2019 Hangtown Motocross | Race Report
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2019 HANGTOWN MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE
By Michael Antonovich
Photos by Donn Maeda
After seventeen weekends of glitz and glamour in Supercross stadiums, the sport has shifted to the rough and rugged settings of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. The twenty-four motos over twelve rounds push riders and their motorcycles to the limit, and getting through the sweltering summer heat, cold rain, sand, chop, and general hell of the Nationals with the most points is an achievement that few can say they’ve attained. The 2019 season started at the usual spot, the 2019 Hangtown Motocross, but the day in Northern California was far different than some might have anticipated. Forecasts for rain forced the Dirt Diggers MC crew to accommodate in the track prep and the first motos were some of the roughest, ruttiest races we’ve seen at the Rancho Cordova venue. The rain finally fell just before the start of the second motos and it turned to technical track into a slick, sloppy quagmire.
250 CLASS RACE REPORT & RESULTS
The pre-season favorites found each other at the start of 250 Moto One, and Justin Cooper jumped out to the lead with the holeshot over thirty-nine competitors. The second-year pro set the pace aboard his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha and withstood a constant attack from Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo. The two pulled clear of the pack in the early laps, as Cooper controlled the lines and Cianciarulo searched for a way around. It looked like a pass was set to take place in the middle of the moto, but Cooper withstood the pressure, kept Cianciarulo from getting a wheel in, and pulled just far enough ahead to win the first race of the summer.
While many looked at the top two, a better battle formed just a little behind them between 2019 250 SX champions Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis. Sexton held third for much of the moto and outlasted some of his GEICO Honda teammates for spots high in the running order, while Ferrandis fought back from a mediocre start to reach fourth place in the final laps. The final laps were some of both rider’s best, and they even closed in on the leaders when the two-lap card was shown. A pass for third seemed unlikely, as Ferrandis was just far enough away from Sexton at the start of the lap, but the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider found lines that cut a substantial amount of time from his lap and he took a tight line through the last turn and took third place from Sexton. Colt Nichols quietly finished behind the fray in fifth place, a result that would be helpful for the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider later in the day.
A steady rain started during 450 Moto One and that greatly changed the track for 250 Moto Two. Adam Cianciarulo again got a great start and immediately moved into the lead with a pass on Nichols. Once up front, Cianciarulo clicked off quick laps, remained upright, and stayed clean, something that others were not able to do. Nichols lost one more place in the running order to JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Alex Martin, a rider that scored zero points in 250 Moto One due to an opening lap crash and twenty-third place finish, but with the third-place moto finish Nichols was able to lock down third place overall. Moto One winner Justin Cooper faced his share of issues in the sloppy conditions and went up and down the top-ten in the early half of the race before he stabilized, surged, and finished the moto in fourth-place; 1-4 scores put him second overall on the day.
Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis again diced for spots around the top-five during 250 Moto Two, and again Ferrandis fared better of the two with a fifth-place finish. This tied him on points with teammate Nichols for the day, but because Nichols finished better in Moto Two, Ferrandis was left with fourth overall. Sexton, meanwhile, stayed in the mix through the full duration of the race and finished in sixth.
450 CLASS RACE REPORT & RESULTS
Like the first race of the day, 450 Moto One had many of the expected title contenders in the mix the moment the gate dropped. Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb claimed the holeshot and narrowly avoided a second turn bump with Justin Barcia but found a fast foe in Ken Roczen. The Team Honda HRC rider went from fourth to first with a flurry of passes on the opening lap, then took off to a popular win by a fifteen-second margin. After missing much of the Supercross season with injury, many were eager to see where Jason Anderson would rank in the field. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider proved that the time off didn’t hinder his speed, as he rose up the running order and battled for positions in the top-five. His battle with Eli Tomac moved him into third place and he clicked off a number of fast to catch and pass Cooper Webb for second place. As for Tomac, the moto was intense for the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider; he started the race in eighth place, ran as high as third during the duel with Anderson, slipped back to fifth after a few poor laps, and then settled in fourth place. Zach Osborne seemed to benefit from the lines cut by Anderson and Tomac, as the first year 450 rider followed both to a fifth-place finish in the opening moto.
After a rather eventful first race, Eli Tomac found his flow for 450 Moto Two and controlled most of the race. A better start allowed him to take the lead on the opening lap via a move on holeshot award winner Marvin Musquin, and he led ten of the thirteen muddy laps on his way to the checkered flag. The three laps that he did not lead were handled by Ken Roczen, as the 450 Moto One winner took advantage of one slight mistake by Tomac and leaped into the lead. Tomac eventually found his way back around Roczen on the fifth lap. With a metered place in the final half of the moto, Roczen, avoided the chaos and downed riders to a quiet second place finish and 1-2 scores to his credit, Roczen was award the day’s overall win and his first full victory since his career-altering crash in 2017.
As for the rest of the field, it was the same names but in a different order. Jason Anderson was again in the mix for a podium moto result early in the race, as he held third place for much of the race, but issues in the closing laps slid him back to fifth; the 2-5 results on the day put him third overall, an impressive finish for a rider not known for outdoor results. Zach Osborne rose from sixthteenth-place on lap one to third place at the checkered flag, a stellar result for the rider’s first 450 outdoor race. With 5-3 scores, Osborne took fourth overall. Cooper Webb was consistent, albeit quiet, in 450 Moto Two and finished the race in sixth place. His third-place result in the day’s first race greatly helped his overall result of fifth place.
