Feature photo by: Octopi
The 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship reconvened after a week off on Saturday with the Unadilla National, and it was HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen absolutely dominating the 450MX class and Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis winning the 250MX class.
Ferrandis was joined on the 250MX podium by Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo (2nd) and GEICO / Honda’s Chase Sexton (3rd). In the 450MX class, Roczen was joined by Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (2nd) and Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne (3rd) on the podium.
After the racing was over, we gathered numerous quotes from riders about their tenth outdoor MX race of 2019.
Ken Roczen: (1st in 450MX) “Everything just came natural today and was clicking. I’m liking the bike a lot and I like the track too, so I just went out and had fun. I feel like when I’m having fun, that’s when I get the best results. As a team, we’ve never had a day where we were the fastest in practice and went 1-1 in the motos, and I haven’t personally done that in a long time either, so today was definitely one for the books. It’s a big monkey off my back and a good confidence boost because we have a couple races to go. I feel like we’ve got the bike dialed in over the last couple of weeks and now I’m just going to leave it the way it is. Hopefully we’ll keep getting good results.”
Dylan Ferrandis: (1st in 250MX) “The track was really rough today! The ruts were very deep. I was not really comfortable during the morning practices, but then we changed some things on my bike to improve it and it was way better. I had a good battle with AC [Adam Cianciarulo] once again. I’m very pumped about my day and my riding in moto two.””
Marvin Musquin: (2nd in 450MX) “I’m pretty happy with my day but I wish I would have given it a better fight in the second moto. I felt good in both motos but at the end I started making mistakes. Overall, it’s a good day but I wanted more. I have good memories here – winning my first 250 race here in 2013 – so of course I want more of that but I’m happy to gain 10 points on Eli Tomac in the overall championship.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (2nd in 250MX) “Today wasn’t easy; the track was difficult and physically challenging but I know we were all out there with the same grueling conditions. The top spot is always the goal but I’m still pumped on the second overall. Two more, let’s do this!”
Chase Sexton: (3rd in 250MX) “It was a rough couple of weeks after that race in Florida, it kind of just took away all the confidence I had. After that it’s taken a long time to feel good again, I feel like I’m getting back to 100 percent and back where I’m supposed to be, which is on the podium. That pace we had second moto was fast, I was trying to make something happen but these guys were good. They’re 1-2 in points for reason. I’m just trying to build after a solid weekend and get even better”
Zach Osborne: (3rd in 450MX) “Overall, it was a decent day. Typically, a 4-4 isn’t going to get you on the podium but it did today. I’m happy with my riding, I just really didn’t have the speed today. I felt good in both motos and I’m happy to be back on the podium.”
Eli Tomac: (4th in 450MX) “Although my starts were much better and I even got the holeshot in Moto 1, today was tough. The track was challenging and my body was just physically exhausted so I struggled to find my flow in the first moto. I was able to come back in the second moto and finish strong. Of course today wasn’t my best result but we finished the day with a decent fourth overall. I’m healthy and in a good position heading into the last two rounds with the ultimate goal of winning the championship.”
Jason Anderson: (5th in 450MX) “My weekend went pretty good. I was happy to qualify third and then be consistent with top-fives in the motos but I definitely want more – I want to be on the podium and fighting for wins.”
Justin Cooper: (4th in 250MX) “It was a good day at Unadilla. We put in solid motos and the bike was good. I ended up crashing out of the lead in the first one and rode tight after that. The second moto I lacked a little pace, but I have my eyes on next weekend already. The small change for moto two end ended up being better. The team did a great job working with us on a really tough track toda”
Justin Barcia: (6th in 450MX) “In the first moto, I got off into a top-10 start and charged hard. That ride was what we are looking for. We obviously want to win, but to get third was a step in the right direction. It was good to see the work we put in on the off weekend turn out a great result. In the second moto, I was mid-pack on the start and was quickly moving through the pack. I ended up hitting a bump and slid out. That put me in the back trying to go forward again. I rode tight after that, but I’m happy with the day overall.””
Colt Nichols: (5th in 250SX) “The bike was awesome. I just needed to make a few little adjustments before second moto, but live and learn. I felt my riding was really good today, but my starts were horrible so I didn’t help myself at all. We have just a few races left to turn those around.”
Joey Savatgy: (7th in 450MX) “It was a good day even with the rough track conditions. I had good starts in both motos; we went 6-6 for seventh overall for the second time in a row. I feel like we’re in a good place, but still have work to do. All in all, it’s forward progress and I’m looking forward to finishing out the season strong with these last two rounds.”
