All the fallout from round eight of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Ken Roczen: (1st in 450MX) “Well, only my second one, my first one was pretty good. I went second or third into the turn and Eli [Tomac] was right there too. First off I hadn’t had pole [fastest qualifying time] in probably three years, so that kind of felt good. The first moto was good. I got a little bit unlucky I think with the red cross flags back there. So I had to roll everything and they came quite a bit closer, but I was able to pull it off. In the second one [moto] I came off crooked a little bit, pulled to the right and almost went down on the start straight—I came together with Trey [Canard]. From then on I was really far back. And then on that little double right down there, I think I dabbed my foot in the ground and bent my shifter back. From then on it was a bit of a struggle, because my shifter was really close to the foot peg. It was never really jumping, but landing I would—because it was up and bent towards my foot peg—I would always hit neutral and miss-shift a lot. I would try to just stay in third gear some times, but it was too low on an RPM and I had to stay in second [gear]. It was a bit of a struggle there, but I had to be really careful not to hit neutral when I jumped. We came up to the front, put a gap between us and just rode a smart race. I had to be really careful. I didn’t want the bike to blow up either.”
Marvin Musquin: (2nd in 450MX) “Today was the day to do two good motos. I love this track and we made some changes to the bike that shows to be in the right direction. We always try to get better and it feels good to be able to ride the bike and feel comfortable to ride the way I know how. All I need to do is keep getting good starts and I know that I am capable of finishing inside of the top three each race. Eli [Tomac] and Ken [Roczen] are very strong right now, but I think we are slowly improving and getting closer to them.”
Eli Tomac: (3rd in 450MX) “Today went well. Our lap times in qualifying were good and we got off to a great start in Moto 1, where I was able to jump into the lead early. I made a small mistake at the bottom of the hill which allowed second place to sneak by. I tried to fight back but made a few more mistakes, so I turned it down a bit to ride smoother. I didn’t get as good of a start in Moto 2 and by the time I worked my way into third, the leaders had already ran away with it. We’ll continue to work during the week and try and go for the win again next weekend.”
Christophe Pourcel: (4th in 450MX) “The goal is always to be consistent. “I try to be strong in my motos and its tough because there’s so many good guys. It’s tough to crack the top five. I’m just trying to do my own thing and get good starts and stay with the top five. We have a good thing going on now. It’s just a matter of finding lines. It’s tough to fight with those guys because they are so fast. Overall it was a pretty decent weekend for me, though.”
Andrew Short: (7th in 450MX) “It was another good day. My starts were there this weekend and battled inside the top ten. I have always liked this track and it felt good to leave here with a 7th overall.”
Benny Bloss: (8th in 450MX) “I had another great weekend. The track was a lot of fun and it felt good out there to battle deep inside the top ten.”
Justin Brayton: (9th in 450MX) “I felt solid out there. My starts are there, along with my speed. I am going to keep working and ready to battle inside the top five at Washougal.”
James Stewart: (15th in 450MX) “I got an OK start and then got passed by a few guys. I kind of settled-in and passed a few more guys and some of them went down and I got 10th. It was pretty solid. With all the stuff going on in my personal life I haven’t been able to ride as much. The second moto I was trying, but almost hit the deck a few times. It got to the point where I pulled out and I was bummed out about that. I’m happy to be back out here racing. I know what I need to do and that’s get more seat-time to be able to race. The track was tough all day, especially in that second moto. I want to thank the team. I’m going to keep pushing here and building-up and I think Washougal should be better for sure.”
Jeremy Martin: (1st in 250MX) “Today was good. In the first moto, Alex [Big brother Alex Martin] and I (laughs) were 1-2 out of the gate and it was looking good. Then I could hear the Yamaha and I knew it was Coop [Cooper Webb]. I was struggling a little bit with some arm pump and Alex was kind of walking away from me a little bit. I was kind of like, “Yeah, Big Al!” And we could hear the hometown crowd cheering for us at the beginning part of the race and then Coop got in there. Honestly I think the first moto was probably a really fun moto to watch just because we were all right there for so long. I was a little bummed when my brother went down in that corner with three laps to go. I really thought he had a chance at his first [moto] win—I really thought he had it. So when I saw he went down I was pretty bummed and then he tried to block pass me. (laughs) I was going up the RC double and
Cooper Webb: (2nd in 250MX) “I’m happy to leave with a moto win today and maintain our points lead in the championship. The goal for me is always to win, but I knew Alex and Jeremy would be strong today and I’m happy to have been battling with them for the win.”
