Dungy & Martin are the Winners

US MX 2015

maddix park mx

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450 Races

Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey scored his first 450 overall win at Thunder Valley, going 2-1 in Round 3 of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. RCH Racing Suzuki’s Ken Roczen finished in second-place with a 3-2 result followed by Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett in third with a 4-3 finish. The dominant force through the first five motos of the year, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, suffered a devastating crash during Moto 2 which left him unable to continue. It’s unclear how severe the injuries will be, or when he’ll be back to action. 



Moto 1 

Tomac was in fine form for the opening moto of the day. Dungey grabbed the front off the start followed by Roczen but the Honda ace was close behind in third. Roczen made a move on Dungey in the early going for the lead and then Tomac turned on the jets, passing by Dungey for the runner-up spot. 

A few minutes into the action, Tomac was closed-up on Roczen’s rear tire and hounding the Suzuki rider for a way past. Tomac finally found the line and made his move with more than 22 minutes remaining in the moto, and from there the Colorado native pulled away for another commanding win. 

Behind, Dungey was regrouping from a mistake which caused him to roll off track briefly. He had to fight past JGRMX’s Phil Nicoletti and Rockstar Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson in order to get back into podium position. Once there, he had a bit of a gap to close to catch Roczen, and he was held up in his charge for a period by some lappers. But by the final minutes, the KTM ace was in sight of Roczen and pushing hard for the chance to move ahead. Roczen made things easier for Dungey when a mistake allowed the KTM rider to slip past unchallenged. Roczen rebounded and held to third-place. 

Baggett fought his way through the pack throughout the moto to claim fourth position ahead of Roczen’s teammate, Broc Tickle, in fifth. Anderson dropped to sixth followed by JGRMX’s Justin Barcia in seventh and Team Honda’s Cole Seely in eighth. 

Moto 2 

Seely got a strong start in Moto 2 but had a number of hungry riders challenging him for position. Barcia, Roczen, Tomac, Rockstar Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel were all near the front through the opening turns and Seely had his hands full protecting the lead. 

Tomac was on a charge though and within the first lap he moved from fifth to first, powering past both Barcia and Seely in one fast move. From there he Honda rider would again stretch a gap on the field. The track was gnarly though, with plenty of opportunity for the bike to get out of shape and that’s exactly what happened to Tomac mid-way through the race. He was flying down a downhill portion of the course littered with ruts, his bike jumping around beneath him when the rear end kicked out wide. Tomac’s forward progress immediately stopped as he went face down into the dirt. It was a huge crash that left him barely able to walk himself off the track. He sat on the sideline until the medical crew could help him back to the medical center. There’s no word yet as to the extent of his injuries, but it’s fair to say that the momentum he’d built with five straight moto wins has come to a disappointing halt. 

Further back Roczen had pushed his way into the runner-up spot, so when Tomac exited the race the Suzuki rider inherited the lead. Dungey was chugging along in third, then second, place, seemingly too far back to do much damage to Roczen’s bid for the win. But the KTM rider kept steady and in the final laps had closed up a bit on Roczen. With two laps remaining, the battle got even more heated when Roczen suffered a brief off, allowing Dungey to close up on Roczen’s rear tire. Dungey was able to initiate a pass for the lead, but Roczen fought to stay close. The battle came to an end a few corners later when Roczen fell victim to a second crash. Dungey ran away for the win and Roczen remounted to finish second. 

Baggett grabbed third-place in the moto followed by Seely in fourth and Tickle in fifth. Barcia finished in sixth ahead of Pourcel in seventh and JGRMX’s Weston Peick in eighth. 

Dungey now leads the championship by three points over Tomac in second. Baggett sits third followed by Roczen in fourth and Barcia in fifth. 

Thunder Valley 450 Motocross Results 2015 
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 2-1 
2. Ken Roczen (Suzuki) 3-2 
3. Blake Baggett (Suzuki) 4-3 
4. Broc Tickle (Suzuki) 5-5 
5. Cole Seely (Honda) 8-4 
6. Justin Barcia (Yamaha) 7-6 
7. Eli Tomac (Honda) 1-33 
8. Christophe Pourcel (Husqvarna) 11-7 
9. Phil Nicoletti (Yamaha) 10-9 
10. Justin Brayton (KTM) 9-10 
11. Jason Anderson (Husqvarna) 6-14 
12. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 15-11 
13. Weston Peick (Yamaha) 19-8 
14. Fredrik Noren (Honda) 14-13 
15. Chad Reed (Kawasaki) 18-12 

