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Tested: Mike Sleeter’s KTM 350SX-F

Mike Sleeter’s Proven Powered KTM 350SX-F EXPOSED.

Check out the full article by Vital MX’s Michael Lindsay at:

http://www.vitalmx.com/product/feature/Tested-Mike-Sleeters-KTM-350-SX-F,3227

Catching Up With Colton Facciotti – Summer 2014

Billy Rainford / Direct Motocross

Hello, Colton. When I texted you yesterday you said you were busy in pre-natal classes. How are all the baby preparations coming along with you and Jocelyn?
Colton Facciotti: Ya, we’ve been hitting up a few classes. The baby is due November 6th, so it’s coming up pretty quickly. Jocelyn wanted to take a couple classes because we pretty much know nothing so that will help out a little bit and maybe learn a few things. We’ve got her family close by too so if we ever have any problems we can probably just go to them.

Boy or girl?
We’re having a boy.

How about names? Have you picked one out yet?
We’ve got a few picked out but it’s top secret. We don’t want anybody to steal our names! [The whole thing] is pretty scary to think about but I’m sure we’ll figure it all out. A few people have had babies before us, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

I want to talk a little about this past season before we get into your Utah experience. You won the MX1 title again, and this time it was against one of the top outdoor riders in the world. Did you enjoy the season or was it really stressful? Talk about how this season was.
The season was awesome! It started off good with grabbing the [red] plates from the get-go. I just rode solid all year. Obviously, with the top guys coming up from the U.S. I had my work cut out for me. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure what to expect coming into round one with all those riders and especially being on a new team, new bike, and everything. The bike was awesome and so was the team so I can’t thank them enough. The whole year just went good. It seemed like I had a bit of luck on my side and I kept it on two wheels and had fun all year racing with those guys. There were rounds where I was quicker and there were some rounds where I wasn’t as good. For the most part, I had fun all season.

We spoke early in the season about what you would do for the title. You said it was about the points and you weren’t about to go out and kill yourself for wins. Is that what won you the title?
Ya. I think I kind of learned that from the past—you’ve got to stay on the bike in order to win and be in the championship hunt at the last round. There were a few rounds where I maybe just turned it back a notch and maybe the track was a little sketchy or I wasn’t feeling great that weekend or whatever it may have been. To win the championship you’ve got to be consistent every week and I just tried to do that.

It seemed like there was some immediate tension between you and Mike Alessi after you took turns taking each other’s lines away. Could you feel the tension? Were you in each other’s heads?
Ya, I think there was definitely some tension there. When you’re fighting for that top spot there’s always going to be that rivalry. I think we both handled it good all year. The first couple rounds were a little worse than the other ones, but from then it was pretty smooth all the way through.

I don’t mean to beat on this too much, but whenever he’d finish ahead of you he’d always make a point of waiting after the finish line to fist bump or congratulate you and you would look the other way and ride right past. Was that on purpose or what was up there?
I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think we were pretty good about it, both of us. We congratulated each other on the podium so I definitely didn’t have a problem with that.

Would you say this championship was as rewarding as your first or how would you rank this one?
Well, I think they’re all pretty rewarding. I mean, to win the championship you’ve got to be consistent and smart all year long and maybe there were a couple more fast guys but usually there was a stand-out guy every year that I was battling with, whether it was Dusty (Klatt) or whoever it may have been…Tyler (Medaglia). Every year that I’ve won the championship it seems like it almost gets harder. It doesn’t get easier. You have to learn from each one and do what you can to be there at the end of the year.

The Gopher Dunes team has been improving every year. At this point, would you say it compares to some of the best teams you’ve ever been on?
Ya, for sure. They’ve done a great job and they’ve basically come from being an unknown team to a really well-known team. Everybody on the team did a great job whether it was the suspension guy, the motor guy, the mechanics, everybody had a part in that.

