Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb clinch AMA Pro Motocross Titles at Budds Creek
Images by Hoppenworld
Tight turns and long jumps made up the layout of the GEICO Motorcycle Budds Creek National for Round 11 of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.Â
Right out of the gate it was all eyes on Ken Roczen who was earning the holeshot and taking off with an early lead on his way to potentially clinch the series by the day’s end. Also earning solid start was Andrew Short in second and Justin Barcia and third who continue to Rally around for the next two corners before settling into their positions.
Eli Tomac, on the other hand, found himself helping to lift the bike off of another rider following a crash leaving him in last place for the first lap. As the only rider mathematically within reach of Roczen, Tomac’s early moto crash was disheartening to say the least.
Within the first four minutes of the moto, Barcia found a way to pass Short to put him in second place, which left Short to deal with Marvin Musquin only a few bike lengths behind him. Only minutes later Musquin would find his way around Short and into the third. Rounding out the top five after the first eight minutes of the moto would be Phil Nicoletti.
After ten minutes had elapsed in the moto, Roczen was already 13 and a half seconds ahead of Barcia in second. Barica is one of the toughest riders to pass, but if anyone was determined to best him it was Musquin in third.
Nicoletti shook up the bottom end of the top-5 by making a pass on Short who had faded to fifth from his second place start.
At the nine-minute mark, Barcia and Musquin engage in a heated battle, where they trade positions three different times to ultimately allow Musquin to ride out in second. At this point Rozen had more than a 17-second lead on the two.
Without goggles, Dean Wilson made a late moto run, passing Short with two to go, to move into fifth.
Tomac finished in seventh, which confirmed Roczen would have to race well in moto two if he wanted to cling on the day.
At the end of the first moto the top three went Roczen, Barcia and Musquin, respectively.
The opening lap of moto 2Â full of action starting with Matt Bisceglia earning the holeshot. Andrew Short was right on his tail and would make quick work to take the lead, but sure enough Roczen would best Short before the end of the first lap.
Tomac started off near the middle of the pack, but within the first five minutes found himself passing riders all the way into fourth to battle Barcia. Barcia, however, had his sights set on Musquin in third after losing that position to him at the end of the first moto.
Musquin lost his position first to Barcia, but then had Short to deal with. For few turns Musquin lost his positioning to Short, too, but after another quick exchange through a series of corners Musquin would reclaim fourth from Short.
By the halfway point in the race, Bisceglia’s holeshot position faded all the way to eighth, while Roczen found himself leading nearly two full seconds ahead of Tomac in second.
Nicoletti found his way around Short for the fifth place position and kept his speed to make some distance. Nicoletti nearly bounced himself of the bike, but held on and kept his speeds high. Short would continue to fade into the middle of the pack, but Wilson would arrive to challenge Nicoletti and eventually take that fifth position.
After a series of quiet laps, Musquin found another gear and managed to catch up within a bike length of Barcia. Musquin appeared to be bringing speed and an inside line take Barcia, but Barcia played it smart and took the line away from Musquin before opening up and creating a little distance once again.
With very little change over the final minutes, Roczen would secure more than a 23-second lead over Barcia and the moto win. Roczen’s 1-1 finish on the day awarded him the overall win and clinch the 2016 series title.
The final round of the 2016 series is at Ironman next weekend.
AMA Pro Motocross 2016 – Budds Creek – 450 Results
- Ken Roczen (1-1)
- Justin Barcia (3-3)
- Marvin Musquin (2-4
- Eli Tomac (6-2)
- Phil Nicoletti (4-6)
- Dean Wilson (5-5)
- Frederik Noren (8-7)
- Andrew Short (7-9)
- Benny Bloss (11-10)
- Anthony Rodriguez (10-11)
AMA Pro Motocross 2016 – Budds Creek – 450 Championship Standings
- Ken Roczen, 534
- Eli Tomac, -76
- Marvin Musquin, -169
- Justin Barcia, -218
- Christophe Pourcel, -317
- Benny Bloss, -330
- Phil Nicoletti, -333
- Andrew Short, -345
- Justin Brayton, -361
- Broc Tickle, -363
Cooper Webb AMA Pro Motocross 250 Champion
The GEICO Motorcycle Budds Creek National provided the perfect stage for the best battles of the season as racers rubbed elbows in an effort to make every pass possible during the second to last race of the season.
Straight out of the gate it was Adam Cianciarulo who took the holeshot and the early lead but, Alex Martin was close behind and did his best to take The front of the pack early but was not quite able to after the first series of turns.
Unfortunately for Cooper Webb, the first turn experienced a crash and small pileup that resulted in the number of riders going down with Webb getting pulled into that mix and was forced to fight his way from deep in the pack. Webb would experience another fall in the first lap coming through a corner to go up a hill where he tucked his front tire and set the bike down. At the end of the first lap Webb would find himself in the 26th position.
Back to the front of the pack, Cianciarulo and A. Martin were setting a fast pace. Cianciarulo was more than three and a half seconds ahead of A. Martin who was more than five seconds ahead Jordon Smith who was next in line and ahead of Joey Savatgy in fourth.
