The opener isn’t necessarily a pre-cursor to the rest of the season. The short break between Monster Energy Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross can leave teams searching for the right setup. Further complicating matters this weekend was the track. It rained hard Friday night and was expected to hit again during the second motos, so the track crew didn’t dig the track up nearly as deep as usual, which is standard rain prep (a deep track would soak up the rain and turn into a mud bath almost instantly). The rain never came late on Saturday and compared to the deep, rough, rutted Hangtown of the last few years, this track was harder, choppier and faster.
“The last three years Hangtown has been one of the toughest, gnarliest tracks of the circuit,” said Alex Martin, who finished second overall in 250MX. “They got thrown a curveball with the weather forecasting rain, and coming from Millville, we know how that affects a track. I don’t think they ripped it or watered it like they would normally. We all had to ride the same track, but compared to the past it was a lot smoother.”
Since 2008 only twice has the winner of the season opener go on to win the 450 championship. In 2008 James Stewart won the opener and then went on to win the championship; Ryan Villopoto did the same in 2013.
| Opening Round Winner | Year | Champion |
| Eli Tomac | 2015 | Ryan Dungey |
| Ryan Dungey | 2014 | Ken Roczen |
| Ryan Villopoto | 2013 | Ryan Villopoto |
| James Stewart | 2012 | Ryan Dungey |
| Chad Reed | 2011 | Ryan Villopoto |
| Chad Reed | 2010 | Ryan Dungey |
| Ryan Villopoto | 2009 | Chad Reed |
| James Stewart | 2008 | James Stewart |
Furthering the point, three-time 450MX champion Ryan Dungey has never won at Hangtown. It’s the only track on the 2016 schedule where Dungey doesn’t have a win. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m not a slow starter by any means,” said Dungey post race. “Do you risk it all and throw it away and lose a lot of points? Or do you run it in, be smart, and keep building? I want to win, but somebody has edged me out each year I guess. We got some moto wins here, and it’ll happen, we’ll get there. I try not to look too deeply at it.”
This was the second time in his career that Roczen had gone 1-1 at Hangtown. In 2014 he dominated what was then the second round (Glen Helen served as the opener that year) of the championship en route to the title. Roczen was in a groove on Saturday, leading all 34 laps on his way to a 1-1 finish. “We’re in a way better position now than we were last year, especially coming in with that injury,” he said, commenting on last year’s back injury and 19-5 scores at Hangtown. “That’s all behind us now and I’m pretty happy with the bike and the way me and the team are working together. I can focus on my riding now and it makes a big difference.”
The top three played out as expected with Roczen, Dungey and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac finishing on the podium—even if it was in a different order than some expected. Tomac didn’t dominate like he did a season ago when he won by 91 seconds in moto two. But that’s almost an impossible standard to live up to. Even if Tomac did win, some would point to his run last year and say he didn’t win by enough!
Tomac was clearly frustrated at his results. When asked what he and the team would work on this week he said: “I don’t know. I made changes between the motos and in the first moto I was struggling with one side of the bike and in the second I was struggling with the other side of the bike. I don’t know, maybe it was me not taking the right lines. There can be improvements from both of us to get to the front of the pack.”
A solid fourth overall was Jason Anderson. In the first moto Anderson hit the starting gate and then charged back from fourteenth (after lap 1) to sixth. “I got a bad start my first moto but then I had a great first half of the moto,” he said in a team statement. “I feel like I kind of got stuck at some point and couldn’t really keep it going.” The second moto was much better for Anderson, who started fifth (after lap 1) and moved into third for the moto podium. “I feel like my fitness is the best it has ever been and I’m riding better—I’m just trying to keep it going."
450 Class Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 2:00.475 | 6 | 2:02.124 | Ryan Dungey |
| 2 | 1 | 2:00.539 | 9 | 2:01.911 | Ken Roczen |
| 3 | 7 | 2:02.013 | 7 | 2:05.063 | Trey Canard |
| 4 | 3 | 2:02.285 | 15 | 2:03.683 | Blake Baggett |
| 5 | 5 | 2:02.462 | 4 | 2:04.632 | Cole Seely |
| 6 | 6 | 2:02.500 | 8 | 2:04.514 | Jason Anderson |
| 7 | 4 | 2:02.728 | 10 | 2:03.830 | Eli Tomac |
| 8 | 9 | 2:03.219 | 4 | 2:05.804 | Marvin Musquin |
| 9 | 14 | 2:03.643 | 9 | 2:06.377 | Broc Tickle |
| 10 | 8 | 2:03.701 | 9 | 2:05.426 | Josh Grant |
There's no way in hell you thought Ryan Dungey had a better lap time than Ken Roczen in this moto. Well he did! Kenny did huge damage on the first lap—which you saw as he passed his way from about eighth to first—and then had a 2:01.0 on lap two to Dungey's 2:03.4. From there they went back and forth on times and matched each other most of the way.
