Baggett dominates Thunder Valley AMA MX – Bogle takes career first 450 moto win
Savatgy closes in on 250 class lead – Osborne retains overall lead
450
It seems that every week of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship brings a new twist. After Hangtown, it looked like Eli Tomac might run away with the title. But then at Glen Helen, a win by Marvin Musquin caused the points lead to change hands and proved that it would indeed be at least a two-horse race.
Thunder Valley showed that another name belongs in that title discussion: Blake Baggett. The former 250MX champion went 3-1 on the day — even outdueling Tomac in Moto 2 — to earn the first overall victory of his 450MX career and insert himself into the middle of the championship fight.
And Baggett’s win wasn’t even the day’s biggest surprise. That honor goes to Justin Bogle, who won the first 450 moto of his career in Moto 1.
Moto 1
Earlier in the day, there was a small fire in the RCH/Yoshimura Suzuki pits. Fortunately, the incident was extinguished, and the team was able to race Thunder Valley. The result: Justin Bogle’s first-ever moto win (in either class) in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
Coming around the first turn, it was Martin Davalos — in his first season on a 450 — taking the holeshot. Justin Bogle was close behind him, and Jason Anderson emerged with third once things shuffled out a bit.
So far this year, Marvin Musquin has consistently been a better starter than Eli Tomac, but this time, Musquin went down during the start of the race while Tomac was just outside the top five.
Early in the race, Davalos went down while leading, which allowed Bogle to inherit the lead. About five minutes into the moto, the top five was as follows: Bogle, Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, Tomac, Cole Seely.
The first two rounds had to be disappointing for Barcia, but this moto gave him a chance for a rebound. He held off Tomac for third as long as could but eventually ceded the position to the Kawasaki rider.
After what happened at the start of the race, it seemed unlikely that Musquin and Tomac would find each other on the track, yet that’s what happened. Shortly before the midway point, Musquin had worked his way up to seventh. Then Tomac went down and got back up in sixth place with Musquin right behind him. Tomac’s crash had allowed Seely to move up to third, with Barcia in fourth and Broc Tickle in fifth.
While all this played out, Justin Bogle was pulling away. With about 11 minutes to go, he had opened up an eight-second lead on Anderson, who was 10 seconds ahead of Seely.
After they both passed Tickle to pick up a spot, Tomac and Musquin resumed their battle, with Musquin passing Tomac to take fifth. Musquin then passed Barcia for fourth, leaving Barcia, Tomac and Blake Baggett (who had crashed along with Musquin at the start of the race) to fight for fifth.
With under seven minutes to go, Tomac and Baggett both got around Barcia to move into fifth and sixth. Baggett then continued his charge by passing Tomac soon after.
Baggett, who was one of the fastest riders on the track by this point, soon caught Musquin and the two engaged in a back-and-forth battle. Baggett eventually emerged with the position and cleared Musquin for good. A few minutes later, Baggett caught and passed Seely for third.
Bogle continued to ride away unchallenged and ended up winning the moto — his first first-ever moto victory in either class — about eight seconds ahead of Anderson. Baggett joined them on the podium in third.
As for the top two title contenders, Musquin picked up a spot on Seely to move into fourth, while Tomac dropped a spot to Barcia to end up seventh. Those shakeups resulted in Musquin adding an extra four points to his championship lead.
Cooper Webb, who dealt with bike problems early in the race, originally finished 14th but was docked eight positions for cutting the track. The penalty officially placed him to 22nd, which means he received zero points for this moto.
Moto 1 Results
- Justin Bogle
- Jason Anderson (-8.6 seconds)
- Blake Baggett
- Marvin Musquin
- Cole Seely
- Justin Barcia
- Eli Tomac
- Broc Tickle
- Dean Wilson
- Martin Davalos
- Fredrik Noren
- Weston Peick
- Dakota Alix
- Brandon Scharer
- Heath Harrison
- Josh Mosiman
- Ronnie Stewart
- Zack Williams
- Morgan Burger
- Jacob Baumert
Moto 2
On the heels of his incredible ride earlier in the day, Blake Baggett nearly had a holeshot but was edged out by Broc Tickle. Baggett passed Tickle to move into the lead, while Eli Tomac used a good start to pass Justin Barcia and Tickle to take second. Tomac continued his charge to the front by passing Baggett, much to the delight of his home state fans in attendance.
