Round nine of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship is taking place under chilly weather conditions at Spring Creek here in Millville, Minnesota. Last week saw a terrific race in the 450MX division with Monster Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto and Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey splitting moto wins with Villopoto getting the overall. In the 250MX class is was GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac going 1-1 to pull within one point of the series lead behind Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen.
The track isn’t as deep and ripped up as in years past but the riders still seem to like it. The course winds up and down hills in a valley and of course its signature obstacle is the sand whoop section that really taxes the riders and teams in terms of bike set-up.
Villopoto has a nice lead in the series but he no doubt would love to defeat Dungey at his home state and home track. That’s going to be a tough order as Dungey is very fast on the track that he grew up on and knows well. The 450’s are shaping up to be a great battle between the two.
In the 250MX class we expect more greatness out of Tomac and Roczen but hometown riders Jeremy and Alex Martin should do well because, well, their dad owns it and they grew up on the property. Other than that, there shouldn’t be much of an advantage for the Martin brothers
And today in practice it was Villopoto putting in the best time by just about half a second over Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart. JGR Yamaha’s Josh Grant was third and Dungey the hometown hero was eighth. We’re betting that come race time Dungey will have no problem finding that extra seconds to be right up there.
In the 250MX class it was Tomac and Roczen 1-2 as usual with defending champion Blake Baggett in third. Hometown hero Jeremy Martin was fourth and with Marvin Musquin in fifth.
All in all the contenders are all stacked up nicely and we’re looking forward to all four motos live today. The track is fantastic and this is going to be a great day.
450MX QUALIFYING RESULTS
1 2 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX 450F 1:53.269
2 7 James Stewart Jr. Suzuki RMZ 450 1:53.848
3 33 Josh Grant Yamaha YZ 450F 1:54.119
4 41 Trey Canard Honda CRF450R 1:54.156
5 35 Ryan Sipes Suzuki RMZ 450 1:55.577
6 28 Tyla Rattray Kawasaki KX 450F 1:55.578
7 51 Justin Barcia Honda CRF450R 1:55.681
8 1 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F FE 1:55.788
9 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RMZ 450 1:55.870
10 12 Jake Weimer Kawasaki KX 450F 1:56.060
250MX QUALIFYING RESULTS
1 17 Eli Tomac Honda CRF250R 1:53.413 1:53.582
2 94 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 1:54.898 1:55.064
3 1 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX 250F 1:55.023
4 77 Jeremy Martin Yamaha YZ 250F 1:55.197
5 25 Marvin Musquin KTM 250 SX-F 1:55.337
6 21 Jason Anderson Suzuki RMZ 250 1:55.869
7 338 Zach Osborne Honda CRF250R 1:55.886
8 19 Will Hahn Honda CRF250R 1:56.226
9 292 Adam Cianciarulo Kawasaki KX 250F 1:56.229
10 38 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ 250F 1:56.322
