Steve Cox | May 20, 2017
2017 Hangtown 250cc MX Results: Racers often talk about wanting to carry momentum from supercross to the motocross series, but it’s one of those things that sometimes seems better in theory than it does in practice. Bikes are set up so much different, and the racing itself is so much different, that sometimes it just doesn’t translate. However, it did translate today for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne.
2017 Hangtown 250cc MX Results
Osborne qualified first, but not by a lot; he had Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis (2nd) and Aaron Plessinger (4th), along with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo (3rd) all within a half-second of him.
When the gate dropped for moto one, it was Cianciarulo out front, in front of TLD/Red Bull KTM’s Sean Cantrell (in his first-ever AMA National), Osborne, Plessinger, and his teammates Colt Nichols and Mitchell Harrison. Then came GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin, his brother (and Cantrell’s teammate) Alex, Ferrandis and Pro Circuit’s Justin Hill.
Osborne was patient and worked his way around Cantrell before going to work on Cianciarulo, eventually making the pass after a handful of laps and then taking off. Osborne stretched out to a comfortable lead before backing it down to cruise it in for the win 5 seconds in front of Cianciarulo, who had another 10 or so in hand over Plessinger, who rounded out the podium. Then came Alex Martin, Nichols, Alex Martin’s teammate Mitchell Oldenburg, Cianciarulo’s teammates Joey Savatgy and Hill, Harrison and Cantrell.
2017 Hangtown 250cc MX Results
Pro Circuit’s Austin Forkner came in 11th, but it was a tremendous ride, as he exited the track less than halfway through lap one and rode to the mechanics’ area with his bike sounding very, very sick. He was met by a couple crewmembers who fumbled around with something on the left side of the bike for a while. Then, they kicked it over, it started, sounded normal, and then Forkner took off dead last. He got up to 11th with two laps to go, but was over 30 seconds behind 10th-placed Cantrell at that point.
Also, Ferrandis had worked his way up to fourth just past the halfway point when he went down hard over one of the track’s large tabletops and hit his head, putting him out for the day. And Jeremy Martin ended moto one with a DNF also, but showed back up for moto two.
2017 Hangtown 250cc MX Results
In the second moto, Osborne left nothing to chance, grabbing the holeshot and then battling for a lap or two with not-so-friendly rival Savatgy before speeding off to a comfortable lead while Savatgy seemed to struggle on the very rough and technical track. Although Alex Martin kept Osborne honest for most of the moto, it was actually Forkner who nearly caught Osborne at the end after passing Alex Martin with a couple of laps to go, but came up a couple of seconds short of Osborne at the finish. Behind Forkner came Jeremy Martin, who also found his way by his brother Alex in the final couple of circuits to snatch third, and then Alex Martin, Plessinger (who went down earlier in the moto while battling with Alex Martin), Nichols, Savatgy, Cianciarulo, Hill and the rest of the field.
Osborne (1-1) ended up with the overall, while the inconsistent results behind him also left with with a sizable points lead after only one round of racing, as Alex Martin was second overall with a 4-4 and Plessinger was third with a 3-5, and they both trail Osborne by 14 points as the series heads to round two at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California next weekend.
Hangtown 250cc MX Results
Hangtown 250cc MX Results
Hangtown 250cc MX Results
Hangtown 250cc MX Results
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