Ken Roczen is making this a one horse race. Photo by: Hoppenworld

The 2016 Red Bull High Point National and round four of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship felt very similar to the first three rounds in the 450MX class. RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen got to the front early in both motos, and other than a lap and a half of Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac in his rear-view-mirror, nobody ever challenged the German. With Kenny’s dominance the question has begun to change from “who is going to win the 450MX Championship?” to “can anyone beat the #94?”

In the 250MX class, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy cemented his name on the top of the list as a viable Championship favorite in 2016 with his third overall win of 2016. With Star Racing / Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin and Alex Martin both seizing motors and scoring no points in one moto apiece, Joey’s points lead stretched from three points to twenty-points heading into round five. Instead of the Martin brothers on the podium this week, we saw Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne—who tied Savatgy with 43 points on the day—in second and Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb in third—moving him up to second in the Championship.

Joey Savatgy has been the surprise of the year so far.
Joey Savatgy has been the surprise of the year so far.

In the battle for the fastest lap time at round three, Ken Roczen (2:00.304) also continued his dominance in that category with the fastest lap of the day in moto two. Eli Tomac recorded the fastest lap of moto one (2:01.932) while trying to keep Kenny close, but fell over a lap later and could never get further forward than fifth. In moto two, Tomac rebounded with a second and also recorded the second fastest 450 lap of the day (2:00.870). The damage for Tomac was done in moto one, and his 5-2 kept him off the box for the first time in four nationals.

Top 10 450MX Times Top 10 250MX Times
1. K. Roczen – 2:00.304
2. E. Tomac – 2:00.870
3. J. Anderson – 2:01.156
4. M. Musquin – 2:01.702
5. J. Bogle – 2:05.278
6. W. Peick – 2:05.593
7. C. Seely – 2:05.656
8. J. Barcia – 2:05.759
8. C. Pourcel – 2:05.848
10. B. Tickle – 2:06.464
1. A. Plessinger – 2:03.182
2. A. Martin – 2:03.352
3. Z. Osborne – 2:03.496
4. C. Webb – 2:04.006
5. J. Savatgy – 2:04.403
6. J. Martin – 2:04.507
7. C. Nichols – 2:04.912
8. R. Hampshire – 2:05.263
9. A. Cianciarulo – 2:05.395
10. S. McElrath – 2:06.155
We may start seeing more of the #25 on the podium.
We may start seeing more of the #25 on the podium.

Over the first three rounds of the series, both Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson and Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin have underperformed compared to preseason expectations, but the absence of their training partner—Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey fractured his back in Lakewood—appeared to light a fire under their asses. Anderson qualified with the fastest lap in the morning and clocked the third fastest lap (2:01.156) of the day on his way to a 3-3 score for second overall. Marvin clocked the fourth fastest lap (2:01.702) and went 4-2 for third overall. It was the first podium of ’16 for both of them, but with news out that Anderson broke his collarbone in a practice crash, Musquin will be carrying the Baker’s Factory flag solo for at least 6 to 8 weeks.

Eli Tomac finally saw the #94, but a mistake gave it an anticlimactic finish.
Eli Tomac finally saw the #94, but a mistake gave it an anticlimactic finish.

In the 250MX class, it’s becoming the norm to see the Star Racing / Yamahas at the top of the fastest laps, but for the first time, it was Aaron Plessinger (2:03.182) taking the top honor just ahead of his teammate Alex Martin (2:03.352). Both recorded their fastest laps while carving their way to the front in the final moto of the day. A-Mart started moto two in fifth and caught Savatgy at the front, but just like at Hangtown and Thunder Valley, he could not make a pass stick on the #37 and finished second. Aaron rounded the first turn just outside of the top ten, finished lap one in eighth and used his raw speed to get into third. Alex went DNF-2 for eighth overall, and Aaron went 6-3 for fourth on the day.

The third fastest lap (2:03.496) was clocked by Zach Osborne—the only lap inside the top five recorded in moto one. The High Point circuit got as the day wore on, but Zach Osborne had the race of his career in the moto. The #16 has been looking for the first win of his career for a decade and while he did not score the overall, he checked moto win off the bucket list in moto one. In the end Zach went 1-4 for second overall.

Aaron Plessinger has the speed, but good starts have been few and far between.
Aaron Plessinger has the speed, but good starts have been few and far between.

The fourth and fifth fastest laps went to Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb (2:04.006) and Savatgy (2:04.006). Joey has now won three of the first four overalls, but it’s been more about consistency, starts and having the fitness to respond to late race challenges than it has been about raw speed for the #37. On average, Joey has been the fourth fastest 250MX rider, but he heads to round five with a twenty-point lead. For Webb, it was more of what we’ve seen from him all season long. There’s been nothing spectacular from the #17 in any of the four rounds, although he’s fought through the wrist injury and sits a solid second in the Championship.

Full 2016 High Point National results here>>>

*Note: Issues with live timing in 450 moto 2 scrambled the average lap times in the faster moto

Top 10 450MX Avg Lap-Times Top 10 250MX Avg Lap-Times
1. K. Roczen – 2:02.289
2. E. Tomac – 2:02.488
3. J. Anderson – 2:03.624
4. M. Musquin – 2:04.265
5. unknown
6. unknown
7. unknown
8. unknown
9. unknown
10. unknown
1. A. Martin – 2:05.027
2. J. Savatgy – 2:05.105
3. A. Plessinger – 2:05.391
4. C. Webb – 2:05.821
5. Z. Osborne – 2:05.857
6. J. Martin – 2:06.712
7. C. Nichols – 2:08.062
8. A. Forkner – 2:08.182
9. M. Oldenburg – 2:08.586
10. A. Forkner – 2:08.709

Scroll down to see how the motos broke down lap-for-lap and how the 250’s matched up against the 450 riders in the hills of Pennsylvania. with MotoXAddicts’ lap-time comparison charts.

Check out some highlights of the 2016 High Point National

Each graph charts the lap times of the top five finishers in each moto. You can run your cursor over the lines to see which rider the line signifies and that rider’s time for each lap. Click on a rider’s name on the right to remove them from the chart so you can run riders’ times against each other heads up. Also, scroll down to see how the top three 250MX class finishers matched up against the top three 450MX class finishers.

*Note – 450 Moto 2 had live timing issues, so there is only a moto 1 lap chart

Click here for the current 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship standings>>>


Author

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