2015 MX1 – Report Card
10. #5 Teddy Maier KAW: 11-6-6-16-6-7-DNF… (209)
Jeff: D
Teddy had a very rough season and was unable to show his speed or talent. It’s a shame his season, and possibly his career, ended.
Billy: D-
Wow, I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but you can’t really justify a higher grade for Teddy’s 2015 season. It looks like it’s ‘winter school’ for him! I’m not giving him an ‘F’ simply for compassionate reasons. This was probably going to be his last season up here full-time anyway, but this is not the way he wanted to go out.
After suffering some troubles in Deschambault, he came into the mechanics’ area and left a lap or so down. He then crashed hard and broke himself, ending his season. He’s not supposed to be a 6th or 7h place riders anyway and his summer was setting up to be a bit of a let-down for the Iowa rider.
It’s been great having Teddy up here in our series. Team owner, Jason Hughes, always says that Teddy was that guy you could always depend on – the no-brainer when it came to signing time. He never gave you any trouble and rode hard. Sorry to give you such a bad report card, Teddy. Maybe hide this one from your parents.
9. #23 Dylan Schmoke KTM: 10-10-15-8-16-21-10-13-10-11 (256)
Jeff: C+
Dylan charged hard every moto, but unfortunately his starts were awful. Not bad, awful. He is way too talented to be getting starts like that. Once he figures it out, he will inch closer to the 6th-8th spots and finally ‘get on the board.’ Very good first 450 season though.
Billy: B+
Dylan was one of the huge group of riders that could show up in the 8-15 positions every weekend! It took hard work and consistent finishes to rise above the rest of those riders who fell short of a top 10 spot. For that, Dylan gets an B+.
Dylan is a rookie in the MX1 class and showed that, with a good start, he could run up with the established performers. If Dylan comes back next year and has some good support, he could be the rider looking for the big #5 or 6 in 2016.
8. #30 Kyle Keast HON: 9-9-9-9-11-8-9-10-9-13 (310)
Jeff: C
Kyle came in with his best bike ever, and best off-season training. He battled hard right until the checkered flag every moto, but his speed just isn’t there anymore.
Billy: B+
Show me a rider on this list who has been at it as long as Kyle has and holds a full-time job. You can’t. It’s not supposed to happen, but Kyle proved that his work ethic (and speed on a bike) and new-found late-moto fitness can do wonders.
Like he told us in a pre-season interview, he went into this series looking for a top 5 number like he had before he started his business. He doesn’t have the speed of any of the riders ahead of him on this list and definitely made the most of his motos. He was constantly moving forward late in the motos as others crumbled under the pressure. It was cool to watch.
He would get an A if he was an up-and-comer but I have to keep it real, but still give him the most positive B+ I can. Well done, Kyle.
7. #7 Bobby Kiniry YAM: 7-7-11-6-5-6-6-22-6-14 (342)
Jeff: C
Bobby never gave up all season long and rode with heart. His speed just wasn’t up to par with the top 6.
Billy: C+
Bobby has been here in Canada a long time. 7th is a great finish in this field but he expects to be fighting for podiums and he just never really got there this summer. The riders ahead of him were a long way ahead of him, usually. For this reason, I give him the lowish score I did.
Bobby is a solid individual and will be missed by our series if we don’t see him in 2016. The #7 just looks right on his Yamaha and without some of his bad luck this summer, he would have jumped ahead in the points.
6. #761 Cade Clason KTM: 6-8-5-7-7-17-16-5-7-9 (342)
Jeff: A
Cade was a last-minute replacement. I think he exceeded everyone’s expectations. This is a no bulls#!t guy, and he will keep busting his butt until he is on the podium and beyond. He will be a regular podium guy very soon.
Billy: A
Cade tied in points with Bobby but his higher moto finish gave him the spot. Cade came into the series as a replacement for injured rider Nathan Bles and really endeared himself to the Canadian fans.
Again, he didn’t have the speed of the riders who finished ahead of him, but he’s still young and for that reason I give him the high score. He actually rode alone for most of the summer. No matter where he started, he seemed to have 30 seconds both in front and behind him to the nearest rider.