You had rookie pro, Westen Wrozyna, sort of under your wing. I know he had some tough breaks so did you help him through his season or what were you saying to him to keep his head on straight?
Westen had a tough year. Getting hurt at the beginning of the season with his shoulder and then never really getting to 100% until the end of the year kind of hurt his confidence. Me being the lead rider on the team I tried to help him out here and there. I don’t really know how to answer that. There’s only so much that you can tell somebody. They have to learn a lot for themselves and realize themselves what they’re doing wrong and make mistakes in order to get better and succeed.

And you’re signed to be back with the team next year, right?
Ya. I signed a 2-year deal.

Speaking of 2-year deals, what does a guy like you do when his racing career is done? Do you hit the Senior’s Golf Tour or what do you do?
(Laughs) I have no idea what the plan is for me at this point. I mean, there are definitely a lot of opportunities for me within the industry whether it be schools and that kind of thing or maybe Dig (Derek Schuster) will give me a job. There are lots of things I can think about but I try not to think about it too much because winning is my main goal and hopefully I can carry this on for a few more years.

Just start up a website. Everybody is doing it. It sounds really easy.
(Laughs) Ya, I’ll get right on that one. If I knew how to use a computer I might do it.

Let’s move on to Utah. When did the decision come about to go to that one? When did you know you were going?
I found out on Wednesday night, so pretty late. We flew out Thursday night. I only had 24 hours to get insurance, my U.S. license, get a release from the CMA, and all that sort of fun stuff. It was really hectic trying to get all that stuff figured out. It was a little last-minute but sometimes that’s good.

We were up in Madoc trying to follow along the best we could. Could you take us through your day? How did qualifying go for you? We heard about you getting docked or something?
First practice went pretty good. I think I had a decent time and was having a little problem with my forks. We ended up finding out for the first moto that their air gauge was different than ours and we were off by like 20 PSI so that was kind of shitty for practice. I didn’t really get the greatest time but…well, actually, in the second practice I got a really good time even with having that problem. I’m not too sure if they took away my lap time or what the deal was but they said that they were going to take my fastest time away because I had stopped on the side of the track to just look at the one jump that the guys were doing. I’ve done that in Canada before and never had a problem but I guess that’s a rule in the states so live and learn, I guess.

So, moto one, how did that go for you? What happened?
I got a decent start and kind of got pinched off in the corner and I think I was probably mid-pack, maybe a little bit better. I was making some passes pretty quickly and I was really just going for it for the first few laps because that’s what those guys do down there so you’ve got to keep up with them in the first few laps. I just kind of jumped too far off of this dragon’s back things and landed in some ruts that were back-dragged so they were pretty soft and rode the front end for probably 20 feet and just cartwheeled from there. It was a pretty gnarly crash. I got up and I was basically wanted to pull off but I thought about how I’d come all this way. The bike was all mangled too and so I thought I might as well try. I got back on the bike and got the front end straightened out and the back end was all tweaked. I started putting in some good lap times and I was hurting a bit but it wasn’t unbearable or anything I haven’t been through before so I just started clicking off laps.

I was riding good. I felt good other than being a little bit sore but I made it up to 16thso I was pretty happy with that.

I came off the moto and I was having a hard time breathing the whole moto and when I got off I was coughing up a little bit of blood so I went over to the Asterisk unit and they pretty much advised me…well, told me I couldn’t ride and advised me to go straight to the hospital to get checked out so I did that. It wasn’t really an important race so I just went and got checked out.

There have been people talking that you broke your collarbone, collapsed your lung…what actually is the bottom line for your injuries?
Um, the bottom line is that I bruised a lung. I was coughing up blood and my shoulder has been pretty messed up in my collarbone at my AC joint from before and it always has and always will be. Whether I wrecked it more is kind of hard to say. They said that they saw a chip off the collarbone but it could also be an old injury. I haven’t been able to get to the doctor [at home] yet. It’s feeling better and hopefully I’ll be on the bike in the next week or two.

