AMA MX 2016 – Round One – Hangtown – 450cc Race Report
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One year after his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season was derailed by a back injury and first-year growing pains with a new team, Ken Roczen is ready to reclaim the 450 Class championship. He got the season underway with a 1-1 sweep at the GoPro Hangtown Motocross Classic.
In Moto 1, Cole Seely narrowly edged out Honda HRC teammate Trey Canard for the holeshot, but Roczen soon moved past both of them by the end of the first lap to take over the lead. From there, Roczen began checking out from the field.
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After Seely ceded the lead to Roczen, Seely dropped another spot to Canard. Less than three minutes into the race though, Canard went down and would have to battle from the backend of the top ten.
On Lap 2, Ryan Dungey took over second place and tried to set his sights on Roczen. The two of them pulled away from the rest of the field, but Dungey was unable to reel in his championship rival.
Roczen took the Moto 1 victory, finishing six seconds ahead of Dungey and 35 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
“It was overall a really good way to begin the season,” Dungey said. “We want to win for sure but overall we’re just getting things started in outdoors, adapting to the bike and keeping the comfort from Supercross flowing into this summer. The speed was there, everything was there, and I trust the boys at KTM to keep advancing the bike and I’ll do the work on my side to get there.”
Roczen and Dungey are considered two of the leading title contenders for the 2016 season. The third candidate, Eli Tomac, salvaged a disappointing start to end up with a fourth-place finish.
Expectations were high for Tomac, who dominated both motos at Hangtown one year ago and was the top qualifier in practice this morning. But starts have always been an area of concern for Tomac, and by the end of Lap 1, he found himself back in 12th place. The rest of the moto featured Tomac working his way up through the field and picking off riders on his way up to third place. The race’s biggest surprise came when Blake Baggett passed Seely to move into fourth and then blew past Tomac to take away third.
Like Tomac, Baggett made a charge of his own through the field after starting in ninth after the first lap.
“I was doing whatever I could,” Baggett said after the race. “I like this place, Hangtown’s always been good to me. I was just trying to push it toward the front. The last three laps, I found some new lines and was making it happen.”
One rider who went the opposite direction from Tomac and Baggett was Justin Bogle. The contract-year rider is in his first full season on a 450 and started the race strong, reaching as high as fourth place on Lap 2. But similar to last year, Bogle soon faded through the pack and fell back to 12th by the end of the race.
It was more of the same from Roczen in the second moto. Although Dungey emerged with the holeshot, a mistake on the opening lap allowed Roczen to overtake him for the lead.
From there, Dungey was unable to catch back up to Roczen. Roczen finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of Dungey and almost 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Justin Barcia got a good start in Moto 2 and was running in the top three for the first five laps of the race before ceding the position to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson.
Meanwhile, Tomac once again found himself working his way toward the front of the field from a less-than-ideal starting position. He passed Phil Nicoletti, Josh Grant and Barcia within the first seven laps to move up from seventh to fourth, but Tomac could not reel in Anderson for a podium position. In total for the day, Tomac’s 4-4 moto finishes did land him third overall, but he already faces a 14-point deficit behind Roczen in the 450MX standings.
Anderson (6-3) finished fourth overall, and Trey Canard (7-5) completed the top five.
“Practice was good today,” said Anderson. “I got a bad start my first moto but then I had a great first half of the moto. I feel like I kind of got stuck at some point and couldn’t really keep it going. The second moto was really good, though. I got into third and stayed there for most of the moto and ended up third for fourth overall. It’s not horrible, but I definitely want to be better. I feel like my fitness is the best it has ever been and I’m riding better – I’m just trying to keep it going.”
Barcia (10-6) ended up seventh overall, and while he has to be disappointed given how strong he was outdoors last summer, it’s certainly an improvement on a supercross season he likely wants to forget.
It had the look of a promising day for Baggett after his podium finish in Moto 1, but the Yoshimura Suzuki rider went down on Lap 13 while running in sixth place. He ended up 19th in the moto, and dropped outside of the top ten overall for the day.
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin (9-7) rode to a pair of top ten moto finishes in his 450 Class debut and finished eighth overall. He spent some time inside the top five in Moto 1 and could certainly become a factor as the season progresses.
