After missing a national round last year, Ste-Julie, Quebec is back on the CMRC schedule hosting Round 6 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals this Sunday.

 

The spectacular, hard-packed Circuit de Ste-Julie sets the perfect stage for the MX1 and MX2 contenders to continue their quest for dominance after ploughing through the mega sands of Gopher Dunes this past weekend.   

 

With the season now past the mid-way point, and the top ten candidates in both classes more or less established, the heat is on for those looking to secure the lowest possible single-digit plate number.

 

From the looks of it, however, the battle will revolve mostly on the rankings from 2 to 10 as the Yamaha/Red Bull/Blackfoot/Fox Racing duo Colton Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia have a firm grip on the MX1 and MX2 title hunt respectively.

 

Medaglia, who has won three motos and three overalls to date, has a solid 41-point lead over second in the current rankings, Monster Energy/Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier. The defending champ collected a DNF in the first half of the season and will need to consistently score big points in the remaining four rounds if he is going to repeat as champ. But then he’ll have to hope Medaglia ends up with at least one DNF or zero points in a moto.

 

Orange Motorsports KTM’s Jeremy Medaglia, who is enjoying his break-through season, trails Maier by just five points. Medaglia in turn holds seven points on Maier’s teammate Shawn Rife. Along with his older brother Tyler, Jeremy is the only Canadian in the MX2 top five at the present time. He will no doubt do everything in his power to ensure the Medaglia name will be attached to the top two 2010 rankings.

 

Like Maier, Rife experienced a few setbacks in the first half of the season that put a damper on his current points standing. Rife has proved his mettle and contender status, however, by being the only rider in addition to Maier and Medaglia to win motos as well as an overall.

 

Actually, Rife, in his first full season of racing in Canada, has won four motos compared to three each by Medaglia and Maier.

Look for Quebec’s favourite MX2 son, Kaven Benoit, to be among the headliners in his home province on Sunday. Benoit has been logging one of his best seasons to date and is currently holding down sixth in the points chase.   

 

Former MX2 champ Royal Distributing KTM’s Eric Nye, who is in fifth place, has six more points than Benoit. If Duroy Racing KTM’s Benoit keeps stepping it up and stays consistent, he just may be the third Canadian to join the top five club at the end of the season.  

 

Although Facciotti has only an 18 points lead on Rockstar Energy/OTSFF Racing/Two Wheel Suzuki’s Bobby Kiniry, he has already proved himself to be totally capable of nailing down a third consecutive MX1 title.

 

Despite leaving Round 3 in an ambulance with zero points to his credit, Facciotti is a one-man wrecking crew who has demolished the competition at four of the five rounds to date with very convincing clean sweeps.

 

Kiniry, who briefly enjoyed the top spot in the points chase, after Facciotti’s crash in Calgary, is now looking at defending the runner-up slot in the championship. Look for Facciotti’s teammate Dusty Klatt to make sure that Kiniry will be racing to defend his current No.3 plate by season’s end.

 

Like Facciotti, Klatt suffered through a zero-points day in the first half of the season. Klatt was betrayed by technical problems in both motos at Round 2 of the title hunt.

 

The former MX1 and MX2 Champion is still looking for a moto win this season. He will no doubt try to rectify that situation as he sets his sights on making it another 1-2 championship season for Blackfoot Racing.

 

Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast, despite his share of bad luck – like running out of gas on the last lap while holding down second place in the first MX1 moto at Round 5 – has shown himself to be a contender of the highest order. He is currently fourth in the points chase, holding a seven-point deficit over Redemption Racing Kawasaki’s Mason Phillips.

 

But with four rounds left on the schedule, unexpected surprises – pleasant or otherwise –could very well cause a shake-up in the rankings all the way through to 20th place. One thing is for certain: it ain’t over till it’s over!

 

Also at Ste-Julie this weekend will be the first round of the eastern segment of the CMRC Women’s Nationals presented by Honda. All eyes will be on defending national champ Heidi Cooke, who represents the colours of Rockstar Energy/OTSFF Racing/Two Wheel Suzuki this year. The women’s series will conclude in Walton, with a showdown between the top western and eastern riders. 

 

MX1 Points after 5 Rounds

1 Colton Facciotti 200

2 Bobby Kiniry 182

3 Dusty Klatt 176

4 Kyle Keast 151

5 Mason Phillips 144

6 Josh Demuth 138

7 Kornel Nemeth 134

8 Freddy Karrle 131

9 Kevin Urquhart 124

10 Troy Adams 115

 

MX2 Points after 5 Rounds

1 Tyler Medaglia 225

2 Teddy Maier 184

3 Jeremy Medaglia 179

4 Shawn Rife 172

5 Eric Nye 155

6 Kaven Benoit 149

7 Jared Allison 137

8 Parker Allison 110

9 Spencer Knowles 101

10 Kerim Fitz-Gerald 98