The lowdown from round three of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Ken Roczen: (1st in 450SX) “Yeah, my day was great. I said it before, I’m not that great of a practicer, so I went to the gate seventh [gate pick]. But I’m never worried about that ’cause I know I’m a racer. I love to race, and that’s what I do. In the first moto, I got an awesome start—just shifted a gear and my bike pulled right up there. I was super stoked to get the holeshot, and I never looked back. I rode a smooth race—very minimal mistakes—and collected a win. That was great. We went into the second moto with a strong mentality. I wanted to get another good start and definitely win. I didn’t get a good start, and I actually hooked a little into [Justin] Bogle and his elbow clutched my bike. (laughs) It was pretty crazy. I tried to do some quick moves here and there, but at the same time I didn’t try to rush because I knew we had some time to go. The roost definitely hurts. I’m definitely going to look like I played paintball. Overall, I can’t complain. Going 1-1 is a great thing, and we’re going into an off weekend now. I’m super happy about that. I think it comes at a perfect time. I 100% believe I have another level in me. We have some tricks up our sleeve to get even better on my part. I’m really excited for that. It’s an off weekend, and I’m going to have some fun on the weekend and then relax a little bit and come back strong for High Point.”
Ryan Dungey: (2nd in 450MX) “The ruts are really tough in Colorado, I was just trying to focus on good lines and making them stick. In the second moto I was trying to make a pass for the lead and my front end caught a little rut on the hip jump and it kicked and sent me in the air. Trying to rebound from that, thankfully we could get up and make a charge to pass as many guys as we could and salvage 2nd overall for the day.”
Eli Tomac: (3rd in 450MX) “Today didn’t quite go as planned. We started the day on top with the fastest time in qualifying but when it came time to race our starts weren’t where we want them to be. I managed to find smooth lines and stay on two wheels all day to finish on the podium for the third straight week, so I’ll take that and move to the next round focused on the main goal of the top step of the podium.”
Cole Seely: (4th in 450MX) “Today went really well. It felt good to finally get on the podium in the 450 class during motocross. I think I started outside the top 20 in the first moto, but I was able to fight my way up to sixth. I was fifth at one point but Eli [Tomac] got around me with two laps to go, so I settled for that. The first couple laps of the second moto were actually really fun. Both Trey and I started up front and had a good battle going. I got by him, taking over the lead for a little bit but Kenny [Roczen] and Eli got by me. Towards the end, I knew Dungey was coming; I could see him behind me out of the corner of my eye, so the last few laps of the race, I just put my head down and tried as hard as I could to maintain third. In the end it paid off. I feel like things are starting to click and I’m only going to continue to get stronger.”
Trey Canard: (5th in 450MX) “I’m really disappointed with how today ended. I should’ve been on the podium but couldn’t put it all together. There are positives to take away, but it’s still extremely frustrating because I had a good first moto and was running up front in the second. I’m continuing to get good starts, which is good, so hopefully that can continue and I’ll be able to start fighting up front with the leaders. The entire Team Honda HRC crew is working really hard and I’m happy with the bike, so I just need to regroup during the off weekend and come to High Point swinging.”
Josh Grant: (6th in 450MX) “The weekend was really good. I always like coming to Colorado, it’s one of my favourite places. The track, especially the ruts, were really gnarly this weekend and it made for some interesting racing. I’m happy with how I’ve been riding the last couple weeks and this weekend was more of the same. I made a few minor mistakes that held me back a bit but overall I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Matt Bisceglia: (8th in 450MX) “I couldn’t be happier with my day. I came out and had some good practices and put it in 10th in both motos. I had to fight for both finishes. It was my first race on a 450 since my amateur days, so it was great to get eighth overall my first time out. I can’t thank the team enough for giving me this opportunity. It was a great weekend and one I’ll always remember.”
Justin Bogle: (10th in 450MX) “It was better. I had my goals for the day and I met them. I qualified good. First moto was actually really good for me. I didn’t have the best start and I came through and finished seventh. Making progress and getting closer to where I need to be—but we’re not there yet. Second moto was tough and I still had trouble holding on. No excuses, that’s on me and I have to just ride that one out because it was something I did to myself. That moto was tough, I was so much better than that and it was a bummer. I didn’t ride all week and I might not be able to ride again this week because it [the wound] split back open. The incident, it’s my own dumb fault—might as well say it! But we made progress today, so I’m happy.”