Moto 1 winner Justin Bogle was unable to repeat his magic from earlier in the day. The Suzuki rider made an early appearance in the top five but ended up dropping several spots in the opening minutes.
Seven minutes in the race, Jason Anderson passed Barcia for third. Musquin quickly followed Anderson into fourth, then went inside of his training partner to take third away from Anderson.
Up front, Tomac and Baggett (separated by 1.5 seconds) had pulled away from all the other riders by the 10-minute mark of the moto. Baggett continued to stick with Tomac and was all over him by the midpoint of the race. He eventually made a bold move around the outside of Tomac (off a jump and into a banking) to steal the top spot with about 13:30 left on the clock. From there, Baggett continued to fly around the track and quickly put some distance between himself and Tomac.
Eli Tomac
“Not quite the day we wanted. After some bad luck in Moto 1, I got a great start in the second moto but struggled to find smooth lines and ended up getting passed and finishing second. We’ll work hard over the weekend off and will be ready for the east coast tracks.”
Baggett ended up winning the moto by 12 seconds over Tomac. Baggett’s 3-1 moto finishes also secured him the overall victory. It was the first 450MX moto win and overall win of Baggett’s career. He has now finished top-three in three consecutive motos and suddenly finds himself in the thick of the title discussion.
In the first three rounds of the season, the 450 Class has seen five different moto winners and three different overall winners. Musquin finished third in the moto, which (when paired with his fourth-place result in Moto 1) was enough to put him on the box in second overall.
Moto 2 featured a bounce-back ride for 450MX rookie Cooper Webb. His charge up to fourth place included a thrilling back-and-forth battle with series veteran Josh Grant in the closing laps. The fourth-place finish is a new career high for Webb in the 450 Class.
Anderson followed up his second-place finish in Moto 1 with a sixth-place result in Moto 2, good enough for third overall. Unable to find the speed from the first moto, Bogle ended up ninth in Moto 2. His 1-9 results netted him fourth overall.
Tomac (7-2) took fifth overall and lost two points to Musquin in the championship standings. Musquin now holds a 17-point lead over Tomac in the 450MX standings. But Musquin and Tomac have a new threat to worry about: Baggett. After today’s win, Baggett is just two points behind Tomac and 19 points back of Musquin.
Marvin Musquin
“The team is putting in a lot of work, and I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself. It’s been good. We’ve been consistent for the first three rounds, and I’m happy to do good for the team since I’m the only rider. With Dungey retiring, I kind of wanted to step it up and be one of the best. I think I’m showing the team that I’m doing the work and giving it 100%. I’m just going to keep going.”
Jason Anderson
“The track was pretty gnarly, as it always is here in Colorado, I feel like I rode well, and to be on the podium today was amazing. It was nice to overcome any struggles I had. I feel like I’m good enough now that I can get the job done, so today was pretty good.”
The riders are off next week before the battle resumes at High Point on June 17.
Moto 2 Results
- Blake Baggett
- Eli Tomac (-12.1 seconds)
- Marvin Musquin
- Cooper Webb
- Josh Grant
- Jason Anderson
- Dean Wilson
- Broc Tickle
- Justin Bogle
- Cole Seely
- Martin Davalos
- Justin Barcia
- Weston Peick
- Dakota Alix
- Fredrik Noren
- Heath Harrison
- Brandon Scharer
- Zack Williams
- Toshiki Tomita
- Morgan Burger
Overall Results
- Blake Baggett (3-1)
- Marvin Musquin (4-3)
- Jason Anderson (2-6)
- Justin Bogle (1-9)
- Eli Tomac (7-2)
- Cole Seely (5-10)
- Dean Wilson (9-7)
- Broc Tickle (8-8)
- Justin Barcia (6-12)
- Martin Davalos (10-11)
- Cooper Webb (22-4)
- Weston Peick (12-13)
- Josh Grant (38-5)
- Fredrik Noren (11-5)
- Dakota Alix (13-14)
- Heath Harrison (15-16)
- Brandon Scharer (14-17)
- Zack Williams (18-18)
- Josh Mosiman (16-31)
- Ronnie Stewart (17-22)
450 Class Championship Standings
- Marvin Musquin (127)
- Eli Tomac (110)
- Blake Baggett (108)
- Jason Anderson (93)
- Justin Bogle (86)
- Dean Wilson (84)
- Cole Seely (81)
- Broc Tickle (79)
- Josh Grant (76)
- Justin Barcia (69)
Joey Savatgy closes in on 250 championship lead after Thunder Valley victory
A season of parity continued in the 250 Class at Thunder Valley, as Alex Martin and Joey Savatgy became the fourth and fifth different moto winners. Both motos were dramatic, and at the end of the day, the top four riders were separated by just a single point. Edging out the competition was Joey Savatgy, who scored his first overall win of the year.
