A pair of second-place moto finishes at the Red Bull Unadilla National were good enough for Joey Savatgy to earn the first overall victory of his career and snap a winless drought for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team in the process.
Moto 1 came down to a battle between Savatgy and Jeremy Martin for the win. (Photo: Matt Rice)
In the first moto, Savatgy grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, with Christian Craig and Martin just behind him. Musquin soon got into the mix, overtaking Martin for third, but then Musquin went down while rounding a turn and lost several spots. Martin was able to capitalize, passing Craig and then Chris Alldredge to move into second place and set up a showdown with Savatgy.
Despite facing constant pressure from Martin, Savatgy was able to hold him off for awhile and lead much of the race. On Lap 11, Martin finally worked his way around Savatgy and wouldn’t be touched after that.
Savatgy finished second in the moto, and his teammate Alldredge held off Musquin for third, giving Pro Circuit Kawasaki two riders inside the top three. Because he was unable to pass Alldredge, Musquin settled for fourth, and Christian Craig rounded out the top five.
Alldredge successfully fended off Musquin to lock down third place in Moto 1. (Photo: George Crosland)
The second moto was a wild one, and it kicked off with RJ Hampshire edging out Savatgy for the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. By the end of the first lap, Savatgy had retaken the lead and was in position to win the overall if he could hold on for the moto win.
Meanwhile Musquin was able to capitalize on a litany of mistakes from his competitors to move his way to the front.
Despite a strong start in Moto 2, Hampshire (80) was unable to parlay that into a podium finish. (Photo: George Crosland)
On Lap 5, Hampshire had caught back up to Savatgy and was battling for the lead until he went down and lost several spots. That moved his GEICO Honda teammate Jordon Smith into second and Alex Martin into third, but on the very next lap, Alex Martin crashed and dropped back to 8th. Then Smith had a hard crash of his own while running in second place and dropped out of the top 15.
As a result of all the chaos, Musquin inherited second place, with Cooper Webb right behind him in third. The two had a heated battle a week ago at Washougal that resulted in Webb in calling out Musquin on national television after the first moto. Although Webb apologized after the race, there was no love lost out on the track. At one point during this moto, Webb plowed into Musquin while attempting to make a pass on the inside. The maneuver wasn’t enough, as Musquin held on to the position and then appeared to turn up the speed in an effort to leave Webb in the dust.
Musquin and Webb renewed their rivalry on the track in Moto 2. (Photo: Matt Rice)
On Lap 10, Musquin overtook Savatgy for the lead, and one lap later, Webb also passed Savatgy for second place. At that point in the race, Musquin would have both won the overall ahead of Savatgy and moved into a tie with Martin for the championship lead. But then the unthinkable happened – another hard crash, this one from Cooper Webb, who looked to be in some pain afterwards. (Webb also crashed in the first moto, leaving him saddled with 18-23 moto finishes.) That allowed Savatgy to retake second place and move back into position for an overall win.
“Marvin and Cooper were going faster than I could go, so I can’t take anything away from them – they were ripping,” Savatgy, who led 19 out of 30 laps overall between both motos, recalled after the race. “I knew my only hope was for Cooper to catch Marvin and get in front of him. But then I saw Cooper went down and I had to do a math stop in the air and figure out where everyone was. At that point I was like ‘Oh man, I think I’m gonna win.’ It’s a crazy feeling. I’m pumped.”
Savatgy is the fourth different rider to win an overall in the 250 Class this year. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Musquin and Savatgy finished the moto 1-2, while rookie Aaron Plessinger set a new career high with a third-place moto finish. Jessy Nelson took fourth, and Jeremy Martin bounced back from a poor start to finish fifth in the moto.
Behind Savatgy, Musquin (4-1) and Jeremy Martin (1-5) landed on the podium in second and third, respectively. Martin will hold the red plate for a fourth consecutive round next weekend at Utah, but Musquin successfully chipped away at his championship lead today. What was a four-point deficit entering today has been sliced in half. Martin and Musquin are now separated by just two points with two rounds remaining in the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
“[Cooper’s crash in Moto 2] made it easy on me, but it gave Jeremy two [extra] points,” Musquin said. “It’s a crazy championship right now. Four more motos. It’s gonna be tough, but we’re ready.”
Jeremy Martin, one of several Yamaha riders with a special retro color scheme this week, will hold the red plate for a fourth consecutive round at Utah. (Photo: Matt Rice)
One week after his first overall podium, Plessinger scored his first career moto podium finish. (Photo: George Crosland)
Savatgy, Musquin and Martin reached the 250 Class overall podium at Unadilla. (Photo: Matt Rice)
250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Joey Savatgy (2-2)
2. Marvin Musquin (4-1)
3. Jeremy Martin (1-5)
4. Jessy Nelson (6-4)
5. Alex Martin (8-6)
6. Shane McElrath (7-8)
7. Christian Craig (5-10)
8. Aaron Plessinger (16-3)
9. Matt Bisceglia (12-9)
10. RJ Hampshire (15-7)
11. Chris Alldredge (3-37)
12. Mitchell Oldenburg (10-13)
13. Zach Osborne (9-15)
14. Luke Renzland (13-12)
15. Justin Hill (14-14)
16. Jordon Smith (11-18)
17. Martin Davalos (19-11)
18. Nick Gaines (22-16)
19. Dakota Alix (20-17)
20. Kyle Peters (17-33)