MOTO 1: Alex Martin continued to build on the best season of his career in the first 250 Class moto at Budds Creek, but his quest for his first career victory was nearly thwarted by his own brother. After losing the lead to Jeremy Martin late in the race, Alex appeared headed for a second place finish until a last-lap bike issue from Jeremy handed the victory back to Alex.
The older Martin brother, Alex, got off to a good start, putting himself third coming out of the holeshot behind RJ Hampshire and a surprise MotoSport.com Holeshot Award winner, Justin Starling. Hampshire passed Starling on the opening lap to take over the lead, and Alex soon moved past Starling into second. On the second lap, Hampshire went down while leading and fell outside the top ten as he struggled to get the bike going again. Alex inherited the lead and looked destined to break through for his first win.
In the waning laps of the race though, Jeremy put forth a charge. After passing Zach Osborne for second, Jeremy closed Alex’s gap from about five seconds down to nothing. Alex – who said after the race that he lost his rear brake with about ten minutes to go – did his best to hold him off, as the two spent some time side-by-side, but Jeremy made the pass with three laps to go in the race.
At that point, it looked like Jeremy would cruise to victory, but his bike stalled while rounding a corner on the final lap, and just like that, Alex was back in the lead and took the checkered flag for his first career win.
Alex won the battle of the Martin brothers this time. (Photo: George Crosland)
Jeremy’s second place finish temporarily moves him back into a tie for the 250 Class points lead with Marvin Musquin, who finished seventh in the moto.
Osborne rounded out the podium, continuing his recent string of strong finishes. Joey Savatgy and Christian Craig completed the top five, and Cooper Webb finished sixth in his first race back since Hangtown.
Mud races often yield a few surprsises, and in this one, it was Justin Starling. His easily beat the rest of the field to the line to claim the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award and then spent five laps inside the top three. Although he lost a few more positions, Starling managed a respectable 11th-place finish. Making it even more impressive is that Starling switched teams during the offweek, moving from the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team to Traders Racing Kawasaki.
MOTO 2: Marvin Musquin overcame a disappointing showing in the first 250 Class moto at Budds Creek to claim the overall victory thanks to a win in the second moto.
The first moto featured a battle of the Martins, with Alex prevailing over his brother Jeremy. Alex took over the lead after RJ Hampshire went down on Lap 2 and was sitting in the driver’s seat for his first career moto win, but Jeremy put on a hard charge in the final laps after overtaking Zach Osborne for second. Jeremy reduced the gap down to nothing and raced his brother side-by-side for the lead, taking away the top spot with three laps to go.
Alex appeared destined for a second-place finish, but then Jeremy’s bike stalled while rounding a corner on the final lap, and just like that, Alex was back in the lead and took the checkered flag for his first career win. Jeremy recovered to finish in second, and Osborne rounded out the podium.
Musquin did not get a great start in the first moto, crossing the line in eigth after the opening lap. He later got tangled up with his training partner, Adam Cianciarulo, and dropped outside the top ten. Musquin rebounded a bit to finish the moto in seventh, but the result put him into a tie with Jeremy Martin for the points lead heading into the second moto.
As a heavier rain began to fall in the second moto, Musquin got off to a much better start, putting himself second behind Cianciarulo, who captured the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. Cianciarulo held the Frenchman off for the first four laps of the race, but once Musquin got around him on Lap 5, he was gone. While Musquin did his part in grabbing the moto win, the battle for the overall victory would play out behind him.
After giving up the lead, Cianciarulo ended up in a battle with Jeremy Martin for second place. Had Martin stayed in the top three, he would have won the overall, but he lost several spots late in the race, falling back to sixth and putting him into yet another battle with brother Alex.
Alex, who was running in seventh, closed the gap to within two seconds by the end of the race but was unable to mount a challenge. Had Alex been able to pass Jeremy, he would have earned the first overall victory of his career. Instead, Alex ended up in a tie with Musquin for the overall, with the Red Bull KTM rider getting the nod due to a higher finish in the second moto. Musquin (7-1) officially ended up first overall, while Alex (1-7) was second.
Joey Savatgy (4-3) secured a spot on the overall podium as well, narrowly edging out Jeremy Martin (2-6) and Zach Osborne (3-5) for third place.
250 Moto 1 Recap
250 Moto 2 Recap
250 MOTO 1 RESULTS
1. Alex Martin
2. Jeremy Martin
3. Zach Osborne
4. Joey Savatgy
5. Christian Craig
6. Cooper Webb
7. Marvin Musquin
8. Adam Cianciarulo
9. Chris Alldredge
10. Mitchell Oldenburg
11. Justin Starling
12. Jessy Nelson
13. Nick Gaines
14. Daniel Baker
15. RJ Hampshire
16. Dakota Alix
17. Jordon Smith
18. Hayden Mellross
19. Anthony Rodriguez
20. Kyle Peters
250 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Marvin Musquin (7-1)
2. Alex Martin (1-7)
3. Joey Savatgy (4-3)
4. Jeremy Martin (2-6)
5. Zach Osborne (3-5)
6. Adam Cianciarulo (8-2)
7. Christian Craig (5-10)
8. Cooper Webb (6-14)
9. Matt Bisceglia (21-4)
10. Jessy Nelson (12-12)
11. Jordon Smith (17-8)
12. Nick Gaines (13-16)
13. Shane McElrath (22-9)
14. Chris Alldredge (9-21)
15. Daniel Baker (14-17)
16. Justin Starling (11-20)
17. Mitchell Oldenburg (10-22)
18. Aaron Plessinger (40-11)
19. Kyle Peters (20-13)
20. RJ Hampshire (15-19)