Photo: KTM Images

The 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed to Lakewood, Colorado for round number three and the Thunder Valley National. Heading into this weekend, all the hype surrounded a possible third-straight head-to-head duel between Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart and Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey in the 450 Class and the possibility of a showdown between Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett and GEICO Powersport/Honda’s Eli Tomac in the 250 Class.  Instead, though, Stewart crashed out leaving Dungey all alone for a 1-1 on the day and another GEICO/Honda rider, Justin Barcia, broke through for his first win of the 2012 outdoor motocross season.

The first 450 moto of the day started out like the first four motos of the year.  Dungey got the better start between himself and Stewart, but Stewart quickly passed everyone and assumed the early lead. By lap three, Dungey had gotten around Monster/Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer and early leader Muscle Milk/Honda’s Tommy Hahn, and it looked like the stage was set for another Dungey-Stewart war.

Unfortunately, the prospect of a war ended soon after with a huge crash from the #7. James cross-rutted and went down very hard. He later said—and it was verified by his GoPro camera—that a track worker crossed the track in front of him, breaking his focus and making him change lines. Whatever the reason, James was out for the day with a hurt wrist, and from there, Dungey easily cruised to a 1-1 performance. Dungey won by eighteen seconds in moto one and twenty-two seconds in moto two. The #5 now carries a thirty-five point lead in the Championship to round four.

With Stewart out, the podium was left wide open for some fresh faces. Finishing Thunder Valley with his first-ever 450 motocross podium was Jake Weimer. In moto one, Jake grabbed a great start and held on for his best 450 moto finish with a second. In moto two, after a good battle with Chaparral/Honda’s Andrew Short and Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle, Jake  finished fourth. Jake’s 2-4 on the day was good enough for second overall. Jake has shown incredible progress over the first three rounds and, with Stewart’s misfortune, finds himself now second overall in the Championship points.

450 Class podium - Ryan Dungeu (center) Jake Weimer (right) Andrew Short (left)

Grabbing the third spot on the box—and his first podium since 2010—was Andrew Short. Shorty is from Colorado, and it was obvious that the #29 was right at home on the Thunder Valley circuit. In moto one, he got a decent start, fell back to tenth and fought his way up to finish seventh. In moto two, though, he went wire-to-wire in second place, and his 7-2 score was good enough for his first podium of 2012. With a third overall, Shorty now sits fifth in the Championship.

Finishing in fourth and fifth overall on the day were Star/Valli/Yamaha’s Nico Izzi and Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe. Izzi nailed down his best-ever fourth overall with a consistent 5-5 score on the day and is beginning to silence his doubters. Metty grabbed his second top five of the young season with a 3-7 score on the day. Metty sits sixth in the Championship points, and Izzi leaves Lakewood in eighth.

One rider that was not able to score a good overall due to a mechanical DNF in moto one but had a breakthrough ride in moto two was Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle. Broc has struggled with confidence in his freshman year on the 450, but a come-from-behind third in moto two may just change that. Broc was on fire in moto two, and we hope this leads to bigger and better things out of the #25. Broc’s DNF-3 was good enough for eleventh overall.

Unlike the runaway wins by the #5 in the 450 Class, the 250 Class saw some incredible racing between the top four riders in the Championship with Justin Barcia’s desire winning the day. In moto one—after a long delay due to lightning, rain and wind—it was Justin Barcia with the holeshot and the Red Bull/KTM of Ken Roczen glued to his rear wheel. Roczen made a few runs at the #20, but in the end, it was wire-to-wire win for Bam Bam.

In the second moto, Barcia again grabbed the early lead, but this time, he was shuffled back to third by Blake Baggett and Roczen. Then, on the white flag lap with Baggett leading and Roczen second, Barcia needed to catch and pass Roczen for the overall win, and that is exactly what he did. With a half lap to go and Roczen getting into lapped traffic, Barcia made his move, and Roczen ended up taking a soil sample. With that pass and a 1-2 score on the day, Barcia grabbed his first overall of the 2012 motocross season.

Barcia used two holeshots to win his first overall of the 2012 season. Photo: Supercross.com

Finishing with his third podium of 2012 and extending his points lead in the Championship was Blake Baggett. In moto one, Blake got off to his patented bad start and did what he does best: carved his way to the front. After rounding the first turn around fifteenth, Baggett fought his way up to Roczen’s rear wheel to finish moto one in third. In moto two, it was a much better start for Blake which seemed to  translate into a easy win. After passing Roczen and Barcia, he cruised away from the field for his third moto win of the year. Blake’s 3-1 score was good enough for second overall, and he heads to round four with a sixteen-point lead in the Championship.

