Lakewood, CO (June 7, 2014) – Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett put an end to Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin’s win streak and claimed his first victory of the season thanks to 4-1 moto finishes at round three of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Thunder Valley MX Park in Lakewood, Colorado, this weekend.
Jessy Nelson surprised the Lakewood crowd by capturing the holeshot in the first moto, the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda rider opening up a considerable gap over GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle and the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha duo of Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin in just a few short laps.
Nelson maintained a comfortable gap until Martin and Webb took over second and third, respectively, on Lap 4, and closed down the deficit to the lead. After leading the first 20 minutes of the race, Nelson went off the track on lap eight, allowing Martin to take the lead. Webb then took over second from Nelson on Lap nine. Webb would crash a short time later, leaving Martin all alone to take an easy victory.
Nelson held on for a career-best second-place finish, while Bogle ended the moto in third. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett was fourth with Rockstar Energy Racing KTM’s Jason Anderson in fifth. Webb dropped to ninth following his crash.
Zach Bell took the early lead in moto two, however, Valli Motorsports Yamaha’s Christophe Pourcel took over the top spot before the end of the lap. Baggett began his push towards the front, eventually taking over second and setting his sights on Pourcel out front. In the meantime, Martin was back in seventh after getting off to a slow start.
On lap six, Baggett passed Pourcel for the lead and then started to pull away as Martin tracked down Pourcel and Bogle, needing a podium finish to secure his third straight overall win. At the halfway point, however, Martin crashed while chasing third place and fell back to ninth.
At the finish, Baggett took the moto win by 6.5 seconds over Bogle, while Pourcel finished third. Martin rebounded to finish sixth, which gave the overall win to Baggett, his first of the season.
Baggett’s 4-1 results gave him a one-point edge on Bogle (3-2) for the overall win, while Martin finished third overall with a 1-6 tally.
“I wasn’t prepared coming into the season due to an injury right before the opening round, but we’ve been testing and getting to where we want to be,” said Baggett. “When you haven’t won in a while it starts eating at you and I wanted to stop Martin’s dominance, so I just went for it. We’re headed in the right direction and there’s still 18 motos left, so anything can happen.”
With his third place finish, Martin maintains the lead in the 250 Class standings, holding a 26-point lead over teammate Webb. Pourcel sits third, 47 points behind, while Baggett moved into fourth, facing a 49-point deficit. Bogle rounds out the top five, 50 points behind Martin.
Results
250 Class
1. Blake Baggett (Kaw) 4-1
2. Justin Bogle (Hon) 3-2
3. Jeremy Martin (Yam) 1-6
4. Jessy Nelson (Hon) 2-9
5. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 7-4
6. Jason Anderson (KTM) 5-5
7. Christophe Pourcel (Yam) 11-3
8. Cooper Webb (Yam) 9-7
9. Cole Seely (Hon) 8-8
10. Justin Hill (Kaw) 10-10
