Last weekend in Indiana, Dylan Ferrandis put on a clinic in the first 250 Class moto, leading the entire moto before taking the checkered flag 26 seconds ahead of second place finisher Jeremy Martin. Ferrandis looked to be having another day like he did at the season opener and ahead of the second moto, people were anticipating a similar ride resulting in a 1-1 sweep in both races. He came into the championship a class favorite and backed up that idea with a first and second overall, respectively, to start the year. His race pace is at an unbelievable level, but so is his fitness—which is frightening for all other championship hopefuls. But as the gate dropped on the second moto, Ferrandis’ day went from a possible moto sweep to immediate disaster as he was involved in a small pileup. He exited the first turn dead last and as the entire field out front was Jeremy Martin, already taking off on the massive uphill Godzilla jump several sections into the first lap. But we all saw what happened after that (if you missed the Ironman post-race analysis, no worries, keep reading).

Ferrandis manned a charge throughout the entire moto and basically the entire field—as he picked off 37 of the 40 riders to finish the moto in third. The only two riders he was not able to pass were his teammate Justin Cooper and J-Mart. Cooper looked like the Justin Cooper of 2017, 2018, and 2019 as he continues to build off of a hand injury before the start of the championship that limited his testing and riding, putting in his best moto of the year so far and Martin was several seconds ahead of the #32. Again, Ferrandis has showed the all-out speed so far this year. Then he showed he was able maintain that high level throughout the entire day. Then he showed us he could charge through literally the entire field.

“I knew the championship was on the line and I just gave everything I had and tried to do my best,” Ferrandis said following the race.

In the 450 Class, Marvin Musquin returned to the center of the podium for the first time since the 2019 Ironman National, almost one who year ago. Musquin won the first moto while dealing with pressure from defending champion Eli Tomac throughout the entire moto (similar to the first moto of the 2019 race in Indiana). Although Musquin was not able to put together a better second moto (he later said he was off-pace of frontrunners Adam Cianciarulo, Justin Barcia, and Tomac), a win in the first moto was a gigantic step in the right direction for the Red Bull KTM rider, especially after missing almost an entire calendar year of racing.

“Coming into that new season, I was just questioning if I was going to be able to be out here and be competitive and fight with those guys, and that’s the case,” Musquin said with confidence during the post-race press conference following the fourth round. “I’m pretty happy. Second overall is better than last weekend, so I’ll take that.”

Musquin finished sixth in the second moto to take second overall.

Out front in the second moto was the #1 Kawasaki KX450 of Eli Tomac. The Bruce Banner Eli Tomac turned into the Hulk Eli Tomac as the Colorado native absolutely rode the wheels off of his bike. He held on to take the moto win and his 2-1 finishes gave him the overall win, but the second moto was far from easy. Tomac had pressure all moto from a hard charging Barcia, who applied was constantly closing the gap back on Tomac in the sections where he could. The #1 later said on gnarly pace and pressure from Barcia: "That second moto was just a massive effort.” Tomac was able to perfectly execute a fast line through the section under the covered bridge that ultimately allowed him to take the win, even with an all-out, late surge by Barcia on the last lap. 

Points leader Zach Osborne had a few hiccups on the day and the incredible ride by Tomac allowed the #1 to gain 13 points on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider by the end of the day. Tomac jumped from seventh in the standings (40 points down) after round two to fourth in the standings, only 27 points down. Zacho wants to stack points every weekend because he knows the competition will not back down—especially the guy with the #1 on his bike, who now has a do-or-die mentality. This thing is long from over, everyone!

“You know, I felt like it was my only option to stay in this: stay on the podium and stay in front of Zach,” Tomac said earlier this week. "I’m in the position where I can’t have anything happen again, plus we’re in a shortened series. The only thing I can do now is try to win. With Zach being 40 points [ahead of me], that’s a pretty far stretch, but definitely not over yet. We pulled 13 points out in one weekend. It’s good, still a little bit early in a short series, but if I’m going to get it done I better get it done now.”

Jason Weigandt explained in the Racer X Films First Look preview video (below) from yesterday that yes, Tomac is fast, but he now also has no room for error. Out front in the championship standings, Osborne did not have a great day in Indiana in terms of points earned on the day but he has some wiggle room. Tomac simply does not.

Osborne also said in the post-race press conference last Saturday that he knows the RedBud doubleheader will either make or break his season. And he is A-okay with that.

