Round 3 of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals was staged at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, AB, just a stone’s throw from the bustling city centre. Like one week earlier in Nanaimo, BC the temperature was rider-friendly, reaching a high of only 21°C under partly cloudy skies. A brisk wind, with gusts of up to 37 km/h, was about the only weather factor the contenders had to deal with.
Team Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke and Brett Metcalfe both claimed a podium slot in an intense afternoon of racing on the fast and hard to pass on Calgary track. Goerke recorded third in moto one while Metcalfe snared the same position in moto two. When all was said and done, Goerke took home sixth overall on the strength of 3-8 motos. Thanks to 6-3 moto results, Metcalfe snared third overall.
The start of the first moto saw Goerke and Metcalfe exit the gate with a lukewarm start just inside the top-10. Going into lap 2 Goerke was holding down seventh place and Metcalfe eighth. By lap 5 Goerke had clawed his way into sixth – Metcalfe into seventh.
Goerke kept the momentum going to install himself into fifth a few laps past the halfway point of the moto. On a mission to land a spot on the box, the Florida native reeled in fourth place on lap 11. Laying down a relentless pace aboard his YZ450F, Goerke next zeroed in on third place running Vince Friese, displacing him from that position with some four laps remaining on the clock. With time running out, Goerke was unable to connect with Mike Alessi, who followed moto winner Davi Millsaps across the finish line in second.
Metcalfe, meanwhile, rode hard to work his way out of seventh place, something he succeeded doing with less than two laps to go in the moto, snatching sixth place away from a surprised Colton Facciotti.
For Metcalfe the second moto start transpired much more smoothly. The Australian native was spotted in fifth place as the freight train thundered into turn one. It was a position he parlayed into third place before the midpoint of the moto. The rest of the race saw him defend that position until the checkered flag, finishing behind Alessi in second and Millsaps in first.
A disastrous start for Goerke negated any chance that the defending champ would play a role in the top-five. From dead last, he was faced with the daunting task of curtailing a heavy hit in the points standing as much as possible at the end of the day.
Not one to choke on the bitter pill he had to swallow, Goerke methodically sliced and diced his way through the pack to occupy 14th place at the midway mark of the moto. Pinning the throttle as he negotiated the increasingly choppy track, he did what he had to do to finish in the top-10, grabbing one position after another to greet the checkered flag in a still respectable eight place.
“It was a good weekend, as we ended up with podiums in each moto and a podium overall, which obviously is our main goal. We again learned some stuff about the bikes and get the guys where they need to be. It’s an ongoing process at this stage. We can look at this as another good building weekend,” said team manager Stu Robinson.
The Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals continue on Sunday, June 26th at Moto Valley Raceway in Regina, SK.
MX1 Overall Results: Round 3 – Calgary, AB
1. Davi Millsaps (KTM) 1-1
2. Mike Alessi (Kawasaki) 2-2
3. Brett Metcalfe (Yamaha) 6-3
4. Kaven Benoit (KTM) 5-4
5. Vince Friese (Kawasaki) 4-6
6. Matt Goerke (Yamaha) 3-8
7. Colton Facciotti (Honda) 7-5
8. Tyler Medaglia (Husqvarna) 8-7
9. Cade Clason (KTM) 9-9
10. Keylan Meston (Yamaha) 12-10
Points Standing After 3 of 10 Rounds
1. Davi Milksops 162 pts
2. Mike Alessi 148
3. Colton Faccioni 146
4. Brett Metcalfe 137 (-25)
5. Matt Goerke 134 (-28)
6. Cade Clason 110
7. Kaven Benoit 106
8. Tyler Medaglia 101
9. Keylan Meston 94
10. Morgan Burger 89
The Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals continue on Sunday, June 19, 2016 at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, Alberta.