I was like, “Dude, I’m going to send it right next to ya. (laughs)” And I did.”
Alex Martin: (3rd in 250MX) “The biggest issue I’ve been having lately is my starts have been a little bit off, so I pulled both holeshots today. It’s a good feeling to get out front. Just two mistakes or my day would of been a lot different I think. So close to getting that first moto won in the first moto, and in that second moto just that tip over made things hard. It’s a little bit humid out there today and it’s definitely tough out there. It’s really cool to be riding in front of the hometown crowd. I could hear them cheering all the way around the track. That was pretty cool. To get the Star Racing / Yamaha podium sweep is pretty awesome. I love this place and just having fun out here.”
Joey Savatgy: (4th in 250MX) “Today didn’t quite go our way. The first moto started off well with a good start but we couldn’t quite catch the leaders. The second moto was better as I was able to make my way up to second until I stalled the bike. We’ll go back and do our homework and come out swinging at Washougal.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (6th in 250MX) “Today was a step in the right direction. I got off to a decent start in Moto 1, was able to charge the whole moto and made a few passes near the end to finish 7th. In Moto 2, I was top-5 around turn-1 and made a few quick passes to get into the lead early. I was able to charge and lead for about 10-minutes which felt awesome to be back upfront again. I’m looking forward to next week.”
Arnaud Tonus: (7th in 250MX) “Today was good. Every week I’m feeling faster and stronger and I believe it’s showing on the race track. I had two great starts and rode strong all moto to finish seventh overall. It’s nice to see that all the work I’ve been putting in over the years is beginning to pay”
RJ Hamshire: (9th in 250MX) “Weekend was better. My bike and riding was better than what it has been. Starts sucked again, which was a bummer because I feel like I had the speed to be up there. Crashed first lap of first moto and came from outside of the top 20 to 10th, second moto worked my way up to 10th again and stalled it, lost a couple spots and a lot of time. I’ll take the ninth overall and get ready for next weekend.”
Zach Osborne: (11th in 250MX) “I turned a bad day into a good day. I pulled a really good start in the second moto and ended up getting third. That was actually my first good start of the season. I was really happy with that. The first moto DNF kind of hurt me in the points but I pulled it together for moto two. We’ll soldier on.”
Martin Davalos: (12th in 250MX) “I like Millville. It was interesting to see how much they watered the track during practice. It was tough to find lines because it was so muddy, but the track came around pretty well. I felt like I made some good improvements for the first moto and passed some people. I got up to eighth then a lapper took me out with two laps to go. I’m pretty bummed. I put a lot of effort and work in to get up there and it’s unfortunate that I had to deal with that. I didn’t get the best start in the second moto but I made some quick passes in the beginning and was able to put in a hard charge to finish seventh. I’m pretty pumped with everything and I’m really excited to go to Washougal—it’s one of my favorite tracks. I’m looking for two solid motos.”
Austin Forkner: (13th in 250MX) “The day started off really well after qualifying fourth. I got off to a pretty good start in Moto 1 inside the top-10 and eventually made my way briefly into fifth before getting passed back and finishing sixth. Second moto, I got off to another great start but went down on Lap 2 and fell all the way back to 22nd. I fought my way back up into 11th before crashing in the rollers on the last lap, but was able to salvage a 17th place.”
Jimmy Decotis: (19th in 250MX) “Weekend was okay, had a good first practice but second one wasn’t as good. First moto I had a good start, around top five, I got shuffled back to maybe eighth or ninth then I tipped over and me and Chaboneau came together. He didn’t mean it, but I after that crash I had no front brake. We got up together and were trying to come through the pack together, and me and Charboneau crashed together again! He came through pretty good to get 21st, but my front brake was totally messed up. I went into the mechanic’s area and we cut the line and by then I was two laps down, so I just went back to the truck. Second moto I got 18th which wasn’t what I wanted. Need some more intensity, fitness seems good. I haven’t raced outdoors in awhile so that intensity just takes some getting used to. We’ll keep working on it.”
