Photo by: Octopi
The 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship headed to the base of the picturesque Rocky Mountains in Lakewood, Co. for round number three and the Thunder Valley National. For the third weekend in a row, Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac went 1-1 and extended his win streak to three in a row 450 class. The #1 also extended his moto win streak to six in a row to start the year for the first time in his career. Eli was joined on the 450 podium by HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / WPS / KTM’s Blake Baggett–both scoring their first podium finishes of 2018.
In the 250MX class, GEICO / Honda’s Jeremy Martin took his first overall win of 2018 and left Colorado with the red plate on his bike for the first time since 2015. Jeremy was joined on the podium by his older brother, Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / KTM’s Alex Martin, in 2nd and Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Jeremy Cooper in third–the first podium of the rookies young career.
After the racing was over, we gathered numerous quotes from riders about their third outdoor MX race of 2018.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450MX) “After a couple of years with bad results at Thunder Valley, it feels really good to bring home a win. My team set me up with an awesome bike that allowed me to just get out there and attack the track. We’re rolling and looking forward to the next one.”
Jeremy Martin: (1st in 250MX) “Yeah, it’s been a long time. A lot of stuff has happened since 2015: changing teams, got really run down and stuff like that. It’s taken a long time to get back to where I think I should be outdoors. I’m proud to be here. I’m enjoying the moment and it feels good to be able to get the red plate and to get the overall for the GEICO / Honda team. They feel like family and they’ve really been patient with me. They work well. I mean, imagine being a Champion and then accepting for the next three years getting beat every season. And not even having a chance to have the red plate. To have the red plate is pretty badass.”
Ken Roczen: (2nd in 450MX) “Absolutely, it’s miserable being in the back of the pack. Glen Helen went a lot better and obviously I had a little malfunction there [in moto 2], but I fought hard. Now it’s getting a lot more fun feeling my race fitness coming back, because I didn’t get too tired today, which was great. To be in this position: getting good starts and battling for the win for the while at least last week. Then coming back today and leading both motos. We got a lot of laps in being in the lead. Obviously I can’t expect myself to go 1-1–Eli is on one. That’s plain and simple. I went 2-2 so I’m beyond stoked. Me and the team have been working great and especially Oscar [Wirdeman, Ken’s mechanic]. He had to be very patient too, ’cause I’m his rider. We have a great relationship and now being back, being up up front, battling for wins and being on the podium is beyond amazing.”
Alex Martin: (2nd in 250MX) “Jeremy is probably the worst guy to have behind you at the end of the second moto. He’s strong, he’s fit and he’s relentless. He’s going to be there until the end. Unfortunately, he’s been behind me the last two weekends in the second moto. I knew he was there and I was just focused on myself, pushing and pushing and trying new lines to try to get away from him. Eventually he went around the outside of me, but overall, I’m happy with the weekend.”
Blake Baggett: (3rdin 450MX) “I’ve definitely had some good luck here in the past. To come away with a 3-3 and end up on the podium today is good. I’ll take anything I can get at this moment. The first two rounds were not pretty. I’m just plugging away at it. We’ve been doing a lot of testing and trying to get comfortable. KTM has been helping us a lot. From the first round to now, we’ve made big improvements. I can see the guys that are winning races and not almost getting lapped by them. We’re going to take this break and try to find more speed so I can battle with these guys.”
Justin Cooper: (3rd in 250MX) “Im trying to progress each weekend. I got a good holeshot in that first moto and I tried to set the pace myself and ride my own race. I had a little heat from Joey [Savatgy]–he ended up getting by me–and I fought down to the end with him, but his bike let go. I got a little lucky there and was able to get my first win. Definitely a good confidence booster. I’ve been dealing with a sickness all week and the second moto I wasn’t feeling good going into it. I felt pretty weak. I just tried to survive and I was lucky to salvage a 8th because I was feeling pretty crappy out there. Good day and my first podium. Now I get to rest up with the week off before High Point. ”
Marvin Musquin: (4th in 450MX) “It was definitely a tough day for me. I struggled, even though I felt like I rode good here last year, it’s always a unique one here with the altitude and trying to work on the bike but the team did a great job and I felt better and better every single time I was going out there, so that’s a positive. Unfortunately, I never got a great start and I found myself both motos behind the top three – and even top four – and charged through the motos but missed a little bit of speed today. Unfortunately, it was only enough for two fourth positions so definitely not what I want but that’s the way it is right now and we’ll move forward to hopefully have a better feeling on different tracks.”
Austin Forkner: (4th in 250MX) “Obviously I would’ve liked to be on the podium, but today was definitely a step in the right direction. My bike was good and I feel like I was fast, but I need to focus on getting a better start so I can put myself in a better position. I’m feeling more like myself and we’ll be ready for High Point in a couple weeks”
Benny Bloss: (5th in 450MX) “The day was good. I had a rare sighting in both motos of good starts. It’s not pretty common for me but I’m really happy with it. Both motos were pretty solid. I was in nowhere land by myself pretty much both motos, like 15-seconds behind the next guy and 15-seconds ahead of the next guy. It was a little boring to be honest. The track was good today. The track was not as gnarly as normal, which was kind of a bummer. I had fun today. ”
Chase Sexton: (7th in 250MX) “Thunder Valley was one of my favorite nationals so far! It was my first time there and I liked the track and the views of Colorado. Qualified sixth out of practice which was okay, and then in first moto I got a good start but didn’t make passes quick enough. I actually ended up getting passed by a few riders, and I also had a few tip overs. Really, that’s been the story of my first motos these first few rounds. Second moto got a seventh or eighth place start and made a few passes mid moto which put me sixth. Not what I want at all but we have two weeks to fix the problems and come out swinging at High Point.”