The drama will continue at the next round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship because the 250MX championship race has also gotten tighter. Zach Osborne still holds the red plate but saw his points lead chopped from 21 to 9.
Moto 1
Entering Round 3 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Alex Martin sat third in 250MX points despite not having a single podium finish in any of the motos this year. He broke that trend in Moto 1 at Thunder Valley in a big way, taking the victory in the year’s most exciting race so far.
As the bikes came through the uphill start straight and around the first turn, Alex Martin edged out his brother Jeremy to grab the holeshot. Behind them, points leader Zach Osborne moved past Adam Cianciarulo to move into third but then went down as he tried to do battle with Jeremy. He got up pretty quickly but was in 16th after the opening lap.
On the second lap, Cianciarulo was all over Jeremy for second place, making the pass just over three minutes into the race. But 30 seconds later, he tipped over while going through a rut and got shuffled back to seventh. Jeremy retook second, with Mitchell Harrison moving up to third.
About six minutes into the race, Jeremy made a mistake while rounding a turn through the ruts, which allowed Harrison to pass him for second place. The next two riders, Joey Savatgy and Aaron Plessinger, soon closed in on Jeremy to start a three-way battle for third. Plessinger ultimately cleared Savatgy and was on the rear wheel of Jeremy before getting re-passed by Savatgy.
By the 10-minute mark, Martin re-caught and passed Harrison for third. After his great start to the race, Harrison soon dropped back all the way to eighth.
While all the intense racing for 2nd place and further back was going on, Alex Martin was pulling away out front. But once things settled down, the gap began to close. Twenty minutes into the race, less than four seconds separated the top four riders: Alex Martin, Jeremy Martin, Savatgy, Plessinger. Cianciarulo rounded out the top five.
With about seven minutes left on the clock, Jeremy had cut his brother’s lead down to about a half-second. But before he could challenge Alex, Jeremy had to contend with Savatgy, who overtook him for second place. A little further back behind the top three, Austin Forkner got around Cianciarulo and Plessinger to move into fourth.
With about a minute left, Alex Martin nearly made a mistake that could have cost him. He managed to hang on and stay in front of Savatgy, but Savatgy continued to press. Just behind them, Forkner — who had caught up to the lead group — got around Martin for third, then immediately set his sights on Savatgy to take away second place.
With two laps to go, Forkner was right on Alex’s rear fender, but nearly crashed as he went through a turn. Although Forkner saved it, he lost too much time due to the mistake. Right behind him, Jeremy moved back around Savatgy for third.
As the riders came around for the final lap of the race, the top four were not separated by very much, but Alex Martin stayed in front to take the checkered flag, with Forkner, Jeremy Martin and Savatgy going to 2-3-4. Cianciarulo came across the line in fifth soon after.
With five motos in the books, Alex Martin is the fourth different rider to win a 250MX moto so far this year.
Elsewhere, Osborne worked his way up to eighth after his first-lap crash, Dylan Ferrandis was ninth one week after scoring a moto win at Glen Helen, Harrison had fallen back to 11th by the end of the race, and Mark Worth had a solid 14th-place finish.
Moto 1 Results
- Alex Martin
- Austin Forkner (-1.4 seconds)
- Jeremy Martin (-2.4 seconds)
- Joey Savatgy (-4.2 seconds)
- Adam Cianciarulo
- Colt Nichols
- Aaron Plessinger
- Zach Osborne
- Dylan Ferrandis
- Shane McElrath
- Mitchell Harrison
- Michael Mosiman
- Kyle Cunningham
- Mark Worth
- Sean Cantrell
- Jimmy Decotis
- Justin Hill
- Bradley Taft
- Nick Gaines
- Lorenzo Locurcio
Moto 2
Joey Savatgy took the holeshot, with Aaron Plessinger and Mitchell Harrison next in line. On the opening lap, Plessinger took the lead from Savatgy, and Dylan Ferrandis took fourth place from Jeremy Martin. In the next few minutes, Harrison dropped spots to Ferrandis, Jeremy Martin and Austin Forkner to fall back to sixth.
