With a second overall, Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Matt Goerke strengthened his hold on first place in the MX1 points chase on Sunday at Round 7 of the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, which were held at Pleasant Valley Motocross Park in Truro, NS. His teammate, Tim Tremblay, recorded an eighth overall, which currently keeps him in a solid eighth place on the title hunt scoreboard.
Under clear skies and a relatively cool 22°C (71°F), the first moto got underway with Goerke and Tremblay rounding turn one side by side in third and fourth place behind Mike Alessi and Colton Facciotti.
On the first jump, Alessi and Facciotti got together, which saw Facciotti go down hard in front of Goerke. Goerke managed to avoid Facciotti with a quick turn off the track, managing to stay upright but losing about eight positions in the process. Undaunted, Goerke charged ahead to quickly connect with the frontrunners, passing his teammate for third place on lap seven of the 19-lap race.
Once Goerke had taken over third, he would remain there for the rest of the moto, chasing after second place running Mike Alessi and leader of the pack Dillan Epstein. With the ultra quick pace the top three were cranking out, the podium positions were locked in by the halfway mark of the moto: Epstein, who had started in fifth and taken over first place from Alessi on lap four, took the win, followed by Alessi and Goerke.
While Goerke was busy gunning for a podium finish Tremblay kept a steady groove going but he would lose further positions to the likes of Christophe Pourcel and Tyler Medaglia, to eventually greet the checkered flag in eighth place.
At the start of the second moto Goerke was on the gas, diving into turn one in fifth place behind holeshooter Alessi, Pourcel, Facciotti and Epstein. With the main title contenders battling it out for podium finishes, the pace up front was again frantic. Hungry for his first overall on Canadian soil, Epstein took the lead on lap five and never looked back.
It took a while for Goerke, who experienced a small slide-out early in the moto, to push to the front again and eventually stick an incredible pass on second place Pourcel, powering past the Frenchman on the inside with his potent YZ450F.
By this time in the race Epstein had a seven-second lead, however, which Goerke managed to shave down to just under two seconds in the closing laps. But with the clock running out Goerke was unable to challenge the Californian for the lead and called it a day with runner-up at the checkered.
Although he briefly ran in seventh, Tremblay’s eight place starting position in moto two would prove to be his finishing position, ensuring he kept adding valuable points to his tally in his bid to finish the season with a single digit ranking. In a twist of fate, a five-position rule infraction penalty against Pourcel, who was running in third, saw Tremblay move ahead into seventh place
As the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals head to Riverglade MX Park in Moncton, NB this Sunday, July 30th for Round 8 of the series, Goerke has extended his lead over second place in the title hunt Pourcel by 19 points. Tremblay sits in eighth, trailing seventh on the scoreboard Kyle Chisholm by 22 points.
MX1 Overall Results: Round 7
| Position | Rider | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dillan Epstein (Kaw) | 1-1 |
| 2 | Matt Goerke (Yam) | 3-2 |
| 3 | Mike Alessi (Kaw) | 2-6 |
| 4 | Kyle Chisholm (Hon) | 7-3 |
| 5 | Tyler Medaglia (Hon) | 5-4 |
| 6 | Christophe Pourcel (Husq) | 4-8 |
| 7 | Colton Facciotti (Hon) | 9-5 |
| 8 | Tim Tremblay (Yam) | 8-7 |
| 9 | Nathan Bles (Hon) | 10-9 |
| 10 | Brock Leitner | 11-10 |
MX1 points after 7 of 10 Rounds
| Position | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Goerke (USA) | 368 |
| 2 | Christophe Pourcel (FR) | 349 |
| 3 | Colton Facciotti (CAN) | 326 |
| 4 | Mike Alessi (USA) | 316 |
| 5 | Tyler Medaglia (CAN) | 311 |
| 6 | Dillan Epstein (USA) | 309 |
| 7 | Kyle Chisholm (USA) | 254 |
| 8 | Tim Tremblay (CAN) | 232 |
| 9 | Cade Clason (USA) | 213 |
| 10 | Nathan Bles (CAN) | 195 |
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