With an early-season ankle injury in the rearview mirror, Cooper Webb grabbed his second straight Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 250 Class victory, winning the Peterson CAT Washougal National thanks to a strong performance in the second moto.
Christian Craig (68) pulled the holeshot in the first moto, but a fall knocked him out of the lead a few laps later. (Photo: George Crosland)
In the first moto, GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award and held onto the lead until muddy conditions got the better of him on Lap 3 and he went down after building a lead of nearly seven seconds. That allowed Webb to inherit the lead, with Musquin running behind him in second, setting up an epic showdown between the two for the remainder of the moto.
Webb led the next eight laps, but with about three minutes left on the countdown clock, Musquin went on a hard charge and closed in on him. Musquin was able to make a pass on the inside, but Webb was still right there with him, so Musquin moved over and forced Webb off the track. Webb got back onto the track behind Musquin, but as Webb was tossing his goggles, Musquin was able to pull away a bit.
Musquin held off a hard-charging Webb on the final lap to secure the win in Moto 1. (Photo: Chris Ortiz)
Goggles were a huge factor, as Musquin also ended up needing to toss his, and in doing so, it allowed Webb to close back in on him. Webb came close and was all over Musquin on the final lap, but as Webb landed a jump, his bike started smoking. He completed the rest of the lap with a trail of smoke behind his Yamaha to hold on for second, but he watched as Musquin took the checkered flag to win the first moto.
After being sidelined several months by an illness, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Arnaud Tonus finished third in the moto in his first career motocross race in the United States. Christian Craig held on for fourth after his crash, and rookie Aaron Plessinger rounded out the top five. Current 250 Class points leader Jeremy Martin failed to get a good start and finished back in ninth, allowing Musquin to close the points gap.
Switzerland’s Tonus made his Lucas Oil Pro Motocross debut at Washougal. (Photo: Matt Rice)
The fireworks didn’t end when the checkered flag came out though, as a frustrated Webb had some choice words about his competitor.
“[Musquin] was cross-jumping, which in my opinion is bullcrap,” Webb told NBC Sports’ Georgia Lindsay after the race. “He about clipped my front wheel three or four times, so if I get a chance, I’m gonna put him on the ground this next [moto] and teach him his lesson.”
Webb and Martin battled for the lead throughout the second moto. (Photo: Matt Rice)
The second moto featured a much better start for Martin, as he secured the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award with his teammate Webb and rookie Daniel Baker close behind. Webb came out of the gate fired up, as he closed right in on Martin on the opening lap. The two battled side-by-side but Webb emerged with the top spot and then temporarily checked out. Musquin also moved into the mix after passing Baker for third place.
About ten minutes into the moto, Martin began to reel Webb back in. Both of the Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha riders were highly motivated for the top spot – Martin needed the position in order to pick up three extra championship points over Musquin, Webb needed first place because he would lose out on the overall to Musquin otherwise. Martin spent several laps close behind his teammate but was taking on a lot of roost in the process. He made his move on Lap 11, taking over the lead, and with that, it looked like Musquin would wind up with the overall.
Then two laps later, Martin went down, which allowed Webb and Musquin to get around him. Martin remounted in fourth and was left to fight with another teammate, Plessinger, for third.
Webb has embraced the role of spoiler in the 250 Class since returning from injury. (Photo: Matt Rice)
It was smooth sailing for Webb after that, as he secured his second moto win of the season. Musquin, Martin, Plessinger and Craig rounded out the top five in Moto 2.
Afterwards, Webb admitted that he had been frustrated by losing the first moto and had apologized to Musquin for his comments.
“First moto, I was a little angry. When you lead like that and let it slip away, it’s tough. I apologized to Marvin. I was being an idiot, I was just mad and frustrated. He beat me fair and square, and aggressive or not, it’s racing, and this is what we live for.”
Another Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha rider, Aaron Plessinger, earned his first career podium finish. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Webb (2-1) and Musquin (1-2) finished in a tie for overall points on the day, but Webb’s better finish in Moto 2 gave him the tiebreaker and the overall victory, with Musquin finishing second. Plessinger (5-4) finished on the overall podium as well for the first time in his career.
Craig (4-5) and Martin (9-3) made up the rest of the overall top five.
While Webb may have been the overall winner for the day, Marvin Musquin was a winner as well as far as the points battle is concerned. The Red Bull KTM rider trailed Martin by 19 points entering the day, but thanks for Martin’s misfortunes at Washougal, the deficit is now down to just four points.
Martin will hold the red plate for a third consecutive round at Unadilla, but the title fight is still up in the air. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Musquin will try to continue his momentum and retake the red plate when the series resumes with Round 10 of 12 two weeks from now at Unadilla.
Moto Recap:
250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Cooper Webb (2-1)
2. Marvin Musquin (1-2)
3. Aaron Plessinger (5-4)
4. Christian Craig (4-5)
5. Jeremy Martin (9-3)
6. Jessy Nelson (6-8)
7. Shane McElrath (11-6)
8. Mitchell Oldenburg (8-9)
9. Zach Osborne (7-11)
10. Arnaud Tonus (3-20)
11. Alex Martin (15-7)
12. RJ Hampshire (10-15)
13. Justin Hill (13-13)
14. Toshiki Tomita (17-12)
15. Matt Bisceglia (35-10)
16. Kyle Peters (16-16)
17. Joey Savatgy (12-21)
18. Jordon Smith (28-14)
19.Conner Elliott (14-28)
20. Luke Renzland (18-18)