Musquin dominates AMA Pro MX at Washougal
Savatgy takes 250MX round win with Osborne, Ferrandis and Cianciarulo all one point behind on 38
450MX
For the second week in a row, Marvin Musquin has swept both 450 Class motos en route to an overall victory. The Red Bull KTM rider went 1-1 to win at Washougal, which hosted Round 9 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
He has now won four consecutive motos and two straight overalls. It’s his third overall victory of the season in total.
Eli Tomac was solid in riding to 2-2 finishes and while he wasn’t on Musquin’s level today, it was enough to extend his championship lead in a significant way.
It was also a big day for Martin Davalos, who landed on the overall podium for the first time in his 450MX career after several weeks of strong results.
Washougal 450 Moto 1
Fresh off a moto sweep at Spring Creek last week, Marvin Musquin grabbed the holeshot in the first moto at Washougal. He had Justin Bogle hot on his tail though, and Bogle worked feverishly to get around him. But then Bogle got temporarily stuck in a rut while trying to make a turn and lost a few positions.
That set Martin Davalos up as the next rider to challenge Musquin, while Eli Tomac sliced his way up to third. Davalos nearly set himself up to make a pass for the lead on a few occasions, but Musquin held him off. Then Tomac took second place away from Davalos four minutes into the race.
While Musquin and Tomac battled for the lead up front, Blake Baggett was outside the top ten due to a poor start.
The race for the lead heated up about nine minutes into the moto when Tomac made contact with Musquin’s rear wheel while trying to execute a pass. That moment seemed to be a turning point though, as a gap began to emerge between the two after that, with Musquin still in front.
It had previously looked like just a matter of time until Tomac passed him, but instead Musquin steadily increased his lead throughout the rest of the race and won by more than 10 seconds. The victory is the third straight moto win for Musquin.
Cole Seely turned in his best result of the season with a third-place finish, and Davalos had a fourth-place moto result for the third week in a row. Dean Wilson, who entered the day with a streak of three straight third-place moto finishes, rounded out the top five. To get that spot, Wilson had to hold off a furious charge from Weston Peick on the final lap of the race.
After his bad start, Baggett climbed up to seventh but will still lose several points to Tomac in the championship battle.
Fredrik Noren, the No. 4 qualifier this morning, ended up 20th. He will just barely keep alive his streak of earning a point in every single moto so far this season.
450 Class Moto 1 Results
1. Marvin Musquin
2. Eli Tomac
3. Cole Seely
4. Martin Davalos
5. Dean Wilson
6. Weston Peick
7. Blake Baggett
8. Justin Bogle
9. Christian Craig
10. Matt Bisceglia
Washougal 450 Moto 2
Davalos continued his string of solid racing with a holeshot in Moto 2. Just like he was in Moto 1, Bogle was right behind in second place at the start of the race. Behind them were the top three in points —Baggett, Musquin and Tomac — to round out the top five.
In the opening laps of the race, Musquin and Tomac moved into second and third, respectively, after passing Baggett and then Bogle. With all the battling going on behind him, Davalos had managed to get his lead up to around three seconds by this point.
It was only a matter of time until the heavy hitters closed in on Davalos. Seven minutes into the race, Musquin got around the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider to take away the lead. Then two minutes later, Tomac overtook Davalos for second but found himself several seconds behind Musquin.
Similar to the first moto, Musquin was able to open up a solid lead over Tomac. They once again went 1-2, with Musquin finishing more than 11 seconds in front. Musquin (1-1) and Tomac (2-2) also went 1-2 on the overall podium.
Marvin Musquin – 1st overall
“Coming from Millville and finishing 1-1 there, I was really looking forward to another good weekend in Washougal. It’s a track I really like. My practices were good and I qualified 2nd. I was able to grab the holeshot in the first moto, but Tomac was catching up quick. We had a good battle, but I was able to pull away and finish with a good gap. My start wasn’t as good in the second moto, but I still made my way up to the lead on the fourth lap. Once again, Tomac was right behind me but I pushed to increase the gap again. I felt really good today and was really comfortable on the bike. It was a fun day, and I’m happy to get another overall win.”
Davalos held on for third place, the best moto finish of his rookie 450MX season. He also landed on the overall 450 podium (with 4-3 moto finishes) for the first time. His only other Lucas Oil Pro Motocross podium appearance came in the 250 Class way back in July of 2008.
Martin Davalos – 3rd overall
“Man, there’s really not much to say, it was an amazing weekend for me. I’m confident and comfortable at this track. I just put my head down today and everything worked out well for me. My starts were on point, and that helped. I’m really proud of myself and all the hard work we’ve put in. I’m glad I could put this bike on the podium.”
