| June 4, 2016
Three rounds into the 2016 Lucas Oil 250cc Pro Motocross Championship and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy has already been hot, then cold, and then hot again. At Hangtown – round one – he came out stronger than he ever has, winning both motos convincingly and headed to round two with a 15-point lead in the championship. But at Glen Helen the following week, he went 9-7 and lost his massive round-one points lead.
At Thunder Valley Raceway in Lakewood, Colorado, though, Savatgy was hot once again. In moto one, he started outside the top five but benefitted from a battle between Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin to catch the pair and steal the lead away from Martin at the halfway point. A few laps later, though, Savatgy went down by himself out front and handed the lead, and moto win, to defending champion Jeremy Martin. Savatgy held on for second, just in front of Webb, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne, and GEICO Honda’s Jordon Smith.
Way behind the battle out front, Jeremy’s teammate, brother and class points leader Alex Martin went down early in the opening moto when another of his teammates – Aaron Plessinger – went down in front of him and Plessinger’s bike cleaned him off of his YZ250F. With four laps to go in the moto, Alex Martin still found himself running 16th, but he was putting in the fastest laps of anyone on the track, and by the finish line, remarkably, Alex Martin ended up eighth.
In moto two, though, it was immediately clear that both Savatgy and Alex Martin were riding angry. Savatgy grabbed the lead right away and took off, while Alex Martin rounded the first turn at the tail end of the top 10. In three laps, Alex Martin was third and again putting in the fastest lap times of the race. After dispatching of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos for second place, he had a sizeable gap to make up on the speedy Savatgy. And he did. In the final three laps, Savatgy had his hands full with Alex Martin, but he managed to step up his pace and take the win over Alex Martin, then Jeremy Martin, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rookie Austin Forkner, Davalos, and Osborne.
And in one fell swoop, Savatgy has reestablished himself as the man to beat for this title. His 2-1 showing gave him his second overall win of the year, over Jeremy and Alex Martin, and Savatgy now holds the points lead yet again over the same two Yamaha-racing brothers.
There’s a weekend off for the series next weekend, and then they return to action at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, on June 18th.
– STEVE COX