The third spot was inhabited for the third-straight week by Ken Roczen. Heading into Thunder Valley, the German felt good knowing he had raced there before, but his results turned out to be similar to first two rounds. In moto one, Kenny went wire-to-wire behind Barcia for a second and, with a pass on Barcia in moto two, looked poised to go 2-2 on the day. Unfortunately for the #70, lappers and a very aggressive Bam Bam found him on the final lap. The 2011 MX2 World Champion still had a solid day with a 2-4 for third overall and is still very much alive for this Championship. He sits in third place but with a quickly growing nineteen-point deficit to Baggett.

After Eli Tomac’s dominant win last weekend in Texas, many expected the Colorado native to back it up at his home national. While Eli was fast enough to run with the leaders, bad starts got the best of him. The #17 rounded turn-one around fifteenth in moto one and around tenth in moto two. By the end of the motos, Eli found himself battling near the front, but after all of the extra work his starts had caused, he looked out of gas when he got there. Eli’s final tally on the day was a 4-3 (the third was courtesy of Roczen’s last lap crash) for fourth overall. He sits fifth in the Championship with a twenty-two point mountain to climb.

250 Class podium - Justin Barcia (center) Blake Baggett (left) Ken Roczen (right) Photo: KTM Images

450 Overall Results – Thunder Valley Full Results

1 5 Ryan Dungey Waconia, MN, US KTM 450 SX-F (1-1 )
2 21 Jacob Weimer Twin Falls, ID, US Kawasaki KX 450F (2-4) 
3 29 Andrew Short Colorado Springs, CO, US Honda CRF450R (7-2)
4 50 Nico Izzi Rochester, MI, US Yamaha YZ 450F (5-5)
5 24 Brett Metcalfe Australia, AU Suzuki RMZ 450 (3-10)
6 800 Mike Alessi Victorville, CA, US Suzuki RMZ 450 (4-9) 
7 10 Justin Brayton Fort Dodge, IA, US Honda CRF450R (9-6) 
8 26 Michael Byrne Australia, AU Suzuki RMZ 450 (12-7) 
9 232 Billy Laninovich Temecula, CA, US Honda CRF450R (11-8)
10 11 Kyle Chisholm Clearwater, FL, US Kawasaki KX 450F (10-11)
450 Championship Points - Full Point Standings
 1 5 Ryan Dungey 136
 2 21 Jacob Weimer 101
 3 7 James Stewart 100
 4 800 Mike Alessi 100
 5 29 Andrew Short 97
 6 24 Brett Metcalfe 84
 7 33 Josh Grant 73
 8 50 Nico Izzi 71
 9 25 Broc Tickle 63
 10 11 Kyle Chisholm 50
250 Overall Results - Thunder ValleyFull Results
 1 20 Justin Barcia Monroe, NY, US Honda CRF250R (1-2)
 2 12 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA, US Kawasaki KX 250F (3-1)
 3 70 Ken Roczen Germany, US KTM 250 SX-F (2-4)
 4 17 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO, US Honda CRF250R (4-3)
 5 38 Marvin Musquin France, FR KTM 250 SX-F (5-5)
 6 37 Malcolm Stewart Haines City, FL, US KTM 250 SX-F (8-6)
 7 956 Blake Wharton Pilot Point, TX, US Suzuki RMZ 250 (6-9)
 8 58 William Hahn Wichita, KS, US Honda CRF250R (10-7)
 9 19 Kyle Cunningham Aledo, TX, US Yamaha YZ 250F (9-10)
 10 57 Jake Canada Sun City, CA, US Honda CRF250R (7-14)

250 Championship PointsFull Point Standings

 1 12 Blake Baggett 139
 2 20 Justin Barcia 123
 3 70 Ken Roczen 120
 4 17 Eli Tomac 117
 5 38 Marvin Musquin 84
 6 956 Blake Wharton 82
 7 58 William Hahn 71
 8 19 Kyle Cunningham 65
 9 57 Jake Canada 62
 10 9 Ivan Tedesco 61
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.