“I think it’s kind of going to be the tale of the tape for the rest of the season,” Osborne said. “It’s going to be really tough to be some sort of recovered for Monday. The RedBud track is pretty gnarly, pretty demanding. So it’s going to be all about staying low-key and just chilling that Saturday and Sunday and trying to be as good as you can be for Monday and go out there and give your all. I think they’re going to be really pivotal rounds for me where I need to show up guns blazing and go out there and do the job.”

Will the two events at the gnarly RedBud MX track in a matter of four days truly make or break who wins the championships in each class? Only time will tell.

First Timed Practices

250 Class

In the first session of the day—250 B qualifying—Joseph Tait had the top time with a 2:09.281. Brock Papi and Blake Ashley were close behind with 2:09.463 and 2:09.769 laps, respectively. In the 250 A qualifying session, Justin Cooper (2:05.128) bested his teammates Dylan Ferrandis (2:05.140) and Ty Masterpool (2:05.494), GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin (2:05.687) and JGRMX/Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Alex Martin (2:05.757). As mentioned above, Masterpool is making his season debut today after missing the first few rounds while recovering from a broken leg suffered in June. But he is here today and put down a pretty fast lap in the first session.

450 Class

After Justin Barcia, Chase Sexton, and Christian Craig sat at the top of the first 450 A qualifying session, Zach Osborne dropped a 2:04.504 to take over the top spot. But before the session ended, Blake Baggett landed the top spot with a 2:03.759.

There are not many changes to the track from the 2019 RedBud National but there is a big kicker leading up to LaRocco’s Leap. While the 450 Class riders have been able to hit the massive jump no problem, the 250 riders have not been jumping the Leap. Track owner Tim Ritchie said on the PulpMX show on Monday night that they put it in as a speed check and they might take it out for Monday’s RedBud 2 National to switch up the track slightly.

Quick update for those PulpMX Fantasy players out there: Jason Anderson is "expected to miss at least the next few rounds" as he recovers from a surgery earlier this week. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider re-aggravated his left arm, which he broke in two places in January 2019, and underwent a successful surgery to take out the plate that inserted in his arm after it was bothering him during the first moto at Ironman Raceway last weekend. 

And then there's Alex Ray, who will miss today's action because his bike blew up already.

In the first 450 B qualifying session, Justin Hoeft (2:13.211), Jeffrey Walker (2:13.889), and 1 Jerry Lorenz III (2:13.965) recorded the top three fastest times.  

Second Timed Practice

250 Class

When the 250 B group took to the track for the second time, it was Brett Greenley (2:14.461), Ashley (2:14.846), Tait (2:15.320), Gabe Gutierres (2:15.671), and Papi (2:15.714) with the top five lap times in their final qualifying session.

Once the 250 A group took to the track, Dylan Ferrandis threw down a heater 2:06.605 and pulled off the track to talk with his team. Shane McElrath immediately took over the top time with a 2:06.241.Then Ferrandis went out for another heater—and boy was that one fast! He was on rails and ended up putting down a 2:03.508! After a small crash in the second turn of the track, Justin Cooper moved into second in the session with a 2:05.397. Ty Masterpool (2:05.570) finished the session third and J-Mart (2:05.871) ended the session fourth, both besting McElrath’s fastest time. Ferrandis’ blazing lap gives him the fastest combined qualifying time in the 250 Class.

“The bike is really good today, I feel great,” Ferrandis said on taking the fastest qualifier today (the third time so far this season.

Ferrandis said he was asking around to see if he should jump LaRocco's Leap but he did not yet, he said he did not want to case it badly. But his young teammate apparently sent it! 

450 Class

Adam Cianciarulo dropped a 2:03.765 early in the finale 450 A qualifying session. Justin Barcia and Chase Sexton, who were fast in the first session, recorded 2:04.245 and 2:04.649, respectively, to sit near the top of the board after the first few laps. Christian Craig had a tip over in a turn, where his front end missed the rut and caused the #62 to go over the bars. He remounted and dusted some sand off his grips before getting going again. Eli Tomac jumped into second with a 2:03.804. Joey Savatgy had a tip over of his own as he tucked the front end of his JGRMX/Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 on the inside roller in one of the left-hand turns. Late in the session, Sexton put a heater in (2:03.982) to get to bump up one spot over Barcia. When the session was over, Baggett’s 2:03.759 from the first session topped the combined qualifying in the class.

“I feel like as the track changes, it’s going to be good for racing,” Baggett said. “Once again, it’s just practice but it’s good to be near the front, it’s been a long time. we’ll see if we can make that happen in the motos and at least be battling for a win.”

Now this means absolutely nothing but it is interesting:

In the 450 B group, Walker (2:11.659), Lorenz III (2:11.688), Hoeft (2:12.324), Matthew Toth (2:13.470), and James Harrington (2:14.953) topped the session.

