Lap Time Graphs: 2016 Glen Helen National

Ken Roczen was in his own world for round two. Photo by: Hoppenworld

The 2016 FMF Glen Helen National and round two of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has answered a few more of the pressing questions we had heading into this season. The first question answered was, yes, RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen is definitely a step ahead of the field. The #94 was an air fork failure away from making it four-straight moto wins in the 450MX class, but the German’s mechanical gave Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey the opening moto win and the defending Champ’s first overall win of his title defense with a 1-2 scorecard. Even with the issues, Kenny went 1-4 for second overall and kept his grip on the red plate for at least two more motos. We also learned that Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac still has some catching up to do. The #3 went 3-3 for his second-straight third overall.

In the 250MX class, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy rode into Glen Helen with the momentum and the red plate, but the Star Racing / Yamaha boys took over the podium and the Championship points lead. Surprisingly, it was the #26 Star Racing / Yamaha that took the top step of the podium with a 2-2 performance, and with his second overall at the opener and a first at Glen Helen, Alex Martin is the red plate holder for the first time in his career. Joining their teammate on the overall podium was Alex’s brother, Jeremy Martin (4-1), in second and Cooper Webb (1-4) in third. Savatgy, who had a massive fifteen-point lead after the opener, could only back up his win with a seventh overall at round two. The #37 is now in third in the Championship, three points behind A. Martin and one behind Webb.

In the battle for the fastest lap time at round two, Ken Roczen (2:26.867) took home the trophy with a time almost a second and a half faster than Ryan Dungey (2:28.241) in second and nearly three and a half seconds faster than Eli Tomac (2:30.283) in third. What’s even more mind blowing about Kenny’s lap times was when he recorded them. After pacing Dungey for eight laps, Kenny passed the #1 on lap nine and immediately laid down a 2:27.138 on lap nine, a 2:26.867 on lap ten and a 2:28.811 on lap twelve. When those three laps were over Kenny had broken Dungey’s will and put twelve seconds between himself and the KTM rider and a full minute between himself and HRC / Honda’s Cole Seely in fifth. Two laps later, all the air came out of Kenny’s forks, and he watched frustrated as Dungey, Rockstar / Husqvaran’s Jason Anderson and Tomac pushed him back to fourth. In the end, Dungey recorded the fastest overall average lap time (2:31.432) in moto one, but if Roczen would not have had his problems, his average lap would have been a second a lap faster than Dungey’s.

The fourth and fifth fastest 450MX laps belonged to Anderson (2:30.732) and Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (2:30.861). While both have to be satisfied with their speed on one of the gnarliest circuits in the world, both will be watching a lot of film trying to figure out how the German was finding four seconds more a lap at the twenty-minute mark of the races. Anderson’s fitness and newfound consistency have him battling with Tomac for the third best guy so far this year, but Musquin’s fast laps have been few and far between thus far in his rookie 450MX season.

In the 250MX class, the fastest overall single lap was turned in by Cooper Webb (2:30.635) for the second straight week. The biggest question mark after Webb’s name coming into the 2016 outdoor season was whether or not the #17 would have the fitness after breaking his wrist at the end of the Supercross season, but his fastest lap came at the thirty-minute mark of moto one while tracking down and passing A-Mart for the win. If Cooper is showing this kind of speed and fitness while still trying to get healthy, the rest of the field needs to worry. Cooper recorded the fastest single lap and the fastest average lap time (2:32.143) on his way to the opening moto win.

The second, third, and fourth fastest single 250MX laps belonged to J-Mart (2:30.865), A-Mart (2:31.345) and, the surprise of the day, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner (2:31.580). The #214 shook the nerves out at the Hangtown opener a week earlier and came into Glen Helen swinging for the fences. As the track got worse, Austin got better. In moto one, he had the fourth fastest time and grabbed his first professional moto podium with a third, but in moto two, he recorded the fastest lap of the race (2:32.143) while running second and trying to run down the two-time defending Champion for the moto and overall win. The freshman’s shot at his first overall win or podium came to an end with a tip over, but with a 5-3 for fourth overall, he proved to everyone—most importantly himself—he can run with the big dogs of the 250MX class.

Full 2016 FMF Glen Helen National results here>>>

Scroll down to see how the four motos broke down lap-for-lap and how the 250’s matched up against the 450 riders on the Glen Helen hillside with MotoXAddicts’ lap-time comparison charts.

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.

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