Feature photo by: Octopi
The 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship went to the picturesque Pacific Northwest for the 2019 Washougal National, and it was Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (450) and Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis (250) both sweeping their respective classes with 1-1 days.
Ferrandis was joined on the 250MX podium by Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo (2nd) and his Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha teammate Justin Cooper (3rd). In the 450MX class, Tomac was joined on the podium by HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen (2nd) and Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (3rd).
After the racing was over, we gathered numerous quotes from riders about their Washougal National.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450MX) “Today was sweet. Days like today don’t come around easily and when they do you just have to cherish them. I made it more difficult on myself than it needed to be with my starts but once I found my rhythm I was able to just start clicking guys off. I can’t thank the entire Monster Energy Kawasaki crew enough for giving me such a killer motorcycle. Today, I never felt panicked or rushed, I was confident in my KX and knew I could just keep moving forward. We got a weekend off, but the work doesn’t stop, we are going to keep moving towards our goal and finish the season off strong.”
Dylan Ferrandis: (1st in 250MX) “The track is always slippery at Washougal, but today it was a bit worst due to the bit of rain we got all morning. I still had a lot of fun riding today. I got two very good starts and was really happy with myself. I had good battle with AC [Adam Cianciarulo] in the second moto. We made a good show for the fans, I hope they liked it and I look forward to watching it later myself. I’m pretty pumped about winning both motos today. It’s a good bounce back after my bad weekend in Millville. I look forward to racing again in two weeks at Unadilla.”
Ken Roczen: (2nd in 450MX) “I can’t really complain today. If you’ve seen my last few weekends, today was actually really good for me. I’m pretty happy to be back on the podium and to have an overall better day than in past weeks. In both races my starts weren’t that great, but I was able to make passes and find the front of the pack pretty quick, which was nice. I was trying to be aggressive until the end and give it my all but Eli [Tomac] was on it all day and I just wasn’t able to hold him off. I’m looking forward to this weekend off and to getting back to racing at Unadilla.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (2nd in 250MX) “Although we fell short of our weekly goal which is to win, there are still positives to take away from the weekend with our second-place finish today. I was doing everything I could in that second moto to get into first, but we just couldn’t find the right place to make a pass stick. It was rad to battle like that though. We are leaving here healthy and still with the points lead, so we will make some improvements over the break and be ready to go in two weeks.”
Justin Cooper: (3rd in 250MX) “The bike was really good this weekend! A couple mistakes in the motos, but nothing we can’t recover from. The conditions were really good with it misting in the morning, the track was moist all day and pretty rough. It was difficult to be consistent with the slick lines out there and that cost me a couple of times especially in the first moto when I lost the lead. It was good day overall, though. I’m still looking to get back to the top, but I feel we are headed in the right direction.”
Marvin Musquin: (3rd in 450MX) “I was really disappointed in my first moto result, I had a tough time getting around Cooper and unfortunately just lost my rhythm a bit and couldn’t move back up. In the second moto, I felt really good on the bike and was able to battle with Eli [Tomac] and salvage some points with a second place finish and third overall for the day.”
Cooper Webb: (4th in 450MX) “It was an up-and-down day for me. In the second moto, I struggled with some stomach issues – I’m not sure what was going on but after the first one I was really struggling with my stomach. We’ll get to work on the off-weekend and finish these last three strong”
Jason Anderson: (5th in 450MX) “My day went pretty decent. In the first moto, I got up to third and then I fell and ended up fourth. In the second moto, I got up to fourth and tried to make a charge and ended up getting passed for fifth. I went 4-5 for the day but I got docked two positions, so I ended up fifth overall, which isn’t too bad.”
Michael Mosiman: (4th in 250MX) “It’s good to be here, I’m really fond of this track and this are. And I think this track suits my style – I’m really able to get into a flow. I’m stoked to get on the podium. I love the fans up here!”
Zach Osborne: (6th in 450MX) “It was just a really ‘off’ day until the second moto, where I was able to turn things around. I think I’ve just been a little bit off the normal regimen with my shoulder but going into an off-weekend, I feel like I can make a lot of improvement with it and keep moving forward.”
Chase Sexton: (5th in 250SX) “Not an ideal day yesterday at Washougal, between bad starts and tip overs it just made the day super difficult. Not complaining and I’m the only person to blame for it! I just need to be better, plain and simple. Fifth overall but that’s not what I show up to do. Going to figure it out these next two weeks and come out swinging for the last three!”
Joey Savatgy: (7th in 450MX) “Today was a big step in the right direction. We have had some frustrating weekends the past few weeks so to get two holeshots and finish with two sixth-place finishes for seventh overall, I am pretty pumped. The goal is to be on the podium but today we showed we have the speed. Just need to clean up a few minor things and get adjusted to running the front runners pace and we will be good. I can’t wait to get to Unadilla in two weeks.”
