Photos by: Hoppenworld

The 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed up to the picturesque foothills of the Rocky Mountains today for round three and the 14th annual Thunder Valley National. What really sets this track apart from other facilities is its unbelievable spectator viewing. The more than a mile long, natural-terrain, National-level track sits inside a valley and can be viewed in its entirety from more than one spot on the hills surrounding it. These exceptional views set the facility apart from others and make it a favorite destination for outdoor motocross fans.

Another thing that sets the Thunder Valley facility apart from others is its altitude. The track itself sits 6,182 feet above sea level. With that kind of altitude come an array of challenges for teams and riders alike. The thin air tends to test the riders’ fitness and drain the horsepower from the bikes. While the thin air can make things tougher, the perfect weather today will definitely make the racing much more favorable to the racers’ fitness. For the last few days, the area has seen rain on and off, but today, Mother Nature has blessed us with 75 degree perfection.

Joey Savatgy has won the 250 class the last two years in a row at Thunder Valley

250MX Qualifying Report

Session 1: In the first session of 250MX qualifying today, Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s rookie, Justin Cooper, came out firing with same insane raw speed in the deep overwatered circuit. This is the #62’s first time racing at the mile high facility, but that didn’t stop him from going a full second faster than anyone in the first qualifying session of the day. The freshman went 2:08.5 ahead of Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy‘s 2:09.5 in 2nd. Rounding out the top five was Joey’s teammate Austin Forkner in 3rd and the GEICO / Honda teammates of RJ Hamshire and Chase Sexton in 3rd and 4th.

Having problems in the opening session were the two red plate holders. Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne–who is still struggling with a thumb injury–crashed in the session and could only clock the 9th fastest lap, while Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger was only able to lay down the 8th fastest lap.

Session 2: In between session 1 and session 2 we were told that Osborne had aggravated his thumb injury during the week and that became painfully obvious pretty quiickly. The #1 never laid down a hot lap in the final session and finished the session with the 30th fastest lap. His first session time (2:12.543) gives the defending champ the 20th gate pic in moto 1. Today will most likely be about surviving for the #1.

Aaron Plessinger has the red plate on his bike outdoors for the first time in his career.

The other red plate holder, Plessinger, was better than Osborne but still way off the pace as well. The #23 only broke into the top 10 one time during the final session and finished the final session in 11th and 11th overall. Thunder Valley has never been a great track for the #23, but with Osborne injured he needs to find a way to get it done.

With the two red plate holders struggling, look for Joey Savatgy to try and win his third Thunder Valley National in a row today. There’s something about this place that the #17 just gels well with and today looks like no exception. In the final session of the morning, Joey clocked the fastest overall time of the day, 2:06.9–the only 250 rider under 2:07.

Savatgy (2:06.926), Forkner (2:07.269) and Cooper (2:07.727) ended up 1-2-3 overall after both sessions were over with two Troy Lee Designs / KTM teammates Alex Martin (2:08.446) and Jordon Smith (2:08.829) bringing up the back end of the top 5.

250MX Overall Top 36 Qualifying Results – Thunder Valley

Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow Everyone else to consolation race

250MX Overall Top 36 Qualifying Results – Thunder Valley
Eli Tomac comes into round 3 undefeated for the year so far . Photo by: Octopi

450MX Qualifying Report

With the already injury riddled 450MX class losing HRC’s Christian Craig and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson to injury, it’s beginning to be a tough class to get excited about. Luckily we still have Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, HRC’s Ken Roczen, Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin, Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Justin Barcia and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / KTM’s Blake Baggett, but behind those five it’s a sharp drop off.

Session 1: In the opening session of 450 qualifying, Tomac (2:06.546) was a full two seconds faster than Barcia (2:08.643) in second and last years winner, Baggett (2:08.662), in third. Tomac has always called Colorado home and always seems to have the speed to win here, but it has historically not been a great track for him.

Rounding out the top five in the first 450 session was Autotrader / JGR / Suzuki’s Weston Peick (2:09.424) and Roczen (2:09.705) in fifth. With the #1 being more than three seconds a lap faster, there was still a lot of work to be done in the JGR and HRC rig to try and find that lost time.

The #94 is getting faster and stronger every weekend. Photo by: Doc Weedon

Session 2:

In the final 450 qualifying session, Tomac found even more speed and dropped his time down to 2:05.848. This time, though, Roczen (2:06.697) and Barcia (2:06.742) were able to keep the #1 a little more honest. Both of them were able to stay within a second of the Colorado native, and give us some hope that we may see some good racing this afternoon.

The surprise of the year so far in the 450 class has been Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / KTM’s Benny Bloss (2:07.951) and he continued showing his surprising speed this morning. The #60 was the fastest KTM with the 4th fastest overall lap time, just ahead of Musquin (2:08.280) in 5th and Baggett (2:08.688) in 6th overall. Thunder Valley has always been a great track for Musquin, but finding 2 seconds a lap between now and moto one will not be an easy task.

Other notable surprises in the 450 class qualifying sessions were Brandan Leith finishing 8th on the privateer bike and Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Alex Ray finishing with the 10th fastest lap. Both looked really good in qualifying and have a great opportunity to start turning heads with the field thinned out.

The big man has shown incredible speed to start 2018. Photo by: Doc Weedon

450MX Overall Top 36 Qualifying Results – Thunder Valley

Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow Everyone else to consolation race

450MX Overall Top 36 Qualifying Results – Thunder Valley
Author

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