Trey Canard hopes to capture his first win of the season in the 450 class. Photography by Mike Emery
Practice and qualifying is complete at Unadilla for today’s 10th round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and familiar names are at the top of the list.
In the 450 class, Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard has taken the bull by the horns, showing that he is serious about nabbing his first victory of the year at Unadilla by reeling off the quickest lap time and grabbing the Oakley Bomb in the combined 450-class qualifying. Canard is the only 450 rider to crack the 14’s with a 2:14.313 single-best lap time. That’s a full second-plus better than the next-quickest rider, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, who recorded a 2:15.538 and is the only rider in the 15’s.
Next best is Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey who posted a time nearly a second quicker than series points leader and teammate Ken Roczen. (Dungey trails Roczen by just 14 points in the 450-class championship.) Dungey’s best time is a 2:16.146 and Roczen’s is a 2:16.813.
Rounding out the top five overall is Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe with a 2:17.385.
Putting in a great performance so far is Honda Muscle Milk fill-in rider Fredrick Noren who is sixth quickest with a 2:17.767.
As you can see, laps times are fairly spread out for the first five rides, with three full seconds separating first through fifth.
Christophe Pourcel captured yet another Oakley Bomb Award. Photography by Mike Emery
The 250 class has produced two riders in the 14’s—Christophe Pourcel (Valli Yamaha) and Jeremy Martin (Yamahalube/Star Racing Yamaha). Pourcel’s 2:14.349 is second quickest overall, and Martin’s 2:14.424 is third-quickest overall. Pourcel has now claimed nine Oakley Bomb awards so far this season for being the top qualifying in the 250 class.
GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne has announced his return with a fast time, though his best lap is still two seconds off Martin’s best time. Still, Osborne is third quickest in the 250 class with a 2:16.735.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett is fourth quickest (2:16.108), followed by Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin (2:16.130)
Many eyes are following RJ Hampshire, Luke Renzland and Chris Alldredge who are some of the top riders that graduated to the pro ranks from last weekend’s AMA Amateur MX Championships at Loretta Lynn’s. Hampshire, the AMA Horizon Award winner, is looking strong on his new GEICO Honda ride. He qualified 12th fastest with a 2:18.812. Renzland is 19th quickest with a 2:20.461 and Alldredge is 20th quickest with 2:20.911.
Weather conditions for today’s race couldn’t be much better. Temperatures won get much over 80 degrees and no rain is in the forecast.
