| July 23, 2016
Only a week prior to the 2016 Washougal MX National – round nine of the Lucas Oil/AMA Pro Motocross Championships – Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Alex Martin went down while in leading both motos at his home race in Millville, Minnesota. But what a difference a week makes.
250MX Washougal
Today in Washougal, Washington, Alex Martin managed to win his first moto of the year in moto one, then climb through the pack to take second place in moto two and win the 250cc-class overall for the second time this year.
Alex Martin grabbed the holeshot in the first moto in front of his rookie teammate Mitchell Harrison, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy, and Alex’s brother/teammate Jeremy Martin. Savatgy made a clean move by Harrison for second on the inside, then he and Alex Martin checked out.
Behind the lead duo, Jeremy Martin eventually fought his way by Harrison for third, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne doing likewise for fourth place. Not long after that, about five laps into the moto, another of Alex Martin’s teammates, points leader Cooper Webb, joined the fray near the front, and within three laps he had found his way by both Osborne and Jeremy Martin.
Despite numerous pass attempts in the waning laps, Savatgy was forced to settle for a close second just behind Alex Martin, who took his first moto win of the season (despite leading 40 laps coming into the Washougal National). Webb came home third, just in front of Jeremy Martin, Osborne, Savatgy’s teammates Adam Cianciarulo and Arnaud Tonus, Red Bull/Troy Lee Designs KTM’s Justin Hill (in his first race back from an injury earlier this year), Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger, and then rookie Austin Forkner in 10th.
Chaos showed its head in moto two, as Webb managed to grab the holeshot in front of Savatgy and Jeremy Martin, and then Jeremy Martin gave up third to Forkner in the second turn. As the racers crested Horsepower Hill, then descended down the backside into an off-camber left-hander, Savatgy got a run on Webb and ran him way wide, then stopped and held Webb there while Forkner went by them both and into the lead.
Obviously incensed by the move, Webb went back at Savatgy immediately at the bottom of the next hill’s S-turns and not only pushed Savatgy wide, but held him there as well. Problem was, Webb was up on the banking on the right-hand side of the track with Savatgy to his right. Savatgy began falling over to the left, his bike leaning on Webb’s, and then Webb began falling over to the left. Not the tallest of racers, Webb couldn’t reach the ground with his left leg and decided to get on the throttle and move forward to try and recover, at which point he pulled right in front of his teammate Jeremy Martin, who ran into him, causing them both to go down as Cianciarulo glanced off of Jeremy Martin’s back as he bobbled his way off the track in the melee.
In the end, teammates Webb and Jeremy Martin both fell, while Savatgy ended up stalling his engine. Cianciarulo re-joined the race in seventh, and Webb kept his engine running and was able to re-join just in front of Savatgy, both well outside the top 20. Jeremy Martin was down for a long time due to the pain from Cianciarulo running into him, and he got going again in 38th, nearly a full minute behind the leader Forkner.
The shenanigans gifted Forkner a massive opening-lap lead over Osborne’s teammate Martin Davalos and Hill’s teammates Jessy Nelson and Mitch Oldenburg. Then came moto-one winner Alex Martin, Osborne, Cianciarulo, Hill, and the rest of the field.
Forkner, the rookie, had a rough go of it for the first few laps before he finally settled down, and then on the 13th lap, Davalos highsided and was flung off the track and into the crowd. He day was done.
Alex Martin fought his way by Nelson, which put him into second place. And that’s how they’d finish, at least out front, with Forkner taking his first-ever moto win over Alex Martin, who took the overall on the day with a 1-2 score. Then came Nelson, and then Hill and Plessinger, who gained spots when Osborne dropped out of the race with an electrical problem with his bike.
But way back in the pack, Savatgy was at a definite disadvantage to Webb. Webb is a master at finding lines and coming through the field, whereas Savatgy seems to struggle to come up through the pack. Webb immediately and continually distanced himself from his rival throughout the race, and with three laps to go, Webb managed to pass Cianciarulo for sixth place in the moto, landing him third overall behind teammate Alex Martin, and Forkner.
Savatgy could only climb his way up to 11th in the moto, which still landed him fourth overall with a 2-11. But with Savatgy’s poor second moto – thanks in large part to Webb paying him back for what Webb obviously considered a dirty move on lap one – and with Jeremy Martin managing to valiantly climb his way up to 17th in the moto, Webb extended his points lead to 51 points as the series heads into a break.
The final three rounds will be run starting August 13th, in Unadilla, New York.
For more motocross news, click HERE
STEVE COX
Washougal MX Park
Washougal, Washington
250MX
Results: July 23, 2016