Baggett took fourth, Seely finished top five for the fourth time in the last six motos, and Wilson kept his streak of top 10s alive with a sixth-place finish.
While Tomac was unable to win either moto, he was able to increase his championship lead over Baggett, who continues to struggle with a torn ligament in his thumb. Tomac’s advantage now sits at 32 points over Baggett with three rounds remaining.
Eli Tomac – 2nd overall
“Overall, it was a good day, I got off to two great starts and felt strong for both motos. Hats off to Marvin on his ride. We’ll go into the break with a few more points and plan to be back on top the podium.”
Dean Wilson – 6th overall
“I did the absolute best I could do, I feel like I struggled a little bit on this track. I’m healthy and happy for Martin – that’s awesome for the team. I’m going to have a good couple of weeks going into Unadilla, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the podium.”
450 Class Moto 2 Results
- Marvin Musquin
- Eli Tomac
- Martin Davalos
- Blake Baggett
- Cole Seely
- Dean Wilson
- Fredrik Noren
- Weston Peick
- Christian Craig
- Justin Bogle
450 Class Overall Results
- Marvin Musquin (1-1), 50 pts.
- Eli Tomac (2-2), 44 pts.
- Martin Davalos (4-3), 38 pts.
- Cole Seely (3-5), 36 pts.
- Blake Baggett (7-4), 32 pts.
- Dean Wilson (5-6), 31 pts.
- Weston Peick (6-8), 28 pts.
- Christian Craig (9-9), 24 pts.
- Justin Bogle (8-10), 24 pts.
- Dakota Alix (12-12), 18 pts.
450 Class Championship Standings after Rnd9
- Eli Tomac (373)
- Blake Baggett (341)
- Marvin Musquin (319)
- Dean Wilson (269)
- Cole Seely (228)
- Jason Anderson, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (216)
- Justin Bogle (212)
- Martin Davalos (208)
- Weston Peick (197)
- Cooper Webb (177)
250MX – Joey Savatgy takes second straight overall win
It’s not often that a rider can finish seventh in the first moto and still come back to win the overall. It’s also not often that losing one position on the final lap of the race instantly moves a rider from first overall to off the podium entirely. But both of those things happened in the 250 Class at Washougal.
It was the fitting conclusion to a wild day of racing at Round 9 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. It was a day that ended with the top six riders finishing within a mere two points of each in the battle for the overall victory.
Because of how close that battle was, one last-lap pass was all that stood from Adam Cianciarulo earning the first victory of his career. Instead, Cianciarulo fell to fourth overall and turned the overall win over to his teammate, Joey Savatgy, who split moto wins with Aaron Plessinger.
It was also a consequential day in the 250MX championship battle, as Zach Osborne continued to extend his lead and is now in position to potentially clinch the title as soon as the very next round.
Washougal 250 Moto 1
Sean Cantrell got off to a good start in the first moto, but Aaron Plessinger zoomed by him before the first turn to take the holeshot. By the end of the first lap, Plessinger had stretched his lead out to more than three seconds over Cantrell. Dylan Ferrandis, Mitchell Harrison and Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the rest of the top five after the opening lap.
It wasn’t such a good start for points leader Zach Osborne or his closest remaining competitor, Jeremy Martin. Both riders found themselves in bad positions at the start of the race: Martin outside the top 10, Osborne outside the top 20.
While Plessinger continued to run away with the lead, the next batch of riders started getting bunched together. The first move came from Cianciarulo, who passed Harrison about nine minutes into the race to move into fourth. A few minutes later, Ciancarulo made a charge to get past Ferrandis and then Cantrell in the same lap. In the aftermath, Ferrandis and Cantrell swapped positions.
A little past the midway point of the race, Plessinger had a 10-second lead, with Cianciarulo, Ferrandis, Cantrell and Harrison making up the rest of the top five. By this time, Martin and Osborne had both worked their way into the top ten, riding ninth and 10th, respectively.
Cianciarulo, who was the top qualifier earlier in the morning, was turning fast lap times once he got up to second place and started chipping away at Plessinger’s lead at first. But Plessinger kept up the intensity and was unchallenged for the rest of the race, winning by about 10 seconds.
Cianciarulo and Ferrandis made up the rest of the podium. Meanwhile, Osborne continued to work his way through the pack, as has been standard for him all year long, passing several more riders, including Martin, to get himself into fifth. At the very end of the race, Osborne successfully overtook Harrison for fourth as they came across the finish line with the checkered flag waving. Martin ended up ninth.
With Alex Martin sidelined due to a collarbone injury this week and Jeremy Martin finishing five spots behind Osborne in this moto, Osborne continues to stretch out his championship lead.