So, are you going to be alright to represent Team Canada at the Monster Energy FIM MXON?
If I can ride how I did in the first moto then I’m sure it’ll be good by then. At this point it’s hard to say but if I had to make a guess I’d say I’ll be ready.

Man, I hope we’re a little more sure than that!
(Laughs) Sorry.

Is the MXON something you look forward to every year. Are you pumped about Latvia?
Ya, it’s always something I look forward to. It’s a great honour to represent your country and it’s just a cool one-off race and the fans are crazy. There are 50 000 fans or whatever so it’s a pretty cool event. You get to ride against the top guys in the world so that’s a treat and a lot of good things can come from it. Hopefully, we can get our act together and put in some good results.

Ya, I don’t think people realize over here what it’s like to go to a MXON over in Europe.
Ya, the fans are nuts! They’ve got their chainsaws and all that kind of stuff. They’re all lining the track and cheering and stuff. The tracks are pretty cool too. They’re a little bit more wide open and super-wide so I’m looking forward to it.

Team expectations. We’ve got a solid team heading over. I guess goal one is to get into the A Main, right?
Ya, definitely. I mean, we’ve got to qualify well and hopefully we just all be consistent and that’s pretty much the main thing; we can’t have any bad motos. If we can do that and get some good starts we should be right up there.

Then the next thing on the calendar is the Monster Energy Cup out in Las Vegas. Derek has mentioned that there’s a chance you’ll head to that race?
I think there’s a slight possibility. It’s all up in the air right now and its’ a little bit away but we’re definitely trying to make some plans for that. It’s a tough race to do because it’s it across the country. I’d love to do it but we’ll just see how it all plays out, I guess.

Well, I already told Derek that you guys can fly and I’ll drive whatever needs to be driven to make it happen!
(Laughs) Perfect.

You used to do the British SX series and other indoor races. Are there any Supercrosses in your plans for this coming winter?
No plans at the moment. It’s all up in the air. Maybe some Canadian Arenacrosses, I don’t know yet.

Ya, but that’s just in the fall now.
Ya, I guess so.

Are you going to be able to get a little time off?
It definitely wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a bit of time off with having the baby. Jocelyn is going to need some help too so I’m definitely looking forward to that and being a dad.

OK, last question: Was that the most drama-filled Canadian series you’ve ever seen?
(Laughs) I think for the 250Fs, yes, for sure. I mean, some of the things that happened I think that if I wasn’t there and you told me about it I probably wouldn’t believe it. So, because of that, I’d probably say yes.

I won’t force you to say anything but what do you have to say about how all of that stuff went down this summer?
About the whole Benoit thing?

Yea. I think (Vince) Friese brought it on himself. If you’re fighting like that on the hot lap and all that kind of crap and doing it all year, you’re bound to get it back. Obviously, Kaven’s (Benoit) brother shouldn’t have done that and Kaven would have never told his brother to do that or anything but when you get in the heat of the battle some things like that happen. Kaven would have won regardless whether Friese went down in that motor or not. He won by 40 points. I mean, chalk it up as a learning experience and hopefully they ride cleaner next year.

Well, thanks for the chat. Who would you like to thank?
Thanks. I’d like to thank Honda Canada, GDR, TLD, Proven Moto, Yoshimura, SSS, Dunlop, Hinson, Atlas, Oakley, Matrix, my wife, my family and friends, Derek Schuster, my mechanic Justin, and the whole team.

Colton clenches the RED plate with 2 Rounds to go!

CMRC National Round 8 – Riverglade MX Park, Moncton, New Brunswick

The team had a very successful day with Colton Facciotti going 2-2 on the day for 2nd overall. In moto 1 Colton started in 5th position and worked his way up to 1.8 seconds behind the leader at the checkered flag. In moto 2, Colton again started in 5th having to work his way up and at the finish was 5.9 seconds back from the leader. Colton did a great job of managing his points lead and with 2 rounds to go has a 21 point lead.

 

Honda Canada GDR takes victory at hometown race!!

