Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship – Round 8 0f 12 – Washougal – July 21, 2013
— Ryan Villopoto Earns First Washougal Overall Victory with 450 Moto 2 Win
— Eli Tomac Caps Dominant Day with 250 oto 2 and Overall Win at Washougal
Washington native Ryan Villopoto took the Moto 2 win and the overall victory at his home track of Washougal for the first time in his career. Villopoto has seen tough days at the track but followed his second place finish in the first moto with the victory ahead of Ryan Dungey, earning his 5th overall win of the season.
Dungey and Villopoto made quick work of Josh Grant, passing him immediately after Grant earned the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot. The two battled close with Dungey holding the edge on Villopoto until the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider finally made the pass about ten minutes into the moto. With the win, Villopoto also ends Dungey’s remarkable streak of 5 consecutive wins at Washougal, with Dungey ending the day and the moto in 2nd overall.
James Stewart finished the day 3-3, landing on the podium in consecutive weeks for the first time this season. Stewart is beginning to assert himself as the next best rider behind Villopoto and Dungey, but the gap in this one between 3rd (Stewart) and Dungey (2nd) was 41 seconds.
Jake Weimer crossed the finish line 4th to go 10-4 and finish 4th overall on the day, easily his best finish of the season. He was followed by Broc Tickle who tied his best moto finish of the year in 5th. Tickle has been pretty consistent throughout the season but has shown tremendous improvement in recent weeks.
Mike Alessi was able to pass Josh Grant, Chad Reed, and Phil Nicoletti late to finish 6th. Thanks to this charge, Alessi was able to claim 5th overall on the day and seems to have put the struggles of recent weeks behind him. Reed finished 7th followed by Nicoletti, Andrew Short, and Josh Grant, who couldn’t capitalize on his holeshot thanks to losing his rear brake.
Justin Barcia wasn’t able to manage a top-10 finish after finishing 4th in the first moto. Barcia got tangled with Trey Canard as the two battled and Barcia crossed the finish 17th, while Canard finished 11th. Barcia still has a comfortable edge over Stewart in the point standings, but Stewart has finished better than Barcia in 4 straight motos now. Canard has now fallen behind Stewart in the point standings after a disappointing day in which he finished outside the top ten in both motos.
Things didn’t start well for Weston Peick, but he put in a great ride after falling to the back of the pack and then charging his way up to 14th. His 8-14 put him 11th overall for the day at Washougal.
Villopoto goes into Spring Creek 42 points ahead of Dungey, and Dungey will need to have a strong showing the rest of the season and hope for some good fortune for a chance to repeat as champion.
— Washougal 450 Class Overall Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (2-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (1-2)
3. James Stewart (3-3)
4. Jake Weimer (10-4)
5. Mike Alessi (7-6)
6. Andrew Short (6-9)
7. Josh Grant (5-10)
8. Chad Reed (9-7)
9. Broc Tickle (13-5)
10. Justin Barcia (4-17)
11. Weston Peick (8-14)
12. Trey Canard (12-11)
13. Malcolm Stewart (11-12)
14. Phil Nicoletti (18-8)
15. Justin Brayton (15-13)
16. Ben LaMay (17-15)
17. Ryan Sipes (14-33)
18. Michael Byrne (23-16)
19. Tyla Rattray (16-21)
20. Mike Brown (25-18)
— Updated 450 Class Point Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto, 380
2. Ryan Dungey, -42
3. Justin Barcia, -109
4. James Stewart, -156
5. Trey Canard, -161
6. Mike Alessi, -181
7. Andrew Short, -216
8. Jake Weimer, -220
9. Broc Tickle, -221
10. Josh Grant, -222
— Eli Tomac Caps Dominant Day with 250 Moto 2 and Overall Win at Washougal
Eli Tomac has swept Washougal and is now within 1 point of tieing Ken Roczen for the points lead on the season. Tomac came out fast with a trio of GEICO Honda riders, as Wil Hahn took the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot and Justin Bogle followed closely behind. Hahn went down on an early crash that sent him to the middle of the pack, and Tomac passed Bogle to take the lead before the end of the first lap.
Roczen was also in the mix with the GEICO Honda guys and passed Bogle to take second place and set up a much-anticipated showdown between himself and Tomac. Roczen managed to stay close to Tomac early on but fell behind as Tomac built up a gap and won by over 20 seconds, proving he was the fastest rider at Washougal. Roczen finishes the day 2-2 and needs to find a way to beat Tomac at Spring Creek if he wants to keep the red plate.
Zach Osborne passed Justin Bogle on Lap 13 to pull off a 3rd-place finish in the second moto, a vast improvement from his 14th-place result earlier in the day. Marvin Musquin finished the race 4th to go 3-4 and secure the final overall podium spot.
Jason Anderson and Bogle finished 5th and 6th. Bogle fell from 3rd to 6th in the final four laps, but ends up 4-6 at Washougal and eaily had his best day of the season. He was followed by three Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders: Justin Hill, Blake Baggett and Martin Davalos. Combined with his DNF in Moto 1, Baggett now falls 96 points behind Roczen and has taken yet another blow to his dimming title hopes. Hill meanwhile enjoyed the best day of his young career and winds up 5th overall.
Cole Seely took 10th and was successfully able to pilot his Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs/Honda machine (with this week’s special neon yellow paint scheme) to top ten finishes in both motos.
