SOUTHWICK, Mass. (July 8, 2017) -
The seventh round of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned
by AMA Pro Racing, witnessed the worlds best riders
encounter the sandy soil at The Wick 338, which ultimately served as the most
physically demanding track of the season thus far. Points leader Eli Tomaccontinued on his recent hot
streak by putting his Monster Energy Kawasaki atop the podium for the third
straight round, and fourth time this season, to extend his championship lead.
In the 250 Class, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Zach Osborne
emerged with his second consecutive 250 Class win.
As
the first 250 Class moto rounded the first corner, it was Troy Lee Designs/Red
Bull/KTM rider Alex Martin who emerged with his third Motosport.com Holeshot of the season, with Yamalube/Star
Racing Yamaha's Aaron Plessinger and GEICO Honda's RJ
Hampshire in tow. Hampshire made quick work of Plessinger
to successfully make the pass for second and began to set his sights on the
race lead. When the 40-rider field completed the opening lap, it was Martin,
Hampshire, and Plessinger out front.
Despite Martin facing a clear track ahead,
Hampshire was on fire as he carried his momentum around the fast sweeping turns
and closed in for the top spot. Hampshire used a strong drive down one of the
straights and out-braked Martin to become the new race leader on Lap 1. Just
one lap later, Hampshire lost the front end through the rolling whoops, which
took him to the ground and allowed Martin to retake the lead. Hampshire's
misfortune allowed Plessinger to move back into
second, just ahead of Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha
teammate Dylan Ferrandis. By Lap 3, the Yamaha duo
paced one another and started to reduce the gap that separated them from race
leader Martin.
Plessinger made a costly mistake while
stalking Martin for the first and hit the ground hard as he got sideways over
one of the tracks jumps, which prematurely ended his race. Martin continued to
lead out front, while Ferrandis and Hampshire took
advantage of Plessinger's mishap to control second
and third, respectively. On Lap 7, Ferrandis was hot
on the heels of Martin, eventually finding his way around to make the pass
stick. Ferrandis made a mistake and tipped over just
turns later, moving Martin back into the top spot as Ferrandis
quickly remounted in second.
With Martin and Ferrandis
setting the pace out front, Osborne, who started seventh, started picking
riders off one-by-one and overtook Hampshire for third. Ferrandis
had no problem brushing off his tip over from a few laps prior and looked to
have his sights set on the race lead once again. On Lap 9, the Frenchman
aggressively blitzed his way around Martin and back into the lead. Osborne
started to find his flow and closed in on the defensive Martin for second
before making the pass at the end of the lap.
Ferrandis rode flawless during the
final laps to score his second moto win of the season, with 6.9 seconds to
spare on Osborne in second. Martin, who led more than half of the race, would
complete the podium in third, narrowly edging out his brother and GEICO Honda
rider Jeremy Martin in fourth.
In Moto 2, Osborne edged out Alex Martin and
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Joey Savatgy to
take his second Motosport.com Holeshot of the year.
First moto winner Ferrandis was just behind the trio
and made short work of Savatgy to move into third,
which then led to him making the move on Martin for second just a few turns
later. At the completion of the opening lap it was Osborne, Martin, and Ferrandis who paced the field.
Osborne was in full sprint mode as he
attempted to break away from Ferrandis, however, the
Yamaha rider had different thoughts as he pushed hard to keep the championship
leader in sight. On Lap 2 Osborne had company with Ferrandis
in hot pursuit, battling side-by-side as the thousands of fans cheered them on.
Osborne was able to shut down each attempt that was
thrown at him by Ferrandis, while Martin was not far
behind with a front row seat to the action.
As rain began to fall on Lap 5, Osborne
gradually started opening a small lead on his rivals by charging the whooped out sand rollers that were scattered across the
track. Martin refused to give up as he went back and forth with Ferrandis and continued to match the Yamaha rider's lap
times throughout the 30-minute-plus-two-lap moto.
Osborne took his sixth moto win of the
season with an 8.6 second advantage over Ferrandis,
who held onto second. Martin fought hard until the very end, finishing just 2.8
seconds behind Ferrandis for third.
The 2-1 scores by Osborne helped him capture
his fifth career victory, and his better second moto finish prevailed in the
tiebreaker with Ferrandis (1-2). Martin finished
third overall (3-3) for the second consecutive week.
"It was another good day for me and I'm
happy to finish on a strong note heading into the break," said Osborne.
"I caught a little bit of a break having Dylan [Ferrandis]
as the guy up there battling with me. If it had been anyone else who is closer
in points, I might have felt forced to push the issue a little bit more,
especially in the first moto. The track was definitely deeper than last year, I
thought it was really good and it got really whooped out today."
Osborne continues to hold the red plate and
control the championship standings with a 45-point lead over Alex Martin, who
sits in second. Jeremy Martin used his fifth-place finish (4-6) to maintain
third in the standings, trailing his brother by 14 points.
"I'm generally pretty good in practice,
but I just kind of felt like my bike setup was off all day," said Alex
Martin. "Despite searching for a comfortable setting, I was able to get
off to two great starts and that is really key on a track like this that can
sometimes funnel down to just one line. I knew that it was going to be a long
and hot day, so I tried to pace myself a little bit, but the rain saved us and
helped cool it down in the second moto. I'm excited to go racing at my home
track in Millville [Minnesota] after the break."
The 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross
Championship will take a break from racing next weekend before returning to
action on Saturday, July 22, for the eighth round of the season at Spring Creek
MX Park in Millville, Minnesota. First motos of the
Spring Creek National can be seen live on MAVTV at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET. The
second motos will air via tape delay on NBC Sports
Network at 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET.
Results
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Red Bull Southwick National
The Wick 338 - Southwick, Massachusetts
July 8, 2017
250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna (2-1)
Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon,
France, Yamaha (1-2)
Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., KTM (3-3)
RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda (5-4)
Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda (4-6)
Joey Savatgy, Thomasville,
Ga., Kawasaki (7-5)
Mitchell Harrison, Brighton, Mich., Yamaha (6-7)
Chase Sexton, La Moille,
Ill., Honda (9-8)
Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (8-10)
Adam Cianciarulo, Port
Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (15-9)
250 Class Championship Standings
Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna - 301
Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., KTM - 256
Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda - 242
Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon,
France, Yamaha - 199
Joey Savatgy, Thomasville,
Ga., Kawasaki - 195
Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton,
Ohio, Yamaha - 190
Adam Cianciarulo, Port
Orange, Fla., Kawasaki - 186