: (8th in 450MX) “I was really looking forward to Washougal. It was nice to ride press day and get a flow with the track. I cannot believe how comfortable I am on the Suzuki RM-Z450 after not much time at all. I expect my results to continue improving. Washougal was a race I can build off of.”
RJ Hampshire: (6th in 250MX) “Starts weren’t great on a track that was hard to pass on. Felt pretty good first moto till a crash. Second moto just battled with [Justin] Cooper pretty much the whole moto. Couldn’t find a way around. Starts were important and I didn’t have them.”
Colt Nichols: (8th in 250MX) “My YZ250F was awesome today. The track was technical, but honestly really good. I got an awesome start in the second moto, I just didn’t ride smart and ended up on the ground in both races. That was disappointing, but we have a few rounds left to put it all together and get the result we are looking for.”
Alex Martin: (9th in 250MX) “Washougal is a tricky track for me, so I’m happy to just be moving on from this race healthy. In the first moto I had a good pace going while running in seventh position. Then I swapped out coming into a left-hand corner and went over the bars. I spun badly out of the gate in the second moto and was buried in the pack, but I made aggressive passes right away to finish seventh. My riding was decent. I just need better starts.”
Dean Wilson: (9th in 450MX) “Today was definitely an improvement but I’m still trying to catch up on my fitness. The second moto, I had a really good start and those guys passed me but to be honest I was really struggling with cramping in my legs. It’s a little disappointing as a 7-8 was looking doable but we’ll just keep working at it.””
Justin Barcia: (10th in 450MX) “We struggled a little bit this morning, made lots of little changes all day. In the first moto, got a bad start again. I charged through the pack up to the top 10. I passed a lapper and got taken out, so that kind of put me back a little bit, but still managed to finish 10th. Then got another bad start in the second moto, which is frustrating. I can’t figure those out at the moment. I just charged as far as I could forward and rode the best I could today. It was a tough one, but just going to keep working and getting better and move forward.”
Christian Craig: (12th in 250MX) “Although I’m not happy with how I rode, I’m happy to finally finish the day consistently,. I had terrible starts both motos so had to work my way up which isn’t fun. This year had been nothing short of terrible so to even finish the day with a 12th overall is a positive. Washougal was a good building block going into the weekend off. Lots of work to do but I’m looking forward to Unadilla.”
Aaron Plessinger: (17th in 450MX) “It was kind of a struggle all day. I didn’t really have that great of a practice time, was struggling with the whole bike, pretty much. Went out for the first moto. Went for the sight lap and my clutch started slipping really bad. We tried to fix it but then the clutch started to not work at all, so I didn’t make the first moto. Went out for the second moto and had the 40th gate pick and got a really bad start. I just tried to charge as hard as I could. We’re going to keep trying to make improvements and spend time down in Florida now. It was a really tough day. Hopefully we can come back and rebound at Unadilla.””
Ty Masterpool: (13th in 250MX) “It was tough conditions out there. It felt like I was on a concrete road with dirt on it and potholes everywhere, but it was a new track for me and I learned a lot. The bike was great like always. I’m ready to get back to work and I’m looking forward to the last few rounds.”
Jordan Bailey: (15th in 250MX) “It was definitely a tough day, but we’ll take this off-weekend and get ready for Unadilla”
Mitchell Oldenburg: (16th in 250MX) “It was a bit of a rough day, but not terrible. Practice went really well. I was really feeling good, loving the track. In the first moto, I was running I think fifth or sixth and just got together with a lapper. I think he looked back to get out of the way and actually when he looked back, turned right into me and T-boned me. I went down off the track and twisted my ankle a bit. So overall, a decent rebound for the second moto in 11th. We’re still building. I’m looking forward to Unadilla and getting next weekend off to get stronger and fitter for the last three rounds.”
Kyle Peters: (17th in 250MX) “I felt like I had the speed, but I couldn’t stay off the ground in the first moto. I crashed a few times and was dead last at the beginning. I’m happy that I was able to charge up into the top 20, but I know that I have a lot more in me. I had a great week of practice leading up to Washougal. My plan is to take that practice speed and translate it to the motos.”
Garrett Marchbanks: (22nd in 250MX) “Moto 1 was frustrating as I felt good all day, but my crash had done too much damage to get back out there. In Moto 2, I struggled to find a rhythm and struggled to go forward after 40th gate pick. I know I am capable of much greater results and will go back to the drawing board this week during our break to make the necessary changes to get me back up where I belong. I can’t say thank you enough to the entire Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team for sticking behind me and believing in me on these tough days like today.”
