha as they won both classes this year like KTM did in 2016. In the MX1 class, Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke captured his third National Title. He did what he had to do in Moto 2 after having problems in the first moto, entering the final moto of the season only 8 points ahead of Rockstar Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel in the championship.
In the MX2 class, MX101 FXR Yamaha Team’s Shawn Maffenbeier picked up his sixth win of the season on route to his first National Title after coming into the final round leading Nut Up Industries Kawasaki’s Ryan Surratt by 11 points in the Championship, and going into the second moto with a 20-point cushion.
MX1
After coming into the final round with a 15-point series lead, things didn’t look good for Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke when he went launching over the bars on the opening lap, stalled the bike on Lap 3, and couldn’t restart it. Goerke finally got it going but found himself back in twenty-fifth position as he came around to complete his fourth lap while his biggest rival in the series was battling for the lead. Matt charged back to finish sixth in the first moto and do some damage control, while Christophe Pourcel finished second and gained 7 points on Goerke, bringing the gap down to 8 points as the two of them lined up for the final moto of the year. In the second moto, Matt got a great start and led for the first three laps before giving up the position to Pourcel knowing that he didn’t have to beat him to win the Championship, and only had to finish in the top 4 to take the title in 2017. Matt rode a smart race to finish third and win his third National Title by only 3 points. On the podium Goerke said, “That second moto was the longest moto of my life. The first moto was so stressful, and after crashing then stalling it I made it difficult for myself today.”
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel came into the final round knowing that he had to win both motos and hope that Goerke would have some bad luck if he was going to win the title. Pourcel qualified second, and after passing Mike Alessi to get into second place in the first moto was handed the lead when Colton Facciotti over jumped a big floater on Lap 7. Pourcel ran up front for five laps before Facciotti could make the pass to get back in the lead. Although Pourcel kept it close he was second at the checkered flag. Christophe’s start was not great in Moto 2 but the crafty Frenchman made quick work of those in front of him and grabbed the lead on Lap 4, posted the fastest lap of the moto, and took the win and the overall on the day. In the end it was not enough to take the title, and even after winning five times this year, Christophe had to settle for second in the Championship..
Coming off a dominating 1-1 performance at Round 9 Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Colton Facciotti was the fastest qualifier and posted the quickest lap of Moto 1 on route to taking the win. In the second moto, Facciotti moved forward after not getting a great start and was fourth at the checkered flag, putting him third overall for the day. Colton finishes the season strong after winning 3 of the last 4 motos and will have the #3 on his bike in 2018 after finishing third in the Championship and being the top Canadian rider in the series in 2017.
Competing in only his fifth event in the 2017 series, privateer Jeremy Medaglia looked super impressive after grabbing the holeshot in the first moto and hanging on to finish fourth. Jeremy followed that up with a ninth in Moto 2 to finish fourth overall for the day and hopefully will find a ride for 2018 and race the entire series.
Redemption Racing’s Cade Clason’s 7-6 moto finishes put him fifth overall, which included a holeshot in the second moto. This was Clason’s best result since finishing fourth at Round 9 in 2016.
Rounding out the top 10 were Royal Distributing Motovan Piller’s Race Team’s Kyle Chisholm in sixth, Husqvarna’s Mike Brown in seventh, Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Tim Tremblay in eighth, Husqvarna’s Kyle Keast in ninth, and Royal Distributing Motovan Piller’s Race Team’s Tyler Medaglia in tenth.
MX2
MX101 FXR Yamaha Team’s Shawn Maffenbeier must have been feeling the pressure coming into the final round with an 11-point lead in the series and started the day as the fastest qualifier. Maffenbeier got a great start in the first moto and passed his teammate Jess Pettis to take the lead on Lap 2, and almost went down in the process. From that point on Shawn appeared to be in complete control as he posted the fastest lap of the first moto and took the win. Lining up for the final moto of the year, Maff had a comfortable 20-point lead on Ryan Surratt and rode an intelligent race to finish third, earn his sixth overall victory this season, and win his first National MX2 Title. On the podium with the #1 plate in his hand, Shawn said, “The team worked hard all week to get the bike ready and to keep me calm knowing what was at stake this weekend.”
After starting the season off slowly with his new team, Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Dylan Wright put a good finish on 2017 winning the last moto of the season, his first win this year. Wright qualified third fastest and was fourth in Moto 1 after going down early and being passed by Jacob Hayes. Dylan led all but two laps of the second moto and with 4-1 finishes was second overall on the day. Wright passed Ryan Surratt in the standings to finish the season second in the MX2 Class by only one point.
