Sitting up high in Colorados Rocky Mountains is the aptly named thunder Valley. The stage is set for round 3 of the 2017 AMA Lukas Oil Pro Motocross season. One thing is for certain this year and that is that NOTHING can be taken for granted! Results and form have been all over the place and had certainly produced some amazing racing. The riders and bikes have a tough job at this high altitude so its going to be another crazy race haha.
250 Class race one.
40 bikes flew off the gate and it was Troy Lee Design KTM rider Alex Martin who grabbed the holeshot. He rode a super solid race from start to finish holding off His younger brother and Honda rider Jeremy Martin and Pro Circuits Joey Savatgy. Adam Cianciarulo and Zack Ozborne had a heated battle trying to catch up to Alex Martin. Ozborne got the better of Cianciarulo but as he tried to run down the lead he threw it away tipping the bike which ended his run and shot him back to 16th place. Cianciarulo briefly got past Hondas Martin but he made a mistake in a rutted corner which dropped him back to 8th and Jeremy Martin reclaimed 2nd. Savatgy rode a smart race and with all the hussle up front managed to catch up to Jeremy and after a heated battle found a way past him to claim 2nd place.
Alex Martin took the win with Savatgy very close behind and Jermey completed a great start for the Martin Brothers in third. Ozborne fought his way back to 8th after his issues earlier.
250 Class race two.
Second place obviously fired up Savatgy as he shot out the gate to grab the holeshot in race two just nipping it from Plessinger. Martin couldn't repeat his form from race one and came into the first corner 9th just behind oznorne in 8th. Plessinger found another gear and managed to pass Savatgy who fought well to get back pass. Plessinger looked set to ride to victory before losing control on lap 3 and flying off the track! Savatgy didn't need asking twice for the good fortune and retook the lead. This pushed Ferrandis into second place and Jeremy Martin third after managing to pass Harrison. Ozborne was making great headway catching Harrison then his bad luck came right back as his bike bobbled and took him off the side of the track.
Savatgy rode on to complete his first win of the season with Jeremy Martin biting away at his read fender. Forkner held off Alex Martin to take the last podium place.
450 Class race one.
If Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin thought that the red plate would keep him safe then he couldn't be more wrong... Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh Grant took him and Blake Bagget out in the first turn. Martin Davalos got his nose in front to grab his first ever career holeshot with Justin Bogle and Jason Anderson breathing down his neck. Tomac, thinking to capitalise on Musquins bad fortune set off in 5th while Musquin managed to get back going again in 19th.
Davalos's fortune went from good to bad as he crashed out of the lead but luckily rejoined the race in 9th. Bogle took control of race up front with Anderson and Justin Barcia following. Tomac started hunting down Barcia straight after getting past him in the 3rd lap but bad luck struck again as a rut tipped him over. After kickstarting and recovering this left Tomac in 6th and right in the sights of Musquin who had worked his way back up. The two riders then battled it out getting past Broc Tickle before Tomac closed in on Barcia. Musquin saw this coming and shot past Tomac and Barcia as Tomac faltered behind The Susuki.
Bogle took his first ever career win by an amazing 8.6 seconds! Anderon took 2nd with Bagget grabbing 3rd while Musquin held off Tomac to come in 4th.
450 Class race two.
Broc Tickle took the last holeshot of the day but gave way to Bagget who was riding like a champ and took the lead early on in lap one. Tomac had other ideas though and made short work of passing him and left points leader Musquin way back in 9th. Tomac and Bagget set the pace and soon started to open up a sizeable gap from the rest of the pack. Musquin pushed on hard and got past Anderson in lap 3 and managed to get past barcia to move up to 3rd. In typical fashion Anderson saw the opportunity and followed the Frenchman into 4th knocking back Barcia to 5th. The theme of the day seemed to be riders throwing away good leads as Anderson rode off the track in lap 7 dropping back to 6th by the time he rejoined.
The front runners were fighting a heated battle for the lead as Bagget pressured Tomac but couldn't make a pass stick. In lap 7 it seemed like now or never as Bagget opened the throttle and shot past Tomac! The fire lit and he soon pulled away from the Kawasaki man and continued his blistering pace to take his first career win. Tomac grabbed 2nd and Musquin was on damage control grabbing the last podium spot.
Heres the stats from the day
