McThoughts | Canadian AX Tour | Barrie Round 2

By Jeff McConkey

Round 2 of the Canadian National AX Tour kicked off Saturday night at the Molson Center in Barrie, Ontario. Once again, the Pro turnout was great. The track was quite a bit tighter than last week and made for some close racing. Early on in practice, the guys had gotten down to the plywood in spots. The track crew took notice and did a great job to give the Pro’s an amazing track all night long.

They held a track party before the night show which allowed the spectators down on the floor to check out the bikes and chat with their favourite riders. I think this was a big hit and think it should be done at all indoor events. Let’s take a look at the results and see my thoughts.

Round 2 Clash for Cash podium: Colton Facciotti, Chris Blose, Logan Karnow | Jeff McConkey photo

1st Colton Facciotti (AX Pro 2nd, Pro Lites 2nd): Colton decided to show up at Round 2, and it was once again a great idea. He should have had a win in one of the mains, but Blose tried to put it in hard on him, and they became stuck together. I think he had a win in him for that main. During the start of the Clash, he was involved in a scary crash with Frenchman Karl Normand. Both guys went down hard but Colton was up and trying to get back into the race when the officials red flagged it. On the restart, Colt basically rode perfect laps from start to finish making it look easy. Hey, Dig and Honda Canada, please get Colt out West!

#2 Colton Facciotti.

2nd Chris Blose (AX Pro 3rd, Pro Lites 3rd): Chris had an off night to his standards. He didn’t finish off the box, but he wants to be on the top every time out. I thought he looked really good, but just couldn’t catch any breaks. With the 3rd round in Saskatchewan being cancelled, that should allow Chris to compete in all the rounds.

#101 Chris Blose.

3rd Logan Karnow (AX Pro 6th, Pro Lites 5th): Logan had 2 solid mains in Barrie, but he stepped up big time in the Clash. He got a pretty good start and just put in consistent, good laps. Nice to see this guy finally lose the bad luck cloud. With some good starts, he should make a lot of main events in East Coast SX.

#471 Logan Karnow.

4th Steven Mages (AX Pro 1st, Pro Lites 1st): Steven prefers the tighter confines, and it showed in both mains. He was given a gift in the one main when Blose and Facciotti were tied up just before the finish line. Once again, he was looking good in the Clash, but he accidentally hit neutral just before the finish and went down, losing 2 spots. Hopefully, someone can offer up a green bike to Mages and get him to the remaining rounds out west. He rides a bone stock bike, so it shouldn’t be that hard.

#12 Steven Mages.

5th Marco Cannella (Pro Lites 6th): Great night for the young Cannella. He showed some real aggression getting him into the main, and rode smooth and smart in the Clash.

#46 Marco Cannella.

6th Kyle Swanson (AX Pro 9th, Pro Lites 7th): Kyle is having a blast riding AX on his PR-MX team, and his riding shows it. His results could be a little better with good starts, but he looks good and aggressive on the track.

#313 Kyle Swanson.

7th Brock Leitner (AX Pro 10th, Pro Lites 4th): Brock spent the week at the Thompson’s working hard with Jay Thompson, and he looked good early on. His speed and skill is there, he just needs to add a little consistency.

#5 Brock Leitner.

8th Kyle Keast (AX Pro 7th, Pro Lites 11th): Keast showed up in Barrie with only a 250f and he rode it well. It looked like it forced him to go inside every where. I think he may have done a little better on the 450, maybe a spot or 2.

#8 Kyle Keast.

9th Westen Wrozyna (AX Pro 4th): Westen looked solid again in practice. He had a great AX Pro main. He also, once again, avoided serious injury – this time he lost a chain after a hard landing on the finish double. With a little more practice in the whoops, he could be closer to the podium.

#34 Westen Wrozyna.

10th Tanner Ward (Pro Lites 8th): Tanner needed better starts. He has the speed but on such a tight track it was almost impossible to get through the pack. His aggressive style suits the indoor stuff, he just has to do a little more pushing and not get pushed as much.

#184 Tanner Ward.

11th Jake McKinney (AX Pro 8th, Pro Lites 12th): Jake looked really good in practice and had me searching for his name in the results to find out who he was. He didn’t have the best results in the mains, but at least he was out there racing.

#221 Jake McKinney.

DNS Karl Normand (AX Pro 5th): Karl caused the red flag in the Clash, and was not allowed to line up for the restart. He looked solid in the AX Pro main finishing a solid 5th.