Events

CMRC Pro Motocross National

Regina Race Report

Regina Moto Valley Raceway

By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

The Monster Energy Motocross Nationals rolled into the flat lands of Regina, Saskatchewan this past weekend for Round 4 of the nine round series. Once again, we had great racing, a great track, and a great time. In fact, Regina is actually a pretty fun little town. It was my first time to the capital of SK and I think this race could become the new Calgary. The people seem cool, the girls are beautiful, and with a three-week break between the next round in Nanaimo, it offered a chance for everyone to kick up their heels and enjoy some bench racing. Let’s take a look at what happened in Regina with more flawless photos from Liss! Also, don’t forget to check out our latest episode of the Racer X Canada/Destroyer Films Moto Show—it keeps getting better!

My predictions (I said he’d go 1-3 with both holeshots) for “KD Beets” started off well when the Clearbrook Yamaha rider holeshot and won the first MX2 moto. Tucker Hibbert (29) was closing in on Beets early in the race until he ran off the track, allowing Eric Nye to slip by momentarily and for Beaton to take off. In the second moto, Beets grabbed another $200 Royal Distributing holeshot cheque and was leading before going down hard and injuring his lower leg. Early reports indicated that Beets broke his tib/fib but we found outlater that he just bruised his leg badly. We’ll definitely see him in Nanaimo in three weeks and maybe even Raymond this week.

Hibbert (29) and Nye (24) were the next two fastest MX2 guys in Regina. After Beaton fell in the second moto, Hibbert moved into the lead and raced off for the overall. KTM’s Nye had another solid weekend going 3-2 for second overall, extending his points lead to 38 over Carson City Nevada's Aron Harvey. For those who don’t know the “Nye-a-later” very well, don’t be shy, and stop by the KTM pits to say hello. He’s a laidback guy and he’s always happy to chat.

New Zealander, Mason Phillips, had his best race yet of the series, finishing 5-3 for third overall. Phillips and his teammate, Ryan Lockhart, had a nice battle early in moto two, but the “Newf” just didn’t have the speed for Phillips this weekend. Lockhart was strong, however, working his way through the pack in both motos to finish 7-6 for fifth overall. I could be wrong, but I think Lockhart has passed more riders than anyone else in the series.

Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Nick Evennou (41) isn’t happy right now—and neither is his teammate, Teddy Maier. Evennou was running third in the first moto until his crank bearing seized, causing him to DNF. Then, in the second moto, he suffered a flat rear tire. Maier didn’t even have a weekend; an ankle injury from Mordan proved too painful and he was unable to race. Thankfully, for the Leading Edge team, Brock Hoyer stepped up for his best round yet, finishing 10th overall.

South African Kerim Fitz-gerald is fast enough to be on the box, but bad starts have kept him outside the top three so far. The Morgan Racing Honda rider didn’t get his podium in Regina, but he was close. In moto one, Fitz-gerald grabbed a top five start and finished fourth between the KTM’s of Nye and Phillips. “Kermie” had another good start in the second moto, but he went over the bars early in the race and was left with extremely bent-up bars. The South Africans are warriors though and he didn’t pull off. I couldn’t believe he could ride around the track, let alone jump all of the jumps!

Battleford Suzuki’s Broc “ShurShot Jr.” Shury rocked out the old two-stroke RM125 in Regina!

Your MX2 podium: Eric Nye, Tucker Hibbert and Mason Phillips.

I finally found the courage to talk with Royal Distributing/Thor/Riverside KTM Canada’s Jacqueline Ross this weekend. She’s cool! I know some people aren’t too thrilled that KTM hired a U.S. rider instead of a Canadian but it shows how much value the manufacturers are putting into the Ladies’ series. Plus, who doesn’t love the sound of that KTM 144? Also, I got her to admit that she borrowed my “Eh” from the Frid’Eh Update for her updates on jromx.com. You're welcome, Jackie, and thanks for reading!

Suzuki’s Jocelyn Killough must be taking advice from her boyfriend, Colton Facciotti, because she’s improving every weekend. Jocelyn went 3-4 for third overal

Perfect season? Almost! It’s unfortunate that Blackfoot’s Colton Facciotti didn’t race Gopher Dunes because he could have, realistically, been in position for a perfect season. He is perfect in the motos he’s raced and Facciotti continued his sweep of the MX1 class in Regina—and he pocketed $400 from Royal for his holeshots. He’s also now second in points, only 17 back of Tyler Medaglia.

As Facciotti walked away with the wins, it was open season for second. Tyler Medaglia (13), Jeff Northrop (10), and Blair Morgan (12) traded paint, literally, fighting for the podium positions. In moto one, TM worked his way into second on lap two, slid out a couple of laps later, and then fought back past “Norcal.” Morgan was feeling the cheers of the hometown crowd and started pressuring TM for second (check out the Moto Show for footage) but couldn’t complete the pass. In moto two, TM was outside the top-10 off the start and fought his way through for third. Norcal wasn’t happy with TM’s aggressive riding in the first moto and bumped him pretty good in the corner before the whoops, but TM stayed strong.

This is how close Morgan and Medaglia were at different points in both motos. It would have been cool to see Morgan podium at his local national, but a flat tire ruined his chance in moto two.

Chuck Mesley is getting stronger and faster each weekend. Is it a coincidence that his results have improved since I signed on his mechanic/ man friend? I think not! “The Mez” had a great start in moto one and wasn’t far back from a pack that included Mitch Cooke, Simon Homans, and Jay Burke. Had his bike not stalled on the starting line in moto two, I’m sure he would have holeshot, checked out and won—and taken home all four trophy girls. He ended the day 13th overall.

After bench-pressing Chick’s D6 and downing 17 cups of Tim Horton’s coffee, Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast came from way back in both motos to finish 5-6 for sixth overall. Seriously, he was so far back that Mark Stallybrass still had a mustache. The Keast’s are back home now laying deck before heading back out to Nanaimo and Edmonton.

Dusty Klatt had another up and down weekend. The Klattster has struggled to keep his bike running lately; he stalled it twice in Morden and again in Regina while running second in the first moto. The Cernic’s Kawasaki rider rode well in the second moto, finishing third behind Homans. Check back for a 5 mins with … Klatt later this week.

Simon says: “I’m glad I came out west!” See-mone was not happy with his performance in Morden after pulling the holeshot in moto two. He redeemed himself in Regina, however, holding onto second after passing Klatt two corners into the final moto.

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