Sign of the Lap Times: Thunder Valley

Take a deep dive inside the lap charts with this week's Sign of the Lap Times.

 

 

 

 

450 Moto 1

- Ryan Villopoto overcame early charges by Ryan Dungey and Justin Barcia with a late moto display that could stand alongside some of his greatest motos. While Villopoto made it look simple, Dungey wasn’t an innocent bystander. He set the fastest lap of the day (2:04.390) while trying to fend off the malicious attack from Villopoto.

- Once RV secured the lead on lap 11, he really turned the heat up a notch. He set consecutive laps in the 2:04 range (10-11) followed by four straight (12-15) between 2:04-2:05s. See the side-by-side comparison chart below for a more details.

Lap	Ryan Villopoto	Ryan Dungey	Justin Barcia
11	2.04.465	2.07.348	2.06.656
12	2.05.213	2.05.035	2.06.892
13	2.04.841	2.05.435	2.08.067
14	2.05.753	2.06.061	2.08.715
15	2.05.762	2.07.752	2.10.229
16	2.06.623	2.08.483	2.11.571
17	2.09.241	2.12.720	2.11.364

- Villopoto was very consistent in his charge, with only two laps (9 and 17) over 2:06.

- Dungey held a stable pace as well, with only two laps (16 and 17) over 2:07.

- This was Justin Barcia’s first true outdoor test this year against the likes of Dungey and RV, and while the rookie did succumb late, he was holding his own early—setting laps in the 2:04-2:06 range before trailing off down the stretch with laps that fluctuated between 2:08 and 2:11 (laps 13-17).

- Malcolm Stewart, whose also pioneering his first 450 campaign, was fast early—putting down the fourth fastest lap of the moto on lap 4. Yet, Mookie, similar to Barcia, would fade a bit down the stretch, going from 2:06-2:08 (laps 4-11) to 2:09-2:10 (laps 12-17).

- Trey Canard has been consistent early in 2013. Canard did not have a lap over 2:07 until the eleventh lap en route to his third straight moto finish of fourth.

- In his first appearance in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross since Unadilla 2010, Clement Desalle more than held his own in the thin air of Colorado. The Belgian was strong throughout the first moto with only three laps over 2:08.

Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:06.157	5	2:07.948	Ryan Villopoto
2	2	2:06.757	7	2:08.296	Ryan Dungey
3	5	2:06.998	3	2:10.675	Trey Canard
4	3	2:07.336	7	2:09.911	James Stewart
5	4	2:07.614	3	2:10.658	Justin Barcia
6	7	2:08.125	3	2:10.700	Clement Desalle
7	8	2:08.632	10	2:10.653	Kevin Strijbos
8	9	2:08.775	4	2:10.858	Dean Wilson
9	6	2:09.388	7	2:10.663	Mike Alessi
10	12	2:09.846	4	2:13.046	Jake Weimer

450 Moto 2

- Ryan Villopoto was in sprint mode early, with all of his laps under 2:08. Once he opened a gap over Dungey and the rest, RV backed it down a notch during laps 12-17, with all laps over 2:09.

- Dungey once again was Mister Steady Eddie, with every lap but one in the 2:06-2:09 range.

- With four motos squeezed into a four-hour window, along with qualifying and practice, it was interesting to see how the GP riders—who have Saturday qualifying and practice and Sunday motos—would handle the tight schedule. While both reported being tired during the second motos, they were solid in their respective finishes (7th for Desalle, 10th for Strijbos) and their laps times did not waver much throughout the second moto. Desalle started in the 2:08-2:09 range (2-6) and later dropped to around the 2:10-2:12 mark—not atypical in the second motos. Meanwhile, Strijbos stayed within the 2:10-2:12 range all moto long.

- Justin Barcia was a tick off the pace of RV and Dungey early, with times in the 2:08s compared to 2:06-2:07 for RV and Dungey. Barcia’s times, like many others, would drop a tick as the track grew rough and the moto grew long, with lap times in the 2:10-2:12 range.

