Catching up with... Jeremy Medaglia

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Read on to hear how this situation... turned into Jeremy Medaglia's first Montreal MX2 win.

James Lissimore photo

By Allison Kennedy 

There are few wins in Canadian motocross as satisfying as the Montreal Supercross. Royal Distributing KTM’s Jeremy Medaglia was boasting a huge smile after he won the all Canadian MX2 final in dramatic fashion at the Big O Saturday night. We caught up with J-Dags to hear about his battle royale with teammate Kaven Benoit and to take a quick look back at his 2011 season.

First off, congratulations on your big win at the Big O.

Yeah (laughs), that was huge.

Tell us a bit about how the day went there. Were you feeling good right from practice? What did you think of the track?

It was good. Actually I showed up on Friday morning early with Tyler and Adam Turner, his mechanic, and we took a track walk. It’s hard for them to make it completely perfect for us riders when there are ATVs and side by sides and all of that so they did a good job trying to work all three events in. It was fun. Starting off with the first practice right through to my timed qualifying, everything went well. I was close in times with Benoit and I ended up just squeaking him out in the last few laps of practice so that worked out in my favour obviously.

A lot of folks were sure this would come down to a battle between you and teammate Kaven Benoit. In the end it did. Tell us about the race.

It was definitely one of the craziest races of my life. I didn’t get to really practice starts because of the way the track crossed back over itself and to be honest with you, I wasn’t really prepared for the start. I wheelied when I came out of the gate which cost me getting up to the top three on the holeshot. I think I was about 7^th/8^th/9^th in that area and I picked a few guys off in the first few corners and I saw that Kaven was out front. I knew that with us being so close in practice and our times being so tight, it was going to be hard to win the race. I just put my head down and caught up to each guy and tried to make passes as quickly as I could on Beaton and Tremblay, and once I got into second I just kept charging forward. He actually started looking back and making a few mistakes and that’s what I was really able to capitalize on. Once I got close, I made a quick pass and led for a lap and then ended up hitting a downed bike with two corners to go… and that’s when all the issues started from there (laughs).

Then he went down as well…

I had seen a rider down and I wasn’t going to go to the outside and give him the inside because I knew he really wanted to win the race … just like I did. I thought that he would throw a wheel in, which is understandable, so instead of going to the outside I tried to go middle and as I was going by the downed rider I think I clipped his fender with my foot and that put me down. Then Kaven came across and hit my bike and I don’t think he was quite down but he definitely got spun in the wrong direction… and then when he tried to spin back around, I was already back up and getting on my bike and our bikes hit again and then we both, legit, went down. From there it was just a race to get back on. I was just struggling to get my leg over, and I could see it all in my head, it was like a bad dream… I was thinking where’s third place. Finally I ran with the bike and hopped on it and crossed the finish line first.

From your face in some of the podium pictures, you looked a bit like, what just happened (laughs).

Yeah exactly. Not only did I win but it was awesome for the fans to come down to that close of a race. It’s a race I definitely won’t forget. Like you said, from the podium pictures and even now I can’t believe it. At first I didn’t think I could come back from a bad start but for the whole race to come down to two corners and two teammates go down side by side… in a few pictures are bikes are laying down on exactly the same angle…

How was Kaven afterwards?
He was good. Obviously a little bitter but not towards me which is cool. He had the race… he was leading from lap one on and in his defense I can understand why he’d be a bit bitter in his situation. But it is racing and he gave me the thumbs up which was cool and that was the end of it.

With supercross they say the start is everything and with Montreal, even more so since the race is so short. For you to put yourself in a position to capitalize on any mistakes took a lot of hard work.

Yeah and going into the race there was a lot of hype on Beaton and Benoit and I kind of came into the race under the radar which was great for me, since I had less pressure. I knew if I could put in some good times in practice and be up there I could be one of the guys to challenge for the win. Obviously a bad start wasn't the best thing but I knew being a short race, if I made my passes quick and was aggressive and got to the front right away, you never know what could happen. Hard work pays off in the end.

