Team Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha’s Bobby Kiniry recorded his first MX1 win of the season this past Saturday at Round 4 of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, which were held at Moto Valley Raceway in Regina, SK.
For Kiniry’s MX1 teammate, Kyle Chisholm, the first and only MX1 moto proved to be tour de force performance that saw the Florida native salvage a dead last, one lap down start, and turn it into a remarkable fifth place finish.
Shawn Maffenbeier, for his part, rose to the occasion in front of a home province crowd to snare a second place MX2 podium finish.
Unfortunately, after the first MX2 and MX1 motos had been run, the second half of the schedule had to be cancelled due to heavy rains and thunderstorms, which turned the track into an impassable mudbog.
In MX1 action, a lightning fast start aboard the Yamaha YZ450F put Kiniry at the front of the pack, taking the holeshot and leading the throng through turn one in a steady falling rain and increasing winds.
The rains had started towards the end of the first MX2 moto and would not let up during the staging and running of the first MX1 moto, which was eventually shortened to eight laps.
Keeping Kiniry close company going into turn one were Colton Facciotti, Tyler Medaglia, and Mike Alessi. Kiniry stayed up front for three laps and then got a pass stuck on him by Facciotti, Medaglia, and Alessi, with Facciotti taking the lead.
Medaglia displaced Facciotti from the lead one lap later while Kiniry was busy laying claim to third place in front of Alessi. Like a man possessed Kiniry pinned the throttle to blow by Facciotti and Medaglia and reinstall himself in the lead on lap five.
Once he cleared the task, Kiniry held firm despite being hounded by an equally motivated Medaglia, Facciotti, and Alessi to take his first moto win of the season.
“The weather wasn’t exactly great, but it was a great day of racing for me. After the challenges of the first three rounds, I knew I was ready for at least a podium finish and once I was in the thick of things I knew I could make that a top-of-the-box finish. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team staff for their hard work behind the scenes and helping me make this win possible,” Kiniry said.
Chisholm, meanwhile, found himself at the back of the pack, one lap down, after he had trouble starting his bike due to moisture issues. Undaunted, Chisholm set out on a nearly hopeless task to unlap himself and work his way into the top 10. By lap five he had sliced and diced his way into ninth place; three laps later he was in fifth, where he would greet the checkered flag when the moto was ended.
“It’s not quite the result I wanted to get, because I wanted to complement my teammates’ podium finishes with one of my own. Considering where I started, though, I take some satisfaction in knowing I put in a good ride today and still salvaged some championship points,” Chisholm said.
In MX2 action Shawn Maffenbeier lived up to expectations at his home province race to finish a solid second behind Jeremy Medaglia, who registered his first moto win of the season.
Like Kiniry, Maffenbeier poured on the gas to take his YZ250F out of the gate like a rocket, pinning the holeshot in front of Medaglia and defending champ Austin Politelli. Although he would lose the lead to Medaglia on lap three, after a slide in the mud, the Swift Current native successfully defended second place for the remaining six laps, with Politelli hounding him the entire way.
“I qualified second and got the gate pick I wanted. And I was able to turn that into the holeshot and an early lead. The track was pretty messy and in one particularly rough section I went down. Thanks to a six second lead, I lost only one position. I had hoped to retake the lead but under the circumstances it was all I could do to safeguard second place,” Maffenbeier said.
Team Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha would like to congratulate Bobby on his win, Shawn for his second place, and Kyle for his awesome ride from last to fifth. The team also sends a big thank you to all the motocross fans who attended Round 4 and who stuck it out to the bitter end in what had become a mudbath of a final race.
With the western rounds concluded, the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals take a three-week hiatus before resuming at Gopher Dunes Raceway in Courtland, Ontario on Saturday, July 12th.