It was Ryan Dungey who set the fastest lap in the first 450 moto.
Simon Cudby photo

250 Class
Moto 1

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:06.873	8	2:07.851	Ken Roczen
2	2	2:07.069	6	2:08.117	Eli Tomac
3	3	2:08.976	9	2:10.508	Cooper Webb
4	4	2:09.673	8	2:10.822	Marvin Musquin
5	9	2:09.746	14	2:12.165	Blake Baggett
6	5	2:09.792	9	2:11.641	Jason Anderson
7	7	2:10.230	6	2:12.093	Martin Davalos
8	6	2:10.279	12	2:11.875	Zach Osborne
9	8	2:10.760	4	2:12.643	Jeremy Martin
10	13	2:10.882	9	2:12.233	Justin Bogle

250 Moto 1

- Ken Roczen continued his trek to the top of the 250 Class in moto one. Roczen’s lap times never wavered over the 2:08 mark—setting all 17 laps under 2:09. Roczen also set the fastest lap of the moto with a 2:06.873, the only 250 rider to dip into the 2:06 range in the moto.

- While he calls Colorado home, Eli Tomac didn’t cut his teeth as an amateur at Thunder Valley. So while Tomac is accustomed to the altitude, the “home track” mantra holds little validity. But that didn’t stop him from breathing down Roczen’s neck late in the race, thanks in part to ten consecutive laps (6-15) under 2:08.

- Bright-eyed rookie Cooper Webb used a burst in the middle of the race to track down and pass two-time MX2 world champion Marvin Musquin for his first moto podium. Nearly even in lap times throughout the race, laps 6-10 tell the story. Webb gained a full second on lap 6, continued to pick up bits of time over the next two laps, before gaining nearly two full seconds on lap 9 and just over two seconds on lap 10.

Lap	Cooper Webb	Marvin Musquin
6	2.09.172	2.10.284
7	2.09.387	2.09.874
8	2.09.643	2.09.673
9	2.08.976	2.10.801
10	2.09.321	2.11.375

We briefly touched on Tomac’s late run in moto one, but let’s dig a little deeper with a side-by-side comparison of the last six laps.

Lap	Ken Roczen	Eli Tomac
12	2.07.077	2.07.089
13	2.07.020	2.07.128
14	2.08.184	2.07.947
15	2.08.683	2.07.636
16	2.08.588	2.08.254
17	2.07.393	2.13.769

Roczen never really faltered in the face of adversity, keeping pace with his earlier lap times. Tomac chipped away on laps 14-16 to pull on the rear fender of Roczen, but a fight to the finish never materialized after Tomac washed out the front end.

Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:07.254	3	2:10.065	Eli Tomac
2	2	2:09.544	3	2:11.157	Zach Osborne
3	3	2:10.007	5	2:11.511	Ken Roczen
4	4	2:10.138	4	2:11.337	Marvin Musquin
5	7	2:10.468	4	2:12.421	Justin Bogle
6	5	2:10.476	5	2:11.995	Blake Baggett
7	6	2:10.759	6	2:12.440	Jeremy Martin
8	10	2:11.681	3	2:14.856	Martin Davalos
9	8	2:12.061	9	2:13.273	Blake Wharton
10	35	2:12.121	4	2:13.319	Joey Savatgy

250 Moto 2

- There’s another level, and then there’s what Eli Tomac achieved in the second moto. Tomac set a faster lap that was two seconds faster than the next fastest time (Zach Osborne) and nearly three seconds faster than the third fastest time (Ken Roczen).

- Tomac’s average lap time of 2:10.065 ranked as the fourth fastest lap of the moto!

- Zach Osborne used consistency to stalk Roczen en route to a pulsating last lap pass that helped him secure his first overall podium in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. Check out the chart below for more on Osborne’s late charge.

- While his late gaffe will be talked about more, Roczen was actually very consistent throughout the moto with only three laps over 2:11.

- Let’s take a look and see where Osborne made up the most time on Roczen:

Lap	Zach Osborne	Ken Roczen
11	2.12.341	2.12.720
12	2.12.088	2.11.880
13	2.12.038	2.11.676
14	2.13.112	2.13.738
15	2.11.418	2.11.535
16	2.10.912	2.15.389

Like his first moto battle with Eli Tomac, the disparities between lap times don’t stick out like a sore thumb for Roczen. Osborne was close the whole time, but Roczen didn’t waver much. Osborne dug deep on laps 14 and 15 to get close enough to make a pass, and then he executed on the final lap. Roczen got blocked by a lapper and then went off the track trying to get Osborne back, which helps explain the nearly a five second gap on the final lap.

Eli Tomac was on fire in the second moto.
Simon Cudby photo