CMRC National Round 5 – Gopher Dunes,Courtland Ontario

The West coast swing has come and gone, the nations top riders had some time to catch their breathe but it was time to fire things up again with the East kicking off in style at Gopher Dunes for Round 5 of the Rockstar Energy Motocross nationals. With just 9 points separating first and second place in MX1, Colton Facciotti, aboard his Honda Canada GDR CRF450R was hoping to extend his points lead in front of a loud hometown crowd at the Dunes. Westen Wroyzna, riding the GDR CRF250R in the MX2 class, was hoping to take his experience from the first 4 rounds of his rookie campaign and build on his results heading into the tough final 6 rounds of the series. To celebrate their home track race the GDR crew unveiled an all new look in the form of throwback 1996 McGrath replica graphics package and some amazing new 2015 Troy Lee Designs riding gear.

As things kicked off for the day, the #278 of Westen Wroyzna headed to the line to do battle against the nations top MX2 riders. Utilizing the off weeks in the series to his advtange Wroyzna came out and put together one of his most solid races of the year running a steady 12 place until a big crash put him to the ground and struggling to remount his bike. In a courageous display of grit and determination, Westen was able to get back up and re-fire the Honda Canada GDR CRF250R and finish the Moto. After composing himself in-between moto’s Wroyzna went out and put down a solid performance in MX2 Moto 2, running just outside of the top 10 on an insanely rough Gopher Dunes track and when the checkers dropped found himself in 13th.

In MX1, moto 1, Facciotti and Alessi continued where they left off in the West and quickly put some distance on the field as they both showed off their remarkable skills in the bottomless Gopher Dunes sand. As the #45 of Facciotti settled in at his race speed, Alessi continued his attack of the Gopher Dunes track and stretched out a lead leaving Colton comfortably in second about 6 seconds back. This feverish pace though ended up with Alessi on the sidelines out of fuel leaving the door wide open for the #45 CRF450R to swoop in for the kill with two laps left to take the Moto 1 win. In a near clone of Moto 1, the #1 and #2 riders in the MX1 class again jumped out to a great start and the heat, humidity and deep sand seemingly had no effect on these two riders as they put on another impressive display for the crowd. After extending his points lead in Moto 1, the cool calm and collected #45 found his rhythm running around 12 seconds back of Alessi until a late race pit stop by the MotoConcepts team had some fans wide eyed as Facciotti was back within a second of the #800 Alessi. With some late oto excitement Facciotti ended his day with a second place finish giving him 1-2 moto scores and a 1st OA on the day. Colton says of his day “I was happy to get through the day and continue to extend my points lead as we move into the second half of the season”.

Facciotti after his solid weekend at Round 5 extends his lead in the MX1 series to 28 points heading into Round 6 at Sand Del Lee on Sunday July 20th. Team manager Derek Schuster adds “We are very happy to come away with the win at our home track this weekend, this is the first time our team has accomplished this so it was an extra special one for us. I look forward to keeping the ball rolling next weekend in Sand Del Lee”.

Honda Canada, Troy Lee Designs, Pro Honda Oils and Chemicals, Yoshimura, Proven Moto, SSS, Dunlop Tires, Parts Canada, Hinson Clutch Components, PROCRF Technology, Atlas Brace, Dyco Tool, Honda Genuine Accessories, Honda Genuine Parts and Service, Cycra, Motoseat, Wiseco, Oakley, Snap On Tools, Macnab Transit, Works Connection, Matrix Concepts, Mechanix Wear, Hammerhead Designs, EBC Brakes, Limenine, DT1, Xtrig, Adidas, 2Undr, Dubya USA, Toronto Digital Imaging, Renthal, Alpinestars, Back in Motion, Evan Cooling, Dissent, Steahly Offroad, CMT Composite

 Press Release brought to you courtesy of Honda Canada GDR Race Team.

2nd Place finish for the Proven Powered Facciotti – Still #redonred!

CMRC National Round 3 – Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary, Alberta