Bench Racing Ammo: The Other Guys
If you attended the FIM Red Bull Motocross of Nations this past weekend, you can probably agree that Team USA’s amazing performance sort of overshadowed everything else—particularly the runaway wins for MX2 rider Ryan Villopoto. So for today’s Motosport Outlet Bench Racing Ammo, we’ve decided to look back Steve Matthes-style with some of our own “observations” from the MXoN.
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Speaking of the B Final, did you realize that it was dominated by Ecuador’s MX2 entry, Martin Davalos? The Red Bull KTM rider, who is a fixture on the American motocross scene in the Lites class, crossed the finish line 59 seconds ahead of Brazil’s Antonio Balbi, another rider who has been racing in the U.S. for the past two seasons. In addition to those two, another rider you may recognize in the B Final was Mexico’s Erick Vallejo, who came across the line in eighth.
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The real surprise for Team Canada was 19-year-old Colton Facciotti. Facciotti was an alternate on the team, replacing an injured Dusty Klatt, and he was also jumping on a 250F, which he hadn't raced in about two years. Facciotti posted the team's strongest results, going 16-12 for fifth overall. Not bad for the ‘replacement' rider. Facciotti also gave his gate picks to JSR and Morgan both motos, making his fifth-place even more impressive.
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For Australia, Chad Reed gave up the good gate pick for Andrew McFarlane in moto 1, but McFarlane got plowed into the fence on the inside of the start straight and was done for the day, which ended Australia’s hopes. Reed came through the pack in moto one and even took Great Britain’s Tommy Searle out for good measure. The Brits were pissed. Then Byrne’s bike quit on the last lap of moto 2, making things even worse for Team Australia, who finished 20th out of 20.
South Africa's Grant Langston
South Africa’s Grant Langston, who now resides in Clermont, Florida, had a horrible first moto and to be honest, the #19 pretty much went unnoticed. He finished 22nd, but in moto 3 he never stopped digging and passed Belgium’s Steve Ramon for third on the very last lap of the race—even after crashing in the turn following the downhill triple. That was billed as the battle between the European MX1 Champ and the AMA Motocross Champ. Way to go, champ!
Remember Daryl Hurley, who won the opening round of the FIM World SXGP series in Seville, Spain in 2003 on a Motoworld Racing-backed Suzuki? He was the replacement for the injured Josh Coppins on Team New Zealand, but unfortunately he got knocked out in his qualifier moto on Saturday. This didn’t bode well for the team, as MX2 entry Ben Townley had already suffered a grade-one separation of his shoulder in free practice. He could have raced if he had to, but with Hurley out the team was done anyway. Townley told us the best way to heal his shoulder was a month of vacation in New Zealand.
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