450 Championship Points 2015 
1. Ryan Dungey, 128 
2. Eli Tomac, 125 
3. Blake Baggett, 99 
4. Ken Roczen, 93 
5. Justin Barcia, 87 
6. Weston Peick, 87 
7. Broc Tickle, 75 
8. Jason Anderson, 72 
9. Christophe Pourcel, 72 
10. Phil Nicoletti, 62

250 Races

Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin doubled-up at Thunder Valley, taking wins in both 250 motos by a healthy margin. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne finished second overall with a 2-3 result followed by Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo in third, going 5-4. 

Moto 1 

Martin scored the holeshot in Moto 1 and faced some early pressure from Troy Lee Designs’ Jessy Nelson and Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin. Osborne slipped into fourth, but the top-three riders started to pull away from the pack within the opening turns. 

Running order remained steady through the opening minutes, though the track proved to be one of the most difficult so far this year. Riders were bouncing through really choppy ruts and sliding across a myriad of slick surfaces. Nelson got cross-rutted off a jump which sent him off the side of the track during the early going, and though he landed safely and continued on, Musquin was able to slip by into second-place. 



Musquin managed himself in the runner-up spot but then halfway through the race he too ran into trouble, taking a really hard crash which left him slow to recover. The KTM rider was eventually able to get back in action, but the front end of his bike had been damaged and his left hand appeared to be in pain. Musquin charged on however, slotting into 14th and holding there to the checkers in a valiant effort to salvage points. 

Martin was untouchable at the front through the rest of the race, while behind Nelson held steady in second position. Osborne was closing in though and in the final moments of the race the Husqvarna rider was able to overtake Nelson for the runner-up spot. Nelson crossed the line close behind in third. 

Fourth-place went to GEICO Honda replacement rider Christian Craig. This was Craig’s first ever National on a 250 and his remarkable performance saw him battle past a number of riders throughout the race. He’s in the series now as fill-in for the injured Justin Bogle. 

Monster Pro Circuit’s Adam Cianciarulo finished in fifth followed by GEICO Honda’s Jordan Smith in sixth. Cianciarulo’s teammate, Joey Savatgy, finished seventh after recovering from an early off and he was trailed by fellow Pro Circuit rider Chris Alldredge in eighth. 

Moto 2 

Martin rocketed off the start a second time for the holeshot and early lead in Moto 2. Osborne, Nelson and Musquin trailed the Yamaha rider through the opening turns. 

It was quiet at the front after that, Martin once again proving to be untouchable. He stretched an 18 second gap on Musquin by the checkers. Musquin ran a lonely race as well, staying more than half a minute ahead of his closest competition, Osborne. 

The fight for fourth was much more spirited as Cianciarulo and GEICO Honda’s Jordon Smith fought to the line for the position. Cianciarulo ended with the upper hand, leaving Smith to finish in fifth. Craig took sixth followed by Nelson in seventh and Martin’s teammate, Aaron Plessinger, in eighth. 

Martin now leads the series by two points over Musquin. Nelson sits third overall followed by Cianciarulo in in fourth and Savatgy in fifth. 

Thunder Valley 250 Motocross Results 2015 
1. Jeremy Martin (Yamaha) 1-1 
2. Zach Osborne (Husqvarna) 2-3 
3. Adam Cianciarulo (Kawasaki) 5-4 
4. Jessy Nelson (KTM) 3-7 
5. Christian Craig (Honda) 4-6 
6. Jordon Smith (Honda) 6-5 
7. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 14-2 
8. RJ Hampshire (Honda) 
9. Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha) 13-8 
10. Shane Mcelrath (KTM) 12-9 
11. Kyle Peters (Honda) 11-12 
12. Matt Bisceglia (Honda) 10-13 
13. Mitchell Oldenburg (KTM) 17-11 
14. Joey Savatgy (Kawasaki) 7-34 
15. Chris Alldredge (Kawasaki) 

250 Motocross Championship Points 2015 
1. Jeremy Martin, 128 
2. Marvin Musquin, 126 
3. Jessy Nelson, 80 
4. Adam Cianciarulo, 76 
5. Joey Savatgy, 72 
6. Alex Martin, 68 
7. Zach Osborne, 67 
8. Shane Mcelrath, 65 
9. Matt Bisceglia, 64 
10. Chris Alldredge, 62

 
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