Justin Barcia momentarily broke Dylan Ferrandis’ 450 dominance in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Round 6 at Spring Creek MX Park while the hometown favorite, Jeremy Martin kept a streak of unique overall winners alive in the 250 class.
It was the first overall win for Barcia in the Motocross 450 class as well as the first win for the new manufacturer to the class, GasGas.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Barcia told NBC Sports’ Ashley Reynard. “It was a great day . … The track was gnarly today, crazy first moto, tried chasing Kenny (Roczen) in the second moto. Couldn’t get him at the end, so he rode a good race. I’m stoked to the overall. Feels, amazing.”
It wasn’t a pretty win. Barcia charged every corner and overrode occasionally, but his aggressive style kept Ferrandis at bay in the first race and was enough to keep the second moto winner, Ken Roczen, in sight.
“That was a crazy race,” Barcia said after Moto 1. “I could never let up. I was going wide open the whole time. Had a few close calls.”
Barcia won the overall with a 1-2. His first moto win was also a first for GasGas.
Barcia earned the holeshots for both motos and was ahead of Lap 1 chaos that eliminated Roczen from the first race. Roczen went down in the middle of the pack, was run into and rolled over by several riders and was carted from the track. He failed to earn any points as Ferrandis rode to his 11th consecutive moto podium in second.
“It was definitely a hard one in the first moto,” Roczen said after the race. “I got banged up pretty good. I really had to make sure that my ribs aren’t broken. I’ll be really sore tomorrow, but as soon as I checked myself there was no question in my mind that I was going to come back out here and give my best.”
Roczen’s best was good enough for the Moto 2 win, which landed him eighth on the overall.
Tomac was also slowed by the the Moto 1, Lap 1 incident. Trailing the crash, he got on the brakes hard and fell outside top 30. He rode masterfully through traffic to finish third in that race and recorded the second-place finish overall with a 3-4.
Ferrandis rounded out the overall podium with a 2-5 after an adventurous Moto 2. He crashed early and fell to 24th, After remounting and climbing to 13th, he fell again. Once back on his bike for the third time, he eked out the top-five finish.
“Frustration, disappointment, but just to myself,” Ferrandis said after the race. “A mistake I did in the first lap. It’s not too smart. I crashed along down the hill. The restart and I crashed again. Alone. Not a good moto. I dug deep to come back and I think we saved some good points.”
Ferrandis extended his points’ lead over Roczen to 32.
Chase Sexton (7-3) finished fourth overall with Christian Craig (7-3) rounding out the top five.
450 results (moto finish)
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GasGas (1-2)
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (3-4)
- Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha (2-5)
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda (7-3)
- Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (4-6)
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha (5-9)
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (8-8)
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda (DNF-1)
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., KTM (11-7)
- Dean Wilson, Scotland, Husqvarna, (10-10)
450 points standings
- Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha – 262
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda – 230
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GasGas – 207
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 205
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda – 193
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha – 191
- Christian Craig, El Cajon, Calif., Yamaha – 156
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM – 148
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 147
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 141
The 250 class had its sixth unique overall winner in six rounds.
It was a popular winner as the hometown rider, Jeremy Martin battled through multiple injuries to take the win after literally riding the entire race next to his family’s home. Spring Creek MX Park is owned by the Martin family.
“It’s always special to get a win in front of the hometown crowd,” Martin said after winning Moto 1. “About 20 minutes in I was definitely hurting I haven’t been doing motos because of my wrist and and I broke my hand. But I’m telling you, you guys here cheering me on kept me going.”
Martin kept going with a win in Moto 2 as well for a perfect sweep of the weekend.
Michael Mosiman was second with a 3-2.
The 250 points battle heated up as Justin Cooper swept the podium in both motos. Jett Lawrence had a best finish of fourth in Race 1.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Cooper said afterward in a release. “We’re at the halfway point and we’re going after this championship. That’s the mindset. I honestly rode pretty mediocre today. I left a lot on the table, I feel. I wasn’t that comfortable (on the bike), so I got to take the blame on this one and do better. I felt like we could have been battling for the overall win today, but we’ll take it.
“We’ve got the red plate now. We’ll keep grinding, and simply need to be better. I can’t afford to leave anything on the table and that’s what it’s going to take to win this championship.”
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With a third-place finish overall and a 2-3, Cooper took the red plate away from Lawrence by a slim five-point advantage.
Lawrence finished fourth overall with a 4-6. His modest finish in Moto 1 was caused by a bad start.
In the first race, Lawrence’s poor launch out of the gates had him 14th at the end of Lap 1. He managed to catch the field, but got tangled in a fierce battle for fourth through seventh with Max Vohland, his brother Hunter, and Colt Nichols. It too long to resolve the conflict for Jett to catch the third-place rider Mosiman.
“This was definitely a nightmare of a day,” said Lawrence. “My starts have really been putting me down and back in the pack. It’s just not helping me. Cooper’s been getting those starts and that’s what we need to be doing. I was brought up to never give up. We’re only halfway.”
250 results (moto finish)
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha (1-1)
- Michael Mosiman, Sebastapol, Calif., GasGas (3-2)
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (2-3)
- Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda (4-6)
- Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda (5-5)
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (7-7)
- Jo Shimoda, Japan, Kawasaki (8-9)
- Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki (17-4)
- Carson Mumford, Simi Valley, Calif., Honda (14-8)
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna (12-10)
250 points standings
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 242
- Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 237
- Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 210
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha – 175
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna – 163
- Jo Shimoda, Japan, Kawasaki – 162
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 159
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna – 148
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha – 124
- Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., GasGas – 122