Roczen’s RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki teammate Broc Tickle was also damned good at Thunder Valley, taking fourth overall with 5-5 scores. Tickle always seems to excel in tough, rutted conditions, and with the Thunder Valley track taking on rain for twenty-eight straight days before the race, the softer conditions fell right into Tickle’s hands. “Today was really, really good,” Tickle explained in a team statement. “I was able to ride on Thursday for press day and I felt like it was good for me to get acclimated to the track and, obviously, the altitude. It came really easy to me when the track got gnarly, and it was really gnarly for both motos. I’m stoked with the weekend. I’m glad I bounced back from Glen Helen. Hopefully, we can turn in the same kind of performance next week at Muddy Creek.”

Also happy with his 450 ride was Honda HRC’s Cole Seely, who went 8-4 for fifth overall. “I think today went really well,” Seely said in a team PR. “We did a lot of testing after last weekend and found some good settings that made racing a lot easier for me. With outdoor testing, I’m still not too sure exactly what I’m looking for or what direction to go, so I’m lucky to work with such a knowledgeable crew. I felt like the bike was handling and turning so much better and I wasn’t getting as beat up out there, so I’m really happy with that.” Seely said he raised his RPM off the line for moto two, while handling the tricky first-gear start at altitude, to holeshot the second moto. “I led for a little bit, but the front three guys are going so fast, I couldn’t hold them off long. It’s going to be hard to run their pace, but I definitely feel like I’m getting closer.”

Fredrik Noren was back under the Honda HRC tent as a replacement for Trey Canard, but he twisted his knee and had to soldier to fourteenth overall. “My first ride back with factory Honda went pretty good, but I feel like I could’ve done better,” Freddie said in a team PR. “I hurt my knee on press day, so heading into practice I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to ride. With the help of the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center, I was able to get it wrapped up and felt pretty decent. I’m going to get it checked out on Monday, but hopefully it’s nothing too serious and I can be ready for action at Muddy Creek. I’m really grateful for the opportunity Honda has given me, so I want to make them proud.”

“It was a bummer that he tweaked his knee on press day because I don’t feel like he was at 100 percent, but he still rode well,” Brent Presnell, who handled the mechanic work for Noren, said. “We made a few clicker changes here and there, but he didn’t want to change too much stuff on the bike because he knew he wasn’t riding that well and the few spots he had trouble with he thought were because of his knee.” 

Blake Baggett keeps making changes to his Yoshimura Suzuki, and he told us “We’ll keep changing it until we’re up there.” Team manager Mike Webb told us this was the third straight Thursday where Blake was happy with the progress and looking forward to the race. This one ended up better, as Tomac’s crash opened up a podium spot, and Blake took it. “It was definitely a good week,” Baggett said in a team PR. “Practice went well, got a fourth in the first moto, and then in the second moto I was fortunate enough to get a little bit of a gift when the leader went down and I was able to finish third. I’m just plugging away and each week is getting better and better. I got third overall, so my first podium on the 450. I’m just excited to keep improving and I’m looking forward to next weekend.”

"My weekend in Colorado was not the greatest,” said Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson, who went 6-14 for eleventh. “My first moto I got a good start and was running up front, and ended up falling out of the top five on the last lap. In the second moto I was trying, but I just kept getting passed. You can't blame the track, but I think it's the reason I wasn't riding to my full capability. I don't think I was over-riding the track. I just couldn't figure it out. I felt like I was going at 20 percent speed even though I was trying.  I'm just going to go back this week and try and ride better next weekend and keep at it." 

Fellow Rockstar Husqvarna rider Christophe Pourcel was eighth overall. "This morning I had top-five speed, then the track got really, really rutty,” he said in a team PR. “The riders in front of me and behind me from third or fourth place to eleventh or twelfth were pretty much just following each other. We're all fighting the track; it's so rough and we're all just going so slow. My second-moto start was a lot better. I was around the top five, and I just kind of stayed in that front group trying to find my groove. Overall it was an okay weekend. I wish I was in the top ten in the first moto, but I got a bad start and was fighting the roost and rode tight. We finished in the top ten overall again, which is the plan, but sooner than later we need to improve. I'm not too far off of the guys in front of me, so I'm learning, and once my speed gets there it will be better racing for me." Pourcel and the team maintain the goal is to be top-five by around the fifth round of the series.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Wil Hahn fought for top ten in the first moto and overcame a big crash in the second moto to finish 12-20 for eighteenth overall. It was a rough day all around for the Kawasaki 450 riders, as Chad Reed was down early in the first moto and went 18-12 for fifteenth. His Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports teammate Josh Grant was thirteenth in moto one but twisted his knee in moto two and didn’t finish. We’ll check on Grant’s injury status moving forward to Muddy Creek.

Kyle Cunningham switched from a Kawasaki to a Suzuki for the race, as he and the Privateer Journey team are picking up some help from the brand. He finished sixteenth with 17-15 scores. We’ll have more on Cunningham later in the week. 

