Frid'Eh Update #26 Presented by Orange Motorsports

Sponsored by: 

 All photos by James Lissimore

Hello and welcome to the 26^th edition of the Frid’EH Update brought to you in a loving way by Orange Motorsports, the primary sponsor of number 17 in your program but number 1 in your heart, Jeremy Medaglia.

Jer-Bear is currently in fourth in the MX2 points but he’s surging after a so-so first round. The young speedster relies on Orange Motorsports for everything that he needs. If you’re in Cobourg, Ontario go on in and check them out and if you’re not in Cobourg, then check them out on the web at orangemotorsports.ca for all the deals.

The team there will take care of you for everything you need bike and body-wise and are one of the country’s leading KTM dealers.

Before we get too deep into this, here is some sobering news in the world of Canadian moto

As most of you already know, Ross Sherman #813 suffered a serious crash in Edmonton that left him in critical condition with a head injury. He is slowly making some progress but he's got a long road ahead of him. His family is currently working on getting him air lifted to be relocated closer to home.

Get a shirt, support the cause.

We posted in Breaking News earlier in the week, a letter regarding a t-shirt fundraiser they are working on.  The deadline for ordering shirts is June 29th, so get your order in today!

The DMX crew wishes you a full and speedy recovery Ross!

This update is dedicated to Jared Allison of the famed flying Allison brothers. These Blackfoot Direct riders are front runners in the MX2 class. I still don't know which one is which.

This update is coming to you from the sweet media tent here in Lakewood, Colorado because this is round five of the AMA motocross series and things are heating up here in the altitude. Ryan Dungey surged into the points lead and last week he went 3-1 for the overall and widened his points lead even more. In the 250 class, Scottish-Canadian Dean Wilson won his first overall by virtue of his 4-1 scores.

Of course we all know all about Wilson up in the Great White North, Dean’s got strong Canadian roots and he’s been showing that there is more to Canada than just Timbits and back-bacon. Wilson is on it and is a legit championship contender for this thing. Go Dean-O go!

This week the Canadian circus visits Morden, Manitoba for round four of the series and the last one of the western swing. I wish I was going up there because after all, I’m a Winnipeg guy born and raised but duty calls down here. I know from talking to my buddies such as Mark Pill-bitaille and Sexy Tight T-shirt Trevor Greaves that there have been a ton of cancellations at the local races because of rain and they are calling for more this weekend. Cue the Jaws music because we all know what happened last time in rained in Morden.

Rife ponders stuff.

I’m sure all the parties involved learned from that disaster and let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best this weekend. Looks like Colton Facciotti is sitting out this one so the points racing are going to get good!

I had a good talk with Machine Racing's John Nelson this week but unfortunately, I cannot repeat a single word of it for fear of us getting banned from Canadian motocross forever.

I’m running behind here in my regular duties at the races so that’s all I really got this week. I know disappointing right? Let’s get to a couple of guys that were at Calgary and have something to say about it. First up is Chris Pomeroy-

Hey everyone, happy Friday! Can’t believe how much has changed in the last week in Canadian motocross. Down South, Dean Wilson captured his very first AMA Outdoor Motocross win at Budds Creek, his impressive 4-1 moto score was enough to stand on top of the podium.   It’s hard to believe that just one year ago Dean was racing the first few Nationals in Canada, to think he was one year from winning in the USA, that’s pretty amazing. Dean is actually 3^rd in points in the Lites class and not that far out of the lead, hopefully this is just the beginning for him and his Pro Circuit Kawasaki. 

 Another big change in the last week is the crash suffered by Colton Facciotti in the first moto in Calgary. It happen around the 21 minute mark of the first moto while Colton was leading and pushing pretty hard, although his teammate Dusty Klatt was 5 or 6 seconds behind, he was still making Colton work pretty hard. Colton’s crash proved once again that at the level these guys are at, there is such a fine line between a perfect lap and a huge get off. It also perfectly illustrated how times have changed in this sport with respect to the machines they ride. Years ago, there is no way a rider (even of Colton’s caliber) on a 250 2-stroke could carry that much speed through a section, like the one Colton crashed in. These new bikes are the most amazing motorcycles we have ever seen, but if you get out of shape, be prepared to go for a wild ride. I gave Colton a quick call just to see how he was feeling.

DMX: Hey Colton, I guess the million dollar question is how are you feeling?

Colton: Pretty bummed out actually, my body isn’t too bad, I’m not where I want to be but I am feeling a little bit better each day. Other than that, I’m healthy; I’m still here, so that’s good.

Q: Can you talk a little about the extent of your injuries, or is it like the NHL where they would just say that you have an upper body injury.

No (laughs), I can talk about it. Basically I have a couple of big gashes on my face, some road rash, and my shoulder is pretty banged up. I also have a small crack in my left orbital bone and a crack in my nasal cavity, it’s not good but the doctors at the hospital didn’t seem to think it was too serious. That’s about it.

Q: Now this might be a dumb question, but did you suffer a concussion.

The doctors said there was no sign of brain damage or hemorrhaging or any of that kind of stuff, so that’s good. They also said there were no signs of a concussion so hopefully I am a quick healer.

Heal up and see you out east Colton!

Q: Do you remember the crash and what might have happened.

I didn’t remember it at first but after we talk about it, things started to come back to me. A lapper was in my line so I couldn’t really get a good look at the rut, then I caught my foot on the side of the rut, then it just went haywire from there and I cart wheeled myself. It was kind of a brain fart on my part, I wish I could do it over again for sure.

Q: So now you just have to heal up and rest, and play it by ear as to when you will be able to get back on a bike.

 Yes, exactly. It’s one of those things where you just have to take it day by day and not try and rush it. Like I said, hopefully I’m a fast healer.

