Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to round two of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, which is held at the beautiful Lakewood, Colorado facility just outside of Denver. The track is prepped perfectly and the weather is going to be superb here. Not too hot, not too cold—just like grandma’s porridge, it’s the perfect temperature.
In the 250MX class, TLD Honda’s Jessy Nelson didn’t make it this weekend as his elbow injury sustained in supercross still isn’t healed up and again, we wait for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit’s Adam Cianciarulo debut as he recovers from food poisoning. MotooConcepts/Smartop Racing’s Jake Canada came to Lakewood nursing a sore wrist, tried to practice but eventually is forced to pull out and give it some more time to heal.
The 450MX class has been bolstered by the additions of two European riders as Rockstar Suzuki’s Clement Desalle and Kevin Strjibos. Both riders are world class and should get into the mix here in Lakewood. As well, both riders are riding out of the Rockstar Racing rig where Ryan Sipes resides.
And Desalle certainly impressed here with his first practice time that stood second behind series points leader Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Most everyone, save for a few riders (Pro Circuit’s Dean Wilson being one of them), had faster times in the first practice sessions. Early on in both sessions it was Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart who led but the Euro and RV passed him. Still, his time was good enough to stand third overall on the gate.
The defending champion, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, gets the fourth pick on the gate with Wilson fifth. The other GP rider, Kevin Strjibos, did well enough to get the seventh best time. Remember the gate pick for the second moto goes off your first moto finish.
In the 250 Class it was GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, himself a Colorado native, who topped the charts in both sessions. He lives many hours away and doesn’t really ride this track so although it’s home state advantage, it’s not home track advantage. Whatever it is, Tomac was very fast in both sessions and he showed that he’s the favorite going into the motos.
He was followed by last week’s winner Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne. Defending champion Blake Baggett (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki) was fourth and last week’s fourth place rider Marvin Musquin of Red Bull KTM was fifth. So the top five overall riders from last weeks’ race also qualified in the top five spots this week—something to watch as we move forward.
So that’s it, the qualifying spots are set and we’re set here for a great day of racing. Make sure you tune in and catch the action!
Combined 250MX times
1 17 Eli Tomac Honda CRF250R 2:03.740
2 94 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 2:05.076
3 338 Zach Osborne Honda CRF250R 2:06.065
4 1 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX 250F 2:06.458
5 25 Marvin Musquin KTM 250 SX-F 2:06.469
6 38 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ 250F 2:07.001
7 34 Justin Bogle Honda CRF250R 2:07.195
8 77 Jeremy Martin Yamaha YZ 250F 2:07.325
9 40 Martin Davalos Kawasaki KX 250F 2:07.698
10 30 Nico Izzi Suzuki RMZ 250 2:07.749
Combined 450MX times
1 2 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX 450F 2:03.431
2 925 Clement Desalle Suzuki RMZ 450 2:03.517
3 7 James Stewart Jr. Suzuki RMZ 450 2:03.650
4 1 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F FE 2:04.132
5 15 Dean Wilson Kawasaki KX 450F 2:04.886
6 35 Ryan Sipes Suzuki RMZ 450 2:05.365
7 922 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki RMZ 450 2:05.369
8 51 Justin Barcia Honda CRF450R 2:05.403
9 41 Trey Canard Honda CRF450R 2:05.425
10 20 Broc Tickle Suzuki RMZ 450 2:05.745