Here is some footage of Barcia jumping LaRocco's Leap for your viewing pleasure:

This just in, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna has announced they have signed Dean Wilson to a one-year contract extension, meaning Wilson will remain on the team through the 2021 AMA calendar year.

“Dean has been a part of our program since 2017 and we’re excited to keep him on board for another year,” said Stephen Westfall of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team. “He is a great guy with an even better personality and we look forward to seeing him excel in 2021.”

Also, the track crew cut down the roller leading into LaRocco's Leap so more 250 Class riders can hit the full jump.

250 Class Moto 1

Ty Masterpool, who is making his season debut today, quickly reminded everyone of his presence early in the points-paying races as he grabbed the holeshot. When he crossed the Motosport.com holeshot line he lifted his left hand off the handlebars as he pointed his index finger to the sky. As the first field worked their way through the first few sections, Masterpool started to build a lead over Darian Sanayei, who ran in second in his return to the championship after missing rounds two and three.

Dylan Ferrandis was running in sixth and looking to make a move to the inside of Jeremy Martin for fifth but the #14 went down coming out of a U-turn before dropping into one of the small downhill sections. Ferrandis’ Yamaha YZ250F pitched sideways going down the hill, causing him to go down.

Ferrandis remounted but dropped out of the top 25 as he got going again and was sitting 28th. Sanayei was shuffled back to seventh as Masterpool continued to lead and build a gap over Jeremy Martin. The early running order was then Masterpool, Martin, Jett Lawrence, Cameron Mcadoo, RJ Hampshire, Alex Martin, Sanayei, Shane McElrath, Justin Cooper, Brandon Hartranft, Stilez Robertson, Derek Drake, Ferrandis, Mitchell Harrison, and Pierce Brown. Hampshire made a nice pass on the outside of Cameron Mcadoo to take over fourth place and the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider started working towards youngster Jett Lawrence.

Jeremy Martin slowly caught up to Masterpool, who lost four seconds to the GEICO Honda on one lap. Then, Jeremy cut under the #41 and blasted through a turn to take over the lead. Behind them, at battle between Hampshire and Lawrence. The two ran side-by-side as the two went into one of the switchback downhill sections and Hampshire stayed off the brakes until the very last second, running it deep on Lawrence and bumping him out of the rut. Masterpool's fast pace continued to fade as Hampshire caught up to him. Hampshire quickly went to the inside of Masterpool in the turn before LaRocco's Leap. RJ went for the double with a hard scrub as he looked back to see Masterpool sending it over the Leap! Masterpool closes up the gap in the next turn but Hampshire held on to make the pass.

Masterpool then was caught by the Jett as the youngsters competed for the final podium spot. J-Mart held on to take the moto win, Hampshire finished second, and Masterpool was able to hold off the Jett for the final podium spot.

“I was able to get into the lead and got a little bit of a gap and I just put it in management mode,” said J-Mart.

“It was awesome,” Hampshire said. "I needed to rebound after last weekend. We don’t work this hard to have that type of performance. …We still have a shot and I just want to take it weekend by weekend and improve on my results.”

“I just ripped a holeshot, that was for my older brother Jesse right there," said Masterpool. The Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha rider admitted his pace dropped off as he is not in full race shape yet, just a few days removed from being officially cleared to race.

450 Class Moto 1

When the gate dropped on the first 450 moto of the day, Zach Osborne took the holeshot but was joined by Adam Cianciarulo, Max Anstie, Fredrik Noren, Marvin Musquin, and Christian Craig. Cianciarulo pushed hard into a downhill section on the inside as Osborne swung out wide to hold on to the lead. Osborne opened up a gap of several bike-lengths on AC. As the field came around but washed the front end of his Kawasaki KX450 in the turn before LaRocco’s Leap, which dropped him from second to outside of the top ten. Riders continued to shuffle positions, as Musquin inherited second from AC’s mistake. Eli Tomac made his way into ninth by the end of the first lap as he had to get to work. Cianciarulo started to follow his teammate around several riders. The duo passed Blake Baggett and then had sand-master Anstie in front of them. Tomac made quick work of the Brit and found himself behind Noren. The #9 blasted by Anstie himself as he exploded out of the turn and over the wall jump.

