OVERALL SWEEP FOR TEAM YAMAHA RED BULL FOX RACING’S FACCIOTTI IN MX-1 & MEDAGLIA IN MX-2

In the first round of the Canadian Outdoor National Series in Kamloops BC, 2008-2009 Canadian Champion Colton Facciotti showed up absolutely on fire by completely dominating the MX1 class while teammate Dusty Klatt clinched second overall in a spirited effort. To add fuel to the fire, Tyler Medaglia also won his inaugural MX-2 overall with the team to give Team Yamaha Red Bull Blackfoot Fox Racing an overall weekend sweep. Unfortunately the weekend was marred with fellow MX-2 rider Kyle Beaton who qualified 2nd, repeated last years bad luck with a hand injury that will have him sit out most if not all the series.

Nestled in the western Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Kamloops Whispering Pines track was in near perfect condition as the weather has been somewhat wet and cool. In the opening MX2 moto Yamaha YZ250F mounted Tyler Medaglia powered his way into a 6th place start only to find himself on the ground after the first few corners when he tucked his front end while aggressively moving forward. After picking himself up in the last position of the 40-rider field, Medaglia in an incredible show of heart charged towards the front of the pack. American hopeful Shawn Rife had grabbed the holeshot and checked out with previous Champion Eric Nye in second and French Canadian, Kaven Benoit running in 3rd. Medaglia put his head down reeling in rider after rider and moved past Benoit to take over 3rd place on the last lap to stand on the podium!

A top 10 start greeted Tyler again in the second MX-2 moto however this time he stayed focused and only needed 7 minutes to reel in and pass Spencer Knowles for 2nd place. Rife who again was leading started showing signs of weakness and Medaglia passed him and moved into the lead at the 20 minute mark to take the win and the overall for the day with a 3-1 result.

“Coming from dead last to 3rd overall in the first moto instilled a lot of confidence in me,” added Medaglia. “The second moto was extremely rough out there and it definitely worked to my advantage as my conditioning is the best it has ever been. Thanks so much to Yamaha, Red Bull, Blackfoot, Fox and all the Blackfoot team sponsors for giving me the chance to be part of the Blackfoot family. I cannot wait for Edmonton next weekend and continue on towards my goal of winning my first Canadian Pro Championship.”

With the addition of European Kornel Nemeth to the series, as well as a number of other American MX-1 riders joining the series to try and upset the combination of Facciotti and Klatt, 2010 was shaping up to be more competitive than ever. Nemeth attended a number of events last year for KTM and had some excellent finishes after struggling with starts. The general feeling was that if he had a great start he would be able to take a run at the YZ450 mounted duo however this was not the case.

In the first MX-1 moto the holeshot was tight with Kiniry and Nemeth jumping to an early lead with Facciotti in tow and Klatt being pushed back with a mid-pack start. Within the first half lap Facciotti absolutely rocketed to the front passing both Nemeth and Kiniry for the lead and set out on a mission to separate himself from the pack. Meanwhile Klatt dealt with the roost from the front-runners and at the 10 minute mark had pushed his way up to 3rd. Facciotti had managed to gain 13 seconds on Nemeth with 10 minutes gone and crossed the checkers an incredible 40 seconds ahead of the Hungarian challenger. Klatt hung on to 3rd for a 1-3 first moto finish for the “Dynamic Duo.”

The second moto was not much different as Colt grabbed the holeshot while Dusty continued to struggle with his start rounding the first few corners in 6th. Facciotti already had a 18 second lead at the halfway point and by this time Dusty had passed 2nd place rider Kiniry to try and gain some time on Colt. This was not to be as the stopwatch showed 32 seconds between them when they both crossed the finish line. Dusty had also gained 15 seconds on Kiniry as the Blackfoot riders went 1-2 for the moto and 1-2 for the overall in the day’s results.

“I have been practicing sprinting hard in the first couple of laps when doing practice motos while training in Georgia this winter, and then settling down for the rest of the moto and it worked out well for me today,” smiled Facciotti. “The combination of my training program, my new Yamaha YZZ450 which is so good it is ridiculous and the team has helped build my confidence at an all time high!”

Meanwhile Klatt continued to be the bridesmaid again which did not sit well with him. “This is not the result I was looking for this first race of the year,” remarked Dusty. “I changed a lot of things in my program while in California this spring to ensure I would be better on the track and that did not reflect on my results or my showing this weekend. I was unable to ride and train on my bike the last 10 days at home because of weather which did not help, however no excuses. I just have to be a whole lot better to be able to challenge Colt for the Championship!”

“What a great start to our 11th season on the tour,” added team owner Jason Mitchell. “Without a doubt each and every member on our team has done their homework and they were all prepared for victory on Sunday morning. Teamwork is the key to success and without a doubt the combination of all our great sponsors, our riders and our staff the team this year ranks up there as one of the best ever in Blackfoot Racing’s history! We still have a long way to go with 8 more rounds so it is my goal to help everyone stay focused on the ultimate goal of winning both the championships for 2010”

Stay in touch with the team on our website: www.blackfootracing.com and link to all the teams premiere sponsors who have partnered with Blackfoot Racing’s Championship effort. Subscribe to the Blackfoot Pulse to get up to date info right to your inbox as this exiting new season unfolds over the next few weeks.