“The first moto didn’t go as I wanted but we worked between the motos with the team and came out with good changes,” Musquin said. “I’m happy to finally race my first AMA 450 outdoor race and can’t wait to go to the next one! I know the season will be long and I want to keep improving.”
James Stewart’s day ended early when he crashed out of the first moto and reportedly sustained an injury. The former series champion did not line up for Moto 2.
Roczen will head to Glen Helen with the red plate, something he last held one year ago when he entered Hangtown as the defending champion of the series.
450 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Ken Roczen (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (2-2)
3. Eli Tomac (4-4)
4. Jason Anderson (6-3)
5. Trey Canard (7-5)
6. Cole Seely (5-10)
7. Justin Barcia (10-6)
8. Marvin Musquin (9-7)
9. Josh Grant (8-8)
10. Phil Nicoletti (11-9)
11. Blake Baggett (3-19)
12. Justin Bogle (12-11)
13. Andrew Short (15-12)
14. Christophe Pourcel (17-15)
15. Broc Tickle (14-18)
16. Weston Peick (39-13)
17. Fredrik Noren (13-37)
18. Benny Bloss (21-14)
19. Cody Cooper (19-16)
20. Justin Brayton (18-17)
450 CLASS POINT STANDINGS
1. Ken Roczen, 50
2. Ryan Dungey, 44
3. Eli Tomac, 36
4. Jason Anderson, 35
5. Trey Canard, 30
6. Cole Seely, 27
7. Justin Barcia, 26
8. Marvin Musquin, 26
9. Josh Grant, 26
10. Blake Baggett, 22
AMA MX 2016 – Round One – Hangtown – 250cc Race Report
If there were any questions about whether or not he could be a legitimate championship contender this year, Joey Savatgy put those doubts to rest at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season opener. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider notched the first moto win of his career en route to a clean 1-1 sweep at Hangtown and his second career overall victory.
One season ago, Savatgy finished third in 250MX points and earned his first overall win at Unadilla. Earlier this year, he took Cooper Webb down to the wire and nearly earned a 250SX West supercross title. Now he hopes to take the next step in his continued progression – winning a outdoor championship in the 250 Class.
The day started with Savatgy turning the fastest lap in practice, and he proceeded to carry that speed over into the first moto of the season when he powered to the front of the field to grab the holeshot. Close behind were Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin, with Cooper Webb and RJ Hampshire rounding out the top five.
Up front, Smith pressed Savatgy for the race lead and kept himself within about half a second in the opening minutes. Eventually though, Savatgy began to open up a lead and steadily pull away. He took the checkered flag, finishing more than three seconds ahead of second-place Smith.
The moto win was the first of Savatgy’s career and put the rest of the field on notice.
As for Smith, his second-place moto finish was a career high. “I’ve been putting in a lot of really hard work at Millsaps Training Facility and out in California with the GEICO Honda team,” he told Georgia Lindsay after the race. “They’ve done a great job, my bike’s really good this year. You never really know where you’re gonna be until you line up for the first moto, but that was a really good showing for the first moto.”
Webb took over third place from Martin on the opening lap and proceeded to put some distance between the two of them. Martin was then forced to deal with pressure from the GEICO Honda duo of Hampshire and Charboneau before closing back in on Webb with about 10 minutes left in the moto.
The latest installment of the Webb vs. Martin rivalry was an entertaining one. By this point in the race, heavy rain had started to fall. As a result, the longer that Martin rode behind his Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha teammate, the more tearoffs he was forced to use. After a few unsuccessful pass attempts, Martin successfully made the pass on Webb for third with under seven minutes left on the countdown clock.
Webb, who is dealing with a nagging wrist injury that has limited his riding time recently, would not back off after being passed. He closed the gap on Martin late in the race, but was unable to get himself close enough to make a move on the two-time defending champion. Webb went all-out in his effort though, even crashing just short of the finish line in a last ditch effort to get around his teammate. Webb was able to remount and cross the finish line without losing any positions, but Martin escaped with third, while Webb settled for fourth.
Hampshire rounded out the top five, while teammate Charboneau finished behind him in sixth.
