Jeremy Martin takes the 250MX Undilla win in challenging conditions

It was a wild day of racing at Unadilla for Round 10 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship thanks to the weather. Torrential downpours of rain, coupled with flashes of lightning, resulted in a weather delay, a muddy track that had to be re-routed and a shortened moto to end the day.

Jeremy Martin - Image by Jeff Kardas — Jeremy Martin – Image by Jeff Kardas

In the end, it was Jeremy Martin winning his second overall race of the season thanks to 2-1 moto finishes.

Unadilla 250 Moto 1

Adam Cianciarulo, who came close to his first overall win at the last round, took the holeshot in Moto 1. Joey Savatgy, who has won the last two overalls, was right behind him, followed by privateer Steven Clarke. By the end of the first lap, the top five was as follows: Cianciarulo, Savatgy, Aaron Plessinger, Jeremy Martin, Dylan Ferrandis. Zach Osborne worked his way up to sixth after passing several riders early.

The two Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders eventually began to break away from the field a bit. Savatgy kept himself within striking distance of Cianciarulo and started closing in at various times throughout the first half of the race, but he couldn’t get close enough to attempt a pass. That’s because Savatgy and Cianciarulo each had certain sections of the track that they were stronger in.

That all changed 16 minutes into the race when Cianciarulo shockingly went down with a clear track in front of him. That mistake handed the lead over to Savatgy, while Cianciarulo remounted in third behind Savatgy and Martin.

Savatgy and Martin held on for the top two spots, with Savatgy taking the checkered flag by three seconds. It’s Savatgy’s third win in the last five motos.

Behind them, Osborne went on a charge in the closing laps. He passed Plessinger and then Cianciarulo to move up to third. The final lap then saw Cianciarulo drop a spot to Plessinger, putting Plessinger into fourth and Cianciarulo into fifth.

In his pro debut, Justin Cooper raced to a 12th place finish, just one week after earning the AMA Horizon Award and winning two more amateur titles at Loretta Lynn’s.

Unadilla 250 Moto 1 Results

Joey Savatgy
Jeremy Martin
Zach Osborne
Aaron Plessinger
Adam Cianciarulo
Dylan Ferrandis
Chase Sexton
RJ Hampshire
Mitchell harrison
Shane McElrath
Colt Nichols
Justin Cooper
Kyle Cunningham
Sean Cantrell
Bradley Taft
Nick Gaines
Lorenzo Locurcio
Joey Crown
Luke Renzland
Jon Ames

Unadilla 250 Moto 2

Following the conclusion of the first 450 Class moto, there was a weather delay that ended up lasting more than two hours. Although recurring lightning was the impetus for the delay, there was also heavy rain throughout much of that time which turned the track into a mud pit. There was standing water all over the track, part of which had to be re-routed for safety reasons.

With the second 250 Class moto getting underway just after 5pm ET, the remaining races were shortened from 30 minutes plus two laps, down to 20 minutes plus one lap.

When the gate finally dropped, Jeremy Martin came through the mud to get the holeshot, with Justin Cooper behind him. Within the first few turns, most riders’ front number plates were quickly obscured by mud.

Near the midpoint of the shortened moto, Plessinger started closing in on the rookie Cooper for second place, but Plessinger went down as he attempted to round a corner, enabling Cooper to escape. In the aftermath, RJ Hampshire moved up to third and Ferrandis moved up to fourth, while Plessinger found himself back in fifth.

While the rest of the top five continued to shuffle, Martin and Cooper held steady out front. Martin went on to win the condensed 20-minute moto by nearly five seconds over Cooper, who turned in an impressive result in his pro debut. Ferrandis, Savatgy and Osborne rounded out the top five in Moto 2.

With 2-1 moto results, Martin finally returned to the top of the overall podium for the first time since Round 4 at High Point. He was also able to pick up 11 championship points on Osborne in the process but still faces a tough task, as he trails the Rockstar Husqvarna rider by 63 points with just two rounds left.

Savatgy (1-4) finished second overall, and Team USA’s new MXonN captain, Osborne (3-5), joined him on the podium in third.

Zach Osborne – Overall 3rd

“All in all it was a good day, it definitely could have been a little bit better, but I’m happy to come away with a podium. That second moto was high stakes, and I’m happy I got a top-five and come away with another podium. I’ve only missed one podium the entire season, so I’m just trying to keep that trend going. I hope to carry some momentum in Budds Creek—it’s a track I really enjoy and I look forward to it.”