2019 Spring Creek Motocross | Race Report
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250 Class
After an hour delay – due to weather conditions – it was finally time to drop the gate at the 2019 Spring Creek National and get to racing. Privateer Ramy Alves seemed to have the holeshot, but swung too far wide and took an off-track excursion, which handed GEICO Honda’s Hunter Lawerence the advantage. Adam Ciancurulo followed on his Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki. After just one-lap, Colt Nichols had to make a quick pitstop due to goggle issues. Local boy Alex Martin was able to slide into the third-place spot. The slippery conditions contributed to the leaders both sweeping too far outside, which resulted in them having to roll down the hill and find their way back on-track safely, allowing Martin to close the gap. However, Hunter put his head down and put down some solid laps to lengthen up his lead. Privateer Zane Merrett seemed to be one with the sloppy track, as he made some passes early in the moto that positioned him inside the top-10.
As the race made it’s way past the half-way mark, mechanics pressured their riders to be easy on the clutch to help ensure the bikes made it to the end of the moto. Brandon Hartranft was having a decent run until he lost traction and laid down his CycleTrader Rock River Yamaha. Michael Mosiman also hit the deck and buried his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna in the mud, but after some help from track workers, they were able to free the bike. While Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Ciancurulo sat comfortably in second place, team-mate Garrett Marchbanks sat outside of the top-10 and coated the track in smoke as he went by, though he managed to get the bike to the checkered flag and in 10th place. As the lead group made their way through lappers, Adam Ciancurulo lost his goggles which led to a couple of mistakes and him ultimately washing out the front end, losing second place to Martin. Meanwhile, Christian Craig is forced to push the bike off the track after it locked up on him. And just a few laps later, team-mate Chase Sexton’s bike also quits on him while he was running fourth. With two laps to go, Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Mitchell Oldenburg is left stranded in the mud with bike problems. In the end, the 19-year old Australian Hunter Lawrence cruised to a dominating moto one victory, finishing over 10-seconds ahead of Alex Martin.
When the gate dropped at the start of moto two, Alex Martin looked to have the start, but he got bucked off the track and gave the holeshot to Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Justin Cooper. Points leader Adam Ciancurulo wasted no time and immediately made the pass on Cooper for the lead. While Martin was forced off track, team-mate Kyle Peters placed a JGR Suzuki in third place. Though, Garrett Marchbanks put on a charge through the outside and got around Peters for third. Meanwhile, Moto One winner Hunter Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo battled for ninth. Back up front, Colt Nichols worked on turning around his frustrating day and made the move into fourth place. After a quiet fourth-place finish in the first moto, Shane McElrath placed himself inside the top-10 at the beginning of the moto. Dylan Ferrandis was on the move, as the Frenchman clicked off position by position, ultimately catching the lead group.
Up front, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Adam Ciancurulo put himself a solid 12-seconds ahead of second place at the halfway point. Behind him, Justin Cooper and Alex Martin continued to battle over the second-place position. Unfortunately, Christian Craig’s bad luck didn’t seem to fade, as the GEICO Honda rider was forced to pull out of moto two with another bike problem and cut to his elbow. As riders were beginning to hit lap traffic, the gap between second and third-place closed even more, but a mistake from Martin extended the gap back to two seconds. Behind them, Ferrandis finally got around team-mate Nichols but hit the deck just after. And just a few seconds later, Justin Cooper and Martin got together which resulted in Cooper going down and falling from second to tenth. As Cianciarulo extended his lead, Nichols slid into second place and moto one winner Lawrence continued to make his way upfront. With three laps to go, Alex Martin found a line through the rollers and made his way past Nichols and into second place. Adam Ciancurulo rode his Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki to yet another overall win as he crossed the finish line first in the second moto.
Sidenote: Alex Martin docked a position for his off-track excursion in moto two.
450 Class
Isaac Teasdale snagged the holeshot, but fastest qualifier Cooper Webb wasted no time and quickly took the led. Meanwhile, Jason Anderson collected with another rider and went down in the first turn. Privateers Henry Miller, John Short, and Teasdale battled for second place in the first lap, and ended up placing in some solid positions. Still on the first lap, Anderson hit the deck again and put himself even further back from the leaders. Points leader Eli Tomac sat in sixth place at the end of the first lap and began chopping away at positions. Just two laps down and Cooper Webb already sat over 10-seconds ahead of second-place and the rest of the field. Within just a few laps, Tomac passed through third place and began pressuring Miller for second place. The two swapped lines for a few laps, but ultimately Tomac was able to make the pass and secure second. RedBull KTM rider Marvin Musquin took advantage of the early laps and placed the number-25 bike into third place.
Halfway through the moto, and Tomac’s upper hand was obvious as the once 11-second bumper Webb had was cut down to just a 3-second lead. Meanwhile, Marvin Musquin and the rest of the field simply could not run the same pace and the gap to third place grew to over 30-seconds. With 6-minutes and 2-laps to go, Tomac closed within a second of Webb and the battle was on. However, Cooper Webb responded to the pressure and began to extend his led but then lapped traffic nearly causes a crash and allows Tomac to close back up. Yet again, Webb was able to fire back and extend his lead, this time resulting in the moto one win.
RedBull KTM’s Cooper Webb carried the momentum over from moto one and snagged the holeshot, just ahead of Ken Roczen. Meanwhile, team-mate Marvin Musquin was caught up in a first-turn pileup, along with Jason Anderson. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne was able to grab a better start, which placed him in third, just ahead of privateer John Short. A few laps down, Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac were spotted just inside of the top-ten. Back up front, Ken Roczen gained ground on Webb, tripled up the hill, and got alongside of the KTM rider. With Webb and Roczen side-by-side, the race was on. After swapping lines for a lap, Webb cased the up-hill triple and went down; allowing Roczen by and Osborne to close in. Further back in the field, Aaron Plessinger and Freddie Noren got together and hit the deck. One lap later, Eli Tomac was on the ground and got back up in the 10th place position.
As we approached the halfway point, Justin Barcia made his way into fourth place after getting around John Short. After landing on the ground off the start, Jason Anderson and Marvin Musquin charged through the field and into the top-10. Unfortunately, Joey Savatgy had to head into the pits after his Monster Energy Kawasaki was excessively smoking. And he wasn’t alone, shortly after Justin Bogle made his way into the pits with bike problems as well. With three laps to go, Webb closed in on Roczen and yet again; the race was on. With a small mistake from Roczen, Cooper Webb was able to make the pass, secure the lead, and go 1-1 on the day.
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