Ryan Dungey battled a charged-up and confident Justin Barcia but got his first sweep of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season on Saturday for Round 8 at Spring Creek in Millville, MN and extended his points lead to 56 in his quest for a third Championship in the 450 class with four rounds remaining.
Dungey, who hails from Minnesota and had the fastest practice time of the day, had his work cut out for him but like he's done all season methodically worked his way up front and never relinquished the lead. Barcia grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot award in both Motos extending that streak to six but it wasn't enough for a third straight victory.
In Moto 1, Dungey started third but got into first by the end of Lap 1 and got more rope thanks to a spillover by Barcia who never got into charging distance. In Moto 2, Barcia stayed upright but still was unable to fend off the aggressive Dungey who started in fifth but made some passes happen on the first few laps, took the lead on Lap 4 and went on for his first overall win in three rounds.
"It was good to go 1-1 on the day. I've been looking to do that a couple of races previously so it was good to get that first 1-1 of the year," said Dungey who hadn't won at Spring Creek since 2012 after five consecutive wins there. "The home track was awesome. We got a lot of rain last night so by the (time the Motos started) the track was amazing. It was a fun weekend here in the hometown."
Defending Champion Ken Roczen took third in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2 for fourth overall. He tied in points with Blake Baggett who went (4-3) taking third overall. Despite solid riding, Roczen is now at risk of losing his second-place spot to Barcia who is just 13 points back. Barcia was in fourth place 37 points behind Roczen after High Point. Barcia has five straight Top 2 Moto finishes. Roczen last finished above third-place when he won Moto 2 at High Point.
MotoSport rider Tommy Hahn came down with the flu and opted out of racing for the weekend. Guy Cooper, team manager for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team, said he left it up to Hahn on whether to compete. Cooper said Hahn is capable of Top 10 finishes, an unlikely outcome had he chosen to race.
Freddy Noren, who returns to the MotoSport team this week after filling in for Trey Canard on the Factory Honda team, took a career high fifth-place in Moto 2 and a career high seventh-place overall. He remains in 10th place in the standings.
Freddy Noren has a career day at Spring Creek
The 250 class got a new winner and a big WHAT IF after Cooper Webb won Moto 1 and took second in Moto 2 for the overall. Webb, the 250SX West Champion, returned to racing at Budds Creek after an injury in Round 1 sidelined him. He spoiled the homecoming for Jeremy Martin, whose parents own Spring Creek.
In Moto 1, Webb benefited from a few crashes the first taking down RJ Hampshire who grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot award and then Marvin Musquin, who is in a fight for the Championship points lead with Martin, hit the dirt after taking the lead from Hampshire. Musquin went down again later and finished eighth. Hampshire recovered after his fall and took the lead back after Musquin went down but he couldn't fend off Webb or Savatgy who finished 1-2 and Martin grabbed third despite riding with a broken clutch lever.
In Moto 2, it was the Jeremy Martin show as he grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot award and beat Webb by 25 seconds. Martin took second-place overall and now has a season high 19 point lead in the standings over Musquin, who finished fourth overall after an (8-3) day.
Kyle Peters posted some great starts and a Top 10 in Moto 1
MotoSport rider Kyle Peters took 13th overall including ninth in Moto 1 his second Top 10 finish. In Moto 1 he was running fifth for about 20 minutes and only about 15 seconds off the lead.
"Kyle got two jamming starts," Cooper said. "He was on fire the first Moto and ahead of Jeremy Martin until the 20 minute mark."
Cooper said Peters sprinted that first 20 minutes and got a bit tired. In the second Moto he went wide at the start and got bogged down in some mud and nearly went over the bars. Once he got back in he was bombarded by other riders and wasn't able to mount much of a charge and finished 17th.
The picturesque setting of Washougal greets riders for Round 9 on Saturday in Washougal, WA. Buy tickets online or check out the broadcast schedule.
2015 Spring Creek National Motocross Results
Spring Creek National 450 Class Results
- Ryan Dungey (1-1)
- Justin Barcia (2-2)
- Blake Baggett (4-3)
- Ken Roczen (3-4)
- Jason Anderson (6-6)
- Broc Tickle (5-7)
- Fredrik Noren (8-5)
- Christophe Pourcel (9-8)
- Phil Nicoletti (7-10)
- Josh Grant (10-9)
Spring Creek National 250 Class Results
- Cooper Webb (1-2)
- Jeremy Martin (3-1)
- Joey Savatgy (2-4)
- Marvin Musquin (8-3)
- Zach Osborne (7-7)
- Aaron Plessinger (6-9)
- Jordon Smith (12-5)
- Shane McElrath (11-6)
- RJ Hampshire (5-12)
- Alex Martin (4-14)
2015 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ryan Dungey (353)
- Ken Roczen (297)
- Justin Barcia (284)
- Blake Baggett (250)
- Jason Anderson (227)
- Broc Tickle (220)
- Christophe Pourcel (211)
- Phllip Nicoletti (176)
- Weston Peick (171)
- Fredrik Noren (161)
250 Class Standings
- Jeremy Martin (343)
- Marvin Musquin (324)
- Zach Osborne (235)
- Joey Savatgy (231)
- Alex Martin (213)
- Jessy Nelson (205)
- Adam Cianciarulo (178)
- Aaron Plessinger (169)
- Matthew Bisceglia (163)
- Jordon Smith (157)