Tomac’s dominant day should come as no surprise. The one thing holding him back has been his starts, but today that wasn’t an issue. Tomac got better starts than Roczen in both motos and repeatedly found himself up near the front right away. Tomac had to contend with Bogle on the first lap of both motos, but once he got around him, it was the same story it’s been all year. A clear track for Tomac equates to fast speed and a big gap on the field. His average margin of victory in moto wins entering Washougal was 16.6 seconds, and that will improve after today.
The heat is on in the 250 Class with Tomac right on Roczen’s heels in the standings. Roczen will look to weather the storm and hold on to his lead the over the last 4 rounds of the season. We’ll find out if he can bounce back starting next week at Spring Creek.
— Washougal 250 Class Overall Results
1. Eli Tomac (1-1)
2. Ken Roczen (2-2)
3. Marvin Musquin (3-4)
4. Justin Bogle (4-6)
5. Justin Hill (5-7)
6. Zach Osborne (14-3)
7. Jason Anderson (11-5)
8. Martin Davalos (7-9)
9. Cole Seely (9-10)
10. Adam Cianciarulo (6-16)
11. Cooper Webb (12-11)
12. Wil Hahn (10-13)
13. Kyle Cunningham (8-15)
14. Darryn Durham (13-14)
15. Blake Baggett (35-8)
16. Jeremy Martin (24-12)
17. Kyle Peters (16-17)
18. Tommy Weeck (15-18)
19. Jacob Baumert (17-19)
20. Preston Mull (18-32)
— Updated 250 Class Point Standings
1. Ken Roczen, 356
2. Eli Tomac, -1
3. Marvin Musquin, -58
4. Blake Baggett, -96
5. Zach Osborne, -117
6. Jason Anderson, -154
7. Justin Bogle, -178
8. Kyle Cunningham, -179
9. Jeremy Martinm -185
10. Cooper Webb, -197
— KTM Report
Red Bull KTM Factory riders Ryan Dungey and his two European teammates Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin had a good day out at Round 8 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series, all finishing on their respective podiums.
Dungey took a 1-2 on what is one of his favorite tracks for overall second in the 450-class while Roczen and Musquin picked up a 2-2 and 3-4 respectively to seal second and third places in the 250s. Roczen continues to lead the championship points in the 250-class. Dungey is second in the 450-class and Musquin is in third in the 250s.
Dungey had a great start to his race day picking up the holeshot in the first moto to put his KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition race machine into the early lead. He then went on to lead every lap in an impressive moto to take the race win.
“Washougal has been a great track for me over the past few years. I have had a lot of moto wins and overalls at this track and I really enjoy this place,” stated Dungey.
Dungey nearly pulled the holeshot in the second moto but was edged out slightly by Josh Grant. Moments later, Dungey sprinted ahead of Grant and had the lead by the second corner. He and rival Ryan Villopoto then forged ahead of the rest of the pack, consistently running lap times 3-5 seconds faster than their competitors. Dungey held off Villopoto’s charge for the first eight minutes before Villopoto made a pass to take over the lead. They ended the day with equal points.
“I am bummed to not take the overall but I am happy I did not lose any points to Ryan (Villopoto) today,” stated Dungey on the podium. “I am working harder to get moto wins as I know I need them in order to close the point gap. I am looking forward to heading to Millville next weekend as it is my hometown track and I am hoping to do well in front of my local fans.”
Musquin of France got away well in the opening 250-class moto to be in the top five going into the first corner. Meanwhile German factory teammate Roczen was further back and crossed the line after the opening lap in ninth place.
Both riders worked their way through the pack in the first half of the race before they were locked in what is now a regular two-way battle. Roczen was able to make the pass on his teammate but Musquin did not drop back. The two stayed together and continued to close in on the top three riders. With three laps to go, Roczen moved up on Justin Bogle to take over third position while Musquin followed to take fourth. Then with two laps to go, both riders advanced another position after second placed Blake Baggett exited with a mechanical. They then raced wheel to wheel to finish 2-3 at the line.
“I tried really hard to not fall behind when Kenny passed me around the halfway mark,” stated Musquin. “I found some better lines after that and was able to stay close an I could even challenge him for the position.”
But it was Roczen who then got the better start in the second moto. He was fourth going into the opening corner while Musquin was two positions behind him. Roczen turned up the heat and was already in second behind Eli Tomac before the end of the first lap. He held onto that position right to the flag for an eventual overall second.
“My shoulders got a little tired in the second moto,” stated Roczen on the podium. “But no excuses, Eli rode better than me and I have to bounce back next week to continue to hold the points lead in the championship.” Roczen now has a slim one-point lead over his rival. He has held the points lead throughout the series so far.
Meanwhile Musquin managed to advance from his sixth to eventual fourth in the second moto to claim overall third. It was his fourth podium finish of the season.
“The shadows were really difficult to deal with in the second moto,” stated Musquin. “I struggled with my starts this weekend and couldn’t get up into the top three early in either moto. Luckily, I was able to still pull off a third place result but I want to be on the top of the podium for the remainder of the season.”
The next event will be held in Millville, MN on July 27, 2013. Roczen’s German fans will be able to follow the 250-class motos via real time big screen viewing at the Teutschenthal track in Germany, on the eve of the MXGP World Championship of Germany.