Monster Energy Alpinestar Kawasaki’s Jacob Hayes put in another strong ride and equaled his best result of the season with a second in Moto 2. Hayes was third in Moto 1 and his 3-2 finishes put him up on the box for the fourth time in 2017, and earns him fourth overall in the MX2 standings for 2017.
After being the second fastest qualifier in the morning, MX101 FXR Yamaha Team’s Jess Pettis led the opening lap of the first moto before being passed by his teammate and finishing the moto in second. Pettis didn’t get a great start in Moto 2 and made a few passes to put himself fourth at the checkered flag, missing the podium at the end of the day by two points. Jess had a breakout season in 2017 earning his first win and finishing on the podium three times while missing two rounds with injuries. Pettis will finish the season in fifth place in the MX2 standings like he did in 2016.
In his first appearance in the MX2 class, Canadian Amateur Marco Cannella finished 6-5 for fifth overall and served notice for 2018 that he has got what it takes to be a contender in the Pro ranks.
Nut Up Industries Kawasaki’s Ryan Surratt came into the final round 11 points behind Maffenbeier in the standings and had a legitimate shot at winning the title. Surratt got one of his worst starts of the season in the first moto and had to make a lot of passes to get into fifth place at the checkered flag. Coming into the final moto of the year 20-points back, Ryan did what he had to do and grabbed the lead on Lap 7, posted the fastest lap of the race, only to go down two laps later while trying to get by some lappers, and with that put an end to his championship hopes.
Black Rider Motovan Kawasaki’s Jason Benny used the momentum from last weekend’s career best podium performance to grab both holeshots and take the Royal Distributing Triple Crown this weekend, and the nice cheque that goes with it.
RJ Motosport Park in Barrie, Ontario was the tenth and final round of the 25th anniversary season for the 2017 CMRC sanctioned Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals presented by Motovan. Don’t forget to check out all the MX1 action from this year’s championships on TSN, MX2 on Fox Sports Racing, and both classes on MAVTV in the US, or by downloading the free Conx2share app and logging on to www.conx2share.com on either your mobile phone or computer.
MX1
OVERALL FINISH | RIDER | MOTO 1 | MOTO 2 | BIKE |
1st | Christophe Pourcel | 2nd | 1st | Husqvarna |
2nd | Colton Facciotti | 1st | 4th | Honda |
3rd | Matt Goerke | 6th | 3rd | Yamaha |
4th | Jeremy Medaglia | 4th | 9th | Honda |
5th | Cade Clason | 7th | 6th | KTM |
6th | Kyle Chisholm | 9th | 5th | Yamaha |
7th | Mike Brown | 8th | 7th | Husqvarna |
8th | Tim Tremblay | 12th | 8th | Yamaha |
9th | Kyle Keast | 11th | 10th | Husqvarna |
10th | Tyler Medaglia | DNF | 2nd | Honda |
MX2
OVERALL FINISH | RIDER | MOTO 1 | MOTO 2 | BIKE |
1st | Shawn Maffenbeier | 1st | 3rd | Yamaha |
2nd | Dylan Wright | 4th | 1st | Honda |
3rd | Jacob Hayes | 3rd | 2nd | Kawasaki |
4th | Jesse Pettis | 2nd | 4th | Yamaha |
5th | Marco Cannella | 6th | 5th | Yamaha |
6th | Connoer Mullennix | 7th | 6th | KTM |
7th | Casey Keast | 8th | 8th | Yamaha |
8th | Jeremy Pronovost | 11th | 9th | Yamaha |
9th | Jerett Pesci | 15th | 7th | KTM |
10th | Michael Fowler | 13th | 11th | Yamaha |
MX1 Championship Standings
STANDING | RIDER | POINTS |
1st | Matt Goerke | 520 |
2nd | Christophe Pourcel | 517 |
3rd | Colton Facciotti | 479 |
4th | Mike Alessi | 432 |
5th | Tyler Medaglia | 405 |
6th | Kyle Chisholm | 380 |
7th | Dillan Epstein | 349 |
8th | Tim Tremblay | 334 |
9th | Cade Clason | 320 |
10th | Keylan Meston | 266 |
MX2 Championship Standings
STANDING | RIDER | POINTS |
1st | Shawn Maffenbeier | 468 |
2nd | Dylan Wright | 424 |
3rd | Ryan Surratt | 423 |
4th | Jacoby Hayes | 361 |
5th | Jesse Pettis | 334 |
6th | Casey Keast | 320 |
7th | Josh Osby | 307 |
8th | Cole Thompson | 298 |
9th | Hayden Halstead | 296 |
10th | Davey Fraser | 281 |