What happens at the first two rounds doesn't always mean much for the rest of the series. After all, the season is still young and guys are still working on getting things dialed in. But when the things that happened in rounds one and two continue in the third, you have to start calling them trends. So what trends emerged today? Check out the Race Day Feed below to find out. If you want follow the day in chronological order, including practice reports, start at the bottom and work your way up. If you're only interested in what went down in the motos, those reports are directly below.
250 Moto One
There were a lot of 250 guys going fast in practice this morning, and when practice ended we thought the class had the potential to get crazy in today's motos. Well, it did, and if we’d had just one more lap in moto one we might have seen one of the most spectacular finishes in a long time. Cooper Webb got out to the early lead but Jeremy Martin was all over him, eventually take over the lead and slowing pulling a gap. Alex Martin meanwhile moved past Jordon Smith early to take over fourth. At that point the top four were literally all Stars. J. Martin, Webb, Aaron Plessinger, and A. Martin. But then A. Martin and Plessinger got together and they both went down, breaking up the Star lineup. A. Martin was way back in twenty-fifth, but he mounted a charge, laying down some blistering lap times, and charged back to eighth.
Then Joey Savatgy, who was previously running about sixth, caught fire and started blasting his way to the front. When he got there he went to work on J. Martin, passing him at about the halfway point and running away. At this time Webb fell slightly off the pace and the top seven guys were pretty spread out. But then Savatgy crashed all by himself about a lap before the two-lap board came out. That gave the lead back to J. Martin, while Savatgy got going right in front of Webb. He built a little gap over Webb and started taking big chunks out of J. Martin, who had roughly a ten-second lead. Then Webb seemed to perk up and caught back up to Savatgy! When the checkered flag came out the three weren’t far from staging a three-man battle to the death for the win, but it was not to be. J. Martin won, followed by Savatgy and Webb.
250 Moto Two
The racing in the 250 Class continues to be superb here at the True Value Thunder Valley National, although when Joey Savatgy took off with the lead on the first lap it looked like things just might get boring. Thanks to Alex Martin, they didn’t. Martin Davalos helped out too. He was running second after Adam Cianciarulo crashed out, and even looked like he would challenge Savatgy for the lead at one point. He fell off the pace ever so slightly though and ended up falling victim to a hard charging A. Martin and later, Jeremy Martin. He had fourth all but wrapped up but Austin Forkner zapped him on the last lap.
After A. Martin got Davalos he took off after Savatgy. After a few laps he was right on him, and given that he’d been able to catch him a pass seemed imminent. But Savatgy must have clicked into a higher gear because lap after lap, A. Martin struggled to get close enough to put a move on Savatgy. At times he was literally inches away from being able to make something happen. Savatgy rode perfectly though, and A. Martin’s charge would end in second place. Still, big credit to A. Martin for charging up to Savatgy, and huge props to Savatgy for deftly handling the pressure to take the moto win, overall, and points lead. Check out A. Martin's moto scores. For the second time this season he makes the podium with an 8-2!
450 Moto One
If you were hoping for an exciting race for the lead, you're out of luck. Ken Roczen completely commanded this one from start to finish. After getting the holeshot Roczen just took off and disappeared. Jason Anderson held second briefly but Ryan Dungey took over that spot pretty quickly, and to his credit, stabilized Roczen’s gap for most of the moto.
The battle to watch was between Josh Grant and Trey Canard for third. Grant, who was awesome in practice, would catch and eventually pass Canard for the third, but Canard hung in there though, not letting Grant duck out. A few laps later Canard took the spot back and gapped Grant, who then rode to a lonely fourth. Tomac came next after getting an absolutely terrible start—he was barely inside the top twenty after one lap. He wasn’t really blowing through guys either, but was still able to pass Cole Seely, who he shadowed for quite a while, late in the race for fifth. Justin Barcia had a better race, although it won’t show on paper. He ran fifth for most of the moto before he either stalled or had a small crash out of view. He ended up eleventh.
450 Moto Two
There was a bit more action up front in this one than the last, but not much. Trey Canard kicked things off with a holeshot, with his teammate Cole Seely in tow. The two battled for the lead, with Seely ending up with the spot. Ryan Dungey had a good start but found himself way back after crashing while going for a pass.He lost a lot of time and finished the first lap in nineteenth. He wasn't able to rip through the pack right away but was still able to work back up to fourth. Ken Roczen’s start was good, about fifth, and after a few laps he’d caught and passed Seely for the lead. From that point he was gone, and about the most exciting thing that happened up front at that point was when Roczen busted out a Nac-Nac when he took the checkers.
Tomac didn’t get the greatest start, finishing the first lap in thirteenth, but he rode great and started blowing through guys with urgency. He got up to second, putting Seely in third, but by that time Roczen had about eleven seconds on him and was riding too well to be caught. Josh Grant ran as high as third after passing Trey Canard, but ended up either fading just a little or making a mistake out of view and losing some spots. That allowed Justin Barcia to close on him and the battle for seventh was on. Lap after lap the two went at it, yo-yoing back and forth. Barcia put plenty of pressure on Grant, but Grant refused to crack. The two were going so fast they caught back up to Canard and nearly passed him! When they took the checkers all three riders were in the air at the same time over the finish line jump.