Without his two bad finishes in Sand Del Lee and Deschambault, the tie wouldn’t have been an issue.
5. #3 Tyler Medaglia HSK: 3-5-7-5-3-5-5-4-5-5 (438)
Jeff: A
Tyler gave it his all, each and every time out on the track. I think he is in a really good place and will continue to be a fan favourite.
Billy: B
I think I just expected to see Tyler fighting up with the top 4 every week. Unfortunately, there were races when he was over 30 seconds behind that top battle. For that reason, I give the two-time MX2 champion a rather non-glamorous B score.
Tyler is always one of the most popular riders at the races. He never gives up and you know you will always get a 100% effort. He comes into the season fit and focused. He would need to hang things out on the edge if he wants to get a sniff of the top spot of the podium in 2016. Fitness isn’t the issue.
4. #148 Cole Thompson KTM: 5-1-2-4-13-4-4-2-4-2 (462)
Jeff: A-
Cole was very good, he just needs to find that last 5-8 minutes of fitness. After he gets that, his silky smooth style will be hard to beat in ’16.
Billy: A-
I knew Cole would be fast but I didn’t really have him in the mix with the top 3 as often as he was. He was off the bike a long time with his knee reconstruction and really rode well. The top 4 riders seemed to be in a league of their own every week, and it made this the best season I can remember. Cole was a huge part of that excitement.
He had one race where his bike showed signs of trouble in the hot lap and then died during the race, but that was almost it for troubles for the smoothest rider on our circuit.
3. #123 Brett Metcalfe KAW: 1-4-8-1-2-1-2-14-2-3 (482)
Jeff: A
If it wasn’t for some mechanicals and bad luck, Brett would have been in the title fight with Goerke and Colton. I really hope he comes back for 2016 as I think we will have a 4-way battle for the championship.
Billy: A
It could be argued the top 3 guys all get an A+. It’s really hard to give any of these guys less. In fact, the times Brett was off the podium are the times when he either came from last place or went DNF-1 or vise versa! However, it ended up a 2-man battle for the championship, so for that I give him a solid ‘A.’
Brett isn’t happy with anything less than a title so I would think he’d like to come back to ‘redeem’ himself and his 3rd place. It can be said that the title came down to whichever of the top few riders made the fewest mistakes.
2. #1 Colton Facciotti HON: 4-3-3-3-4-3-3-1-1-1 (521)
Jeff: A+
Although he didn’t win the title, Colton really controlled the series later in the East. Just imagine if he came in healthy. As always, he will be the championship favourite in 2016.
Billy: A+
Colton came into this series a little less trained than he would have liked. That hip injury kept him from being race-ready during the western rounds. If you score just the east, Colton wins the title 163 to 160. That’s a close battle!
I’m not sure it makes complete sense to give the second place rider the same score as the winner but I’m doing it here anyway. That title was anyone’s and actually came down to the final moto of the final round. Awesome!
1. #101 Matt Goerke YAM: 2-2-4-2-1-2-1-3-3-4 (527)
Jeff: A+
Matt came in injured and put his head down and made his bad races better than everyone else’s. He really did earn this title, and I’m glad he finally gets to run the #1 in 2016.
Billy: A+
Both 1st and 2nd were only off the podium once with two 4th-place finishes each. That is an amazing run with amazing luck and skill from the mechanics and the entire team. With these top guys racing each other, we won’t see a perfect season, but we will see 3 or 4 amazing runs to the title, that’s for sure!
Matt came in a little unhealed the same as Colton and made it happen. They both new they had to get through the western rounds to the break to get fully healed. Matt just had fewer problems than Colton and that made the difference. This was the best year to be an MX1 fan in Canada. For that, Matt gets an easy ‘A’ from me…oh, and the big #1 in 2016, to boot.
Thanks for reading. This was obviously an Op Ed piece and no animals were harmed during the taping of this broadcast. It’s hard to believe that the 2015 Pro season has come and gone, but let’s just hope 2016 can be half as entertaining!
