Tomac and Roczen treated fans to the first real good battle for the 450MX win all year. Photos by: Hoppenworld
The 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series went back to Southwick, Massachusetts for the first time since 2013 for the 2016 Southwick National. In the 450MX class, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac was able to stop RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen‘s domination. The #3 went 1-1 on the day, returning to the top step of the podium for the first time in over a year. Joining Tomac on the Southwick podium was Roczen in second with a 2-2 and JGRMX / Yamaha’s Justin Barcia in third with a 6-3 score on the day.
In the 250MX class, Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb made it three straight overall wins. In the opening moto, Cooper went from tenth all the way up to challenging Star Racing / Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin for the win by the end of the moto. Coop settled for second in the opening moto, but in moto two, he pulled the holeshot and went wire-to-wire for the moto two win. Jeremy had a rough moto two but, after crashing, was still able to salvage fourth and finish second overall. They were joined on the podium by the Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki rookie, Austin Forkner. For Austin, Southwick marks his first career podium, and this could open the flood gates for the freshman.
After the racing was over, we gathered quotes around the pits and the web from some of the top riders at the 2016 Southwick National.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450MX) “It feels great to win again. We’ve been working so hard as a team to improve every weekend and to see it pay off feels good. Southwick is always ever changing, but it was cool to see that in practice it was a little bit smooth, and by the end of the second practice, it started coming around and drying out a little bit. It got a little bit softer and deeper. For the most part, I really enjoyed the new direction or the original direction of it. Yeah, when I slid out, that corner had a small inside rut and my front end just missed the start of it. So it just pushed on the hard pack base there and tipped over. I tried to hop up as fast as I can. At that point, your heart rate kind of spikes and you’re kind of freaking out. Luckily I was able to get it [the lead] back there.” Click here to read our full interview with Eli>>>
Cooper Webb: (1st in 250MX) “I felt good all day. I qualified right there and usually if I’m in the top five, that’s good. In the first moto, I had my work cut out for me with the bad start, but I put my head down and got into second. Then I really put on on a charge—I was stoked on that—and I was able to catch Jeremy. Even, though, I didn’t pass him it was cool because I had never done that before. In the second moto I got a holeshot and that was nice. Clear track and in the sand it’s always nice to have clear vision. Austin [Forkner] was riding really good. He was right there. I had a really good flow. I had some good lines and I love the sand.”
Justin Barcia: (3rd in 450MX) “Unfortunately in first one I got pinched off a little and a couple of guys came over and I lost my front end. I had my work cut out for me for sure. Man, it was challenging. Fighting through that pack was tough. There was a lot of guys and the track isn’t like it used to be where there’s two lines everywhere—it’s a little more one lined. It was pretty hard to pass, but I think I did a good job coming from outside the top twenty to sixth. And I closed in on other guys, but I just ran out of time. Unfortunately, I had to use a lot of energy in that first moto and in the second moto it left me a little dry. (laughs)” Click here to read our full interview with Justin>>>
Austin Forkner: (3rd in 250MX) “Today was really good. After setting the fastest lap in qualifying, I got two decent starts in both motos and charged as hard as I could. I was absolutely “sending it” in Moto 2 and it felt great to battle for the lead with the points leader. I feel great with how I performed today and am looking forward in continuing to learn and grow.”
Tyler Bowers: (15th in 450MX) “Fortunately, I was able to win the consolation race. I was caught up in a first turn pileup at the start of Moto 1. I charged as hard as I could to get back up inside the top 20 to salvage some points. Got a great start in Moto 2 and just rode my own race and had fun. I’m looking forward on improving next week.:
Arnaud Tonus: (6th in 250MX) “Today was step in the right direction. I felt really comfortable on the bike and rode strong all day. After all the struggle I went through, it feels great to perform at 100% again for myself and the team.”
Ken Roczen: (2nd in 450MX) “I struggled pretty bad today. I left my setting obviously. It wasn’t ideal. It works on the tracks we have been at and it works pretty good. It actually got more sandy here, but the base is just so hard. I’m on air forks and that’s a little bit of another different story. No excuses, but I struggled really bad in the first moto. We went back and we made some changes, and it was better in the second one. It wasn’t ideal. I was uncomfortable all day out there, and it’s just trying minimize the mistakes and do the best I can. The second moto we had a good battle going on. We were kind of yo-yo’ing there for a while. He had certain spots he was faster and I was closing in on other spots.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (14th in 250MX) “Today was tough. The track conditions got the best of me today. I felt like I rode well and my lines were good but it didn’t show in the results. We’re still taking each race one at a time and trying to improve. We’ll come back swinging next weekend.”