Q: Alright Colton, thanks for doing this. I know everyone has been worried about you, so it’s good to know that your going to be ok. 

Yes, thanks. I would also like to thank everyone for their well wishes this past week, family, friends, sponsors, everyone has been great and it really means a lot. See you soon at the races.

So as you can read Colton is going to be, although I don’t know how he avoided a concussion through all of that. With Ross Sherman two weeks ago, and Colton last week, hopefully this weekend in Manitoba is a safe one for sure. 

 So after 3 rounds, the points leaders are Bobby Kiniry in the MX1 class and Tyler Medaglia in MX2. Both riders have been super consistent and have put themselves in great position heading into Round #4 and the rest of the Series. In fact, here is the top 5 in each class and a short description on how they got there.

MX1: 

1. Bobby Kiniry 126 pts: Yes, he is the benefactor of other people’s bad luck, but Bobby deserves to be where he is. He works hard and is enjoying all of his time in Canada.

2. Kyle Keast 102 pts: He is so happy to be back on red this year and it shows in every moto. Although Kyle has been a little off the pace of the top 3, that will all change when the series heads East.

3. Colton Facciotti 100 pts: He had everyone at his mercy so far this year and he could have easily gone undefeated the way he was riding. But, even the best make mistakes and when they do, it’s usually a big one. Hopefully he will be back soon.

4. Josh Demuth 100 pts: This guy just keeps getting stronger every weekend, if he gets a sniff of victory, everyone had better look out. He knows how to win championships. 

5. Mason Phillips 93 pts: This Kiwi knows how to be consistent; he is an expert at scoring maximum points, even in a bad moto. Mason loves his new team and his bikes, look for Mason to get even better as the Series goes along. 

Kiniry regripped and is into the points lead.

MX2:

1. Tyler Medaglia 136 pts: This kid has come into 2010 to win a championship and it shows every time he is on the track. Tyler has earned the points lead.

2. Teddy Maier 119 pts: Teddy probably has the most raw speed in the MX2 class, he is a quick starter and has lead the most laps. The rest of the Series will be a great battle between he and Tyler.

3. Eric Nye 107 pts: No rider is more frustrated right now than Eric Nye, he is still healing up from his crash at Hangtown and he just can’t ride the way he wants to. But, Eric knows how to win, so look for him to keep getting better as the Series goes on.

4. Jeremy Medaglia 107 pts: Jeremy and his KTM’s look like the perfect fit, he rides them great and he is showing some real consistency so far. A moto win is in Jeremy’s future for sure.

5. Shawn Rife 97 pts: So far, Shawn is the MX2 holeshot king, he almost always up front off the start. Although, he is still hurting from a crash in Edmonton, once he feels better, look for him to win some more moto’s. 

Thanks Chris and with his thoughts, here’s James Lissimore-

Thanks Matthes, well, I'm currently flying along at 30 000 feet along with Pat O'Connor and Spencer Knowles. That's right, despite what Brett Lee has been telling people, I am in fact going to Morden this weekend.
From the looks of the weather reports all week, it's been more of the same weather we've been seeing all season so far. The forecasts are calling for rain this weekend but that's been the case at each race so far and we've been treated to hot, sunny weather so hopefully we'll have more of the same. I still have nightmares from the mud race here in 2007...

How about Calgary last weekend? Wow, just when things are starting to look predictable a real curve ball gets thrown. Colton Facciotti was looking so smooth and dominant so far this season that when he made the pass on Dusty Klatt for the lead it looked like more of the status quo. Who would have thought that he would crash, especially in such spectacular fashion? I guess when you're going as fast as he has been, you hit the ground pretty hard.

Luckily, he's going to be OK. I was happy to see Colt's parents on my flight home on Sunday night, I figured if he were in rough shape they wouldn't be going anywhere. Obviously, he's pretty battered and bruised but luckily the Champ will live to fight another day.

 
Aside from the drama in MX1, how about the action in MX2? There was great racing for the lead at Calgary between the Leading Edge duo of Teddy Maier and Shawn Rife and Blackfoot Yamaha's Tyler Medaglia. Rife is nursing a cracked heal but he has still been going out and giving it his all. He holeshot both motos and had a great lead battle with Maier for the first half of the first moto. The two were wheel to wheel and after the dominance in MX1 its been nice to see some battling. Medaglia played it smart and waited to captialize on some mistakes by Rife to take second in the moto. That set up a great race in moto two as Maier and Medaglia battled it out for the overall. Maier led, then Medaglia reeled him in and passed him, then went down handing the lead back to Maier before Maier had a crash of his own to hand the win and the overall to Medaglia. Great action and hopefully we'll see more of this as the series progresses. Tyler is definitely sitting well for the championship, he's got a 17 point lead and if he keeps splitting wins with Maier it's going to be impossible to make up the difference.

After this weekend we've got a three week break before the series resumes at Gopher Dunes and it will be interesting to see how that shakes things up. I think we'll see some of the eastern riders come into their own as they get to tracks they're more familiar with. Jeremy Medaglia should be one to watch. He's been a little off the pace of the front three so far but that will probably change once he gets to tracks he's got a lot more experience in. Also Kyle Keast, who finds himself in second in the points right now, will be a man on a mission at Gopher Dunes. Is this the time he finally gets his first overall win? Time will tell.

Speaking of the upcoming break, I got a note from Popkum MX Park's Darren Pilling who wanted to let any pro riders in the BC area know that during the break that any riders who have raced any of the 4 nationals so far this year can ride at Popkum for free to get some training in.

That's it for me this week, my connection to Winnipeg is boarding. See you in Morden!

And that’s all I got as well. Thanks for reading, be safe in Morden and Colorado and see you next week!

Too Trick.