No tiebreaker.
No swapping of first and second place in Moto 1 and Moto 2.
No crash. No bad day. Nothing stellar happened in Round 12 to determine the 2015 Motocross 250 Class Championship.
Just bike failure.
The ending to one of the greatest Motocross title fights in recent memory held on Saturday at the Ironman National in Crawfordsville, IN proved as anticlimactic as it was dramatic. On Lap 1 Marvin Musquin, winner of 10 Motos this season, the most of anybody, and just two points back of Jeremy Martin for the Championship, disappeared from the pack shortly after saving what could have been a race ending crash.
But he didn't hit the dirt. He was off to the side with a stalled bike. He motioned what was pretty obvious to anyone who has ever ridden a dirt bike. No throttle.
He walked his bike back towards the pits, stopped and then dropped his head on his bike.
It was over.
Marvin Musquin's anguish was palpable
Jeremy Martin didn't exactly cruise to his second straight title and besides if it could happen to Musquin it could happen to him. So, Martin finished fourth in Moto 1 throttling down a bit as it became clear that his primary competitor for the crown was out. No team tactics needed. Cooper Webb, who let Jeremy by last week, finished first, followed by Aaron Plessinger and Jessy Nelson.
Martin carried a 20 point lead into Moto 2 and really just needed to finish. To be absolutely safe, finish 16th just in case Musquin, his bike now working, took first. If so, they'd tie in points and Martin would win the tie-breaker.
Ultimately, Martin who was in 24th at one point during the race, finished ninth in Moto 2 in what looked more like a cruise around the track for 30 minutes plus three laps as Musquin raced his heart out and took third. The ninth-place finish tied Martin's lowest all year (Moto 1 at Washougal) and the sixth-place overall was his worst finish of the season.
"I knew it would come down to the last race and the last Moto," Martin said. "Marvin pushed me past my limit and even further. He was a great competitor. I really appreciate him pushing me so much like that, it's only going to make me better."
Musquin took 10th overall thanks to his only DNF of the year and finished second, 12 points behind the Champion. He's moving on to the 450 class for 2016 while Martin looks for a third straight 250 Championship.
"It was a great year, the best year in my career so I feel like I can't really complain," Musquin said. "I was ready to battle and unfortunately my bike was cutting. I feel like I let everybody down in that first Moto. It went down pretty quick."
Slightly lost amongst the hoopla was Plessinger winning his first career Moto and overall. In both Motos he battled to the front and got some help in Moto 2 after Nelson crashed while leading. Joey Savatgy resumed control but couldn't fend off the determined Plessinger who grabbed the lead on Lap 8 and finished nearly 11 seconds ahead of Savatgy. Plessinger passed Alex Martin in the standings and finished sixth for the year. Savatgy finished second overall holding on to third place for the year. Nelson took third overall and finished fifth for the year. Zach Osborne finished seventh overall and took fourth on the season. Webb posted a DNF after crashing in Moto 2 and lost out on a Top 10 finish for the season taking 11th, two points behind RJ Hampshire and Shane McElrath.
Cooper Webb alerts riders after his Moto 2 crash
In the 450 class, Ryan Dungey wrapped up the Championship last week but you wouldn't know it based on the intensity of riding as second-place for the year was on the line which went down between defending Champion Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia.
Dungey didn't make it easy for anyone as he grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot in Moto 1 briefly lost the lead to Christophe Pourcel but took it back on Lap 2 and never looked back winning by a large margin over Jason Anderson, who tied a career high finish in the 450 class. Roczen took third and a one point lead for second heading into Moto 2 over Barcia, who finished seventh.
In Moto 2, Barcia the king of holeshots this year, grabbed it but his lead was short-lived once the red flag came out and the race was restarted after Kyle Chisholm crashed out at the start. Pourcel took advantage crossing the turn first with Barcia in tow and Dungey and Roczen in third and fourth. Barcia, who banged his head pretty good after a crash in practice, took the lead but was unable to hold on as Roczen mounted a charge, passed Barcia and led the field for more than half the Moto taking the win and fending off Dungey. It was Roczen's first Moto win since Round 5 at High Point.
Surprisingly Dungey crashed on Lap 3 while in third-place, quickly got up, banged his clutch lever back into place and resumed riding in seventh. But like a Champ, he quickly got into second where he stayed which gave him the overall. It was his fifth consecutive and seventh on the season. He finished 100 points ahead of Roczen.
Anderson finished sixth for third overall and Barcia took third for fourth overall losing his hold on second-place to Roczen by six points.
"I look forward to just growing keep getting better and keep having fun," Dungey said. "These Championships are tough, they are not easy. But I look forward to the challenge and the work that lies ahead."
Chase Marquier was MotoSport's only rider at Ironman
MotoSport had no riders in the 450 class as Fredrik Noren broke his hand last week but finishes in 10th for the year. Tommy Hahn suffered a concussion two weeks ago which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. In the 250 class, Kyle Peters tried to make a go of it after a crash in practice sidelined him the last round but ultimately he didn't race. Chase Marquier took 19th in Moto 1 but didn't finish in Moto 2.
Guy Cooper leads the Legends field at the start. Ricky Carmichael won the race
Also featured on the final round of the 2015 Motocross season was the inaugural Legends Race. Guy Cooper, team manager for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team, took the Holeshot in the 12 rider field but it was Ricky Carmichael coming out on top. Robbie Reynard took second and Tim Ferry third.
That's it. The 2015 racing season is over.
Motocross of Nations is next month and in October the Red Bull Straight Rhythm followed by the Monster Cup. Some guy named James Stewart is also expected back.
2015 Ironman National Motocross Results
Ironman National 450 Class Results
- Ryan Dungey (1-2)
- Ken Roczen (3-1)
- Jason Anderson (2-6)
- Justin Barcia (7-3)
- Christophe Pourcel (4-7)
- Trey Canard (8-5)
- Blake Baggett (6-9)
- Broc Tickle (15-4)
- Josh Grant (10-8)
- Phil Nicoletti (11-10)
Ironman National 250 Class Results
- Aaron Plessinger (2-1)
- Joey Savatgy (5-2)
- Jessy Nelson (3-6)
- RJ Hampshire (8-4)
- Matt Bisceglia (6-5)
- Jeremy Martin (4-9)
- Zach Osborne (10-7)
- Christian Craig (9-8)
- Cooper Webb (1-37)
- Marvin Musquin (40-3)
2015 Motocross Season Final Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ryan Dungey (547) - 2015 Motocross 450 Class Champion
- Ken Roczen (447)
- Justin Barcia (441)
- Blake Baggett (360)
- Christophe Pourcel (323)
- Jason Anderson (320)
- Broc Tickle (311)
- Phil Nicoletti (250)
- Weston Peick (223)
- Fredrik Noren (206) - MotoSport rider
250 Class Standings
- Jeremy Martin (491) - 2015 Motocross 250 Class Champion
- Marvin Musquin (479)
- Joey Savatgy (348)
- Zach Osborne (330)
- Jessy Nelson (323)
- Aaron Plessinger (311)
- Alex Martin (288)
- Matt Bisceglia (256)
- Shane McElrath (248)
- RJ Hampshire (248)
