2014 Thunder Valley Motocross Results
Round three of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship – sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing – headed Saturday to the Thunder Valley MX Park in Lakewood, Colo., for the 10th annual Toyota Thunder Valley National.
And just as he did last week at last weekend’s Hangtown round of MX, Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen achieved the overall win. The rookie KTM SX-F 450 pilot won with a 2-1 finish, and was joined on the overall podium by Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart and the other Red Bull KTM pilot, two-time MX Champion Ryan Dungey.
In the 250 class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett took his first victory of the season. The only other winner this season was Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin.
When the 450-class action got underway, Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX’s Josh Grant took the Motosport.com Holeshot Award but his spot, but was quickly passed by Stewart.
The Suzuki RM-Z 450 pilot opened up a gap on Dungey as Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard and Roczen passed Grant for third and fourth, respectively.
These four broke away, and soon Dungey got into the lead, but it was short lived. Behind, Roczen was on a charge, and passed Dungey on the 13th lap. The pressure was on, and riding aggressively, Dungey crashed, losing a position to Canard.
Roczen chased down Stewart, but was unable to catch him. Stewart would win, followed by Roczen and Canard, respectively. Dungey would earn fourth, and Grant fifth.
In the second moto, Canard took the holeshot followed by Dungey, Grant, Roczen and Stewart. Canard and Dungey got out front quickly, but by the end of the opening lap, Roczen was already pass Dungey and into second. It wouldn’t take Roczen long to make his move; the German passed Canard on lap three, and overtook the lead.
Dungey would make quick work of Canard, and start chasing his teammate down. But he couldn’t catch him, and Roczen eventually finished over six seconds ahead of Dungey. Stewart would take the final podium position, with Canard in fourth and Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe in fifth.
Overall, Roczen’s 2-1 moto results helped him edge out Stewart (1-3) for the win by just two points. Dungey’s strong second moto effort helped secure third overall (4-2). Canard (3-4) and Grant (5-6) rounded out the top five.
“It’s early to really say anything [about the championship],” said Roczen, who won his first career 450 Class race one week ago. “I feel like I’m riding good right now and I feel strong. I got a good jump [in the first moto] but didn’t get up the hill well and had to fight my way through. I made some adjustments to the bike [in between motos] to make it easier to ride and it paid off. I just want to keep clicking [races] away like I’ve been doing and stay healthy.”
With his win, Roczen extended his lead to 141 points. After three of 12 rounds, he has a 12-point lead over Dungey. Stewart moved into third, 30 points behind Roczen, while Canard sits fourth, 31 points out of the lead.
The start of the first 250 Class moto featured a surprise early leader as Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Jessy Nelson captured the Motosport.com Holeshot Award and proceeded to open a multi-second gap over the field, with GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle and the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha duo of Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin in chase, MX Sports says.
Nelson maintained a comfortable gap until Martin and Webb took over second and third, respectively, on Lap 4 and closed down the deficit to the lead. Nelson paced the field for the first 20 minutes of the moto but went off the track, allowing Martin to take first on Lap 8. Webb then took over second from Nelson on Lap 9, MX Sports says.
The battle for victory appeared it would come down to the Star Yamaha duo as they were separated by mere bike lengths, but as he pushed for the lead Webb crashed and lost several positions. With his teammate no longer a threat, Martin rode comfortably out front for the remainder of the moto to keep his undefeated streak intact, MX Sports says.
Nelson held on for a career-best second-place finish, while Bogle secured the third spot. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett was fourth with Rockstar Energy Racing KTM’s Jason Anderson in fifth. Webb dropped to ninth following his crash, MX Sports says.
As the second moto got underway, all eyes were on Martin to see if he could continue his unbeaten start to the season. Out of the first corner Martin had his work cut out for him as GEICO Honda’s Zach Bell claimed the Motosport.com Holeshot Award, with Anderson and Valli Motorsports Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel alongside. Martin started outside the top five, MX Sports says.
Bell’s time out front didn’t last long as Pourcel took over the lead on the opening lap. On the ensuing lap Baggett began his push towards the front, eventually taking over second and setting his sights on Pourcel out front, MX Sports says.
After a couple laps of pressure Baggett made the pass and never looked back, leaving Pourcel to battle with a hard-charging Bogle. As Baggett pulled away, Martin tracked down Pourcel and Bogle, needing a podium finish to secure his third straight overall win. At the halfway point Martin crashed while chasing third place and fell deep inside the top 10. That misfortune allowed Baggett to solidify the overall with a win in the second moto. Bogle fought to finish second, while Pourcel finished third. Martin rebounded to finish sixth, MX Sports says.
Baggett’s 4-1 results gave him a one-point edge on Bogle (3-2) for the overall win, while Martin’s resiliency after his crash ensured third overall (1-6).
“I wasn’t prepared coming into the season due to an injury right before the opening round, but we’ve been testing and getting to where we want to be,” said Baggett, who last won at the fifth round of the championship last season. “When you haven’t won in a while it starts eating at you and I wanted to stop [Martin’s] dominance, so I just went for it. We’re headed in the right direction and there’s still 18 motos left, so anything can happen.”
Martin retained control of the 250 Class standings, holding a 26-point lead over teammate Webb. Pourcel sits third, 47 points behind, while Baggett moved into fourth, facing a 49-point deficit. Bogle rounds out the top five, 50 points behind Martin, MX Sports says.
“I really had to work hard for [the podium] today,” said Martin, who has won five of the first six motos. “I didn’t get off to the best start [in Moto 1], but I knew I just needed to start clicking off the laps. Nelson went off the track and made it easy on me, so it was a good first moto. I was trying to hunt those guys down [up front] in the second moto and switched my line up, and it just didn’t work out for me. I’m where I expected to be coming into the season, but it just took a little bit for everyone else to get up to speed. Clearly, after today, they’re there.”
The 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship continues next weekend with the fourth round of the season. High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, will host the UPMC Sports Medicine High Point National on Saturday, June 14. Action begins at 1 p.m. ET.
2014 Thunder Valley Motocross Results, 450 Class (Moto Finish):
1. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM (2-1)
2. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki (1-3)
3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (4-2)
4. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (3-4)
5. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (5-6)
6. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki (9-5)
7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki (7-8)
8. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM (6-9)
9. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki (10-7)
10. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (8-12)
450 Class Championship Standings:
1. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 141
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 129
3. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 111
4. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 110
5. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki, 89
6. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 78
7. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki, 77
8. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 74
9. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 74
10. Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 61
2015 Thunder Valley Motocross Results, 250 Class (Moto Finish):
1. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki (4-1)
2. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda (3-2)
3. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (1-6)
4. Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda (2-9)
5. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (7-4)
6. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., KTM (5-5)
7. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha (11-3)
8. Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha (9-7)
9. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (8-8)
10. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki (10-10)
250 Class Championship Standings:
1. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha, 140
2. Cooper Webb, Morehead City, N.C., Yamaha, 114
3. Christophe Pourcel, France, Yamaha, 93
4. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Kawasaki, 91
5. Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda, 90
6. Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 85
7. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM, 82
8. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., KTM, 81
9. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki, 65
10. Matt Bisceglia, Weatherford, Texas, Honda, 63
