Sign of the Lap Times: Southwick

Southwick is quietly, or maybe not so quietly, beginning to set the standard for the unusual. From Ryan Dugney going all NASCAR and making a pit stop, to what seemed like the entire GEICO team hitting trees, to Mike McDade becoming an overnight star for helping a fellow rider escape the clutches of his own bike—Southwick provided it all.

While the atypical grabbed the majority of headlines, Southwick also complied with the norm. Even with a pit stop Dungey captured his seventh straight overall after Mike Alessi was unable to capitalize on a rare mistake from the points leader. And the South African sand master, Tyla Rattray, won a moto at Southwick for the third time in his career—albeit in a different class. His second moto win would mark the first career 450 moto win for Rattray.

The 250 Class would also follow the company line, so to speak, as Blake Baggett used his prowess down the stretch in the second moto to wear down Ken Roczen en route to the moto win and the overall. But one story out of the 250 Class was unsual, as Justin Barcia—for the first time in his career—failed to win a moto at Southwick, and in the process lost valuable championship points. The New York native now returns home and finds himself approaching must-win scenarios each weekend to win the title.

Let’s check out the lap charts to see how it all broke down.

Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	2	2:00.584	3	2:06.550	Ryan Dungey
2	3	2:02.844	2	2:07.676	Mike Alessi
3	35	2:03.568	3	2:26.063	Tommy Hahn
4	1	2:03.619	9	2:05.702	Tyla Rattray
5	15	2:05.905	2	2:12.615	Christian Craig
6	11	2:05.984	2	2:11.231	Andrew Short
7	4	2:06.042	4	2:07.319	Broc Tickle
8	7	2:06.242	3	2:10.034	Mike Brown
9	10	2:06.259	3	2:10.327	Les Smith
10	6	2:06.648	3	2:09.283	Davi Millsaps

A rare mistake from Ryan Dungey in the second moto, which would eventually lead to the KTM rider having to make a pit stop after his gas cap came loose, opened the door for Tyla Rattray to seize his first career 450 moto win. But Dungey wasn’t going to make it easy on the South African, pushing him all the way to the finish. Let’s dig a little deeper to see how the two matched up down the stretch.

Lap	Ryan Dungey	Tyla Rattray
14	2.18.110	2.04.725
15	2.06.252	2.05.947
16	2.06.504	2.06.077
17	2.04.255	2.03.938

You can cleary see that Dungey switched it into another gear after his pit stop, but Rattray was there to match his every move, setting faster laps than the series points leader down the home stretch en route to his first career 450 moto win.

Rattray won his first-career 450 moto at Southwick.
Carl Stone photo

250 Class
Moto 1

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:01.577	2	2:05.075	Eli Tomac
2	38	2:03.141	5	2:13.523	Zach Bell
3	2	2:03.193	5	2:06.044	Marvin Musquin
4	3	2:03.239	5	2:06.192	Blake Baggett
5	5	2:03.803	4	2:08.231	Jessy Nelson
6	4	2:04.205	3	2:07.079	Ken Roczen
7	9	2:05.460	3	2:10.234	Blake Wharton
8	7	2:05.824	9	2:08.651	Justin Barcia
9	6	2:06.244	5	2:08.600	Malcolm Stewart
10	8	2:06.937	8	2:09.596	Alex Martin

Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:02.524	3	2:07.058	Blake Baggett
2	2	2:02.614	2	2:08.115	Ken Roczen
3	3	2:03.711	9	2:08.594	Eli Tomac
4	4	2:05.208	3	2:09.150	Justin Barcia
5	13	2:05.412	3	2:14.226	Justin Bogle
6	6	2:05.462	2	2:09.613	Alex Martin
7	5	2:05.826	3	2:09.387	Marvin Musquin
8	11	2:06.223	2	2:13.541	Jessy Nelson
9	7	2:06.623	4	2:10.965	Malcolm Stewart
10	8	2:07.361	3	2:11.667	Jason Anderson

While Blake Baggett was able to capture the overall, extending his points lead in the process, at Southwick, it was GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac that was the fastest on the day. After crushing the field in moto one, Tomac went down early in moto two. Remarkably, Tomac began to click off laps at a astonishing pace, quickly closing the gap on Baggett and Roczen. Although a late crash would cost Tomac the overall, his lap times were worth comparing to that of Baggett’s and Roczen’s.

Lap	Blake Baggett	Ken Roczen	Eli Tomac
9	2.07.540	2.08.060	2.03.711
10	2.06.225	2.09.105	2.06.916
11	2.07.703	2.08.718	2.05.823
12	2.09.229	2.08.679	2.05.645
13	2.10.134	2.09.455	2.05.539
14	2.09.801	2.10.677	2.23.835
15	2.11.117	2.11.308	2.17.478
16	2.07.311	2.14.673	2.11.712
17	2.10.749	2.19.301	2.13.858

Baggett set the fastest lap in the second moto en route to the overall.
Simon Cudby photo

WMX Class
Moto 1

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:18.021	5	2:21.181	Ashley Fiolek
2	2	2:18.401	2	2:22.327	Jessica Patterson
3	3	2:20.413	2	2:25.143	Tarah Gieger
4	4	2:23.118	4	2:26.158	Sara Pettersson
5	31	2:24.232	2	2:27.436	Brianna DeGray

Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	2	2:16.863	2	2:22.959	Jessica Patterson
2	1	2:17.552	3	2:21.471	Ashley Fiolek
3	4	2:22.145	5	2:22.964	Sara Pettersson
4	3	2:20.244	5	2:23.060	Mariana Balbi
5	5	2:20.514	2	2:23.517	Tarah Gieger

The WMX title chase failed to clear itself up at Southwick, and will head to the season finale at Lake Elsinore with three riders separated by 10 points. Ashley Fiolek captured her third straight overall after returning from a concussion in Colorado, and now enters the final round only five points back of leader Jessica Patterson. Meanwhile, Patterson will gladly welcome the break as she is still recovering from a hand injury.