Cycle News Staff | June 1, 2019
It was a weird day of racing at the Colorado MX National, round three of the Lucas Oil/AMA Pro Motocross Championships. The first motos were hindered, and even halted, by inclement weather, while the second motos were held under sunshine on a track in pretty fantastic racing condition. This is what it’s like sometimes in the Rockies.
And after an off day at the Pala MX National a week ago (where he still landed on the podium), Honda’s Ken Roczen returned to winning form, dominating moto one by over a half-minute, and then cruising in for the overall with a second place in moto two, matching his winning Hangtown score from round one and taking the points lead back.
And in the 250cc class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo made it three in a row at Thunder Valley Raceway, grabbing second in the first lightning-shortened moto, then winning the second moto to take the overall.
Thunder Valley (Lakewood) Motocross Video Highlights 2019
Roczen Wins Thunder Valley MX 2019
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne grabbed the holeshot to start moto one, but Roczen put in an early sprint to take the lead and began to sprint away, eventually winning by over 30 seconds, while Osborne hung on for second in the moto in the wet conditions. Third ended up going to SX champ Cooper Webb, with the Red Bull KTM racer hanging tough there throughout the race.
Where was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s defending champ Eli Tomac, you ask? He gated outside the top 10, then had a rolloff malfunction that forced him to enter the mechanics’ area for a fresh pair of goggles. After all of that, he fought his way forward until he passed Monster Energy Yamaha’s Dean Ferris for fifth with a few laps left, then put on a charge and may have caught Osborne’s teammate Jason Anderson in fourth if not for getting stuck in a rut on the penultimate lap.
Ferris hung on for sixth ahead of Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Blake Baggett, and then Webb’s teammate Marvin Musquin, who went down in the second turn and came from 39th to 8th at the finish.
Tomac Grabs Second at Thunder Valley MX
Webb got the holeshot in moto two, but he’s been struggling with his settings, and he went backward, eventually finishing eighth. Roczen took the lead from Webb early on, but he was soon joined out front by Tomac, and the two sprinted away from the rest of the field. By the time Tomac found a line around Roczen for the lead, the pair had about 20 seconds on Musquin in third. And once Tomac got by Roczen, he put in one of his signature sprint laps to break Roczen’s will to chase him, and went on to win the moto going away. Roczen cruised in for second, taking the overall, while Musquin, Osborne, Anderson, Ferris’s teammate Justin Barcia, Baggett, Webb, Ferris and Baggett’s teammate Justin Bogle rounded out the top 10.
Roczen took his second overall win of the season and took the red plate back from Tomac as the series heads to round four, in two weeks’ time, at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, June 14th. Roczen leads Tomac by two points with nine rounds (18 motos) left to run. Third in points, Osborne, is already more than one full moto out of the points lead, 26 behind Roczen.
Cianciarulo Wins Third Straight at Thunder Valley
Only 20 minutes before the first moto of the day, 250cc moto one, it was sunny in Lakewood, Colorado, but by the time the racers were lined up to charge up the start hill, the sky had already turned ominous. Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s rookie Ty Masterpool got the holeshot, but was swallowed up in the opening lap by GEICO Honda’s RJ Hampshire, who took the lead, along with Cianciarulo and Masterpool’s teammate Justin Cooper. Hampshire led for a few laps, but Cooper was on the move and went around Cianciarulo, then Hampshire, and began to pull away out front. But Cianciarulo moved into second soon after, the rain began to fall, and by around halfway, he began eating into Cooper’s lead. Just as he got Cooper’s lead under two seconds, with about six minutes left to go on the clock, the AMA threw the red flag and checkered flag simultaneously due to lightning in the area.
For Cooper, it was his third moto-one victory in as many rounds this year. Cianciarulo was second, just in front of Cooper’s teammate Dylan Ferrandis and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Michael Mosiman. Hampshire ended up fifth, just in front of Masterpool, Hampshire’s teammate Chase Sexton, TLD/Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath, JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Alex Martin, and GEICO Honda’s Hunter Lawrence.
Determined to get his first-ever AMA National overall victory, Cooper grabbed the holeshot to start the dry second moto, but Cianciarulo was on his tail. As Cianciarulo pressured Cooper going up a hill full of rollers, he got cross-rutted and went off the track, over the Red Bull repeater banner that lined the right side of that entire section. He re-entered the track at the exit of the following turn, then slowed to make sure he didn’t gain any time while not on the track. Then, Cianciarulo resumed the chase.
Cooper held strong for a while, but Cianciarulo pressured him into a mistake not long after making his own. When Cooper almost went down in a rutted turn, Cianciarulo took over the lead, which he held to the finish.
After a protest from Cooper and his team, protesting Cianciarulo’s off-track excursion, the AMA officially gave the win to Cianciarulo, and his 2-1 score gave him the overall for the third race in a row. Cooper was second overall, also for the third race in a row.
The tie in points on the day left Cianciarulo and Cooper 6 points apart as the series heads to round four. Third in points, Ferrandis, sits a further 27 points behind Cooper, in third.
Thunder Valley Motocross Results 2019
Thunder Valley Motocross Results 2019
Thunder Valley Motocross Results 2019
Thunder Valley Motocross Results 2019
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Thunder Valley Motocross qualifying results 2019 are all but wrapped up and Eli Tomac and RJ Hampshire are taking full advantage of the ideal racing conditions in Lakewood, Colorado. Round three of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship is well underway and Tomac and Hampshire are the top qualifiers in their respective classes.
Tomac Tops Thunder Valley Motocross Qualifying Results 2019
In the 250MX class, Hampshire (Geico Honda) found a way to chop five seconds off his lap time from Q1 and laid down the quickest 250MX time of all in Q2 with a 2:04.774 flyer. Compare that to his earlier best lap of a 2:09.977 and you can see that the Honda rider found the hot lines that he was looking for.
Dylan Ferrandis laid down similar times in both Q1 and Q2. He was quickest in the first qualifier with a 2:05.105 and managed to find a tick more speed in the second qualifier with a 2:05.032. However, that wasn’t quite enough to beat out Hampshire for first gate pick.
Third quickest was Ferrandis’ Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha teammate Justin Cooper, followed by Michael Mosiman (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and the fast Aussie, Hunter Lawrence (Geico Honda).
Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) was sixth quickest overall and was actually a little quicker in Q1 when the track was at its smoothest. His best time was a 2:05.830.
Chase Sexton, Colt Nichols, Jordon Smith and Alex Martin round out the top 10 250MX qualifiers.
In the 450MX class, Tomac was quickest in both qualifiers. He let it rip in Q2, however, and posted a time approximately a second and a half quicker than the next-best rider, Ken Roczen (Honda HRC). Tomac ripped a 2:02.527 in Q2 and Roczen a 2:04.198.
Third quickest is Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). His 2:04.575 time is approximately a half second quicker than the fourth-best qualifier, his teammate Jason Anderson, who has struggled with altitude sickness at this track in the past.
Another half second back is Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin.
Joey Savatgy, who is back from injury, is sixth quickest, followed by Blake Baggett, Justin Barcia, Cole Seely and Justin Hill. 2019 Supercross Champion Cooper Webb qualified 11th, nearly five seconds off Tomac’s pace. CN
Thunder Valley 450MX Qualifying Results 2019
Thunder Valley 250MX Qualifying Results 2019