In the second moto, it was Jessy Nelson storming to the front of the pack for a holeshot with brothers Jeremy and Alex Martin in tow. A first-turn pileup ensued, then a a downed rider caused the red flag to come out though, and the race needed to be restarted.
On the restart, Nelson did it again and took the holeshot. This time it was Moto 1 winner Savatgy right behind him. Savatgy spent the next 24 minutes of the race keeping pace with Nelson up front before finally closing in and making a move to take over the lead.
After giving up the top spot, Nelson began to fade back. He finished in sixth place after dropping spots to Alex Martin, Aaron Plessinger, Zach Osborne and Cooper Webb in the closing laps.
“I’ve been working really hard to be prepared for the competitive outdoor season and I think that I rode pretty well considering I wasn’t sure how I would stack up after being out so long,” said Nelson. “We have a good base to work off of for next weekend and I’m really looking forward to Glen Helen next weekend.”
Alex Martin began to close in on Savatgy but never got close enough to attempt a pass. Savatgy won the moto by a final margin of victory of less than 1.5 seconds.
The 1-1 sweep gave Savatgy the overall victory and a significant 15-point lead in the 250MX standings heading into Glen Helen, where he will run the red plate on his bike.
“It’s a good way to start a season,” Savatgy said afterwards when interviewed on the broadcast. “We’ve been working for a long time and finished the supercross season strong. We came out swinging today, it felt good all day. First moto win this morning, now two in the same day. We’ll take it and now keep working, keep improving.”
Behind Savatgy, the overall results featured a quartet of Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha teammates. The group was led by Alex Martin, who posted 8-2 moto finishes. Webb (4-5) joined him on the overall podium despite riding with a broken wrist that he described as “brutal” after the race. Plessinger (9-3) and Jeremy Martin (3-9) rounded out the top five.
Jeremy Martin had a shot at a much better finish, as he had climbed up to fifth in Moto 2, but while battling rookie Austin Forkner for position on Lap 10, Martin went down and dropped back to ninth place.
As for Forkner, he was one of two rookies that had an impressive pro debut at Hangtown. The Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider posted 13-7 moto finishes, good for eighth overall. He climbed as high as third place in Moto 2.
GEICO Honda’s Tristan Charboneau (6-14) finished ninth overall in his pro debut and was knocking on the door of a top-five finish in Moto 1.
After his incredible effort in Moto 1, Jordon Smith appeared to be on the brink of another podium finish in the second moto. He was running in the top three for the first five laps of the race before dropping a spot to Forker. On Lap 8, he tipped over and then began to fade, ultimately finishing 16th in the moto. His 2-16 moto finshes slotted him seventh overall for the day.
Adam Cianciarulo made his 2016 racing debut at Hangtown after sitting out the entire supercross. Unfortunately, neither of his two motos were memorable, as he finished outside the top ten in both. His 12-11 moto results landed him 13th overall.
Next week, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship head to Glen Helen for the season’s second round. Will Savatgy continue his winning ways, or might one of the Star Yamaha riders reclaim their familiar spot atop the podium?
250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Joey Savatgy (1-1)
2. Alex Martin (8-2)
3. Cooper Webb (4-5)
4. Aaron Plessinger (9-3)
5. Jeremy Martin (3-9)
6. Jessy Nelson (7-6)
7. Jordon Smith 2-16)
8. Austin Forkner (13-7)
9. Tristan Charboneau (6-14)
10. Mitchell Oldenburg (11-10)
11. Zach Osborne (20-4)
12. Christian Craig (15-8)
13. Adam Cianciarulo (12-11)
14. Colt Nichols (14-12)
15. RJ Hampshire (5-38)
16. Alex Frye (10-17)
17. Justin Hill (21-13)
18. Arnaud Tonus (22-15)
19. Mitchell Harrison (16-20)
20. Luke Renzland (19-19)
250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Joey Savatgy, 50
2. Alex Martin, 35
3. Cooper Webb, 34
4. Jeremy Martin, 32
5. Aaron Plessinger, 32
6. Jessy Nelson, 29
7. Jordon Smith, 27
8. Tristan Charboneau, 22
9. Austin Forkner, 22
10. Mitchell Oldenburg, 21