While leading the race and beginning to build up a gap, Plessinger went down, and unfortunately his bike landed in one of the worst possible places — in a blind spot for riders coming over a jump. He had to wait for the field to come through before he could retrieve his bike and ultimately ended up not finishing the race.
Plessinger’s crash shuffled the riders up front. About ten minutes into the race, the top five was now as follows: Savatgy, Ferrandis, Jeremy Martin, Forkner, Zach Osborne. Alex Martin eventually got around Osborne for fifth, while the top four riders pulled away from everyone else.
With about 12 minutes left, Martin passed Ferrandis for second to move within one point of the overall victory. In order to get the overall, he would need to chase down and pass Savatgy, who was in line to get the overall himself if he held on to win the moto.
The race for the overall got even tighter when Ferrandis went down and allowed Forkner and Alex Martin to each pick up an additional spot.
Up front, the battle between Savatgy and Jeremy Martin heated up in the closing minutes. After Savatgy fended him off and opened up a slight gap, Jeremy closed back in for an exciting last-lap duel. Savatgy continued to hold him off, crossing the finish line just a half-second ahead of Jeremy.
Savatgy’s victory made him the fifth different winner in six motos so far this season.
Joey Savatgy
“This win is a huge relief, I really like the track here in Colorado because it’s got a great flow and suites me and my KX250F well. I needed to prove to myself I could still win. Getting this done lifts a huge weight off my shoulders. It almost feels like my first win again.””
Because Forkner was able to hold off Alex Martin for third, Savatgy’s win gave him the overall victory for the day with 4-1 moto results. Alex Martin (1-4) tied him in overall points but ended up second overall based on the Moto 2 tiebreaker.
Austin Forkner
“It was a wild race but I think I rode pretty well, being on the losing end of a tie breaker isn’t too fun, but I was right there all day so I’ll focus on the positive things and hopefully that will get me back on top of the podium.”
The top four overall riders on the day were separated by just one point, as Jeremy Martin (3-2) finished third overall and Forkner (2-3) was fourth overall.
Zach Osborne, who revealed he had been sick all week, finished fifth overall with 8-5 moto finishes. He’ll still hold the points lead, but lost 13-14 points to each of the top four riders. Osborne now holds a 9-point lead over Alex Martin and an 18-point lead over Jeremy Martin.
Zach Osborne
“It definitely wasn’t a terrible day, I’ve been really sick all week, and was only able to ride one time. I fell down in the first moto and made it tough on myself, but I came back to eighth. I got a decent start in the second moto then came up to fifth. I’m happy to survive and leave here holding on to the red plate. Hopefully I can use this break to get well and charge back to regain some points.”
Moto 2 Results
- Joey Savatgy
- Jeremy Martin (-0.4 seconds)
- Austin Forkner
- Alex Martin
- Zach Osborne
- Dylan Ferrandis
- Justin Hill
- Mitchell Harrison
- Shane McElrath
- Michael Mosiman
- Sean Cantrell
- Colt Nichols
- Kyle Cunningham
- Jimmy Decotis
- Bradley Taft
- Nick Gaines
- Jerry Robin
- Lorenzo Locurcio
- Mark Worth
- Luke Renzland
Overall Results
- Joey Savatgy (4-1)
- Alex Martin (1-4)
- Jeremy Martin (3-2)
- Austin Forkner (2-3)
- Zach Osborne (8-5)
- Dylan Ferrandis (9-6)
- Colt Nichols (6-12)
- Mitchell Harrison (11-8)
- Shane McElrath (10-9)
- Michael Mosiman (12-10)
- Justin Hill (17-7)
- Sean Cantrell (15-11)
- Kyle Cunningham (13-13)
- Adam Cianciarulo (5-37)
- Aaron Plessinger (7-39)
- Jimmy Decotis (16-14)
- Bradley Taft (18-15)
- Mark Worth (14-19)
- Nick Gaines (19-16)
- Jerry Robin (25-17)
250 Class Championship Standings
- Zach Osborne (119)
- Alex Martin (110)
- Jeremy Martin (101)
- Joey Savatgy (93)
- Austin Forkner (89)
- Colt Nichols (89)
- Adam Cianciarulo (85)
- Aaron Plessinger (78)
- Mitchell Harrison (66)
- Dylan Ferrandis (64)
