MOTO 1
The first moto of the season was a heartbreaking one for Adam Cianciarulo.
The young Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider has been slowed by injuries over the last two years – he missed the entire season in 2014 – but looks primed for a big year. Things were breaking his way early today – he was the fastest qualifier in practice, and he held the lead early in 250 Moto 1 until a crash gave the win away.
The MotoSport.com Holeshot went to Justin Bogle, who held the lead early, but it wasn’t long before Cianciarulo made a charge into the lead. Bogle also gave up a spot to Cooper Webb, setting up a battle for the lead between Cianciarulo and Webb. Meanwhile, Bogle settled into a battle of his own with Marvin Musquin.
Once Musquin took away third from Bogle, he went on a charge to make his way back up to the lead pack. Up front, Cianciarulo was holding off Webb and at one point even attempted the FLY 150 massive uphilll triple – something that very few 450 riders have even been doing throughout the week.
A few laps into the race though, Cianciarulo went down. He remounted near the backend of the top ten, and Musquin made the pass on Webb shortly thereafter. Once he got into the lead, Musquin checked out and won the race by a comfortable margin
“I didn’t have that intensity the first two laps, so I tried to stay calm,” Musquin said after the race. “Then I saw Adam going down, and I realized I was capable of taking the lead.”
Joey Savatgy spent much of the race holding off the defending 250MX champion Jeremy Martin for third place. Savatgy was unable to gain any separation, and Martin was eventually able to pass him with about five minutes left in the moto. Martin then used what little time was left to track down his teammate Webb to steal away second place.
MOTO 2
After Jeremy Martin put in a hard-charging effort in the first moto to take second place, he indicated that he was ready to go another 30 minutes. He certainly wasn’t kidding.
Martin came out hot in the second moto, immediately putting himself up front and then building a gap on second-place Jessy Nelson. Marvin Musquin – the winner of the first moto – was unable to get as good of a start, and although he picked his way through the field up to second place in short order, it was too late to catch Martin.
After his 26-second margin of victory, Martin also earned the overall win thanks to 2-1 moto finishes on the day. The defending 250MX champion will be able to keep the red plate on his #1 bike for at least one more week.
He will not have sole possession of the points lead though – because Musquin finished 1-2 on the day, the Red Bull KTM rider officially earned second overall, but he will be tied with Martin in points entering next week’s race in Glen Helen.
“Marvin’s an awesome competitor,” Martin said after the race. “He pushes me and hopefully I do the same in return. It was a good race here.”
A battle for third in the moto and third overall shaped up behind Martin and Musquin. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge held off Jeremy’s brother, Alex Martin, in the waning laps to earn his first career podium finish.
Meanwhile, two of Martin’s biggest threats to a title repeat – Cooper Webb and Justin Bogle – were both unable to finish the race and looked to be in pain coming off the track.
Hangtown 250MX Overall Results
1. Jeremy Martin (2-1)
2. Marvin Musquin (1-2)
3. Chris Alldredge (5-3)
4. Alex Martin (6-4)
5. Anthony Rodriguez (7-6)
6. Aaron Plessinger (10-8)
7. Joey Savatgy (4-15)
8. Adam Cianciarulo (9-11)
9. Matt Bisceglia (12-10)
10. Cooper Webb (3-37)
Hangtown 250 Moto 1 Results
1. Marvin Musquin
2. Jeremy Martin
3. Cooper Webb
4. Joey Savatgy
5. Chris Alldredge
6. Alex Martin
7. Anthony Rodriguez
8. Justin Bogle
9. Adam Cianciarulo
10. Aaron Plessinger
Hangtown 250 Moto 2 Results
1. Jeremy Martin
2. Marvin Musquin
3. Chris Alldredge
4. Alex Martin
5. Zach Osborne
6. Anthony Rodriguez
7. Justin Hill
8. Aaron Plessinger
9. Shane McElrath
10. Matt Bisceglia