After a break in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, which allowed racers and teams to rest, regroup, and review the first five races of the season, racing returned to Red Bud (How about that alliteration?). The coveted track offers incredible dirt, big-ass jumps, droves of crazy fans, and humid, intense heat. With dangerously high temps sucking the hydration from the riders–and everyone else at the track–keeping cool was an absolute necessity. As for the gate lineup itself, James Stewart and Tyla Rattray both made their respective return to the 450 class.
250 Moto 1
When the gates dropped for 250 moto one, Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin had pulled the holeshot on the field of riders. Musquin had been on a tear all day during qualifiers, and it was showed because he was kept Justin Barcia behind him for a couple laps. Although the Frenchman effortlessly flowed around the track, Barcia was able to make the pass shortly after. Once Silky got into the lead, it was Musquin, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, and Kyle Peters within the top five.
Barcia slowly started to pull away from Musquin lap after lap, but not too far behind him was a hard charging Blake Baggett. With each lap, Baggett kept gaining some ground on the field of riders by consistently jumping Larocco’s Leap. Before you know it, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider was on the rear tire of Barcia’s bike. The two battled it out for a few laps before lappers got in the way of the Geico Honda rider, allowing Baggett to move into the lead. Once up front, Baggett never looked back and took an easy win.
1. Blake Baggett
2. Justin Barcia
3. Ken Roczen
4. Marvin Musquin
5. Eli Tomac
6. Wil Hahn
7. Blake Wharton
8. Kyle Peters
9. Gareth Swanepoel
10. Jason Anderson
250 Moto 2
Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda rookie Jessie Nelson grabbed the holeshot aboard his CRF250R when the gates dropped for the second 250 moto. Blake Baggett and Justin Barcia get around the youngster relatively quickly, then the two immediately resumed their battle from the first moto. Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen both suffered terrible starts, leaving Roczen in ninth and Tomac in eleventh. Roczen clawed his way up a few positions to seventh, but it was Tomac who blitzed through the pack to fourth by the halfway point of the moto.
Late in the moto, Baggett bested Barcia once again to regain the lead and began to stack on the distance between Barcia and him. Tomac, meanwhile, found his way around his teammate, Wil Hahn, then tracked to Marvin Musquin. He chased Musquin down and with just two laps to go, Tomac found his way around the Frenchman.
When the checkers flew, Blake Baggett took the win and the overall, with Barcia and Tomac behind him to round out the podium.
1. Blake Baggett
2. Justin Barcia
3. Eli Tomac
4. Marvin Musquin
5. Wil Hahn
6. Ken Roczen
7. Gareth Swanepoel
8. Tommy Weeck
9. Jessie Nelson
10. Travis Baker
| Overall 1. Blake Baggett (Kaw) 2. Justin Barcia (Hon) 3. Eli Tomac (Hon) 4. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 5. Ken Roczen (KTM) 6. Wil Hahn (Hon) 7. Gareth Swanepoel (Yam) 8. Blake Wharton (Suz) 9. Jessy Nelson (Hon) 10. Travis Baker (Hon) 11. Kyle Peters (Yam) 12. Tommy Weeck (Yam) 13. Jason Anderson (Suz) 14. Malcolm Stewart (KTM) 15. Jake Canada (Hon) 16. Zack Freeberg (KTM) 17. Phil Nicoletti (Hon) 18. Jacob Hayes (KTM) 19. Kelli Rusk (Hon) 20. Dakota Tedder (Kaw) |
250 Class Championship Points Standings (After 6 of 12 rounds) 1. Blake Baggett (272/6 moto wins) 2. Justin Barcia (253/3) 3. Eli Tomac (236/3) 4. Ken Roczen (235) 5. Marvin Musquin (189) 6. Wil Hahn (161) 7. Blake Wharton (125) 8. Jason Anderson (121) 9. Jessy Nelson (109) 10. Jake Canada (105) |
TAGS: ama motocross, blake baggett, Buchanan MI, lucas oil motocross championship, pro motocross, pro racing, red bud 2012, red bud national, ryan dungey