Practice Report – Session Two
You couldn’t ask for a better day here in Lakewood. The sun is shining, the air is crisp, and there’s a gentle breeze tickling the myriad of sponsor flags lining the pits and dotting the hillside of this beautiful facility. And with temperatures not expected to exceed 78 degrees, the guys should be able to race harder for longer, provided they can deal with the elevation for thirty plus two.
The track is really starting to get broken in, and as a result times have dropped quite a bit. In most cases the drop has been roughly three to four seconds. Maybe that’s why the final 250 session was such a game of musical chairs for the first half. Jessy Nelson was fastest right away, but soon Alex Martin shoved him off the top spot, only to get booted by Austin Forkner. Adam Cianciarulo and Joey Savatgy were fast too, posting times just outside the lead, but about halfway through Jeremy Martin took over and didn’t look back. Check out the top six—there are only two teams represented there!
When the 450s hit the track it was Eli Tomac up top again, only this time his time didn’t get beat, unless you count Tomac beating himself a few times. The funny thing was, he didn’t look like he was pushing it all that hard out there, and he didn’t charge the whole time. He nonchalantly rolled some sections a few times and even threw some big whips for the crowd. We’re used to seeing laser focus from Tomac, but this morning he actually looked like he was having some fun. After setting the fastest time he even called the track “really fun right now.” Whatever’s going on, it seems to be working for him.
Second fastest went to Trey Canard, who could turn some heads today if he gets good starts and stays upright on the first lap. Ryan Dungey was good in this one too, and he may have even had something to say about Tomac’s time, but he got held up by other riders a few times while trying to throw down fast times. He was on a heater on his final lap but got held up again. The good news for Dungey is even with those setbacks his fastest time was less than a second off Tomac’s. Elsewhere Christophe Pourcel seems to be back to us usual, smoking-fast self in practice. He set the third fastest time somewhat out of nowhere. We’ll see if that speed carries through to the motos.
Practice Report – Session One
Nothing crazy to report from the first 250 session, except for points leader Alex Martin turning in the fastest time by almost two seconds! We’re getting used to Martin being one of “the guys,” so him being up front isn’t a big surprise, but besting the defending two-time champ, you know, his brother Jeremy Martin, by a margin of that size is impressive. We’ll see if it holds up in the second practice. Another good time came from Cycle Trader.com Rock River Yamaha’s Luke Renzland, who was fifth fastest with a 2:15.463.
Starts are going to be critical today, which is nothing new, but things are going to be a bit trickier than normal for the 450s. The altitude here in Colorado, combined with an uphill start, makes this the only track where the 450s start in first gear, and quite a few guys doubled back at the start to practice a few extra starts. And speaking of starts, if Jason Anderson can get a good one he just might be the guy to beat today. Tomac was fast right away and was faster than everyone for most of the session, but Anderson looked great out there and looked like he was riding with urgency. He ended up setting the fastest time on the final lap. Josh Grant also looked great and was very fast, taking third right behind Tomac. The best part about this practice is how close Tomac, Grant, Christophe Pourcel, and Ryan Dungey ended up. They're all within half a second!
Not a bad time from Justin Bogle either, who was ninth fastest. Bogle is riding with a cut hand, an injury incurred before Glen Helen while cutting into an avocado. That sounds crazy, but he actually had stitches at last week's race! The team may or may not have amended his contract to require him to stay fifty yards away from avocados at all times.
Morning Report
Yoshimura Suzuki won’t have James Stewart or Blake Baggett racing today, as both are recovering from injuries suffered at Hangtown. Stewart popped his shoulder out and Baggett broke his collarbone. The team told us Stewart wanted to come and try practice again, but they made the decision to keep him on the sidelines. Stewart tried practice last week but when he came off the track his grip on his good side was nearly twisted off the bike from holding on so tight. Baggett hopes to be back at High Point, and Stewart might be too. For today, they’ll have Matt Bisceglia filling in after he parted ways with MAD Racing Dirt Candy Suzuki, powered by Yoshimura. To see who else is out for today check out our Injury Report.
Elsewhere you know Ryan Dungey would love to put an end to Roczen’s dominance. Yes, Dungey won last week, but that was due to a mechanical failure on Roczen’s bike. And of course Eli Tomac would love to win here in his home state. Wouldn’t it be ironic if he came out and won here on the same track that ended his season last year?
In 250 action Alex Martin holds the points lead, but there’s a gang of guys all within a few points. Martin, Cooper Webb, Joey Savatgy, and Jeremy Martin are separated by just four points! Look for Savatgy to try to regain what he had at Hangtown. His rookie teammate, Austin Forkner, has been fantastic and if not for a couple mistakes would have been on the podium last week. Guys like Aaron Plessinger, Zach Osborne, Adam Cianciarulo, and Justin Hill, also have the speed to be up there but have yet to put their mark on the season. Any way you look at it, the 250 Class has the potential to get nuts today.