Christophe Pourcel: (6th in 450MX) “Today was decent. I finally got two top-five finishes – which has been the goal for a long time. I got great starts and felt really good on the bike. I’m just going to keep pushing and hopefully I’ll get on the box soon.”
Jimmy Decotis: (19th in 250MX) “I came out pretty good in that first one but they kind of picked me off in the beginning,” said Decotis. “I don’t know. I wasn’t that comfortable. It’s really hard to jump in with these guys after not racing, I think I underestimated it. When you’re riding by yourself you get a little bit of false confidence. Then you get out here and you realize you need a little bit more intensity during the week. First moto I was back to about 13th, started to find a little groove and then I went off the track and there was like a 15-foot high wall that I went off of! I had to pull into the pits and take my goggles off but I never gave up. I got 25th which was pretty awful, second moto was a little better and I got 15th. Even the parade lap, they were going nuts! It was awesome. And they were still cheering me even when I was a lap down. These people are hard core”
Justin Bogle: (11th in 450MX) “First off, I love Southwick and I love that it’s back. Holeshot the first moto and led for awhile, had my best result with a fourth, and had a lot of fun in that one. Second moto, got another holeshot and that amped me up! Then I got taken out pretty unnecessarily by some guy. Came from around last to 12th or 13th and then had a big crash. Got up and tried to finish but ended up pulling off and heading to the hospital for awhile but everything checked out good, just banged up. Regardless, I had a blast in the sand!”
Zach Osborne: (5th in 250MX) “Today was kind of a disappointment. I had a little issue in the first practice and messed up my gate pick for the first moto. I still got a decent start, but I didn’t ride that great. I got off to a better start in the second moto but had a run in with another rider about halfway through the moto. That dropped me down pretty far, but I still came back to seventh. It was a tough day but I’ll regroup for next week.”
Marvin Musquin: (4th in 250MX) “The first moto I felt happy with my ride, I got a good start and felt like I had a really good flow. The second moto was a little more tough, I got caught up behind Justin Barcia and then I crashed and after that it was really hard to get back into a flow.”
Joey Savatgy: (9th in 250MX) “The day started off well after qualifying second. Ran up front in the second moto for a bit and made a few strong passes and felt I had the pace to win before going down. I was able to salvage points today and am still in the championship hunt. It’s a long series and anything can happen.”
Broc Tickle: (8th in 450MX) “Overall, I feel like it was a decent day. Obviously, not as good as the last two weekends. My starts were terrible and unfortunately, that set the tone for the motos. I felt really awesome in the second moto once I got a flow going. It was kind of hard to pass out there. It felt like the track funnelled into one berm. There were some positives, for sure, so I’m not bummed by the weekend. It was still solid with a 10-8 and eighth overall. We’re heading to Millville and that’s one of my favourite tracks so I’m really looking forward to that.”
Jeremy Martin: (2nd in 250MX) “I’m really excited. We haven’t been here since 2013 so it’s always nice. It’s a sand track, but it’s got that really hard base. So at the same time it’s not like a true sand track in my eyes. It got rough and stuff like that, but I’ve been professional long enough—this is my fourth year—so I think I’ve proven that I can ride on hard pack and I can ride on anything. I had a lot of fun out there today. It was something new for all of us. This is one that when I heard at the end of ’13 that it wasn’t going to come back, it bummed me out a little bit.”
Blake Baggett: (DNF in 450MX) “I had the big crash in practice number two and dodged a bullet. It was one of the biggest ones I’ve had. I just made a little mistake and over-jumped the tabletop and had a big get-off at the bottom. I got 24th in the first moto. I went down in the first turn and the shoulder was just too weak and I decided to call it quits for today. It’s definitely not what I’d hoped for. I hated pulling out and not fighting to the end, but I think it was our best option.”
RJ Hamshire: (11th in 250MX) “Battled all weekend. Awful starts both motos and just never found the pace. Found the ground late in the second moto, which kept me out of the top 10. I’ll get out of this drought!”
Martin Davalos: (10th in 250MX) “Southwick was pretty good for me. I didn’t grow up riding in the sand so it was definitely challenging. I think living in Florida has opened my mind a bit to how to ride in the sand. The track was really gnarly, especially in the second moto. It’s a weird kind of sand, and if you try and hug the insides you don’t get any traction. I ran into someone in the first moto and bent up my bike. I was able to come back to 15th. I almost got the holeshot in the second moto and was able to finish sixth. I’m definitely moving in the right direction. The goal is to put in two solid motos. I just need to minimize the mistakes.”
