450 Moto 2

All season, it’s essentially been the KTM duo of Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey leading the field. Yes, Eli Tomac, James Stewart, and even Josh Grant, have won moto(s), but the KTM teammates have been the dominant force. That changed at Unadilla. Trey Canard finally put the pieces together to capture his first moto win of the season over Dungey, Tomac and Roczen.

GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac captured the holeshot over Justin Brayton and Canard, among others. Roczen was in the mix with Dungey, but Dungey was the aggressor—taking command of their battle early. Up front Tomac lead for quite a while before Canard began to apply pressure. The Tomac and Canard battle allowed Dungey to creep into the lead picture. At one point, all three were within a second. Tomac was the first flinch, with Dungey making his way around. Tomac would finish third, well ahead of Roczen.

Dungey made a desperation attempt on the final lap and cut it to with a second or two on Canard, but would fall short. Dungey would finish second—and capture the overall—with Canard winning the moto. Roczen's lead is now seven points over Dungey.

Weston Peick would finish fifth in front of Brett Metcalfe, Justin Brayton, Andrew Short  (who started last after a first turn crash), Phil Nicoletti and Fredrik Noren.

TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed was a non-start following a first moto crash. His teammate Michael Byrne had a mechanical problem in the moto and finished 34th. 

250 Moto 1

The silky, smooth style of Christophe Pourcel just seems to mesh with the rough, rutted Unadilla terrain—where line choice is key. Pourcel won the overall here in 2009 and also won a moto in 2010. Like wine and cheese, Pourcel and Unadilla just seem to fit together. After setting the fastest lap in practice—his eighth Oakley Bomb award—Poucel grabbed the holeshot en route to his first win of the season after holding off a last minute charge from Marvin Musquin.

It was the Yamaha trio of Pourcel and Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin leading the field early. But Marvin Musquin was on fire and quickly shot past the young teammates to make the lead a French duel. Marvin, winner of the last two motos, was going for a third straight moto win when he locked onto Pourcel. Musquin pushed one way, Pourcel slid the other, until the final two laps when Musquin drew to within a second and made one last effort at the finish, but came up just short.

Points leaders Jeremy Martin would hold off a valiant effort from Dean Wilson to capture third. Blake Baggett would overcome another bad start to finish sixth behind Justin Bogle. Webb, Cole Seely, Joey Savatgy and Shane McElrath would round out the top ten.

GEICO Honda’s RJ Hampshire was the top rookie finishing eleventh. Chris Alldredge would finish thirteenth with Luke Renzland overcoming a first turn pileup to finish eighteenth.  

450 Moto 1

Just eleven points now separate Red Bull KTM teammates Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen. Now, with five motos remaining in the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Dungey, winner of three straight motos, controls his own destiny.

Dungey put on a clinic in the first moto, at what many think is not his favorite track. Following a Justin Brayton holeshot, in which local product Phil Nicoletti tucked in behind, Dungey quickly moved to the front. Roczen was buried in about seventh, but he to would make his way toward the front early. Roczen dug in and closed to the back of Dungey and at one point drew to within a second. But Dungey was strong down the stretch and won by more than eight seconds.

The fastest qualifier in the morning, Trey Canard, got off to a bad start but closed quickly to take fourth behind Eli Tomac. Andrew Short would finished fifth in front of the Yamaha pair of Brayton and Nicoletti. Fredrik Noren made a late pass on Matt Goerke to capture eighth. Weston Peick would round out the top 10.

Chad Reed got a great start in his return to action after pulling out of Washougal early with a back injury. Reed found trouble at the mid-way mark and crashed. He would pull out of the moto.

Practice Report

We are in upstate New York for Round 10 of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross at the prestigious Unadilla Valley Sports Center, which was part of the inaugural AMA Motocross schedule in 1972. This is will be the twenty-fourth year the track has hosted a national with six consecutive 450 Class winners here having gone on to win the championship. Today will play a critical role in the title chase between Red Bull KTM teammates Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey.

First, let’s look at the news wire. Yoshimura Suzuki announced Thursday that James Stewart would miss Unadilla, but did not provided any further details. “We’re just not ready for Unadilla,” said Yoshimura Suzuki team manager Mike Webb in a statement. “It’s been a tough road lately and James hasn’t felt well enough to put in the time on the bike that’s necessary to compete safely. He’s only now getting back into his normal training regimen on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450. Obviously, this isn’t how we’d hoped to finish the 2014 season, especially after starting strong by sweeping the High Point National. But right now, we’re trying to support James so he can be ready for Indiana.”

On Friday, Toyota/JGR Yamaha announced that Josh Grant would miss Unadilla after suffering a concussion in practice at Washougal.

In other 450 news, Michael Bryne is back after nearly a full year away from racing. He is under the TwoTwo Motorsports tent with Chad Reed. Also back is Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer.

In the 250 Class, Darryn Durham will see his first action of the season after an off-season leg injury cost him the first nine rounds. GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne returns after suffering torn ligaments in his thumb at Glen Helen.

Recent Loretta Lynn graduates RJ Hampshire (GEICO Honda), Chris Alldredge (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Luke Renzland (CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha) will all make their pro debuts today.

 450 Class

Ken Roczen’s points lead has been trimmed to fourteen by Ryan Dungey. Momentum is clearly on Dungey’s side, but only three rounds remain and Dungey still has some ground to make up. In qualifying, Honda Muscle Milk's Trey Canard—who just signed a two-year extention with the team—captured his second Oakley Bomb award on the season setting a 2:14.313 to top GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac (2:15.538). Dungey would finished third best (2:16.146) with Roczen on his heels with a 2:16.813.

Brett Metcalfe (2:17.385), Fredrik Noren (2:17.767), Justin Brayton (2:18.785), Ryan Sipes (2:19.013), Andrew Short (2:19.039) and Chad Reed (2:19.277) would round out top 10. Toyota/JGR Yamaha’s, and New York native, Phil Nicoletti would finish eleventh (2:19.585). Byrne (2:20.625) and Weimer (2:21.31) finished fifteenth and eighteenth, respectively, in their returns.

250 Class

Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin told us Friday that he continued to train during the break and that despite a forty-three-point lead he’s taking it race by race. In practice, Christophe Pourcel was once again the fastest, setting a 2:14.349. Points leader Jeremy Martin (2:14.424) would finish second with a 2:14.424.

In his first race since Glen Helen, Zach Osborne would round out the podium with a 2:16.023. Blake Baggett (2:16.108) and Marvin Musquin (2:16.130) would round out the top five.