Neither Cianciarulo or Savatgy finished the race last weekend at Unadilla, given the brutal hot and humid race conditions. As the sun continues to rise, only time will tell if the riders can maintain their pace as conditions heat up at Budds Creek.
Putting in fast lap times, Webb was seen putting in serious work and was found moving through traffic. Nine minutes in he found himself in 16th position, already 10 spots further than his position after the opening lap.
Savatgy overtook Jordon Smith, for third just before the halfway mark on the moto. Smith tried to reclaim, going for a double over the roller, and was forced to hold on for dear life, as his machine wobbled out. Ultimately, Savatgy maintained his pass and Smith refocused and settled in 6th position.
Just ahead in the fifth position was Zach Osborne. Last week at Unadilla Osborne came up short and was unable to add any points to his overall ranking. With the past three races providing at least one moto to not produce points for Osborne, Budds Creek points have more importance for him than most as he is sitting just 40 points out of the top-5 overall.
After leading half the moto, Cianciarulo tipped over in a berm, costing him big the first position and opening the window for A. Martin to take over as the moto leader.
With eight minutes left in the moto, Cianciarulo worked hard to catch A. Martin and win his first career moto in the 250 Class.
At the six-minute mark on the clock, Webb was in 9th position and clocking the fastest times on the track. Charging hard and focused on points, Webb picked off riders and moved through the pack.
Jordan Smith and RJ Hampshire both experienced issues in moto 1 that removed them from the track making for a rough start to the day for the GEICO Honda squad.
At the 3-lap mark, the track had morphed into a rough and bumpy ride compared to the start of the moto and the moto-ending leaderboard reflected a rough ride for a few riders.
With Webb’s sixth place finish in moto 1 he was not able to clinch the championship, and A. Martin’s 1st place finish on the moto (his second of the year) made for a tighter points race overall with high stakes on the line for moto 2. The championship battle is on between the two Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha teammates.
Finishing the moto just behind A. Martin was Cianciarulo in second and Savatgy rounding out the podium in third.
Back at the starting gate for moto 2, under a beating sun, the riders geared up to take on the rough and rutted track.
Cianciarulo’s second holeshot of the day, setting himself up for another great moto. Right behind Cianciarulo was his teammates Savatgy and Austin Forkner, with Bradley Taft and Osborne next behind.
Savatgy found himself coming into a corner and getting stuck allowing both Forkner, Taft and Osborne the opportunity to pass. Savatgy would regain his composure and retake fourth place from Taft.
At the 5-minute mark, Webb was sitting in 7th after a bad start — with A. Martin and Christopher Alldredge on either side, Webb was pinched out of holeshot contention and forced him to the back.
Cianciarulo and Forkner were out front and battling 10 minutes into the Moto until Forkner found an inside line up and over a hill to give him position to overtake Cianciarulo for the lead. However, Cianciarulo wasn’t going to give it to the rookie that easy. The two would exchange positioning another two times to keep the rookie Forkner back out in front.
Coming up on the front-runners was Osborne. Ultimately finding a line to pass Cianciarulo for second, Osborne made quick work to mix up the front. For Cianciarulo, though, the day was still open for major success if he can hold on for an overall win if he can hold on while A. Martin was back in seventh.
Just behind Cianciarulo was Tonus in fourth following earlier passes on both Taft and then Savatgy.
At 13-minute mark, Osborne passed Forkner after coming in contact following a huge move from inside to outside to take the lead. After mechanical issues in the last three nationals, it was clear he came ready to race today.
At 10-minute mark, Webb and Tonus battled for 5th. With Webb coming up quickly, Tonus stayed strong and continued to hold off Webb for a long series of turns. But ultimately fell short, as Webb took the long way around Tonus and closed the door.
At the 1-minute mark, Cianciarulo lost steam, getting passed by Webb and A. Martin.
With 2 to go, Webb was in third place.
With 1 lap to go, Osborne was in first position, followed by Forkner, Webb and A. Martin.
Riding to his first-ever moto win and the overall win on the day, Osborne held position and crossed the checkered flag first. Ten years after his career started, Osborne earned his personal best result at Budds Creek.
The 250 star of the day, and the 2016 season, was Cooper Webb who had officially clinched the class title.
AMA Pro Motocross 2016 – Budds Creek – 250 Results
- Zach Osborne (4-1)
- Alex Martin (1-4)
- Austin Forkner (5-2)
- Adam Cianciarulo (2-5)
- Cooper Webb (6-3)
- Aaron Plessinger (8-6)
- Justin Hill (10-7)
- Mitchell Oldenburg (11-10)
- Joey Savatgy (3-34)
- Christopher Alldredge (12-11)
AMA Pro Motocross 2016 – Budds Creek – 250 Championship Standings
- Cooper Webb, 457
- Alex Martin, -73
- Joey Savatgy, -96
- Austin Forkner, -126
- Jeremy Martin, -136
- Aaron Plessinger, -144
- Zach Osborne, -161
- Adam Cianciarulo, -222
- Mitchel Oldenburg, -242
- Arnaud Tonus, -244