Tomac managed to get along side of Noren in the long sand rollers. The two almost came together, causing Tomac to switch lines and jump farther to the outside of the turn. Suddenly, Noren came to a complete stop in the middle of the turn as he looked down at his bike. He looked around at different parts before putting off the track. Within a minute he was standing next to his bike, shrugging his shoulders in disbelief as his moto ended early. Tomac then made his way up to the rear wheel of Craig’s Honda HRC CRF450R. Craig knew the #1 was coming as he looked back a few times. Then lapped riders got in Tomac’s way, as Craig held on to fourth. Tomac charged again and made it to the back of Craig’s Honda until more lappers held him up! Craig went to the inside of the turn before LaRocco’s Leap, Tomac followed tow as lappers were on the outside. The lines came tougher and Tomac had to let off and double the Leap instead of completing the full triple. This allowed Craig some breathing room yet again. About a lap later, Craig tucked the front end, going down, giving up the position to Tomac in a matter of seconds.

Out front, Osborne still led Musquin by about three seconds. There was not much time made either way between the two as they navigated around lappers on the soft track. Sexton was running third behind the lead duo, running all by himself for a majority of the moto. He was smooth and solid on a track we saw bite several riders in both motos so far.

Osborne took the first 450 moto win of the day, throwing a big fist pump as he crossed the finish line.

“I felt really good of the start, I got the holeshot. …I tell ya what, this isn’t the RedBud we normally see, it’s pretty shallow, as far as how the dirt is and it’s pretty fast and that typically doesn’t play to my hand, I want it to be more technical, more rutty,” said Osborne. “So to go out there and win in a moto like that, where it’s not really my specialty, and first motos, I’m not quite as sharp, I feel good about that. I’m pretty happy with my moto.”

Musquin and Sexton held on to their positions to finish on the podium as Tomac came through fourth. Sexton was too far of a reach for Tomac, who was held up several times from the lappers. Cianciarulo managed to finish fifth after his tip over on the first lap.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia pushed hard all moto. He was buried off the start but was consistently through down the fastest—and wildest—lap times late in the race. He was able to steal sixth from Craig as they crossed the finish line, edging out the Honda HRC rider by just 0.255 seconds. Barcia came from 24th on the first lap to finish sixth. Great ride by the #51. Only if he would have been near the front at the start!

250 Class Moto 2

The second 250 moto is underway! McElrath and Sanayei shuffle back and forth for the holeshot and the lead through the first lap as they went side by side over the Hammer of Thor triple. Sanayei, who we know is dealing with that shoulder injury from the first round, seemed to be hindered from the nagging issue as the Martin brothers both get around him. Jeremy and Alex Martin ran second and third, respectively, as Harrison sat close behind after shuffling of positions. Shortly into the race, Harrison must have went down hard because the left grip of his handlebar was broken off and dangling by the clutch cable.

Jeremy crept up to McElrath and then took over the lead and checked out. Ferrandis had a poor jump off the gate and had to overcome yet another bad start. He was outside of the top 15 but as riders continued to shuffle he made his way around McAdoo to take over fifth. His fastest lap is about a second and a half faster than the rest of the field as he continued to charge the entire moto.

Hampshire, running fourth, looked back and saw Ferrandis. The #24 had been putting in a good pace today but Ferrandis' lap times were just blazing fast all moto. The two were in a drag race heading into LaRocco's Leap. At the last second, Hampshire let off, scrubbed to the right and looked up as Ferrandis continued to hammer the throttle to launch the full triple and look down back at Hampshire!

Ferrandis wanted more and kept hammering down charging but he had a while to go—he was over 11 seconds behind A-Mart so he had to close the gap he can make another pass to gain more points. Jeremy Martin came through the finish line just as the clock expired, meaning two mores laps. A-Mart had been able to hold off Ferrandis' charge, uncorking a full-send of LaRocco's Leap of his own! But on the final lap, the #14 was able to overtake third.

J-Mart took the moto win, sweeping 1-1 for his third consecutive overall win (the 17th overall win of his career).

“We’re still trying to improve, "said Martin on the podium. "Obviously today was a great day, 1-1—that something that teams in the off-season, we work our butts off and we dream of having a 1-1 day, it’s obviously incredible …It feels good. We’ve got a little bit of work yet I think we can do but we’ll enjoy this today. The grind doesn’t stop.”

J-Mart will take over the points lead now in the 250 Class. Martin (181 points) now has a 12-point lead over Ferrandis (169 points).

Hampshire managed fifth in the moto for second overall.

“It’s awesome, second overall on the day,” said Hampshire. “Would’ve like to win but…I kinda knew where I needed to be for that second overall, I knew J-Mart was gone and so I just managed it.”

McElrath finished 8-2 for third overall and Ferrandis' 7-3 earned him fourth overall. The Frenchman said he is happy to leave today being able to compete in the second moto because of the hard hit to the head he suffered in the crash he suffered early in the first moto.

