Redbud
US MX
450 Moto 1 By Jordan Roberts:
There were some fresh faces inside the top ten at the beginning of the first 450 moto. Josh Grant nailed the holeshot with Jake Weimer right behind him, and Andrew Short, Malcolm Stewart, Justin Brayton and Phil Nicoletti also benefited from decent starts. Ryan Dungey and James Stewart hovered around fifth, while points leader Ryan Villopoto sat a small handful of positions behind them.
The top three were composed of Josh Grant, Trey Canard and Ryan Dungey after the first lap, but it was clear that Villopoto was on a tear and would soon join them or crash trying. Villopoto was clicking off laps two-to-three seconds faster than anyone else on the track as he sped to the front of the pack. He made the pass on both Dungey and Canard in just the fourth lap, and then got Grant in the fifth. Even though Villopoto locked down the lead fairly early, he still kept his lap times significantly lower than any rider up until the 15-minute mark.
Grant fell back to fifth after being passed by Villopoto. Canard also dropped back a couple positions after being by passed Dungey and James Stewart, then a few more after dropping his bike in the sandy corner after LaRocco’s Leap. Stewart caught up to Dungey after Dungey experienced a sub-par lap around the 20-minute mark. The battle never materialized when Dungey’s bike stalled and never restarted after the ski jump. Dungey pushed his bike off the track after trying to bump start it and went back to the pits with a mechanical DNF, allowing Grant to move back into podium position.
A five-man battle started brewing late in the race just outside the top three. Short led Malcom Stewart, Canard, Weimer and Brayton in an exciting sprint to the finish. Short stayed out front, but Stewart fell back to eighth allowing Canard, Brayton and Weimer to pass him. Justin Barcia moved up just behind Stewart and into ninth after charging from near last place since the beginning of the race.
Although Ryan Villopoto is no stranger to the top rung of the podium, James Stewart and Josh Grant may have gained a boost of confidence with their second- and third-place moto finishes.
450 Moto 1 Results
1. Ryan VIllopoto
2. James Stewart
3. Josh Grant
4. Andrew Short
5. Trey Canard
6. Justin Brayton
7. Jake Weimer
8. Malcolm Stewart
9. Justin Barcia
10. Phil Nicoletti
11. Broc Tickle
12. Ryan Sipes
13. Chad Reed
450 Moto 2:
The second 450 moto marked the first time James Stewart secured the early lead since High Point. Both JGR Yamaha riders Josh Grant and Justin Brayton followed Stewart through the first turn in second and third. Though both of the JGR riders locked down solid starts, they had both Ryans right behind them applying the pressure. Dungey had a couple of riders between himself and Villopoto, but Villopoto started an early-race charge similar to the first moto. He passed Dungey and then Grant for second. Dungey upped his pace and started picking off riders just as quick as Villopoto had to move into third.
Stewart, Villopoto and Dungey dropped the rest of the field to form a three-man race between the heavy hitters, but would Stewart be able to handle the pressure applied by both of the Ryans? Villopoto closed the gap between himself and Stewart, but a deteriorating track decreased the line options, allowing Stewart to block Villopoto’s attempts at advancing. In fact, Villopoto tried to rail around the outside of a turn to pass Stewart, but the lines came together and Villopoto was forced off the track by Stewart. Stewart was left with a decent gap between himself and Villopoto, and Villopoto suddenly had Dungey trailing close behind.
Villopoto pulled away from Dungey and back up on Stewart, only this time he would make the pass stick. He lined himself up on the inside of the long, sandy whoop section for the inside pass on Stewart in the proceeding corner. Dungey apparently didn’t want to lose sight of Villopoto because he too made a pass on Stewart within half of a lap. He scrubbed the finish line jump right next to Stewart and won the drag race into the next corner.
It appeared that Stewart had started to drop off their pace the next lap, turning a lap time three seconds slower than the Ryans, but he fired back the next lap with a lap time a full second better than Villopoto’s. Stewart started to reel Dungey back in, but the Red Bull KTM rider threw it away in the same section he suffered a mechanical DNF in the first moto. Both rider and bike flipped while exiting the uphill right-hander, resulting in Dungey being trapped under his bike. He got out from under it, ditched the goggles he was previously having problems with and remounted in third place. If that wasn’t enough, he had Justin Barcia trying to make a charge past Dungey and into third. Dungey was able to hold Barcia off to finish behind first-place finisher Villopto and second-place Stewart. Josh Grant held down fifth to land in third overall.
450 Moto 2 Results
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. James Stewart
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Justin Barcia
5. Josh Grant
6. Trey Canard
7. Malcolm Stewart
8. Justin Brayton
9. Mike Alessi
10. Chad Reed
250 Moto 1 By Chase Stallo
Seven points separated Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac entering round 7 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship from the Red Bull RedBud National. Tomac trimmed the lead a week earlier at Southwick with his second overall on the season, and cut into the points gap even further after a flawless moto one performance in which he lead from start to finish
Tomac’s GEICO Honda teammate Wil Hahn is now a perfect four of four in holeshots attempted, as he swung around to nip Tomac for the Motorcyle-Superstore.com holeshot. Tomac closed out Hahn early to secure the lead, as Red Bulll KTM teammates Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen jostled with MyPlash/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin for top five positioning.
Martin was aggressive early, pushing the pace to Musquin. The Minnesota native made an early pass to jump into a podium position, but later succumb to the Red Bull KTM ambush of Roczen and Musquin.
With Tomac riding off into the distance, the former World Champions were left to fight over second. Roczen pressured Musquin for the first half, eventually forcing a mistake from the Frenchman, as Roczen cleared LaRocco’s leap, while Musquin was unable to. Roczen took second with Musquin hanging on for third after a late charge by Jeremy Martin fell short.
Cole Seely, Cooper Webb, Kyle Cunningham, Blake Baggett, Wil Hahn and Zach Osborne would round out the top 10 in moto one.
250 Moto 1 Results
1. Eil Tomac
2. Ken Roczen
3. Marvin Musquin
4. Jeremy Martin
5. Cole Seely
6. Cooper Webb
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Blake Baggett
9. Wil Hahn
10. Zach Osborne
11. Adam Cianciarulo
250 Moto 2
A dominating moto one performance pulled the momentum toward Eli Tomac, but it quickly got pushed away early in the second moto. GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne and MyPlash/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin fought over the early lead, with Musquin, Roczen and Tomac all within striking distance.
Roczen was the first to make a move, sliding past both Martin and Osborne to move into the early lead. Tomac was following suit, and after squeezing by his teammate he looked to make a run at Roczen. But a small mistake cost Tomac, as he went down just seconds after passing Osborne, leaving both riders just inside the top ten after remounting.
Martin and Musquin would inherit the spots left open by Tomac and Osborne, with Martin withstanding an onslaught throughout the moto from Musquin. Two late crashes spelled the demise of the Frenchman, as he finished the moto fourth.
Running laps times that were consistently two seconds a lap faster than the competition, Tomac quickly made his way to the front, disposing of anything in his way. He eventually worked his way into second, but was unable to make a run at Roczen, who had open a more than 10 second gap.
Martin would grab his first career moto podium, with Musquin, Osborne, Jason Anderson, Justin Bogle, Kyle Cunningham, Cooper Webb, and Blake Baggett rounding out the top ten.
250 Moto 2 Overall
1. Ken Roczen
2. Eli Tomac
3. Jeremy Martin
4. Marvin Musquin
5. Zach Osborne
6. Jason Anderson
7. Justin Bogle
8. Kyle Cunningham
9. Cooper Webb
10. Blake Baggett
