Ken Roczen resumed his place atop the podium with a resounding win on Saturday for Round 8 of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series held at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, MN.
Just a week after Eli Tomac swept Southwick and looked ready to battle for the title, Roczen closed the door, quite possibly for good, with his sixth sweep of the season, including 12th and 13th Moto wins out of 15 raced so far.
And it wasn't even close.
Justin Barcia grabbed the early lead in Moto 1 taking the holeshot but quickly lost it to Tomac and then second place to the charging Roczen at the end of the first lap. Tomac looked ready to defend his line holding off the aggressive Roczen but about 10 minutes in Tomac took the outside of a turn as Roczen selected the inside and checked out.
Moto 2 was a bit different story but showed exactly why Roczen is headed for his second 450 class Motocross Championship as he almost went down at the start, banging bars with Trey Canard and rounding the first turn near the back of the pack. Methodically, Rozcen passed rider after rider and by the end of the first lap he was in second ready to take down Marvin Musquin, who grabbed the holeshot and got into the early lead.
Five minutes later, Roczen made the pass and went on to win by 28 seconds over Musquin and 40 seconds over Tomac in third-place.
Ken Roczen's sweep at Spring Creek puts him on pace to win the 2016 Motocross Championship at Budds Creek
Afterwards, Roczen said his shifter got bent early in the race so he tried to stay in one gear throughout the Moto and race his own race. Ultimately, he said, he just played it safe. Roczen extended his points lead to 55 over Tomac, who finished third-overall, losing the tie-breaker to Musquin, who took a career 450 class best, second-place overall.
"I'm doing better, it was awesome to rip the holeshot. I fought for it and I pushed really hard," said Musquin, a rookie. "I was leading, I was (thinking) finally, finally I'm leading and let's do a couple of laps. Kenny is on another level, he went around me, he made me look bad."
Marvin Musquin had his best day as a 450 class rider taking second overall
Christophe Pourcel grabbed a season best fourth-place overall taking the tie-breaker over Justin Barcia who settled for fifth. Canard picked up right where he left off in Thunder Valley, taking sixth-place in his return from a practice crash prior to Round 4. James Stewart returned for the first time since a Round 1 crash and took 10th in Moto 1 but did not finish Moto 2 taking 15th overall.
A brutal crash in Moto 1 involved Weston Peick when he crossed-rutted in front of Broc Tickle off a jump and Tickle plowed into Peick's head. The impact sent both riders to the ground and the incident ended their day. Tickle was on two feet immediately while Peick remained on the ground and reports later indicated both appeared to be OK.
Jeremy Martin finally got his first overall win of the season
It was home sweet home for Jeremy Martin who got his first overall of the season taking the tie-breaker from Cooper Webb in front of a hometown crowd. The two-time defending Champion pulled into second-place for points but still trails Webb by 38 in his quest for a three-peat.
The day started out with Alex Martin taking the holeshot and Jeremy in tow as the brothers looked strong to finish 1-2 on their home track (parents own Spring Creek) but after about 12 minutes lapsed the always lurking Webb made the pass on Jeremy taking second-place setting up a showdown for first. After time expired and three laps remained, Alex went down in a corner losing the lead to Webb and second-place to his brother.
Moto 2 started the same but this time Alex went down on the first lap which held up Jeremy giving the lead to Adam Cianciarulo who stayed out front for three laps. Meanwhile, Webb got a bad start and was just inside the Top 10 working his way up front. About eight minutes later Jeremy got into the lead and shortly after Zach Osborne took second but then in one corner Webb jumped from fourth to second passing Joey Savatgy, who struggled through a turn, and Osborne. In the waning laps, Alex Martin worked his way into third-place after the crash to get on the podium.
"It feels amazing, it was a good day for me," said Jeremy Martin. "The bike was handling absolutely perfect in Moto 2, I haven't found that all year. I was able to ride my own pace."
Cooper Webb has won five of the last seven Motos but settled for second-place overall at Spring Creek
Webb described the track as difficult to pass and despite not losing any points to Martin and increasing his lead over Savatgy, who fell to third-place in the standings with a fourth-place overall, Webb clearly wanted the win.
"I got a bad start which didn't help my case," he said. "Put my head down but I just didn't have it. I kind of struggled that Moto (two) but I was glad to get second."
Alex Martin said he was disappointed from the crash in the first Moto indicating he didn't know what happened but he was happy he pulled both holeshots and managed to get out front and lead.
"Just two mistakes and my day would have been a lot different," he said.
Motocross Round 9 is Saturday at Washougal in Washington State. Buy tickets online or at the track.
2016 Spring Creek Motocross Results
Spring Creek 450 Class Results
- Ken Roczen (1-1)
- Marvin Musquin (3-2)
- Eli Tomac (2-3)
- Christophe Pourcel (5-4)
- Justin Barcia (4-5)
- Trey Canard (6-6)
- Andrew Short (8-8)
- Benny Bloss (7-10)
- Justin Barcia (9-9)
- Phil Nicoletti (14-7)
Spring Creek 250 Class Results
- Jeremy Martin (2-1)
- Cooper Webb (1-2)
- Alex Martin (3-4)
- Joey Savatgy (4-5)
- Aaron Plessinger (5-6)
- Adam Cianciarulo (7-8)
- Arnaud Tonus (8-9)
- Mitchell Harrison (11-10)
- RJ Hampshire (10-11)
- Luke Renzland (9-12)
2016 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ken Roczen (387)
- Eli Tomac (332)
- Marvin Musquin (243)
- Justin Barcia (215)
- Christophe Pourcel (202)
- Broc Tickle (171)
- Cole Seely (151)
- Justin Brayton (144)
- Justin Bogle (136)
- Ryan Dungey (131)
250 Class Standings
- Cooper Webb (337)
- Jeremy Martin (299)
- Joey Savatgy (287)
- Alex Martin (270)
- Zach Osborne (237)
- Austin Forkner (221)
- Aaron Plessinger (217)
- Arnaud Tonus (163)
- RJ Hampshire (153)
- Adam Cianciarulo (150)