Dean Wilson: (10th in 450MX) “Today was a step in the right direction. In the second moto, I had a crazy good battle with Barcia all race long. I didn’t end up beating him, but I was happy with my effort. I’m just coming back and still healing, so I’m not being too hard on myself with the results.”
Alex Martin: (7th in 250MX) “Unadilla is a very difficult track. The straightaways have long ruts, which is not something I usually see at many Nationals. It seemed like you had to be riding very much on the edge, letting it all hang out. I wasn’t able to do that this weekend. We made some changes on the bike leading into Unadilla and I feel those updates helped with my starts. I’m ready for Budds Creek.”
RJ Hampshire: (8th in 250MX) “Bad start first moto then someone slid out and I hit their bike, so I did a front flip in the second turn. Later that lap, I had already passed a bunch of people and someone fell into my line and I hit them, crashed again. I did what I could the rest of that moto and tried to send it for a couple more spots. On the last lap, there were three more guys right there but I lost my front end and went down again. Second moto, on the gate, [Mitch] Oldenburg’s bike wouldn’t start so they were working on it, got it going and rolled back in as the card went sideways. They set the hole shot device on his forks, so his mechanic went under my bars as the gate dropped. I don’t blame them, I’m sure we would have done the same thing in that situation but for sure feel like the officials should have held them up or done something about it. Anyways, track was sketchy that second moto and had pretty good speed late in the race, I just made a big mistake when I caught Shane [McElrath] and [Colt] Nichols and that ended my charge in that moto. Two more [races] to go.”
Garrett Marchbanks: (9th in 250MX) “The track was a tough one so I’m proud of what we were able to do and finish with another top-10 overall finish. This season has been a rollercoaster with many challenges, which I couldn’t do without the help and support of my Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. I continue to apply what I’m learning each week and we’re all looking forward to Budds next weekend.””
Freddie Noren: (11th in 450MX) “I was feeling great in timed qualifying. My start wasn’t good in the first moto and I fell once, but I made the most of it and finished 12th. I was around fourth off the start in the second moto. After a few laps in I got some help from a rider and went down hard. I was able to finish the moto in eighth. All of the guys on the team are awesome! I am really enjoying the weekends and looking forward to the last two rounds.”
Ty Masterpool: (10th in 250MX) “The bike was really good today! In the first moto I didn’t get a good start and had to work my way up. I had another bad start in moto two and worked my way up to ninth then made some mistakes and ended up 10th overall.”
Jordan Bailey: (11th in 250MX) “All-in-all, I think today was a really good step in the right direction. It was a bummer to slide out at the end of the second moto but I’m happy with how I rode. I’m looking forward to Budds Creek and just keeping this momentum going.”
Aaron Plessinger: (20th in 450MX) “It was a pretty rough day. I went out, qualified 14th and was having an alright day. Then in the first moto I got a really good start and had just got passed by Jason Anderson when I felt the bike starting to sputter real bad. That was pretty much the end of my moto. Then I went out for the second moto, I had 32nd or 33rd gate pick and got pushed out real wide. I had to come back from that and made it back to about 18th. So it was a rough day. I’m going to go out to California and try to fix what I’m struggling with. We’ll be back at Budds Creek.”
Michael Mosiman: (12th in 250MX) “t was a pretty rough end to the day. In the second moto, I had two big crashes and unfortunately wasn’t able to finish. I’m feeling pretty sore and I’m just going to go home and recuperate and go from here.”
Martin Davalos: (14ty in 250MX) “It was good to get back out there and race this weekend. The team and I made the decision to take some time off and allow my body to fully recover and I believe it was the best thing for me. Obviously I have a lot of work to still do but it feels great to be back at what I love doing.”
Mitchell Oldenburg: (16th in 250MX) “I’m really bummed with the way the day ended. I had a really good day going, qualifying fifth overall. In the first moto, I finished ninth, which was my best finish of the season so far. Unfortunately I had a mechanical in the second moto and my bike wouldn’t start on the line. I took off late and just couldn’t do it with the bike. We’ll regroup, get a good week of riding and training in, then come back for these last two rounds and give it everything we’ve got.”
Kyle Peters: (17th in 250MX) ” struggled. I wasn’t on my game like I should have been. It’s disappointing. I’m better than that. I’m going to keep working, and I’m happy to race again this next weekend.”
Jalek Swoll: (23rd in 250MX) “I came in with the mentality that whatever we get here is a good starting point and we will only progress from there. The field is stacked and those long ruts – it’s just completely different than any other race as an amateur. This is definitely way gnarlier than Loretta’s! I got a little bit of experience under my belt and we’re looking forward to dropping that overall number at Budds Creek.”
