2020 RedBud 1 Motocross Recap
It wasn't the 4th of July but the racing proved just as exciting thanks in part to a track that was slick at times, with hard pack, deep ruts and sand.
And when it was all settled, Zach Osborne took control of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series with two wire-to-wire wins in the 450 class on Friday in the first of two rounds scheduled at the famed RedBud National in Buchanan, MI.
RedBud normally drops gates on Saturday for the July 4th weekend but thanks to the coronavirus pandemic which interrupted Supercross, among many other things, the delay for the Nationals has also shortened the usual 12 round season to nine and RedBud got the nod for Rounds 4 held on Friday and 5, which takes place Monday. Osborne, who won the first two rounds at Loretta Lynn's, rebounded from a subpar performance at Ironman a week earlier and boosted his lead in the Championship standings to 26 over Marvin Musquin.
Eli Tomac, the three-time defending Champion, was unable to capitalize on his overall win at Ironman after suffering a rough two opening rounds including two DNF's at Round 2, and finished sixth overall on a (4-5) day falling 43 points back of first-place with just five rounds remaining.
Elsewhere, rookie Chase Sexton took second overall on a (3-4) day, his first 450 class podium. Justin Barcia (6-2) took third overall after putting on a racing clinic in Moto 2 and finishing second despite tangling with Adam Cianciarulo a few times before pulling away. Marvin Musquin (2-6) took fourth on the tie-breaker to Barcia and Cianciarulo (5-3) rounded out the Top 5.
In the 250 class, Jeremy Martin grabbed the Red Plate, for the first time in two years, after sweeping for his third straight win and leads Dylan Ferrandis by 12 points. Martin, a two-time Champion has looked in prime form all season after returning to the track this year after suffering a burst fracture of his L1 vertebrae in 2018.
Ferrandis, who opened the season with a resounding win and looked ready to roll the rest of the season, managed to salvage points during his worst outing of the series. Two bad starts left him in 28th and 18th place in Moto 1 and Moto 2, respectively, but he fought his way to fourth overall on a (7-3) day but fell to second-place in the standings.
RJ Hampshire (2-5) took second overall while Shane McElrath (8-2) rounded out the podium. Ty Masterpool, who got the clearance to race just three days prior after breaking his leg in June, grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot in Moto 1 and led for much of the race until Martin got past. He settled for sixth overall after finishing 13th in Moto 2. Alex martin (6-4) finished fifth overall.
Gates drop for RedBud 2 on Monday (Tomorrow!) at 10 a.m. (PST). Sorry for the late photo gallery, hopefully you can celebrate the moment from just three days ago before tuning into Round 5 of Motocross. Photos by Ryne Swanberg.
2020 RedBud 1 Motocross
