Motocross: Gearing Up For Hangtown 2014
Kit Palmer | May 30, 2014
Jeremy Martin stands proudly next to his red-plated Yamalube/Rockstar/Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F in the Hangtown pits. Photography by Kit Palmer
Things are quietly coming together at the Prairie City OHV Park in Rancho Cordova, California, for tomorrow’s second round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. The factory teams are setting up camp, while amateurs are mixing it up on the track, which features little changes over last year’s course. The configuration is basically the same, but some of the obstacles have been changed somewhat. Weather is expected to be quite good, well below the century mark, which this National has seen many times in the past. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s with some clouds.
Jeremy Martin, the double-moto winner of the 250 class last week at Glen Helen is already here, and is ready to defend his red plate on his Yamalube/Rockstar/Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F, which signifies the series class leader. Martin joked that when he first saw the red plate that he laughed, saying that he’s grown up around off-road much of his life — his father Johnny Martin is a former AMA Hare Scrambles National Champion and owner of the Spring Creek MX Track in Millville, Minnesota, that also hosts off-road races — and initially thought his bike looked like a hare scrambles bike, since the A-class riders in hare scrambles all wear the red plate.
The Hangtown track features the same basic layout, but some changes have been made to a few of the obstacles.
He’s says he’s ready to move on after last week’s big win. “It [the] win has sunk in but it’s time to think about the next race and the rest of the season,” he said. “It’s a long series and we just have to keep moving forward.”
The win by Martin at Glen Helen last week was the first for Yamaha in the 125/250 class since Mike Brown won at Red Bud (Michigan) in 2004. The last time Yamaha won any outdoor National was in 2009 by Josh Grant in the 450 class, which also took place at Red Bud.
Last year at Hangtown, Ryan Villopoto claimed the 450 class win over last week’s Glen Helen winner Ryan Dungey and James Stewart. Ken Roczen won the 250 class, with Blake Baggett finishing second and Eli Tomac third.
Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor
Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes ever since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.