250 Class Moto 1 Results
- Aaron Plessinger
- Adam Cianciarulo
- Dylan Ferrandis
- Zach Osborne
- Mitchell Harrison
- RJ Hampshire
- Joey Savatgy
- Sean Cantrell
- Jeremy Martin
- Colt Nichols
Washougal 250 Moto 2
Joey Savatgy led the pack into the first turn in Moto 2, with RJ Hampshire next behind him. Cianciarulo worked his way up to third on the opening lap, putting him in contention for his first career overall victory, then set his sights on Hampshire and Savatgy.
Once again, Osborne and Martin failed to start strong, as they were both near the backend of the top ten early in this race.
About six minutes into the race, Hampshire got close enough to challenge Savatgy for the lead but was unable to make the pass. A few minutes later, Hampshire got another chance. He was able to cut inside of Savatgy as they rounded a turn and then accelerate uphill past him.
Hampshire, Savatgy and Cianciarulo all remained just a few seconds apart but began to distance themselves from the rest of the field. Shortly before the midway point, Savatgy closed back in on Hampshire and made several pass attempts, but Hampshire was able to just barely hold him off at first. Savatgy came back on the next lap though and finally made the pass to get back into the lead after Hampshire led a total of four laps.
With 10 minutes left in the moto, Cianciarulo, Savatgy, Ferrandis and others were all in contention for the overall victory depending on how things shook out. Ferrandis’s hopes took a hit when he dropped fourth place to Osborne though. Osborne scrubbed a jump to charge past him and make the pass.
Cianciarulo, Osborne and Ferrandis were able to close in on Hampshire thanks to a mistake from the young GEICO Honda rider. Those four rode closely for awhile, and the first move came from Osborne, who passed Cianciarulo for third right around the time that the countdown clock expired.
That put Cianciarulo into a battle for fourth with Ferrandis — if Cianciarulo held him off, he’d have his first overall win; if Cianciarulo lost the position, he’d lose the overall to Savatgy (assuming Savatgy held on to win the moto) and would also fall off the podium completely. That’s how close the point totals were.
The final lap of the race featured a furious battle between Cianciarulo and Ferrandis, but Ferrandis stole the spot away. That suddenly put Savatgy into position for the overall win. Osborne had a chance to steal the overall for himself but fell just short of making the necessary pass on Hampshire as they came across the finish line.
Savatgy (7-1, 39 points), Osborne (4-3, 38 points), Ferrandis (3-4, 38 points), Cianciarulo (2-5, 38 points), Hampshire (6-2, 37 points) and Plessinger (1-9, 37 points) ended up as the top six overall for the day and were separated by just two points.
Joey Savatgy – 1st overall
“This track was not easy. After a tough first moto, I put myself in a great position off the start in Moto 2 and I knew if I just put my head down and ran my pace for 30 minutes plus two, I had a good shot at winning. Thanks to the whole Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team for supporting me this year and all the work they’ve done. I think we’ve really found a good spot to finish the season strong.”
Osborne will carry a 74-point lead over Jeremy Martin into Round 10 at Unadilla in two weeks, when he will have his first opportunity to mathematically clinch the 250 Class championship.
Zach Osborne – 2nd overall
“Overall it was a great day, I took some more points. I had a little tip over in the first moto that cost me a lot of time, but I made it back to fourth. I got a better start in the second moto and ended up third for second overall. It was a really good day for points and I can’t complain.”
Adam Cianciarulo – 4th overall
“We were so close, I felt great all day today and I think it showed, finally. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite put it all together at the end, but I’m confident we can get a before this year is done.”
250 Class Moto 2 Results
- Joey Savatgy
- RJ Hampshire
- Zach Osborne
- Dylan Ferrandis
- Adam Cianciarulo
- Jeremy Martin
- Colt Nichols
- Shane McElrath
- Aaron Plessinger
- Luke Renzland
250 Class Overall Results
- Joey Savatgy (7-1), 39 pts.
- Zach Osborne (4-3), 38 pts.
- Dylan Ferrandis (3-4), 38 pts.
- Adam Cianciarulo (2-5), 38 pts.
- RJ Hampshire (6-2), 37 pts.
- Aaron Plessinger (1-9), 37 pts.
- Jeremy Martin (9-6), 27 pts.
- Colt Nichols (10-7), 25 pts.
- Shane McElrath (11-8), 23 pts.
- Mitchell Harrison (5-15), 22 pts.
250 Class Championship Standings after Rnd9
- Zach Osborne (377)
- Jeremy Martin (303)
- Alex Martin (296)
- Joey Savatgy (281)
- Dylan Ferrandis (264)
- Aaron Plessinger (256)
- Adam Cianciarulo (254)
- Colt Nichols (213)
- Mitchell Harrison (212)
- Shane McElrath (192)