Broc Tickle: (11th in 450MX) “It was an improvement from last week. All-in-all I’m looking forward to the break. I think I need to work on a little bit of speed. First moto, I got a good start, finally, but I crashed and couldn’t do anything with it. Obviously that was a bummer. Second moto, the track was beat-up. It was rough and if I’d had a little more speed, I feel like I could have gotten’ some of those guys in front of me at the end because I feel like I was flowing and feeling good. I’m looking forward to the week off and gain some more momentum the next week.”
Justin Brayton: (13th in 450MX) “Overall my day was ok. The track was rough both motos. I had a good start in the first moto and ran 5th for the first half. I tightened up a bit mid race, but loosened back up and actually ran my fastest lap at the end of the moto. I feel we are right where we need to be and will be ready at High Point.”
Marvin Musquin: (14th in 450MX) “The first moto didn’t go as planned so I knew I had to regroup in the second moto. I had a good start even though I started way outside. The first few laps were slow but as soon as Ryan got around me after his crash, I wanted to follow him and get good lines and good flow. I was following him just like practice and that was good for the confidence. It was my first time in the top five in the 450 Class and that’s the goal every week.”
Joey Savatgy: (1st in 250MX) “It was good. The biggest thing for me is being able to regroup. Glen Helen was not what I wanted. I wasn’t feeling that well. I was a little under the weather, and honestly, I just wasn’t there. My head wasn’t there; I don’t even really remember racing it. It was one of those weekends where I was glad to get through it safe and I was happy to get back to the farm and start putting in the work.”
Jeremy Martin: (2nd in 250MX) “I’m going for the third one [Championship] and it gets harder every year. Obviously, I’m the guy and we got a lot of guys that are hungry. I’m pumped on the day. In the first moto, I didn’t feel great and I got a good start. Cooper [Webb] and I were just battling. I was just getting smashed with roost and I’m like, “God I gotta make a move.” I was able to make a move. The track was tricky, because the ruts were really deep. It would be good one lap and then you would come around the next lap and the top of the rut would fold. So you would get this big dirt clot and it felt like hitting a big rock.”
Alex Martin: (3rd in 250MX) “The red plate was out of sight out of mind—I tried not to think about it. Not look at Instagram or any of the posts people were tagging me in with the red plate. It really did look good, so I would like to have it again in the future. You know, it’s kind of like an unspoken weight on your shoulders and I just tried to focus lap-by-lap each day. We qualified good—with 1st in the first one, 3rd in the second one. I just had an unfortunate mistake in that first moto.”
Jordon Smith: (7th in 250MX) “I had a pretty good weekend. I like the track here in Colorado and my bike was good today. I got off to a good start in the first moto and was running up front pressuring the leaders for the first few laps. I ended up getting a little arm pump around half way and dropped back to fifth. Second moto I had a decent top 10 start and ended up falling on the first lap. I fell pretty far back, not exactly sure what place I was in but put my head down and charged back to 12th in the moto for a seventh overall. Definitely need to put two motos together for the rest of the season. I know that’s what I need to work on so I’m going to try to put in a lot of work during this week off and be as ready as I can be for High Point.”
Shane McElrath: (8th in 250MX) “This track is definitely challenging. Not only are we at altitude, the track has a lot of sharp edges and deep ruts, so you have to be on it for the whole moto.”
Austin Forkner: (9th in 250MX) “The first moto I had a good start. Unfortunately the track was really slick in one particular corner and I tucked the front. When I remounted three other riders hit me, one after the other. By the time I finally rejoined the race I was nearly last and spent the whole moto climbing my way back up and finished 17th. In the second moto I had another good start and around halfway I started to feel really good. I passed my way into fifth and continued to push forward. I gave it my all for the second half and on the last lap I made another pass crossed the line fourth and ninth overall.”
RJ Hampshire: (12th in 250MX) “Rough weekend. Felt good on the bike all day. Got tangled up on both starts and was way back! Felt like my speed was good enough to be with the top guys but just didn’t start up there then made stupid mistakes all day. Second moto I hit the ground pretty hard around 20 minutes in just as I had caught up to a pack of guys. Forgetting this weekend and looking forward to heading east!”
Arnaud Tonus: (13th in 250MX) “I rode a little tight in practice. In the first moto I was a able to ride better but tangled up with Forkner in the early stages of the race and unfortunately rejoined pretty far back. I did the best I could, found my rhythm towards the end and raced my way into 17th. In the second moto I had a good start, spent most of the race able to do good laps and to focus on riding my own race. I’m feeling a lot better, I’m happy with my results today and I’m looking forward to the next one.”