What did it feel like to win the Montreal SX? What did it feel like to win in front of all those fans?

It was awesome. My brother won it two years in a row and last year both our times were good and I ran into a few issues in the main so for me to come back from that was good. My year was good. I had a few ups and downs but I had a bunch of good highs at the end. The win at Sand Del Lee and winning Montreal is important since it’s one of the bigger races in Canadian motocross, so I was really excited to get that one under my belt.

Your dad must have been pumped?

I think actually he sort of counted me out with that bad start (laughs). Before the race, my mom and Tyler and I were talking and it was pretty clear that I had to get a good start if I wanted to win. They were telling me when I was in 8^th they were telling me they didn’t know if it was going to happen. My dad had a big smile and Tyler had a big smile waiting at the end of the track and gave me a big hug. It was great.

Despite a concussion mid season, Medaglia had a strong season overall.

James Lissimore photo

Take us back to your National season. How did you think it went overall?

It was really good. I actually took a different approach in my training this winter and it actually paid off when I came to Kamloops and got the first win. That was a plus for the year and for future knowledge for my training. I was happy with that and then I had a few ups and downs with bike issues…but that’s motocross…and obviously the crash and concussion on my off week was a big bummer but that’s a part of racing as well. I just tried to be smart, I could have rushed it and tried to race Gopher but it wasn’t the smart thing to do. Hopefully some of the younger riders and people coming up will learn from that. It feels like the end of the world, and sometimes you think it is because motocross is important, but you’ve still got your life to live and it isn’t worth it. I came back from that injury to get a moto win at Ste Julie and then right into the overall at SDL. It was a solid year for sure.

I know from your text that you are still working away, riding. What happens next for you?

Right now I am just taking a little bit of time off and riding on nice days like today just to have fun and not worry about doing 35 minute motos or going to the supercross track to hit the whoops 5 million times. Other than that, I’m just enjoying some time off, hanging out at my house and relaxing and waiting for everything to get sorted out for next year. Once all that stuff gets worked out I will eventually start making my plans for next year and the winter season and figure out how I am going to get ready for next year’s nationals.

You don’t know yet but it looks like a possibility that you could be back with KTM?
There’s a good chance. Like I’ve said to a lot of people who are asking, I am going to keep my ears open and talk to everyone and see what my best options are for next year. I am not done anywhere yet. Tyler and I are looking at all our cards and are going to try to play them right and try to end up in a good place for next year and go from there.

When Tyler moves up, we won’t have the Medaglia brother battles in MX2 anymore but I take it you’ll still be gunning for that title?

Yeah for sure. It’s pretty good for my family really, not having us race the same class anymore. We always work together no matter what but in this instance, racing the same class and going for the same wins it’s been a little bit harder. But having him in the 450 class and me in the 250 class, we can really work together and help each other out. I definitely want to work on getting that championship before I move up to the 450 class down the road.

And how is life as an uncle?

It’s been great. They spent close to five weeks here and just left to go home on Tuesday this week. It was pretty cool and I am obviously super happy for those guys. They’ve got it all set, a house together, they are engaged and ready to take on the challenge of a newborn. It was cool having them around because obviously them living in Nova Scotia we don't see them that much so having them here was good for everyone.

Did you end up changing diapers?
Nope (laughs), I assisted. I ended up taking off his shirt and getting him ready but when it came to the dirty stuff I just sat beside his crib and did my own thing until that stuff was done.

Who do you want to thank for their help this year?

I’d like to thank everyone at the Royal Distributing KTM team, Dragon Fuels, Parts Canada, CTI, Factory Connection, Thor, Alpinestars, FMF, Dunlop, Podium Grafix, Renthal, my mechanic Marc, Pant Saggin Designs, Smith Optics, Ogio, Br4ss, Mom, Dad and Tyler for everything, Dan and Shawn Robinson for the SX preparation, Kevin Tyler, Ken Essex, Bryan McLaughlin and all my family, friends and fans for cheering me on. Thanks!