450 Class Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 2:02.776 | 9 | 2:04.620 | Ken Roczen |
| 2 | 2 | 2:03.048 | 8 | 2:05.426 | Ryan Dungey |
| 3 | 3 | 2:03.260 | 9 | 2:06.103 | Jason Anderson |
| 4 | 5 | 2:03.278 | 5 | 2:06.426 | Trey Canard |
| 5 | 4 | 2:03.648 | 8 | 2:06.241 | Eli Tomac |
| 6 | 19 | 2:04.279 | 4 | 2:08.989 | Blake Baggett |
| 7 | 6 | 2:04.433 | 4 | 2:07.111 | Justin Barcia |
| 8 | 8 | 2:05.143 | 2 | 2:08.220 | Josh Grant |
| 9 | 7 | 2:05.513 | 6 | 2:07.083 | Marvin Musquin |
| 10 | 9 | 2:05.518 | 3 | 2:08.424 | Phil Nicoletti |
Similar scenario this time with Roczen ripping the first lap to get the lead and then logging a 2:02.9 on lap two, compared to Dungey's 2:05.1.
250 Class Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 4 | 2:01.669 | 7 | 2:04.776 | Cooper Webb |
| 2 | 1 | 2:01.831 | 7 | 2:04.540 | Joey Savatgy |
| 3 | 3 | 2:01.898 | 5 | 2:04.630 | Jeremy Martin |
| 4 | 7 | 2:02.020 | 6 | 2:05.578 | Jessy Nelson |
| 5 | 2 | 2:02.225 | 5 | 2:04.718 | Jordon Smith |
| 6 | 6 | 2:02.528 | 5 | 2:05.419 | Tristan Charboneau |
| 7 | 5 | 2:02.549 | 6 | 2:05.393 | RJ Hampshire |
| 8 | 9 | 2:02.942 | 3 | 2:06.202 | Aaron Plessinger |
| 9 | 8 | 2:02.976 | 4 | 2:05.562 | Alex Martin |
| 10 | 12 | 2:03.256 | 5 | 2:06.306 | Adam Cianciarulo |
What? Cooper with the fastest time?
250 Class Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 4 | 2:02.473 | 11 | 2:04.500 | Zach Osborne |
| 2 | 3 | 2:02.920 | 10 | 2:04.578 | Aaron Plessinger |
| 3 | 5 | 2:03.217 | 11 | 2:05.126 | Cooper Webb |
| 4 | 2 | 2:03.377 | 11 | 2:04.602 | Alex Martin |
| 5 | 8 | 2:03.471 | 9 | 2:05.988 | Christian Craig |
| 6 | 9 | 2:03.794 | 9 | 2:07.232 | Jeremy Martin |
| 7 | 6 | 2:03.961 | 7 | 2:05.986 | Jessy Nelson |
| 8 | 1 | 2:04.135 | 6 | 2:04.729 | Joey Savatgy |
| 9 | 7 | 2:04.390 | 8 | 2:06.291 | Austin Forkner |
| 10 | 10 | 2:04.457 | 4 | 2:07.105 | Mitchell Oldenburg |
What? Osborne with the fastest time? Joey Savatgy might have left Hangtown with a 15-point lead (already) but plenty of other 250 riders have reason to believe they'll be good this year. By the way, Osborne's best lap and average lap even beat Roczen. It took all day, but the Hangtown track finally did start getting rough by the second motos.
More news and notes
Trey Canard went 7-5 for fifth overall at the opener, but the big story from Hangtown was his starts. As in, he finally got one! A source of frustration throughout Monster Energy Supercross, Canard got a tremendous jump in the first moto and was only edged for the holeshot by his teammate Cole Seely by about an inch. That’s Canard’s best start in a long time. He rounded the first lap in second but then had a quick crash, which sent him into comeback mode. “I got a good start in the first moto, which is a big confidence builder for me since I’ve been struggling there,” he said in a team statement. “I just need to keep working on that, continue dialing in the bike and try not to get frustrated with the small things.”
Seely finished one spot behind his HRC teammate with 5-10 scores, but nearly podiumed the first moto—Tomac and Blake Baggett only got him late. “There were some good and bad aspects but I think it was a pretty good start to the season—definitely something I can build on as the series continues,” he said in a team PR. “The first moto was really good; I was happy with the way I rode, but I still need a little more at the end. I put a lot into that race and didn’t really recover enough to go into the second moto with the same heat and aggression. I’m still building and trying to become a better outdoor rider. It’s a whole learning process, and I want to try to just step it up in general. It was good to see where we are and know what we need to work on for next weekend.”
After missing six of the last eight rounds of Monster Energy Supercross, Christophe Pourcel struggled in his return to racing on Saturday—even in practice, where he is a master that laying down a fast lap. This time he was merely fourteenth in the final practice of the day. “I’m just coming back from injury with my ribs and neck,” Pourcel said in a team statement. “My speed was a little out of the top 15, but I’m still pretty sore and trying to get back into it. I was riding pretty tight in the first moto and trying to compensate with my shoulders because I don’t want to hurt my neck. I just need to get a little more comfortable. I had two bad starts so that didn’t help. The track was tough to pass on, but I kept pushing. I’m going to try and get top-five overall this year and won’t give up.” Pourcel finished fourteenth overall.
GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle suffered a crash in practice, which he says held him back for much of the day. “Started off the day not so good, had a pretty hard crash in practice. Man!” said Bogle, who finished twelfth overall with 12-11 finishes. “Came back and got ready, got a great start in the first moto and ran up front for a couple of laps. I started having some issues. I bumped my head in practice and I was having some trouble with that, things were getting a little blurry and stuff. Salvaged a twelfth, second moto was kind of the same situation, got a good start and salvaged an eleventh. But still a decent day because I was able to get out of Hangtown somewhat healthy—at least I’m able to race next weekend. This actually hasn’t happened for me out of Hangtown ever—I’ve never scored points here in both motos. So all in all, I’ll take it.”