We mentioned all the rain leading up to the race. A lot of the mud was pushed off to the side of the facility to get down to dry dirt, but the water underneath still made a difference. Red Bull KTM Team Manager Roger DeCoster summed it up. “You can see, the water comes out of the ground because they had so much rain during the last few weeks here and it’s like springs almost. It was really tough to set up your bike and for the riders to ride with confidence.” 

450 Class Moto 1

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:10.381	4	2:14.060	Eli Tomac
2	3	2:11.680	2	2:15.521	Ken Roczen
3	2	2:12.631	8	2:14.623	Ryan Dungey
4	6	2:15.118	2	2:19.742	Jason Anderson
5	5	2:16.422	4	2:18.944	Blake Baggett
6	7	2:16.730	3	2:20.167	Justin Barcia
7	5	2:17.573	2	2:18.858	Broc Tickle
8	10	2:17.992	3	2:21.467	Phil Nicoletti
9	9	2:18.023	2	2:20.911	Justin Brayton
10	8	2:18.206	7	2:20.601	Cole Seely

We now know the title picture has changed completely in the 450 Class, but a look at the lap times still means something. In last week's second 450 moto, Ken Roczen was only three-tenths off of Tomac's best time. Here, he was 1.3-seconds off, but that's better than that epic second Hangtown moto, where Tomac outpaced everyone's best by nearly five seconds. Also, note that Dungey's average time was just six-tenths off of Eli. Dungey finished 14.5 seconds behind Tomac, which is still a large gap, but closer than any previous moto this year. It appeared Dungey was getting better and Roczen was back on the gas, but now everything has been blown up.

450 Class Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	33	2:13.391	6	2:14.243	Eli Tomac
2	2	2:14.650	4	2:19.044	Ken Roczen
3	1	2:15.465	4	2:17.543	Ryan Dungey
4	6	2:17.617	2	2:22.671	Justin Barcia
5	3	2:18.935	9	2:20.821	Blake Baggett
6	4	2:19.042	6	2:21.817	Cole Seely
7	9	2:19.321	2	2:24.010	Phil Nicoletti
8	5	2:19.891	5	2:21.290	Broc Tickle
9	7	2:20.102	3	2:23.004	Christophe Pourcel
10	8	2:20.317	11	2:22.720	Weston Peick

Again, Tomac posted the same 1.3-second gap over Roczen with his best time. Ignore the average times here, as Eli was out of the race before the final laps, when things usually slow down.

250 Class Moto 1

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:13.707	3	2:17.426	Jeremy Martin
2	14	2:14.380	3	2:19.482	Marvin Musquin
3	3	2:14.886	2	2:18.724	Jessy Nelson
4	7	2:15.175	3	2:19.916	Joey Savatgy
5	6	2:15.396	3	2:19.739	Jordon Smith
6	2	2:15.608	3	2:18.405	Zach Osborne
7	5	2.16.001	3	2:19.435	Adam Cianciarulo
8	9	2:16.538	3	2:21.007	RJ Hampshire
9	4	2:17.250	3	2:18.994	Christian Craig
10	10	2:17.617	8	2:20.826	Matt Bisceglia

Zach Osborne with the sixth fastest time but second in the moto, showing once again that starts and steady riding can mean just as much as raw one-lap speed.

250 Class Moto 2

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	2:15.776	6	2:17.979	Jeremy Martin
2	2	2:16.321	6	2:19.080	Marvin Musquin
3	6	2:18.652	5	2:21.968	Christian Craig
4	3	2:19.005	3	2:21.095	Zach Osborne
5	7	2:19.024	2	2:23.199	Jessy Nelson
6	21	2:19.142	2	2:29.539	Alex Martin
7	5	2:19.160	3	2:21.071	Jordon Smith
8	4	2:19.849	6	2:21.320	Adam Cianciarulo
9	13	2:20.343	16	2:22.590	Matt Bisceglia
10	25	2:20.945	2	2:33.865	Chris Alldredge

Alex Martin was running in third on lap two when he logged that fast lap. Then his rear brake locked up, sending him to the mechanic's area, and putting him in last. He didn't have a rear brake for the rest of the moto. Shoutout to Matt Bisceglia, who logged his fast lap later in both motos compared to everyone else.

More News and Notes:

GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig was a revelation in his return to racing, taking the Bud Light Fast Qualifier Award and nearly pulling off a podium with 4-6 scores for fifth overall. "I went into the motos not knowing where I was going to be,” said Craig. “I got a bad start on the first moto, and I really didn't know where I was until about three laps left in the moto. I got the sign from my mechanic, and I was like, 'Whoa!' It kind of surprised me, but I’ve been training really hard and riding every day, so I did expect to be in the top ten."

Craig was actually not expecting to be back in action until RedBud, but he got the call to fill in for Justin Bogle. He admitted he got a little tired in the second moto. "I got a bad start, and then towards the twenty-minute mark I was getting tired, so I put it on cruise control and rode it out to a sixth," Craig said. "I wasn't feeling the elevation; it was just that my body didn't have a lot of time to recover. I can't complain with a 4-6 finish; that was pretty great."