Weston Peick : (7th in 450MX) “Thunder Valley didn’t go as planned. I struggled to find a flow around the track in both motos. I’ve never been able to get the results I feel that I should be getting at that track. It had a lot of medium-sized bumps that wrecked my injured hand. I can do better than 7-7 for seventh overall. I did learn where we can make some changes with the Suzuki RM-Z450 that will help me late in the motos. We should be looking a lot better for High Point. I’ll ride a little bit less this week leading up to the weekend off, and then I’m traveling to JGRMX in North Carolina, where I’ll stay for a month and do quite a bit of testing”
Garrett Marchbanks: (9th in 250MX) “I didn’t get the starts needed to be out front, but I feel really good about how I’m riding. Our goal is to continue to put in consistent laps and minimize mistakes so that we can get better every week. I’m learning more and more every race and the Kawasaki team has me on a great bike. I’m feeling good and looking forward to a great summer of racing.”
Phil Nicoletti: (8th in 450MX) “Thunder Valley has always proven to be a fast and technical track. I feel like I’m making progress in this outdoor series, and am finding more speed as the motos wear on. I’m always up for a challenge, and I know I can make big steps toward the front as I get more time on the Suzuki RM-Z450. Eighth overall isn’t too bad, but I expect more from myself. I’ll take this break to work on the areas where I’m struggling and come out swinging at High Point, which is the first East coast race of the series. I like that.”
RJ Hamshire : (10th in 250MX) “I felt pretty fast all day, even on press day I felt like I could push and be pretty comfortable. First moto I had a decent start, inside the top 10 and landed in a slick spot off one of the jumps and just lost my front wheel. Was pretty much last and came up pretty far, but once you get closer to the top 10 the gap is so far to the next rider it’s hard to keep moving forward. Second moto my start wasn’t too good but I had good speed all moto. Caught up to Chase about half way and we were able to pick a couple good guys off. The team and I will work these next couple weeks to fix these start issues and come ready to battle closer to the front at High Point.”
Kyle Chisholm: (41st DNF in 450MX) “I’m doing a lot better now, just a little banged up and bruised.I was feeling really good all day, qualified well earlier this morning and was running inside the Top 10 until the crash. I got a good start and was clicking off laps but unfortunately hit a nasty kicker in the uphill rhythm section. Things got a little out of control but I feel better now and am hoping to put this behind me and be ready for High Point in two weeks.”
Zachary Osborne: (11th in 250MX) “Today was a learning experience for me. I got off to a good start in the first moto and was able to hold on for a fifth. Then, I was hit in the first turn at the start of the second moto and popped my shoulder out. It took me a second to get it back in before I could get going. I managed to score one point. There’s 18 motos left and a lot of points still on the table.”
Micheal Mosiman: (12thin 250MX) “It’s been a good day. I woke up in Colorado so that’s already a good start. I really like it here – it has a Mammoth vibe. I was flowing and feeling pretty well. It was a little muddy, but it was fine. I was motivated. I got about a 15th place start in the first moto and was in the pack, then came together with another rider and got cleaned out. I was dead last then made it back to 16th. So that was a good ride. I got a better start in the second moto but then got shuffled back early on. I slowly picked off guys then got into 10th. I was slowly catching ninth but then made a big mistake and lost a bunch of time with four laps to go. 10th-place finish is solid and is a step in the right direction. It was definitely a good day.”
Enzo Lopes: (13th in 250MX) “Qualifying went well. I felt solid on the track, and also with the bike. I was close to the top ten in qualifying, so I was happy. I didn’t get the best start in the first moto, but I put in solid laps and was close to 11th at the end. I was happy with my speed. I was around 10th off the start in the final moto, but I couldn’t find a good rhythm. As for the track, it was decent in the first moto. The ruts became really long and gnarly for the second moto, which made things challenging. This upcoming weekend off will be spent testing some different settings, training, and preparing for High Point.”
Justin Hill: (14th in 250MX) “I’m learning every weekend. Man, that second moto was crazy! It was pure carnage. I rebounded as best as I could. Given the situation, I was happy to earn points. The speed is there; I just need to make a few minor tweaks and I think I’ll be up where I need to be. Thanks to the team for the support.”
Joey Savatgy : (17th in 250MX) “Unfortunately, today’s results don’t match where we should have been. I came into this weekend feeling great and we were really fast in qualifying. Obviously Moto 1 was a tough one for me to experience with a mechanical issue while leading at the end and Moto 2 started rough with a first turn crash. My team did an awesome job to set me up with a great bike and I’m leaving here healthy. We’ll get back to work and look forward to High Point.”
Jordan Bailey: (18th in 250MX) “I wish I did better in the first moto, but I got a better start in the second moto. It was a weekend to improve on and I’m ready to do better next week.”