“To be 100 percent honest, I’m kinda happy to make this result here today…that small crash I had it, it looked like a small crash but I hit my head and I was a bit dizzy, and hit my shoulder, too," Ferrandis opened up on the podium following the race. "Yeah I was in pain between the motos. When I did the sighting lap for moto two, honestly I was not sure if I would be able to [race]…I made that small mistake that just cost me a lot. Ten points behind Jeremy is not the end of the world.”

450 Class Moto 2

The gate dropped on the final race of the day and it was none other than Osborne with the holeshot. Similar to the first moto, Osborne was quickly joined by several heavy hitters in the class but managed to hold onto the lead throughout the first lap as riders continued to shuffle for positions. Then he continued to build up a gap as more shuffling took place behind him.

Barcia got a way better start than in the first moto (exiting the second turn behind only Osborne, Cianciarulo, and Sexton), thus providing everyone watching with some great racing. The #51 was on rails but he was challenged by rookie Cianciarulo. There was no love lost for the two as they went back and forth for what seemed to be an eternity! First, Barcia punted AC out of an inside line in one of the rutted-up turns, sending the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider out wide. Then, when Barcia slipped up leading into LaRocco’s Leap, AC countered back with a pass on the inside of the turn before the finish line. Laps later, Barcia again came underneath the #9, this time on the long, right-handed sweeper. I do not believe the two made contact but the incoming Yamaha YX450F did make Cianciarulo sweep wide once again (meanwhile, while all of this is happening, Osborne is out front running away with the win and Musquin is right on the tail of the Barcia/AC battle ready to pounce on a mistake by either or a collision between the two).

Cianciarulo went back at Barcia again, scrubbing quickly over a rolling on the inside before taking away Barcia’s line on the outside. And one again, Barcia came back as several turns later, he had the inside on the 180-degree turn into the sand hole/wall jump. This pass would hold for a while as Barcia clunge onto second for the next majority of the race. A nice line choice on the turn before the finish line jump allowed Sexton to take over fourth from Musquin. The crafty line choice by the rookie seemed to even surprise Musquin, who is a rather crafty rider himself.

Tomac was 11th after the first lap after a bad start and again was accidently impacted by lapped riders. Similar to in the first moto, lappers caused a Honda HRC rider (this time Sexton) to have a gap opened back up at least two times on the defending champion. He used an inside line to take over fifth from Musquin.

Late in the moto, Cianciarulo started to catch the #51 because he had unfinished business. On the last lap, Sexton (with Tomac in tow) caught up to the back of Cianciarulo, who was gaining on Barcia—and the gap from Barcia to Osborne was only about two seconds! We thought there might be some last-lap shuffling but all five riders eventually held on to their position through the checkered flag. Surprisingly, it was Tomac who was dropped first Sexton and AC continued to charge and the #1 appeared to have mailed it in at the end. Osborne finished 1-1 for his first premier class sweep and his third overall win in four rounds. 

“The main thing now is going to be getting recovered for Monday," Osborne said on the podium following the race. "It’s been a tough day, it’s cool and the track is not that gnarly but at the same time when that is the case you can go so much harder and the intensity is so much higher. But I have to say, this is a special day for me, I’ve never done that wire-to-wire in both motos for a 1-1. It’s pretty special at what is probably the best track in the world, one of the most iconic tracks. So I have to give it up for the good Lord for an unreal day. It’s great to be racing and out here doing what we love, it’s a huge blessing.”

Sexton's solid 3-4 finishes give the Honda HRC rookie his first overall podium finish in the premier class.

“I think I’m getting better every weekend… I just want to keep getting better overall. …I got shuffled back a little bit but I was able to climb myself back up to fourth,” said Sexton. “Last couple laps were pretty gnarly having Eli behind me but overall, I’m really happy with how I rode and I just want to keep chipping away until I get to that top spot.”

With a better start in the second moto, Barcia was able to hold on to a moto podium finish. And his 6-2 results actually earn him his first overall podium of the year as takes third overall.

Tomac finished 4-5 for sixth overall on the day. The defending champion earned 34 points on the day, whereas Osborne earned the maximum 50 points. Osborne (172 points) has a 26-point lead over Musquin (146 points) in the championship, as Tomac (129 points) sits fourth in the standings, 43 points back.

Osborne said coming into this doubleheader that he knew it would be important to perform well in both rounds. He just clicked off a perfect 1-1 day. Luckily, we will only have to wait until Monday to see how the RedBud 2 National goes for him, Tomac, and the rest of the field.