It’s the beautiful RedBud Track ‘N Trail this week as round 7 of the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships gets underway under clear skies and warm weather. This is the start of the second half of the series and on the weekend that America celebrates its Independence Day, there couldn’t be a better track for it.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey has won the last two 450MX nationals in a row to close the gap to 12 on Monster Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto and those two riders have a nice lead on third place in the points. A pair of Honda Muscle Milk riders in Justin Barcia and Trey Canard are third and fourth in the points.
With a brand new contract in hand for the next few years, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac tries to close the gap up on Red Bull KTM’s Kenny Roczen in the 250MX class. Right there in third is Budds Creek winner and defending champion Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett and fourth is Roczen’s teammate Marvin Musquin.
Practice went well here, the track features some changes and as usual, it’s prepped perfectly. Both 250MX and 450MX classes are shaping up nice and we’re looking forward to some great racing.
As per usual almost every rider set their fastest time in the first set of practices (save Dungey) and sitting atop the group was points leader Villopoto. He was followed by Honda’s Justin Barcia and JGR Yamaha’s Josh Grant, himself a former winner here. After that came Dungey and Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart.
In the 250’s it was Tomac with the number one spot that was an incredible three seconds faster than anyone else. Last week we saw him dominate moto one with a great ride and after qualifying here, we’re expecting to see that again. Rockstar Energy Racing’s Jason Anderson had his best qualifying day of the year so far in second, Roczen was third and Troy Lee Designs Cole Seely had his best result with a fourth overall.
We’re expecting a great day of racing here, qualifying has gone well and the track is shaping up nicely. REDDDDBUUUUDDDDD…
450MX Qualifying
1 2 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX 450F 2:15.742
2 51 Justin Barcia Honda CRF450R 2:16.038
3 33 Josh Grant Yamaha YZ 450F 2:16.535
4 1 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F FE 2:17.233
5 7 James Stewart Jr. Suzuki RMZ 450 2:17.686
6 41 Trey Canard Honda CRF450R 2:18.439
7 10 Justin Brayton Yamaha YZ 450F 2:18.618
8 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RMZ 450 2:18.679
9 20 Broc Tickle Suzuki RMZ 450 2:18.753 -
10 28 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki KX 450F 2:19.652
11 29 Andrew Short KTM 450 SX-F FE 2:20.023
250MX Qualifying
1 17 Eli Tomac Honda CRF250R 2:18.007
2 21 Jason Anderson Suzuki RMZ 250 2:21.195
3 94 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 2:21.211
4 43 Cole Seely Honda CRF250R 2:21.405
5 25 Marvin Musquin KTM 250 SX-F 2:21.525
6 338 Zach Osborne Honda CRF250R 2:21.710
7 77 Jeremy Martin Yamaha YZ 250F 2:21.749
8 1 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX 250F 2:21.752
9 38 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ 250F 2:22.021
10 175 Cooper Webb Yamaha YZ 250F 2:22.423